Recent studies show that currently there are about 10 thousand women from the former USSR who were married to Africans at different times and their children permanently residing in Africa.¹ The number of marriages with Africans and mixed families in our country began to grow in the 1960s, when students from Africa began to come to study.² The works of many Russian-speaking Africanists are devoted to this category of compatriots, ³ while other Russian-speaking migrants in African countries (especially in Sub-Saharan Africa) are almost not studied.

In a previous project, carried out in 2009-2010 with the support of the Russkiy Mir Foundation, we investigated the socio - psychological adaptation of Russian migrants and their descendants in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Zambia. Our compatriots have managed to adapt well to an unusual cultural and natural environment.⁴

In 2013-2014, the Russian Language and Russian Culture as Factors of Social and Psychological Adaptation of Russian Migrants and their Descendants in East Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, supported by the Russkiy Mir Foundation (grant 250-1), the research was continued in one of the most developed countries in East Africa - Kenya.

In January 2014, in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, we held dozens of informal meetings with our compatriots living in the country for a long time. We visited families and their places of work: clinics, schools, offices of business companies. The interviews were conducted in the form of a free interview.

As a result of summarizing the collected materials, a portrait of a Russian-speaking citizen (citizen) living in Kenya was compiled.

PORTRAIT OF OUR COMPATRIOT

According to some sources, about 200 Russian-speaking citizens who have retained the citizenship of Russia (Ukraine, Belarus) and/or accepted the citizenship of Kenya, as well as their descendants, live permanently in Kenya today. In total - about 1000 people.

Representatives of the Russian community are a group that is heterogeneous in terms of the time and reasons for their relocation to Kenya. The oldest compatriots came to Kenya by marrying Kenyans or were sent by the USSR to work under contracts (construction and maintenance of hospitals, various engineering services). This category also includes doctors and university professors who stayed in the country after the collapse of the USSR.

The "new" wave of migrants includes citizens who arrived in the "post-perestroika" period. This highlights a group of women who have married Kenyans. It should be noted that most of our respondents said that they got married for love ⁵. At the same time, there were many people who came to work under a contract in various fields of activity and stayed in this country. Kenyan legislation is favorable for foreign citizens, and according to our informants, Russian specialists and businessmen do not feel any discrimination here.

Specialists with Russian diplomas are officially recognized and highly valued in this country. Since Soviet times, there has been a significant layer of local specialists with our education in Kenya.⁶ First of all, we are talking about medical professionals. Doctors with "Russian education" are in hot demand here. Many of them are well organized. "Kenya," one of the interviewees told us, " has a long and stable tradition of receiving medical education in Russia. The Ministry of Health employs graduates from Russia and the former USSR. Our former citizen works as the deputy director of the huge Kenyatta National Hospital... Two adult children, one working in a bank, the other as a hotel manager..."⁷.

Graduates of agricultural, polytechnic, mechanical and mathematical specialties, computer specialists, programmers with Russian diplomas are also successful in Kenya. "Difficulties with getting a job arise, however, for people with Russian legal diplomas. They are not in demand, as the legal legislation and office management of our two countries differ significantly. " ⁸

RUSSIAN BUSINESS IN KENYA

Our research has shown that Russians in Kenya run beauty salons and hairdressers, travel companies and camping sites in national parks, and companies that sell medical equipment and medicines. They work in computer firms, in the fields of education, health care, as well as in the field of land and water resources management. Many teach at Kenyan public and private universities (especially in demand are physicists, mathematicians, programmers, engineers and high-tech specialists, philologists, doctors, soil scientists and biologists). Some of the Russians work on international and Kenyan environmental projects.

Russians are successfully doing business in Kenya. One example is respondent 5, a businesswoman who started her company in Nairobi in 1985. The entire staff is Kenyan locals. The company initially imported medical equipment and gained a foothold in the Kenyan market. But gradually expanded the scope of their interests. The company's subsidiary supplies flowers, coffee and tea to Russia, and also imports elite Moldovan wines.⁹

At the same time, the same respondent points out serious problems that arise when Kenyans study in Russia, which sharply reduce the attractiveness of Russian education. First of all, we are talking about the bureaucracy of officials. So, if a student interrupts his studies for serious reasons (for example, illness) and returns to Kenya for treatment, then after recovery, he may not be allowed to return to Russia. Moreover, "without any explanation of the reasons. They just don't open a visa "¹⁰.

EDUCATION IN KENYA

In the Russian community in Kenya, there is a core of activists - people who are not indifferent to their compatriots, who supervise visitors and help them get settled in a new place.

One of the Russian women, a biologist by profession, who conducts many years of scientific research in Kenya, said that she feels warm and comfortable in the society of her compatriots. Moreover, they supervised it at first and are constantly interested in its affairs ¹¹. Thus, the cooperation and mutual assistance of our compatriots in Kenya is actively practiced and comes from below. Although, of course, altruism in relation to compatriots is far from 100% a phenomenon.

Russian women in Kenya are actively working, moving up the corporate ladder, improving their educational level and easily adapting to the requirements of the current labor market. The vast majority of Russian descendants in Kenya received a good education in Kenyan and Western universities. Their identity can be defined as that of a Kenyan. Young people fit well into the local culture and economy. Their social environment is international (local Kenyans and expats are foreign specialists from different countries of Europe and Asia). As a rule, in such an environment there are no manifestations of racial or national discrimination. Children of mixed marriages form families of mixed racial and ethnic origin. It is important to note that in Kenya, we did not find any prejudice against interracial marriage in general and among our compatriots in particular.

In Kenya, there is no prejudice against the employment of white women, especially highly educated ones, so divorced women are able to successfully adapt and overcome the difficulties of life. Russian women today work in various sectors of the economy and hold high positions even in the civil service. However, in the latter case, they are forced to accept Kenyan citizenship. Kenyan laws, however, allow for dual citizenship.

The Kenyan authorities have shown no interest in developing close political and economic ties with Russia either in the past or at present. Partly for this reason, some immigrants from Russia and

former Soviet citizens who live permanently in Kenya often do not see much benefit in teaching their children Russian. They do not seek to send their children to study in Russia either: "The problems with racism that have emerged in recent years in Russia further strengthen the negative attitude towards it. Many children in mixed families do not know or almost do not know Russian... preferring to communicate in English "¹².

But this is not always the case. If both parents decide to teach their children Russian and introduce them to Russian culture, they usually succeed ¹³. One respondent who has a business in Kenya said in an interview that it was quite obvious for her to teach her child Russian: "If you are Russian, then your children should also know Russian and Russian culture. This is necessary. How else will you respect yourself?"¹⁴.

Some mixed families in Kenya teach Russian not only to their children, but also to their grandchildren. Although this requires considerable effort and, in some situations, financial costs, in the end, according to the respondents themselves, knowledge of Russian not only broadened their horizons, but also brought financial benefits. Today, knowledge of the Russian language in Kenya can serve as a pass for getting a good job. "The Russian language was useful for my son in his work career, because after graduating from university, he found a job in a Russian company," says one of the respondents, a professor at the University of Nairobi. ¹⁵

COMPATRIOTS AND THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY

Speaking about the relations of Russian-speaking citizens (including those who retain Russian citizenship) with the Russian Embassy in Kenya, many people remember with great respect the former Ambassador V. E. Yegoshkin (2005-2010) and the minister-adviser A. E. Saltykov: "When Yegoshkin arrived as an ambassador, our compatriots felt that Russia was taking care of them. He immediately invited compatriots with children to meet him, and during the entire period of his stay as ambassador, these contacts were constantly maintained. This attitude towards us significantly raised the embassy's prestige in the eyes of our compatriots and created a sense of their demand for Russia.16

There is no doubt that such relations with compatriots are the best way to promote Russia's policy and economic interests on the ground and help not only strengthen ties with former citizens and their descendants, but also encourage them to learn the language and Russian culture, as well as get an education in Russia.

TENDER AND OTHER ISSUES

When asked about the "cultural shock" of coming to Kenya and the challenges of cultural adaptation, many people point out cultural differences in the tender question. This applies to both Indians and Africans. For women who married Kenyans, the subordinate position of women in the family came as a shock when they arrived in Kenya.¹⁷

Moreover, this inequality continues to persist today even when the socio-economic position of the wife is more significant - when a woman gets a more prestigious and highly paid job: she holds a post in one of the Kenyan ministries, becomes the head of the UN office or the director of a large firm. This creates real problems in family life and often leads to divorce ¹⁸.

Another problem is related to unofficially recognized polygamy: many men start other families on the side after some time. Polygamy is latent in Kenya, even in the highest grades.

social strata. As a rule, Russian citizens are not able to put up with this attitude, and families break up. In other cases, women are forced to put up with a second family or even learn about it at the funeral of their husband, when other legitimate heirs are announced (children from the wife on the side that the husband officially adopted, hiding this fact from her). It is estimated that only 7-10% of mixed families still have marriages.

Mixed families differ in the level of communication with Russian and Kenyan relatives. More successful families are usually those in which the African husband establishes close friendly contacts with his wife's relatives. These relatives often visit Kenya and themselves show a distinctly positive attitude towards Africa and respect for African society and culture.¹⁹

It is also important that the husband listens to the opinion of his wife. As one of these successful women said: "I am a general in the family, and my husband and daughter are soldiers"²⁰. There is no doubt that a woman's wisdom and tact combined with firmness of character contribute to the success of a marriage. In successful families, the wife establishes friendly relations with her husband's relatives, her children are friends with cousins, and she and her husband, if necessary, provide all possible financial support in the education of the last ²¹.

For a successful marriage, a woman's self-esteem is important. High self-esteem plays a positive role and encourages her husband, his relatives, and the local community to treat her and her children better.²² Along with this, an important positive factor is the assessment of the husband's qualities. One of our respondents, currently a homemaker, said: "I have a beautiful husband. And I'm proud of him. 23 In this case, such an assessment is more than deserved, because the person in question has achieved success himself, both socially and financially. We are respected by society and loved not only by our wife and daughter, but also by her large relatives. However, judging by the information received, he himself sincerely loves Russian culture and his wife's relatives, so respect and love are mutual.²⁴

A prerequisite for successful adaptation of Russians in Africa is the establishment of permanent residence in the country: orientation towards mutual understanding and conflict-free relations with the local population; establishing ties with Russians who have previously arrived in the country and have already settled in; establishing ties with the Russian embassy and consular department; mastering the titular language of the country of residence; general tolerance and tolerance in against the background of general restraint and firm attitudes to a successful existence in the new homeland ²⁵.

In exceptional cases, adaptation is complicated by the active rejection of the wife (husband) by relatives of the opposite side. So, in one of the interviews, we were told about several Russian women living in Kenya for 20 years or more, whose parents and other close relatives completely broke off any ties with them and did not accept the choice of their daughter. Moreover, after the passage of time, these relatives demonstrated an openly racist attitude.

Problems with racist attitudes in Russia or Ukraine are becoming more noticeable. Many of the respondents noted: 1. The husband tries not to go to Russia (Ukraine) anymore, because once there, he is subjected to insults and humiliations (on the street, in transport, and even in supermarkets); 2. Children who go to study in Russia are humiliated not only by strangers in public places, but also by violence (they are threatened, attacked, beaten, injured, and even killed).

To be fair, there are other, more optimistic scenarios: several women said that they often go to visit their parents, sisters and brothers with mestizo children. They speak good Russian, love Russian culture, and have not only cousins and sisters who are friendly to them in Russia, but also friends with whom, after parting ways, they continue to correspond via Skype and email. ²⁶ Such children are very fond of visiting Russia (Ukraine) and note that they are treated with sympathy and respect.

The standard of living in Kenya, in comparison with many other African countries, has always been quite high. For this reason, the majority of Russians who came here did not experience a negative culture shock. Rather, on the contrary, the reality turned out to be better than they expected. This circumstance, of course, made it easier for Russians to adapt to their new homeland.

One of the interviewees, recalling the first months spent in Kenya (she arrived with her husband in 1985), comments: "I liked the friendliness and benevolence of Kenyans. Especially

service sector employees were pleasantly impressed. Kenyan salespeople and cashiers were attentive and very accommodating ... in stark contrast to the usual image of salespeople in Leningrad and Moscow at that time. " ²⁷

However, there is another point of view. Some Russian citizens who have come to Kenya for their husband express dissatisfaction with local living conditions and would like to emigrate to a more developed Western country (USA or Canada)in the future²⁸.

We would like to finish the analysis of in-depth interviews about immigrants from Russia and the former Soviet Union in Kenya with the words of one of our respondents, who has been successfully doing business in this country for many years: "I do not see a tragedy for any of the Russian-speaking citizens in Kenya. Everyone who works and puts in the effort can survive. 29

OUR FINDINGS

The socio-psychological profile of our compatriot in Kenya is very positive. Most of them are active people with clear life orientations, oriented towards integration into Kenyan society, think democratically and have formed stable ties with local Europeans and Africans. At the same time, the Russian language and Russian culture are considered by many of them as an important component of their own identity. Our compatriots and their descendants occupy prestigious positions and conduct business, competing with local and international firms. An important trait is optimism and a positive attitude, the ability to get along with other people, regardless of their skin color, religion and cultural traditions.

The analyzed sample of Russian-speaking respondents living in Kenya is small, but we tried to collect in-depth interviews (sometimes such a conversation took up to 3 hours) Russians who arrived in Kenya in different years, are employed in different areas of business, economy, education, as well as civil servants. This made it possible to create a diverse portrait of a representative of the Russian diaspora and identify the specifics of their lifestyle and psychological attitudes.

We can note a higher, on average, level of affluence of our compatriots in Kenya, a greater integration into local society, a significant accentuation of the international attitudes of our compatriots and their descendants, and a great potential for business development and self-realization of Russians in this country today. Kenya ranks 56th in the world in terms of GDP growth, and its standard of living is higher than in the rest of the East African countries we studied earlier using a similar methodology.³⁰

The embassy's strategy of close cooperation with Russian citizens permanently residing in African countries (in this case, in Kenya) and their descendants certainly creates favorable prospects for expanding Russia's influence in these countries, primarily in the economic sphere. Given that in the coming decades, experts predict that Africa will become one of the most efficiently developing regions in ^the world31, the presence of a powerful enclave of compatriots and their descendants focused on ties with Russia will be one of the leading factors that will favor the success of Russia's foreign policy in East Africa in the future.

* * *

For invaluable assistance in the implementation of the project, the authors express their gratitude to A. N. Rinkanya, Professor, Director of the Russian World Office in the Republic of Kenya; V. A. Konnik, Head of the RCSC in Ethiopia; and G. S. Khrumkacheva.

^{Butovskaya M. L., Burkova V. N., Butovsky R. O.} 1 Russians and natives of the CIS countries in Africa. Social and psychological profile // Asia and Africa Today, 2011, N 8. (Butovskaya M. L., Burkova V. N., Butovskiy R. O. 2011. Rossiyane i vykhodtsy iz stran SNG v Afrike // Aziya i Afrika Segodnya. N 8) (in Russian); Krylova N. L. Afro-Russians: marriage, family, fate. M., ROSSPEN, 2006. (Krylova N. L. 2006. Afro-rossiyane: brak, semya, sudba. M.) (in Russian); Krylova N. L. Russians in Africa: ways entering the new cultural world / / Afrika. Tender measurement / Comp. N. L. Krylov and N. A. Ksenofontov, Moscow, 2010. (Krylova N. L. 2010. Rossiyanki v Afrike: puti vkhozhdeniya v novyi kulturnyi mir // Afrika. Gendername izmerenie... M.) (in Russian); Krylova N. L. International relations of the Tender Research Group. Field research / / Africa. Tender dimension... Moscow, 2010. Krylova N. L. 2010. Mezdunarodnye svyazi gruppy gendernykh issledovaniy. Polevye izyskaniya // Afrika. Genderne izmerenie... M.) (in Russian); Lvova E. S., Krylova N. L. 2010. "Russian" wives in Tanzania. Year 2003 / / Africa. Tender measurement... (Lvova E. S., Krylova N. L. 2010. "Russkie" zhyony v Tanzanii. God 2003 // Afrika. Gendernoye izmerenie...) (in Russian).

^{Krylova N. L.} 2 Afro-Russians...

³ For more information, see: Krylova N. L. Russian women in Africa. Problems of adaptation. Moscow, 1996. (Krylova N. L. 1996. Russkie zhenshchiny v Afrike. M) (in Russian); Krylova N. L., Prozhogina S. V. Zhenka i Chuzhbina, Moscow, 2007. (Krylova N. L., Prozhogina S. V. 2007. Zhenshchina i Chuzhbina. M.) (in Russian); Male and female. Book 1. Dialogue or rivalry? Moscow, 2004; Tender and Power. Semya, obshchestvo, gosudarstvo [Family, Society, State], Moscow, 2008; Tendernye issledovaniya v afrikanistike [Tender Research in African Studies], Moscow, 2000; Afrika. Tender dimension...

^{Butovskaya M. L., Burkova V. N., Butovsky R. O.} 4 Decree. op.

⁵ Interview with Rep. 1 from 13.01.14; with Rep. 2 from 17.01.14; from Rep. 3 from 18.01.14; from Rep. 4 from 16.01.14.

⁶ Interview with Rep. 5 from 16.01.14.

⁷ Ibid.

⁸ Ibid.

⁹ Ibid.

¹⁰ Ibid.

¹¹ Interview with Rep. 6 from 14.01.14.

¹² Interview with Rep. 1, edict. higher.

¹³ Interview with Rep. 5, edict. higher.

¹⁴ Interview with Rep. 7 from 17.01.14

¹⁵ Ibid.

¹⁶ Interview with Rep. 5, edict. higher.

¹⁷ Interview with Rep. 8 from 14.01.14; interview with Rep. 9 from 18.01.14.

¹⁸ Interview with Rep. 3, edict. higher.

¹⁹ Interview with Rep. 1, edict. above; with Rep. 9; from Rep. 11, decree. above; from Rep. 3, decree. higher.

²⁰ Interview with Rep. 4 from 18.01.14.

²¹ Interview with Rep. 4, edict. higher.

²² Interview with Rep. 4, edict. higher.

²³ Interview with Rep. 3, edict. higher.

²⁴ Interviews with Rep. 12 from 18.01.14.

²⁵ Interview with Rep. 5, edict. above; from Rep. 4, decree. above; from Rep. 3, decree. higher.

²⁶ Interview with Rep. 13 of 16.01.14; with Rep. 3, decree. higher.

²⁷ Interview with Rep. 1, edict. higher.

²⁸ Interview with Rep. 10 from 16.01.14.

²⁹ Interview with Rep. 5, edict. higher.

^{Butovskaya M. L., Burkova V. N., Butovsky R. O.} 30 Edict. op.

³¹ Abramova I. O. New role of Africa in the world economy of the XXI century. Report at the XIII Conference of African Studies. Moscow, May 27 - 30, 2014, IAfr RAS, 2014, p. 17. (Abramova I. O. 2014. Novaya rol Afriki v mirovoi ekonomike XXI veka. M.) (in Russian)

Permanent link to this publication: