Learning about the African culture

Janet* was at the mortuary today, as her relative (a traffic officer) got killed in a road traffic accident. I later learned that road traffic accidents occur quite frequently here. I had a chat with Judy about the African culture. I said it was interesting to me that in the Kenyan culture, people generally marry early, and have children at a younger age compared to the UK. Judy explained there is pressure from the parents once you're married to start a family, also there is extra pressure to have a boy. She explained that men openly cheat on their wives, and the wives just accept it because divorce is frowned upon. Men have children outside wedlock, and then their wives have to look after them, and treat them as their own. She also explained that if the wife is barren, there is a famous Kenyan expression to say that the wife “...sits on her husband.” In otherwords, she isn't good for anything. I found this quite shocking and sad too. I'm wondering whether there is an expression if the husband is barren? I'm learning a lot here about how the family is viewed in Kenyan culture. I spent the afternoon working on my slides for Monday. We had a power cut tonight at 11pm. I felt a bit scared, but I can honestly say two of the most used things that I have brought over here with me are a head torch (thanks bro!) and a rain jacket! I only regret not bringing wellies!

*The names have been changed in this posting