One of the issues that faces our generation is a dearth (or even the death, in some places) of rich culture. Globally, many ethnic traditions, langauages and rituals are being eroded as the massive flood of Western culture and thinking creeps over the previously unreached hills and terrains of non-western cultures. In almost every continent on earth, there are many aspects of culture that are being eroded. This erosion of culture largely started with the enslavement of peoples and continued with the colonization and conquering of foreign lands.

One of the primary aspects of culture that is being wiped out very fast in Africa is local languages. While I live in America, I normally call my home country and talk to my family there every now and then. It surprises me that most of my nephews and nieces do not speak my mother-tongue at all. They understand bits and pieces but they just do not speak it at all! Also when it comes to African attire, most of it has been replaced by Western attire. Granted, some of it was skimpy and had to be gotten rid of. However, there needs to be a certain aspect that is preserved.

Many indigenous customs have gotten lost over the years. The aborigines of Australia, the Indians of North America, the Maya of Central America, the Tuareg of the Sahara, the Maasai of Kenya, the San and Pygmy peoples, the Inuit of Canada, the Qashqai of Iran, the Sami of Scandinavia and the Chamorros of Guam are just some of the indigenous peoples that have lost many aspects of their culture in the name of civilization.

We can become custodians of culture by encouraging indigenous people to preserve their culture. Teach their way of life to new generations, write books in their native languages, build museums for storing artefacts and memoirs from their past. Of course we are not naive to not think that civilization will one day over-run the whiole world. But we must develop a way of becoming custodians of culture.

Ever since Senator Barack Obama declared his intention to run for the American presidency, I've been hounded by questions as to how I, as a Kenyan living in America, feel about his run. The questions have come while riding the Metro, eating at a restaurant, at Toastmasters meetings, at church, and believe it or not, while seated on a dentist's chair undergoing a root canal!

Kenyans are happy that a son of a son of their country is running for the presidency of the United States. It is an important time for America because a credible African-American with a real chance of winning is running. Citizens of both nations recognize that it is high time for Kenya and America to begin to work together and explore more avenues of interdependence.

Barack Obama is an American citizen. He is not running as a Kenyan. While we (Kenyans) share a connection with him because his father was a Kenyan, we do not have any claim to his attention as a possible president. If Barack Obama does become president of the United States, he has no obligation to the people of Kenya because he is an American citizen representing his people.

American missionaries have been going to Kenya for generations. The U.S. was an active supporter of Kenyan independence. And one of America's top legal minds and civil rights leaders - Thurgood Marshall, later a Justice of the Supreme Court - went to Kenya as a volunteer and helped to draft the first Constitution. Thanks to the Terminator's father-in-law, Sargent Shriver, thousands of young women and men have gone every year to live and work in Kenya as Peace Corps volunteers.

On the other hand, thanks to the "Kennedy Airlift," planeloads of young Kenyan leaders came to the United States in the months immediately preceding Kenya's independence. As a matter of fact, Barack's father came to the U.S. because of the Kennedy Administration's life-changing policy. My own father came to the United States in 1978 to study agriculture in Washington, D.C. and promptly flew back to Kenya for a senior position in the government. Right now, there are over 7,000 young Kenyans studying in colleges and universities across the United States, more than from any other country on the African continent.

Kudos to Barack for his audacity and good luck to his campaign.

Kenya is a country full of diversity. There are over 41 tribes and people of many nationalities from all over the world. What Kenya needs is a leader who will effectively represent each of these tribes. The current crop of leaders have outlasted their times. We need fresh leaders born after Independence. These are the people who will take the country to the next level.

Kenya, and many other African nations, need leaders that are trained and educated in leadership. Many of our leaders in the past have been poor leaders who stuck to power for too long. Our nations have been robbed of their potential because of individual interests that have practically disrobbed the countries of their national resources. It's time for new leadership.