Kenya, Land of Contradiction

Few visitors to Kenya travel far from the beaten track; there's all those lions to contend with. Roger Stoakley travelled widely into remote areas of the country over a period of many years, while setting up a fund for destitute children. What he found is a revelation. He describes in compassionate and often humorous detail a society torn between the trappings of a modern state and a multitude of die-hard tribal customs and traditions that are difficult to reconcile. The joys and sufferings of the traditional and often impoverished families that the fund was designed to help are portrayed in vivid colours, together with Roger's experiences while living with them. Through Kenyan Doors shows how, as a result of colonial rule, widely differing peoples of Cushitic, Nilotic, and Bantu backgrounds have been thrust together with those of European and Indian origin to form the modern state, and how big-city earners and hunter-gatherers must somehow act as fellow citizens. It demonstrates some of the huge barriers that must be overcome if they are to succeed.