Chickens and Community

A happy family

When I got my chicken I thought they would be nice to have around.  I thought it would be nice to have some fresh eggs.  I thought it would be good for the kids to help look after them.  But they have proven to give me so much more then I had thought. 
My chickens have shown me the reality of community here in Kenya.  You know, we are told that Kenyans live in a deeper reality of community than westerners but I didn’t really  understand.  ‘My’ chickens are not ‘my’ chickens.  How I feed them, bed them, graze them, breed them, and distribute them is open to everyone’s opinion.  It was naive of me to think I could bring five chickens into this compound and individually raise them.  How it really works is that at each intersection in which a decision must be made I am given various opinions and then expected to choose one.  Or they choose one and carry it out, then maybe ask if I like what they did.  Fidelma, my good friend and house help, loves those chickens like her own.  She cleans the coop, changes the water, and lovingly looks after the mama hens and their chicks.  These things give her the right, in her Kenyan world view, to make decisions and/or give her opinion about the chickens.  For example, to a Kenyan, chicken meat is better than eggs.  So when my hens wanted to start roosting she really wanted to put 10 eggs under them.  When I wanted to eat the eggs she would scold me for not saving them for the hens to sit on.  I didn’t want 10 chicks, because 10 chicks quickly become 10 chickens and we don’t have enough room for three hens to have to 10 chicks each.  So we compromised with six eggs under each chicken.  But even with this last hen when I only put six eggs under her she had to smile and laugh at me, like I was crazy for not wanting more chickens.  I laughed back and told her I hoped not all six eggs would hatch...unfortunately...they all did...then the next hen had six chicks too.  So now we have 12 chicks (quickly becoming chickens) and three hens and one very loud rooster, King Herod.
Another thing I love that my chickens have shown me is how Kenyans see blessings. 

When I look at those 12 chicks running around after their Mamas I see 12 chicks and a future head ache.  But when adult Kenyan men and women see our chicks they swoon.  They call them ‘cute’ and ‘beautiful’ and ‘miracles’ and most importantly they call them ‘blessings’. See even to a city dweller they are not that far removed from people who have or are in hunger.  Who have or are wondering where their next meal will come from.  Who have or are worried about paying for their children’s school fees.  Those chicks represent the hope of food and money.  I told our one friend that I wanted to start giving the chicks away before they were full grown and ready for eating.  I asked if this was okay.  He said that of course it was and that he would be happy to show us who to give them to and how to give them.  In this way I am happy we have 12 chicks and more on the way because giving a kuku is a really special gift to a Kenyan.  I think for me as a ‘white person’ its a way better gift then money.  I’m showing some cultural awareness and I’m hopefully not feeding the idea that ‘white people’ have money trees in their back yards.  So chickens are a blessing.
I’m thankful God has helped me let go of my need to hold on tightly to my autonomy.  I don’t fully comprehend the depth of the Kenyan community yet.  I’m still learning and watching for ways in which people act out the, “what’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine.”  “Your blessings are my blessings.”  As Allen, our guard put it when we drove in with our new car months back, “Now we have a car.”  And when I brought home those hens I realized everyone was so excited because, “Now we have chickens”  There is something wonderful about being apart of a WE!  Many of my friends have smilingly reminded me, “We’ll be eating chicken for Christmas”  Yes we will!

This is Julia

Day old chick with Mama