Things that make you go... WHAT!? AKA It’s The Trees Whot Dunnit!

I have been watching clips on “TED... Ideas worth spreading”. [www.ted.com] For those of you still uninitiated, the website hosts short clips of talks by prominent people in the spheres of technology, entertainment and design... and everything in between. Well, here is what I have learned. 1. The reason why the rains are not coming in Kenya is because we cut down the trees, destroyed the forests and decimated the water catchment areas. [Well, at least partly if not largely]. Now I know that you know that this is the reason why. No need to watch a video to tell you that. What I did not know is that my form two geography teacher’s explanation for how the rain cycle works in the tropics is wrong. [Sorry Mrs. Maina/Mrs. Odinga]. The evaporation-condensation-precipitation cycle is modelled on the Northern and Southern Hemispheres where it is in fact correct. In the sunny bits of the world however, it’s apparently different. Between the condensation and precipitation bits, there is a call. Apparently, the trees let the clouds know that their moment in the sky is about to come to an end; call them over to the right high grounds to ensure that when it does rain, the rain goes to the right bit of dry ground. All a little confusing to explain [and probably a lot more complex than I’m making it]. Now, we all know that the reason that we are cutting down entire indigenous forests is because we need to live on the land and the land that we could live on, has already been taken. [and no, we will not get into the land redistribution debate.... save to say... ok, I won’t.... I can’t resist... ok, Land reform’s the key to peace in the Rift Vally, you g@d&* m politicians, when is that going to sink into your sh... filled heads... or do you just like seeing dead bodies.... there, I DO feel much better... now, the point...where was I?] Also, the reason we plant Australian eucalyptus and other non-indigenous trees is because in the few short years it will take them to grow, we are counting down our moments to millionaire status. After all, we’ll all be selling the trunks to the electricity distribution company and making a mint. Now before y’all get hot under the collar [or start uprooting said trees in a huff] there has been a successful scheme which has enabled people to make what is hailed as a very good livelihood from the combination of indigenous forests, animals, food and cash crops. From what I understand, and I am still studying this, it is based on permaculture but incorporates wildlife preservation [think, our own little giraffe reserve in Magutu, Nyeri]. It would therefore appear [a word I use often in this segment], that in fact, the way forward is not to destroy the forests, replace them with foreign trees and wonder why it doesn’t rain any more [while also hoping that in ten years the telephone and electricity masts will still be made of tree trunks... and the price won’t collapse under the sheer glut of available trunks]. The way forward is to replant the forests, repopulate them and farm under them. In other words, if we want the rain to come back, we may need to rely less on hope, prayer and the Red Cross alone and more on good old science. Confused? Probably best you watch the segment yourself. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/willie_smits_restores_a_rainforest.html 2. The second thing I have learned is that traditional African architecture is based on fractals; that the math that tends to infinity ; that is the basis of all patterns in nature. I learned that the Internet and to the success of search engines like Google is founded on the Ajua board game and that braiding hair is based on complex formulae all of which are literally at the finger tips of most rural folk. Now I know that when we talk about African architecture, our suitably indoctrinated brains go directly to Timbuktu, Egypt, Monomotapa and Great Zimbabwe. Well, think again because the configuration of a Maasai homestead, a Kikuyu mucii, an Igbo or Ghanaian village all exhibits these fractals. In fact, it’s crazier than that, when the Mganga draws quick successions of short lines in the sand as you encourage him to hex that pesky cow that’s always wandering into your cabbage patch – well that uses the binomial system! Insane isn’t it? And get this. a. It is not universal to all indigenous communities. This is unique to Africans. b. It is not incidental or a fluke. Where the traditions are more preserved, the artisans and architects know exactly what they are doing and why, when they build these things! Now, suddenly, I want to know what fractals are. I know a little about them through the theories of chaos like fluttering butterflies and tsunami and sacred geometry, something that has been fascinating me especially when I visit gothic cathedrals, but to think that it is not only present back in my home village*, but being killed off actively in favour of new fangled four corner tin roof modernities while little Kenyan children struggle to understand the internet, geometry and fractals. [*well, not my home town, given as technically I can only lay claim to Nakuru – the hotbed of politics in the RV or to the ‘Holy Land’ Kijabe – the last dry (booze wise) town in non-sharia Kenya]. While we are looking westward for our salvation from the vagaries of hunger, disease, poverty; the foundations for the most advanced technologies on earth at present, are being slowly but effectively destroyed...by us. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ron_eglash_on_african_fractals.html c. The third thing that I have learned is that a little education, a whole lot of determination, and a nearby junkyard can transform a village. This is such a feel good story. William Kakwamba, this kid from rural Malawi, some place called, of all things Kasungu, peasant farmer parents, poor as a Sahel sand merchant, gets to about form 2 or 3 then has to quit because there’s a drought in Malawi, no food, no water... you get the picture. [You don’t? Drive straight out of Nairobi for no more than 200 miles in a direction of your choice]. Anyway, kid comes across a book or pamphlet about windmills. Has a read [mostly looking at the illustrations because his English isn’t good enough for him to read the explanation]. Has a bit of a think. Raids a local scrap yard and hey presto, he erects a not-very-aesthetic-but-a-bloody-lifesaving windmill. Suddenly, he can pump water from nearby waterholes to his father’s farm, they can grow food and he can go back to school. If that was not enough, people come from all over to have their mobile phones charged – tidy little side business. And now, he’s the local consultant on windmill building in his little village and the environs, Malawi. Oh yes, and he published a book titled “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope. Oh... and the documentary on his life won loads of awards. I watch this clip twice, and then I lean back on my chair. Remind me again. Why are we sitting under the looming cloud of water rationing or the semi darkness of power rationing? Why are we allowing the drought; accepting the darkness; acquiescing to the starvation and death of Kenyans, men and beasts? [I can almost hear you say it, “Why are you asking awkward questions?”]....... Did I mention that young William is working on a full length feature film? http://www.ted.com/talks/william_kamkwamba_how_i_harnessed_the_wind.html On a different but equally inspiring note, kudos to you DJ Watcha-Ma-Call-It aka the respectable BBC correspondent Kevin Mwachiro, for a lovely piece on the BBC website on the Kenyan fashion show. Do they come in UK size 18? I’m currently celebrating being a woman of traditional African build ala Mma Precious Ramotswe. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8353908.stm Hey, that’s enough internet voyeurism for now. Hope your butt hurts as much as mine from all the ass-kicking [aka inspiration], each of these clips bring with them.