3 + 2 = 32

3+2=32 To understand this you have to adjust your thinking, it’s a reminder that you cannot come to Kenya and always maintain your western point of view or sometimes your mathematical point of view.

I try to get my head around this by saying to myself if I combine 3 and 2 in such a manner as to get 32 and, rather than protest its mathematical correctness, accept that future combinations may require the same operation then life becomes a lot easier.

It is a similar process required to speak with people who don’t share your oral culture. Kenyans communicate effectively with each other, however a lack of specificity and accuracy in communication from a western perspective is common in many of conversations I have had here.

Kenya has a largely oral culture, and many conversations are not always about information sharing but about relationship building. There will be liberal sprinkling of ‘the nini’ (thing) which expresses: 'the thing that I can’t quite remember but in the larger context of our conversation you should be able to divine' and also a large helping of ‘sawa sawa’ (which means 'correct, correct)' which is a dangerous phrase for westerners as it should indicate agreement but sometimes just means an acknowledgement.

Kenyans love a good chat, and it is a pleasure speaking with Kenyans, it has just taken me a while to understand that three and two can create thirty-two.