Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, And Hope In An African Slum

Kenya and the United States are very different countries, the differences are much deeper than skin color, language and geography. Opportunity looks very different for a middle class American like Jessica, compared with a poor Kenyan like Kennedy. Throughout the book we learn about the cultural customs in Kenya, local traditions, cultural norms, and the economic, political, and social inequalities that divide the population, often leading to marginalization, violence, poverty, and death.

Kennedy and Jessica both experience their own form of culture shock at different times. Kennedy, for example, remembers clearly the first time he saw white people: “One day I saw something very strange, people walking around who looked like they had come directly from the grave, their skin was so pale. Mzungus” (31). Kennedy will continue to have different experiences with Westerners, from the priests that he encounters (some good and some abusive), to foreign aid workers, and tourists. Kennedy remains skeptical of the Western world, due in large part to ineffective foreign aid projects that fail to bring any positive change to his community.

When Jessica arrives in Kenya, she breaks protocol by staying in Kibera, the slum where white people typically aren’t allowed to live. She does this because she wants to see the ‘real’ Kibera. She wants more than just a brief cultural experience but to gain a better understanding of the community and the differences between America and Kenya. She is often stubborn and willful in her willingness to have an authentic local experience in Kibera, which both draws her closer to Kennedy but also fuels tension between them as they struggle to navigate their different worlds. Living in Kibera, Jessica witnesses extreme poverty, abuse and struggle unlike anything she has ever encountered in her middle-class American upbringing (the culture shock is so severe for Jessica that she is diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when she returns to the United States). Jessica learns to take nothing for granted and learns quickly how much Kennedy sacrifices in order to provide her with what seem like basic needs: “For my first night, Kennedy cooks a delicious spicy beef stew with rice for dinner. Months later, I learn that he had saved for weeks to be able to afford meat on my first night” (48). Kennedy is constantly going out of his way to close the gap between their two worlds and make Jessica safe and comfortable in Kibera; this kind of caretaking and hospitality reveals his nature to protect.

Kennedy experiences a similar culture shock when he moves to America to study at Wesleyan, although his transition is described with a bit more humor and lightheartedness than Jessica’s experience in Kibera. He is happily surprised by many things, like hot showers with endless water and fast food restaurants: “You don’t even have to get out of the car and things fall automatically into your lap like this? I am shocked” (227). Kennedy struggles to adjust to life in America the most when he must learn how to be both Kenyan and American, and he continues to have mixed feelings about remaining in the US and also returning to his home in Kenya. Throughout the novel, the reader learns how Kennedy and Jessica navigate their different cultures to become united both in business and in community service, but also in their marriage.