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UN Reps Fail the People of Kenya
By Sharon Kim, Kenya
Marci works as a maid in the home of two United Nations representatives in Nairobi, Kenya. Her smile, intended to cheer up guests like me, actually disguises her despair and sadness.
"Her employers may call themselves United Nations representatives, but either they are living in a bubble with blinders on or they simply choose to ignore what they see." -Sharon Kim
Strains on Marci's income of 5500 schillings a month ($88 dollars) have made it increasingly difficult for her to make ends meet. She cannot afford to send her three sons to school and the cost of her husband's four surgeries ($4000) has plunged her family in debt. Every day after 12-hours of work, Marci walks one hour to her home because she cannot afford to ride the bus.
Marci's employers never offer her a ride in their new SUV. They accuse her of stealing food and appliances from the kitchen. When visitors leave clothes for Marci, she is forbidden from taking them home.
Her employers may call themselves United Nations representatives, but either they are living in a bubble with blinders on or they simply choose to ignore what they see. Secluded in offices near a village that has Americanized markets and restaurants, they are so far removed from people like Marci. They don't see the desperate fight for survival in the people they were hired to help.
I assumed that the representatives of the United Nations would try to make a difference in the world. Obviously in this case I am wrong. If people at the UN choose to ignore reality, then how can they bring about a change?
I am tired of hearing that the gap between the rich and poor continues to widen. I am witnessing this imbalance first hand, and I am appalled and angered that nothing is being done. Yet some of the people who have the power to affect change and offer solutions are so insensitive and deliberately ineffectual!
One of the representatives told me that she does not trust Kenyans. "Poverty," she said, "makes people dangerous." With this type of mentality, real change is not possible in Kenya.
Every nation has to deal with poverty. But how can these so-called esteemed officials-who are paid to carry out the strategies of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)-not put their hearts into protecting the people in Kenya?
This is why the Millennium Development Goals will not be fulfilled and millions of people like Marci will never escape poverty. And this, sadly, is why the United Nations is ineffective. This is why there is a lack of faith in the world. This is why poverty does not end. This is why problems are still not being solved.
