Life in Kenya

Text Version

Dr. Clare Muhoro: My name is Clare Muhoro, and I am an associate professor of chemistry at Towson University.

And I was born in Kenya.

I spent my first 18 years in Kenya and I mean to me it was a normal childhood.

So growing up in Kenya, I think, depends on where you grow up.

I grew up in the capital, Nairobi, and life in the capital of Nairobi is not very different from life in Baltimore.

You have a big city that has suburbs and life for kids growing up there

Is pretty much along the lines of life growing up in a major urban center.

In the countryside, things, you know, become a little bit more different from maybe life in an urban area in the States

Because of the farm life and the fact that, you know, kids who grow up in the countryside are involved in taking care of

Farm animals or attending crops and things like that.

Geographically, you have mountains, you have the coast, you have a lake region, the largest lake in Africa

Is actually found partly in Kenya, Lake Victoria. And there is the Great Rift Valley

That runs down the central part of the country.

The diversity of wildlife is astounding and also the volume is pretty impressive too.

People come from all over the world to you know, view the wildlife and go on safaris.

But these destinations are also popular with local people.

Cultural traditions in Kenya vary significantly. The country is diverse ethnically.

There are upwards of 40 different ethnic groups in the country and 40 languages associated with those ethnic groups.

The official language in Kenya is English. It's the language that people conduct business in the urban setting in.

The national language is Kiswahili. And Kiswahili is the language that's spoken by everybody all across the country.

What you'll find is most people will speak at least two languages, certainly English and Kiswahili.

And then depending on what community they're from they will also speak their own ethnic language.

The economy in Kenya right now is growing.

Certain sectors like mobile technology are particularly robust.

And in terms of employment, people usually get into their first real job at least after high school.

I'm proud to be from Kenya because it really is and to me a country that has wonderful, wonderful people.

It's a beautiful country that's very rich in culture and in the human experience.