I have been dealing with a problem in my foot for almost two weeks. This might not sound particularly dramatic. It isn't cancer. It isn't an emergency. It isn't even the kind of pain that stops me from going about my day. Which is perhaps why I found myself hesitating. You see, I am a walker. Not the kind of person who takes a stroll every now and then. I walk for two to three hours most days. Walking is how I think, how I clear my head, and how I make sense of the world. If there is one part of my body I should be willing to invest in, it is probably my feet. Yet when I started calling podiatrists in Nairobi, I found myself doing mental gymnastics. The cheapest consultation fee I found was KES 5,000. Consultation. Not treatment. Not scans. Not medication. Just the privilege of finding out what might be wrong. By the time everything was done, the bill could easily reach KES 15,000 or KES 20,000. And suddenly I found myself wondering whether I really needed a podiatrist. May...
Spend a few minutes on Kenyan Reddit and you may walk away with the impression that every Kenyan earns upwards of KES 200,000, invests like a Wall Street trader, and casually thinks in U.S. dollars. Even when the topic is as grounded as rent in Kariobangi or the price of a phone, the responses often come wrapped in financial flexes. Dollars are quoted in a shilling economy, salaries inflated, and investments exaggerated. At first, it seems amusing, but the more you read, the more unsettling it becomes. If this is the digital space that Google increasingly serves us when we search for Kenyan solutions, what does it mean when exaggeration becomes the dominant voice of Kenyan reality online? The Performance of Wealth Kenyan Reddit thrives on a kind of performance. To admit to struggle, ordinary earnings, or living a simple life often attracts derision. For men especially, there is relentless pressure to appear financially successful. To be broke, or even to suggest that relationships m...