Rye Barcott: A great American
My daughter Eliana returned from a visit to Africa during which she made the acquaintance of Rye Barcott (above with his colleague Matt Bugher) in Nairobi, Kenya. For reasons that will become apparent, Rye made a great impression on Eliana. This Harvard Gazette story (from which the photo above is taken) profiles Rye. Eliana writes:
I wanted to alert your readers to a person and an organization I thought they’d be interested in. I believe change for the better in Africa will come through the efforts of people like Rye Barcott and organizations like Carolina for Kibera (CFK).CFK empowers leaders within impoverished communities to create innovative solutions to some of the daunting situations they face each day living in abject poverty. Rye founded CFK upon his return from Nairobi as a college student and Marine NROTC midshipman at University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). He has kept it alive and growing through his five-year hitch in the Marine Corps that took him most recently to Iraq, and now while he is pursuing a masters in public administration and MBA at Harvard.
While in Nairobi for work in late July, my boss and I were warned not to walk on the streets at night—the city isn’t safe, said the guidebooks, the hotel staff, and the American embassy. The newspapers are rife with reports of gang violence and carjackings are a daily occurrence. Government corruption is rampant; as presidential elections near, it becomes clearer that the winner will be the candidate who emerges victorious from an arm-wrestling match between tribes. As foreigners, we heard and got glimpses of the slums—the largest lies next to one of the wealthy diplomatic neighborhoods in the city—but we hadn’t planned a visit.
With Rye’s help, we made our way into Kibera, which occupies a square mile just outside of Nairobi. The largest slum in Africa, it's home to between 700,000 and one million people. Divided into 11 sections based on ethnic and tribal divisions, ethnic and religious violence is common. Children play in raw sewage and garbage that covers the ground everywhere you look. The stench is overwhelming.CFK’s offices are located in the middle of Kibera, a reflection of the organization’s belief that the primary agents of development must be residents of Kibera themselves. Rye and his team of American volunteers are catalysts and supporters, not altruists standing at arm’s length giving hand-outs. When Rye first established CFK in 2001, he rented a shack in Kibera and lived with the residents. Rumor has it he even kept up his early morning fitness regimen, jogging through the slum at sunrise to the astonishment of his neighbors.
Rye and his Kenyan colleagues initially started a youth sports league intended to develop links between kids of different ethnicities and religions by putting them on soccer teams together and organizing games. Before playing soccer, though, kids are required to participate in “community clean ups,” which not only help get the garbage off the ground but also expose them to the different communities Kibera is comprised of.
CFK also built a clinic, founded by the late Tabitha Atieno Festo, a resident of Kibera who was a widow with three kids. Tabitha founded the medical clinic after receiving a $26 grant from Rye to sell vegetables. Female CFK members established a Binti Pamoja girls center to create a safe space for girls in Kibera, and CFK teamed up with other NGOs to create a waste management program called “Trash is Cash.” CFK’s development strategy is bottom-up instead of “top-down,” a significant departure from so many well-intentioned Westerners and, consequently, the NGOs they lead and to which they contribute.
Rye and the Kenyans he has gotten involved in his programs offer hope in a bleak situation. The problems that plague Kenya and much of Africa—tribal rivalries, AIDS and other illnesses, and the mistreatment of women—will slowly improve through efforts like that being led by Rye, CFK, and the Kenyans who participate in their programs. CFK was the only grassroots organization recognized as a “hero of global health” by TIME magazine in 2005. To hear more from and about Rye (from the ABC News "Peson of the Week" profile of Rye), watch the video below, and to contribute to Carolina for Kibera, go here. Rye and his team need and deserve all the support they can get.
To comment on this post, go here.
