Mattia - Walking the Rift

Idealism and Imperialism in East Africa, Alfred Robert Tucker ( 1890 1911 )

by

Joan Plubell Mattia

To all scholars and future students of African and British Colonial studies.

L ingering over a fine dinner in Florida, my friend and owner of the local book store asked: If you could do anything in the world without thought of money or time what would it be? My answer (go to Africa and teach) was the beginning of this project. Within a year my answer had become reality and in due course, while lingering over another fine dinner, this one in Dar es Salaam while the candidates for Miss Tanzania glided through the dining room, another friend, Headmaster of the Mvumi Girls School, asked another question in regard to post graduate work: Whats stopping you? These two questions, and the two people who asked them, have played a significant role in the initiation of this work, and I thank them both.

As the lightning flashes from east to west so is the mind of Werner Ustorf, Professor Emeritus from the University of Birmingham. I thank him for his insightful, sometimes brilliant and occasionally startling comments which helped give me direction in this research without dampening my own initiative and ideas. When confusion arose from multiple options, Professor Hugh McLeod, also from Birmingham, could be counted on as a calming presence, making time in a busy schedule to read paragraphs or pages, answer questions about English social systems while sitting in his office high in the rafters of the Arts Building.

I thank the cadre of international students who attended the post graduate research seminars during my time at Birmingham who were always willing to interact with ideas, discuss, or offer suggestions. I am especially grateful to the students from the Congo who had personal knowledge of Byaruhangas research, which was published in the U.S. and so not so well known in Britain.

While researching day after day in the Special Collections at the Birmingham Orchard Learning Resources Centre, the staff became familiar faces. I came to appreciate their readiness to assist me to solve a puzzle or retrieve a record. In fact, such was the case in all the various British libraries that I visited in regards to this project. Although their records were less abundant, the staff at the various African institutions were gracious and as helpful as they were able to be; most especially Mr. Patrick Rimba Tsuma, the records keeper at Mombasa Memorial Cathedral who allowed me to examine the fragile records like a father handing me his only child.

Tudor Griffiths was very generous to share, not only experience of research trips, copies of records and his dissertation; but also he and his wife opened their lovely home in Wales for a week-end of hospitality and conversation of Tucker. I would also like to thank Sue Davy and Frankie Stahlhut for their kind and enthusiastic offer to proof-read which took a big weight off my mind and helped my pocket-book as well.

But most of all I wish to thank my generous and unselfish husband, Lou, who has provided the lions share of my support and encouragement. Without him my life would be dull and this work would have remained only a dream.

ACKA Anglican Church of Kenya Archives

BGCA Billy Graham Center Archives

CMS Church Missionary Society

CMSA Church Missionary Society Archives

DCL Durham Cathedral Library

IBEA Imperial British East Africa Company

KNA Kenya National Archives

LPA Lambeth Palace Archives

MUA Makerere University Archives

NLS National Library of Scotland

PRO Public Records Office

RH Rhodes House Archives

UCUA Uganda Christian University Archives

UNA Uganda National Archives

H eading north out of Nairobi in our vintage 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser, it was not long before the road sloped upward out of the city and into the lush African countryside spotted with small settlements, roadside shops and countless people walking in the red dirt along the side of the road, with their plastic bags full of colorful fresh produce from local markets. The road curved up and up until we crested a large hill and found ourselves on top of a great plateau which opened up on a vast horizon. We pulled off at a roadside overlook next to a little tea shop and stepped out of the car. What we saw was stunning beyond words. Here, perched high on a mountain overlook there lay before us a view of the world as we had never imagined. It was as if the ground had disappeared below our feet and hundreds of miles north and south there lay a great plain as far as the eye could see. Then directly west, beyond the vastness of the African plain, rose another escarpment, thousands of feet high, shrouded in mist and clouds. This was The Great Rift Valley that stretches all the way from Lebanon in the Middle East down through the Eastern edge of Africa and south to Mozambique some 4000 miles. The view is staggering and immense. Astronauts orbiting the earth in space have often commented that the Great Rift is the most visible and impressive geological formation on the planet.

The Great Rift is the product of millions of years of enormous crust movement as two gigantic plates, the African (Nubian) Plate and the Somali Plate have pulled apart leaving the land in between to settle deeper and deeper forming a broad vast plain surrounded by giant ridges on each side. Besides this incredible geologic structure, it is also believed that humans began their long migration process from the fertile richness of forests and lakes which produced an explosion of plant and animal life. The forces which created all this magnificence continue to this day with formation of new lakes, hot water vents, volcanoes and upheavals.