Today I read another article from NPR that was typical of their concerns with how humanity fails each other. “Some women who can’t afford water are often pressured to provide sex for it” written by Raul Roman, Rafe Andrews, and Camille Sachs.

This was the story of women in Kenya, especially Nairobi, who are being ~raped while they go to procure water. Because water is scarce, they may have to go a few hours every day to get it.  During their long passage, they can be beset.

Stories like these are heartbreaking and at the same time they just make me mad – so I dug into it a little. Once again, the news media blames those with the least when the problem stems from much higher.

Because there is no piped water supply for those in “informal settlements” (slums, shanties and the like), a water cartel member cuts into water lines serving the wealthy. He siphons off water into jerricans and resells it to the peasant who walks a long way to get it.

 Sometimes families don’t have enough money to buy the water as supply fluctuates along with the price.  When they don’t, the water purveyors, AKA the “cartel”, may take sex for the exchange. This is called sextortion.  Because police are listed as the most corrupt institution in the country, most girls suffering degradation don’t even tell their parents the stigma is so great. And you know, the woman – or as I call her wo(e)man, is blamed anyway.

Besides being tragic that systemic and systematic depredation is rampant, that wo(mb) and wo(e)-men are treated poorly causing a long-standing internal sense of victimization, is the fact that it’s entirely preventable.

There are thirteen existing and operational data centers in Kenya with another 8 in development. This is not mentioned in the story.

They serve most of the wealthy internet-connected population in east Africa. most of them are around Nairobi. (Some of those wealthy even read this blog.) Collectively (according to Google) these  data centers consume between 3.9 and 6.5 million gallons of water per day.

This suggests that the “drought” and water shortage they’re experiencing, is by and large man-made once again.

Approximately 60% of Kenya’s population lives in slums. That is, approximately 2.5 million people, more the 70% of the 4.4 million population (2026) live in Nairobi’s “informal settlements”. There are ~200 slum settlements in Nairobi alone. They are equivalent to our homeless here – and those who live dozens to a room which happens more often than you’d imagine.

AI mostly isn’t serving them. These people are by and large poor, illiterate, and scavenge service jobs for a livelihood.

They operate small grocery kiosks, work as laborers, micro vendors (including street and water vendors), run salons, have tailoring and dressmaking studios, and operate local transport systems – that are inherited or learned on the job. Employment and income is “casual and unpredictable”.

Gun violence isn’t as much of a pervasive problem as it is in the US. What they have is mostly due to illegal firearms which are imported.

(I’ve only visited slums in the US where I’ve witnessed large scale lassitude, boredom, and a sense of purposeless. How can you blame them when they “fail” according to our “western standards”? The difference our citizenry is weaponized, so our slums are much more violent.)

(This also sounds similar to our western job options for a poorly trained or unskilled adult who flunked out of high school. We have a sizeable population of individuals who work as street and fair vendors, day laborers, housecleaners, door dash/uber/taxi and public van drivers. Here, you can’t open or operate a salon without formal education and training and licenses. So technically we set the bar even higher to do the same thing.)

90% of “respondents” in a survey of the Kibera slum rely on financial support from social networks, NGO, religious institutions and participate in vocational training to weather “daily economic shocks”.

A quarter to more than a third (up to half) of children don’t have access to primary education. (Here the US clearly has better metrics.)

Furthermore, the wealth of Kenya is concentrated in about three different dynastic families who own almost all of the means of production for the country.

They make their wealth from rents owning most of the land (including agricultural, mining, and safari), dairy, media, manufacturing, finance, consumer goods, and food processing. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

They decide which politicians run because they control the media.

Because violence is rampant at polling stations, only about a third of registered voters vote – as if that would make any difference.

Yet most of the population do not have regular basic services.

(While most of the US population doesn’t live in slums/shanties/ or “informal settlements” there is a sizeable homeless population that’s expanding exponentially (or so it seems). The bottom 50% of the population contributes 2% to the GDP. Are we really much different then? Those who are contributing are doing the same little ‘scut’ jobs.

At least we have, until recently, running water, electricity, schools. Police and fire aren’t always unreliable or very helpful for those in the inner cities. Our police and judicial system often serve as a pipeline for incarceration. For both, getting medical care is often challenging – though it sounds like Kenya might have more basic services for acute/urgent care and maternal services.

Even so, it is possible their standard of living has improved over the years, just as it has for our denizens of the inner cities, but consider how much more happiness there might be if they felt like they were useful, valued, and productive?

Naturally, that also comes from within – meaning their own inner language and judgments must shift to becoming kinder and more patient. Here, I’d bet (though I might be completely off base) Kenya might have an advantage – since most of the population has been converted to Christianity – where often one asks, “what would Jesus do?” or “do unto others as you would have them” and try to preach about being kind to one another.

 Over the years I’ve heard over and again those who seem poor or impoverished speak roughly and rudely to their children and spouses.

Kenyans certainly know that it’s not just their men’s choice to take whatever they want but this is their “leaders” standard. Without schooling and tangible opportunities, it stays backward and ~hopeless (other than when they go to church, then they feel a little better – just as they do here). 50% of the slum population is ~stable over generations.

While there are thousands of millionaires in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, the rest live on nickels and dimes.

When tourists visit to go on a safari the proceeds go to one of these three families. So you’re putting money directly into their pocket and really not helping anybody else. The rest of the land is ~lawless and insecure as a result.

To me this sounds like another ripe ground for the SOUK KINGDOM model for economic enterprises -which maybe one of our savior philanthropists might choose to fund instead of (or in addition) to their myriad of vaccination programs.But I know, it won’t solve their water problems- which the “philanthropists” likely have a giant hand in.