Without land you are not a man

We learnt yesterday that we had to attend a meeting of the Land Board today to formalise our most recent land purchase. The Land Board is a type of court which sanctions land transactions, after carefully checking that all family members are in agreement about the sale. Land is a hugely important matter in Kenya. While we were waiting for the proceedings to start I was chatting to a Kenyan guy about the case he was involved with. He told me “without land you are not a man – however big or small the land”. This explains the formality and significance of the Land Board. Proceeding were supposed to start at 10.00 am but didn’t get off the ground until midday. (We had anticipated the delay and all brought books to read). It is always interesting watching a crowd gather in Kenya, whether it is for a church service, a football match or a land board. Peak numbers are usually achieved about an hour and a half after the official start time.

I had expected to be kept all day by the Land Board but, due to some miracle, our case was called first. The Land Board members, (about 12 of them), checked that all parties were present, (me, Mary and Ian on our part, plus two members of the family selling the land and their witness). There were questions about whether or not the full payment had been made for the land. It hadn’t so I wrote out the two cheques required after a brief discussion about whether this was acceptable. The Chairman then made sure that we were aware of the problems that might be caused if any family members who were not at the court decided they had been cheated. The seller and her son assured the Board that all the necessary agreements had been made within the family and I explained that we had met the family in August. This satisfied the Board and we were told that we would have to return next Thursday to collect the official approval form. As we walked out of the meeting I got the impression that the crowd had grown in the few minutes it took for our case to be heard. I couldn’t imagine a crowd in England waiting as patiently as they do in Kenya. Admittedly the weather was very nice for hanging around in but nobody seemed bothered by the fact that the start was delayed by two hours. Only us mzungus, (white people).

The lady with the malnourished baby has not come to see us today, so I am assuming that she and the baby are improving. I really hope so. I cannot begin to imagine what it must feel like to watch your child’s health deteriorate so badly and know that you are unable to do anything about it. I am passionate about Farming God’s Way because I believe that it is a very powerful tool for the poor in Kenya. Something that can lift them up from the desperate conditions so many of them are living in and give them a hope for the future.