Last week this blog was miraculously picked up on by The Times and some extracts were run for a couple of days to describe the election chaos from a British housewife’s point of view. I think that it’s fair to say that all bloggers have a secret desire to be ‘discovered’ by the press somehow and reading news clippings about the blogs of mothers like me (i.e. La Petite Anglaise, Wife in the North) did inspire me to keep going. I began ‘Africaexpatwivesclub’ in September 2006 in an effort to realistically describe daily expat life in Kenya without the ‘Happy Valley’ or ‘White Mischief’ associations that journalists are even now so fond of using.
Having said that, the reason it was found, within the context of all the horrific events and disbelief over Kenya’s December 2007 election, was perhaps not ideal. Having run the blog anonymously in the newspaper for a couple of days, I was asked if I’d mind being interviewed and I said no, as long as The Times make a donation to Red Cross Kenya, which they duly did.
Having done the interview, the temptation has been to quickly track back through the blog removing any flippant comments or anything that might cause offence, but I promise I haven’t, albeit at my peril! Writing a blog is, by definition, a fairly self absorbed exercise, so the idea for the ‘expat stereotypes’, based on the ‘social stereotypes’ written by Victoria Mather for The Telegraph magazine, was to lighten the ‘diary’, make people laugh and perhaps poke a bit of fun at ourselves. The intention certainly was not to cause offence and I did qualify all of them by saying; ‘there’s a little bit of me in each one.’
So happy reading if you like but I’ll understand if you don’t wish to continue because it is, afterall, only a blog. Hope to get back to the really mundane stuff soon.
The diary of a British expat living in Kenya. News, views, debate and a healthy dose of trivia.
Congrats on The Times interview! Followed the link from their site.. :-) And good on you for sticking to what you've written. I know there's a great temptation to edit widely based on who is reading (as I wanted to do when I found out my parents read my blog...!), but I reckon each blog post is a marker in time - headspace and experience from the journey relevant to where you are right then - and shouldn't be changed one bit.
ReplyDeleteThoughts with all of you in Kenya right now.
Well done. For being unearthed as a valuable and on the ground source of Kenya's current situation but also for opting against removing potentially explosive posts! I wrote something a little controversial the other day on mine and when I articulated regret was sweetly reminded by a number of kind readers that my blog was my space. Keep writing. Whatever it is you want to. Otherwise it ain't honest!
ReplyDeleteI read about you...great job...keep going...cheers
ReplyDeleteKeep it coming! We love your blog log! Like everything in life you can decide to take it or leave it! I am sure that 99% of your readers will continue to read it avidly, if not 100%!
ReplyDeleteLove your blog am a kenyan in uk.
ReplyDeleteIm still amazed you havent got hundreds of comments ! Maybe everyone is reading but not commenting ?
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your blog and think it rates up there compared to many. You have a knack for writing in a friendly way. Congratulations on your 15 minutes of fame!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comments. It was a real fluke to be picked up by The Times and of course I was flattered and delighted. Fortunately we don't get The Times much in the shops in Kenya. If we do receive an edition or two it is generally days, if not weeks late -so I'm remain 'incognito' the majority of the time!
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