Youth Exodus: Abroad is Better?

Even while in Kenya, I knew I wanted to go to Israel and come back. I had been to Japan in 2015 and it showed me how a country could be. I believed, and still believe, Kenya could have clean streets and rich farmers, and I have a part to play. Kenya is where I would live.

Unfortunately, despite my best wishes for my motherland and bias towards emigration, I left.

Two factors encourage emigration.

One, the belief that where you are cannot get better, and two, the idea that where you are going is better. Both of these factors were present in my case. I felt stuck in academic writing. I wanted to grow. All my job applications went straight to various corporate dustbins. I wanted, badly, to own a farm but I was not making any progress in that direction. On the other hand, a friend had been to Israel the previous year. She looked wiser. In a span of 11 months, she had transformed yet I was still where she left. Israel was better than where I was.

I would go to Israel for 11 months, immerse myself in a new culture, learn something, and most importantly, get unstuck from academic writing. At that point, anything was better than academic writing.

So I boarded a KQ, final destination? The Arava.

I still remember the first moment in the Arava when I stepped outside. We had arrived at night so I did not get exposed to the desert right away. The next when I stepped out of my room, it was sand as far as my eyes could see. The sand was so hot it burned my eyes and at some point, I had to get sunglasses. In those early days, the thing I fantasized about most was wild grass, green forests and fluffy clouds.

Eventually, I got used to the desert. Humans are incredibly adaptable. ?

I got used to the safe and clean environment. The high quality of consumer goods. The scheduled public buses that announced their destinations in melodies Hebrew. The palm trees. Drip irrigation everywhere. I even found the sand beautiful.?The one thing I never got used to was chicken meat. Chicken was the cheapest and most readily available meat so most of us ate it daily. Post-Israel, I thought I would never eat chicken again.

In those early days, the thing I fantasized about most was wild grass, green forests and fluffy clouds.

Life was good. Money was good. I have never partied as much as in those 11 months. There was one thing though that made life in Kenya better - Work. The work included weeding, harvesting, planting, trellising and a lot of other manual farm work. There was this constant feeling of being less due to the work I did. The worst part was I knew if I were to get another job, it would still be another low-level job. And I think this is the thing every African immigrant experiences. Most farm work was mechanised and I was doing an easier job than most Kenyans at home. Still, it sucked to know I was doing the job the locals have refused to do.

One Sabbath, I went to a church in Eilat. There were a lot of strong Ghanaian men and I remember being sad. These were strong and wise men in their prime and all they did was wash dishes and mop floors. Men who could be leaders and changers in their countries.

This was the moment Kenya became better.

I always say that I did not go to Israel for the money, though that was good. I went for the experience, which I still retain. I am more appreciative of Kenya because I went. I am also a better farmer thanks to the country.

Youth exodus will continue to happen because we truly believe that abroad is better and we’ve lost hope in our present situation. However, at the end of the day, no one ever truly feels home in a foreign country. There is that feeling of not fitting and for most Africans, being less or inferior. I have met some people who would come back in a second if they got better jobs. For others, the best decision they made was coming back.

I believe an equilibrium in this matter of youth immigration will eventually come. There is no need to be alarmed. Those who leave will leave. Those who leave and come back are already making an impact. For those who have never left, I can tell you for free that Kenya is a great country. It will never be Israel, the UK or the US. But, it will be something else, which we are all building.

If you don’t believe that we are in a great place and moment, remember that most of our parents could not afford shoes. Now though, despite the inflation and the high costs of living, almost everyone can afford a pair of shoes.

Tafakari hayo.

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