[...]
[Villagers playing different instruments]
[Villagers playing different instruments]
[Villagers playing different instruments]
[Flute]
[Inaudible chatter]
[Music]
[Crowded street market]
[Giraffes in wilderness]
[Singing in Swahili]
[Ostrich]
[Child running]
[Villagers and wildlife montage]
[Aerial view of high-rise buildings]
[City dwellers walking]
[Villagers and wildlife montage]
[Music and singing]
[Villagers and wildlife montage]
[Music fades out]
[Truck engine]
[Dramatic musical sting]
[A quiet revolution]
[Truck moving on dirt road]
["Kinga" imprinted on truck]
[Narrator:] "Kinga" inSwahili means "shield."
Kinga is a program forselling contraceptives
to the men of Kenya throughthe loca, small general stores,
which sell everyday needs.
The men who sell thecondoms bearing this name
travel in two trucks.
The first truck toenter the village
is white, for theadvance information
man who distributes promotionalmaterial and samples.
[Truck moving]
The pink truck isdriven by the salesman,
who distributes suppliesof condoms to the locals.
As part of a program sponsoredby the government of Kenya,
they sell the condoms ata low, subsidized price.
But the Kinga mendo more than sell.
[Speaking Swahili]
[Narrator:] The advanceman, very friendly
and very authoritative,talks about family planning
as a principle.
He answers questionsand dispels confusion.
He talks about a whole rangeof contraceptive methods,
including those the womenfolkcan use.
The pills and IUDs.
[Speaking Swahili]
[Narrator:] But theyconcentrate on the condoms,
which give the responsibilityfor family planning to the man.
By using the Kinga,the shield, the man
retains the image ofvirility and strength
that he associates to thetradition of his forefathers.
[Kinga signage]
The condoms can be boughtfor a few pennies wherever
the men buy tobacco
and otherpersonal needs.
[Kinga condom box]
[Speaking Swahili]
[Narrator:] It is notnecessary for the men
to visit doctors,clinics, to get them.
Most of the men know bynow that they need not
have more babies than theycan properly care for.
By helping them to buy acontraceptive method cheaply
and easily, in locationsthey visit frequently.
The Kinga program is making thewhole process not only simpler
but more dignified.
Something which suits theman of Kenya well.
[Murmuring]
The government wants aprosperous, healthy nation.
The men who lead Kenyabelieve that family planning
is one way to reach this goal.
[Speaker 1:] Mr. Minister,family planning
is a relevant issuein matters of planning
in relation to behavior.
What are your views on this?
[Minister:] Well, my views, whichreally are government views,
is that family planning is anintegral part
of development planning.
It is an essential part, forthe reason that you cannot hope
to plan other forms ofproduction if you cannot plan
the production of the mainresource, human beings.
We view it as an aspectof human freedom,
in the same way as wegive people education
so as to open wider horizonsfor them in the world.
The same way that you providea farmer with greater knowledge
about the seed, aboutfertility of the soil,
about climate, aboutrotation of crops.
It's the same way that youmust provide that information,
that education, to the personso that he is not restricted
in his living by ignorance,so that he becomes aware
that there is a way,there are methods,
of regulating his family.
There are means of spacingthe birth of his children.
So that he is not slaveto just natural forces.
And this is what I said inSwahili to these people,
that we view family planningeducation as an extension
of personal liberty.
The man, the woman,are then able
to make personal decision,a family decision,
as to when they want theirchildren, how many they want.
It is not a programfor government
to force people to restrictthe numbers, or even as
to how to space their children.
It is a program to givethem the knowledge.
With the knowledge,and as a free people,
we know they will make the rightdecision, which is that they
want healthy children.
They will thereforewant to space them,
so that they can feed thembetter, educate them better,
clothe them better.
And then we shall havea healthier nation.
This is what we want to do.
[Truck motor at a distance]
[Narrator:] Another man of Kenyasees the matter in homelier,
more personal terms.
[Cattle mooing]
[Rooster crows]
[Speaker 2:] I've beenour tour guide
in this tour guide business forabout five years solid.
This time, I'm justmarried, at an age of 28.
And I want to planmy path and my family
to an extent of two children,because this is the new system
in our young country of Kenya.
And it's a 12-month [?].
Of course, one shouldplan everything.
So I think it would be all rightto plan it, two children, which
I'll be able to lookafter in the best way.
I guess that's a nicething altogether.
[Narrator:] It ismen such as this
who benefit fromprograms such as Kinga.
Programs aimed attheir intelligence,
their self-interest, theirbelief in the future.
[Van traveling down gravel road]
[Singing in Swahili and in English]
[Narrator:] If, in time,a Kenyan father,
upon dividing his landbetween his children,
can see that he hasenough land for them.
Because he has onlytwo sons, not ten.
If the people can thinkcalmly of their future,
not as something whichhappens by cruel chance,
but something whichcomes of a quiet plan.
Then, one day, they can lookat the dear land of Kenya,
and be proud.
The old ones walked by theroad and dream of old days.
The young ones go in thesunlight and dream of days to come.
Of the richness ofour land, the blue mountains
and the forests and valleys,where wild creatures roam.
These are our blessed heritage.
These we must nourish andguard for our children,
so that our land lives forever.
[Birds trilling, rooster crowing]
[Music playing]
[Singing in Swahili]
[Villagers and wildlife montage]
[Truck travels down local road]
[...]
[Drum beating]
[An AIRLIE production]
[Drum beating]
[Executive producer, Murdock Head, M.D.]
[Photographed and edited by, William Livingston]
[Narration written by, Miriam Bucher]
[Produced for Inter-American Dialogue Center]
[...]