AFRICAN CITY NEAR EQUATOR CAN BE COLD

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 59, 4 November 1949, Page 5

AFRICAN CITY NEAR EQUATOR CAN BE COLD

Although Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is only 90 miles from the equator and 300 to 400 miles from the coast it can be very cold there, said the Right Rev N. A. Lesser, Bishop of Waiapu, in an address to the Whakatane Church of England Men’s Society on Wednesday night. But that was because the town was built at a height of 6000 feet above sea level, he added, to an interested audience, who listened .to him talk on some of his experiences during eight years spent in East Africa. One of the main tribes 6f Kenya were the Masai, who were a warrior people and lived on meat and cow’s blood, the Bishop said. They despised farmers and anyone who followed farming, but at the same time they were a very brave people. The Masai word for cold was Nairobi. .. ! Attack Lions

The Masai had been known to attack lions and it was very rarely that the animals escaped. Their method was to surround the beast and gradually tighten the circle, at the same time making as much row as possible. It scron reached the stage where the animal made a break and it was then that the natives attacked. '

Kenya was distinct from the Un? ion of South ;\frica, continued ’Bishop Lesser. There was a better feeling between African, white and Indian, who were now learning to live side by side peacefully and contentedly. He did not think that the present racial troubles, of South Africa would spread to East Africa, There was a great disparity in the general education of the Africans. Generally, the African on the West Coast was better educated than the native on the East because the facilities had been made available to him very much longer. However, this did not mean that the East African was not educated, the Bishop pointed out. Today most Africans were becoming politically minded and were very keen on education. This was well borne out by the fact that many natives in the wilds had combined and worked together to bring’ in a teacher to teach their children. Although money was scarce they usually managed to raise the required amount somehow. White Collar Jobs But, with all this education and desire for learning, it was difficult to make the natives realise they could not possibly teach the great mass of the people unless they themselves trained as teachers, he continued. Most of the boys, who were educated, wanted to be clerks in a white collar job. This seemed to be the height of their ambition. ’ “During the war the natives advanced considerably and T would say that they have gone ahead farther than they ever did in the last 100 years,” the Bishop added. He thought that the future looked particularly bright for the peoples of East Africa, who were now looking ahead more than ever to guide their own destiny.