Africa, one of the poorest contents in the world, and has received about $2.3 trillion dollars in aid in effects to try to reduce poverty. The documentary film, Good fortune illustrates the lives of two families living in different parts of Kenya; both families are battling to save their homes from projects claiming to help their communities. The film provides many aspects that can be directly related to anthropology. One major aspect that is conveyed in the documentary is the different Subsistence strategies of each family. Jackson is a farmer and school teacher in Yala Swamp. For Jackson's family, along with many other families, they are pastoralists. They rely very much on the ecosystem of the swamp and the raising of goats and cattle.
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Jackson states, “I am not poor, I have a resource which can make me rich.” To Jackson he has everything he needs in his society to get through life. On the other side of the country in eastern Kenya is Kibera Slum. It is one of the largest slums in Africa, with a population between 500,00 and 1 million people all in about one and one-half square miles. Silvia is a midwife who moved to Kibera from an impoverished village. Silvia’s substance strategy is more of an industrialism one. There is no room in the slums to farm or grow their own food, due to the high population density. Silvia claims, “a lot of trash, but life is good here.” The economic system in the slum creates a standard of living which Silvia can afford and allows her to provide for her family. Silvia is able to earn a steady income in …show more content…
In both parts of Kenya projects were put into place to help the poverty-stricken areas of Africa. In the Yala Swamp region, an investment of $21 million for a huge state-of-the-art rice farm through the company, Dominion Farms limited, moved into the local area. As a result of the dam created by Dominion for the rice farm, caused the river to back up and flood the swamp. Many locals of the swap lost their farms, houses, livestock and livelihoods due to a chemical that contaminated the water. This affected many of the communities living along the swamp tremendously. Identically, in effects to try to reduce poverty in Kibera, there have been multiple slum upgrading projects. This caused for Kibera to be completely demolished and replaced with modern housing and infrastructure. As a result, all of the inhabitants had to move out of the slums, temporarily until the new house developments were built. Silvia states, “this thing is dangerous because if you refuse to move they will come and evict you with a bulldozer. Where do you expect these people to go? When they take this place, there’s nowhere the poor will go.” Silvia and her family were forced to move out, ultimately leaving no place for her and her family to go, the slum was the only place where they could afford to live. Although these projects claim they were in the greater good of the people they ended up causing more problems rather than fixing
Jackson states, “I am not poor, I have a resource which can make me rich.” To Jackson he has everything he needs in his society to get through life. On the other side of the country in eastern Kenya is Kibera Slum. It is one of the largest slums in Africa, with a population between 500,00 and 1 million people all in about one and one-half square miles. Silvia is a midwife who moved to Kibera from an impoverished village. Silvia’s substance strategy is more of an industrialism one. There is no room in the slums to farm or grow their own food, due to the high population density. Silvia claims, “a lot of trash, but life is good here.” The economic system in the slum creates a standard of living which Silvia can afford and allows her to provide for her family. Silvia is able to earn a steady income in …show more content…
In both parts of Kenya projects were put into place to help the poverty-stricken areas of Africa. In the Yala Swamp region, an investment of $21 million for a huge state-of-the-art rice farm through the company, Dominion Farms limited, moved into the local area. As a result of the dam created by Dominion for the rice farm, caused the river to back up and flood the swamp. Many locals of the swap lost their farms, houses, livestock and livelihoods due to a chemical that contaminated the water. This affected many of the communities living along the swamp tremendously. Identically, in effects to try to reduce poverty in Kibera, there have been multiple slum upgrading projects. This caused for Kibera to be completely demolished and replaced with modern housing and infrastructure. As a result, all of the inhabitants had to move out of the slums, temporarily until the new house developments were built. Silvia states, “this thing is dangerous because if you refuse to move they will come and evict you with a bulldozer. Where do you expect these people to go? When they take this place, there’s nowhere the poor will go.” Silvia and her family were forced to move out, ultimately leaving no place for her and her family to go, the slum was the only place where they could afford to live. Although these projects claim they were in the greater good of the people they ended up causing more problems rather than fixing