So there's no poor people in America? I have been asked this repeatedly. When I reply that there are may poor and homeless people, people are quite incredulous. The general consensus seems to be that everyone in the United States is wealthy and able to have anything money can buy. Thus the dream is to be able to go to America and once that is accomplished they will soon be wealthy as well. I guess that explains why everyone asks me for money.
What do your donkeys do? Imagine my surprise at this questions. Well,it pales in comparison to their surprise that neither I nor my family have a donkey or any livestock. Here there are donkeys, cows and goats wandering around just about everywhere. The donkeys are used primarily for carrying water. Imagine all the things we use water for in the U.S. and how many times a day we turn on the faucet. No can you fathom having to walk a 1/2 mile or for many significantly farther for each bucket of water you use?
Do you use charcoal for cooking? People here cook on small one burner stoves with a very pungent charcoal. Electricity is a luxury few have so electric ranges are not used here except by "rich" mzungus (white people) who have electricity and a generator as the power goes on and off unpredictably throughout the day. To have a gas stove top you have to purchase heavy and unwieldy containers of gas. Not only is it too expensive for most people, there is also the difficulty and expense of transportation since most people don't have cars and would have to hire a piki-piki (motorbike) to transport the cylinder.
What is your mother tongue? Here people speak first their tribal tongue, which in Karungu is Luo. In school Swahili and English are taught, but children and many of the elderly only speak Luo. I tried to explain how in the United States there are people from every country, thus there are many languages. However, many people only speak one language - English. People here identify very strongly with their tribe and are very proud of their language. Therefore my response was not understandable in their frame of reference and the same people ask me this question again and again as though seeking an understandable explanation.
Oh my Goodness, Frances! I know exactly what you mean. Although we don't have the donkeys here, I get asked just about every other question. The one about poor Americans is the worst because when I tell them that there are poor Americans, people ask me what I mean by poor. Frankly, I feel that I am not doing America justice with my pitiful attempts at explaining our way of life. Keep your chin up, Lady. You can do it!! Joshua 1:9
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