Good Fortune

"There's lot of trash, but life is good." This is how one woman describes the situation in the underprivileged Kibera district of Nairobi. She is aghast at the plans of the United Nations and the Kenyan government to demolish the neighborhood to make way for new, attractive houses. The residents of Kibera, who have seen these projects muddled in corruption before, are sure they will lose their homes to "a clever way of removing us." People in the countryside are equally convinced that a major investment by the American company Dominion Farms Ltd. will bring nothing but more problems. The company, on the other hand, argues that it is high time that Kenya enjoyed "the same standards as the rest of the world." \i Good Fortune\i0 gives us insight into the everyday life of the rural and urban populations of Kenya, who see no justification whatsoever for outside (read: white) involvement in their affairs. The film also confronts us with the standard Western preconceptions about rich and poor. What is poverty really? "I'm not poor. I have a resource," says a man about the large swamp that provides his livelihood. The population's enduring combative spirit is demonstrated when riots break out all over Nairobi following the reelection of President Kibaki. It looks like a classic David and Goliath struggle.