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Jackson’s Kenya brings together two of the most important influences in my young adult life - my time in Kenya in the early 1970s, and my interaction with my Kenyan cook Jackson, who greatly shaped my view of Kenya and Africa. Not only was Jackson a great mentor for me, but his energy and joy of life were infectious. This book is a description of my work and of the Kenya I experienced with Jackson.
I served as a volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in Kenya from 1970-74. Fellow Wisconsin volunteer, George Roemer, lived with me for two years and worked with me for three years. His fiancee, Susan (Sue) Nicolai, arrived from Wisconsin in 1971, married George in Kenya, and lived with us during the second year. George and I were animal husbandry officers, first with the Ministry of Agriculture, and later with the Ministry of Lands and Settlement, in the former White Highlands in Western Province. Our work covered 19 farmer re-settlement areas called schemes located on either side of the Nzoia River.
George and I hired Jackson Sikolia as our cook shortly after we arrived on site. We lived in a former colonial settler house called Bettington. After George and Sue married and moved to Soy Village, I moved to Tongaren Village, the district headquarters for my settlement scheme area, where I lived for a year. Jackson moved with me. He also maintained a farm where his family lived.
Jackson’s Kenya is intended to be an honest book, covering both the ups and downs of my experience. It explains my travel dream, the process of becoming a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya, my life at Bettington and Tongaren, my work experience, my major travel adventures, and my reflections after returning to the United States. The book is informative, serious, and sometimes humorous.
In the end, my Kenya Peace Corps experience was one of the best things I ever did. It set the tone for the rest of my life. I fell in love with the people of Kenya. It has been quite flattering for me, that, on later returns to Kenya, several people have asked me to move back.
I referred to most people in the book by their last names after introducing them. However, I referred to Jackson, George, and Sue by their first names because they were the three people closest to me throughout my time in Kenya. I apologize for the many anecdotes I felt I needed to include, called asides by one of my proofreaders, that sometimes proved difficult to organize. Although I have documents, notes, letters, and a reasonably good memory from my time in Kenya, I provided references necessary to back up my information, or to include new ideas or data.
