However, Kenya as a society, though obviously having the same appreciation for the foundational life assumptions (murder, low-cost thievery, etc.), has developed in a far less isolated state than many other nations resulting in different higher-level life assumptions. Here, when I say isolated, one must take it to mean having less control over the impact of outside cultures, not a complete cut-off and not simply interaction alone. Passive cultural diffusion through trade is one matter; forced impression of culture upon a colonized population is a completely different matter. The result of this level of forced-impact is that technology, politics, religion, economics and the social acceptance of all these areas progressed in a completely altered state, with very little time for society to catch up to the implications of such foreign ways of perceiving the world.
For the RIK this means that not only must Voices of Africa (VOA) and Voice of Diani (VOD) as development organizations teach computer skills, but the community accepting the RIK must also develop its trust, it must increase the level of its value-appreciation of the RIK as a whole to match that of VOA and VOD. Of course, such as task is easier said than done, especially when people don’t even want to try. Why try when it will just get stolen?
I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to try. The problem is that people do have a market-value-appreciation of the items contained within the RIK, and without a culture acceptance of long-term planning, this market-value-appreciation far outweighs any less-tangible appreciation for potential knowledge or potential future income generating activities the RIK represents. This is where the problem lies and the only solution is for the small group of people who do appreciate the potential of the RIK, and not just its market-value, to educate the Ukunda community, and demonstrate that leaving the RIK alone, not tampering with it, not stealing it, will have a greater beneficial impact on the community as a whole. Only then can RIK implementers comfortably say that, “trust,” is how we keep our RIKs in place.
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One Computer at a Time 