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NEWS FEATURE
NAIROBI REVIVAL
Although the port city of Mombasa had a strong religious influence, Nairobi lagged behind until young parents took a new initiative
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HERE ARE ABOUT 13,000 Jains living in Kenya; the vast majority being concentrated in the capital city Nairobi and the rest living in Mombasa, Kisumu, Thika, Eldoret, Nakuru and Kitale. Although there are different sects of Jains living in Kenya (Shvetambara Murtipujaks, Sthanakvasis, Digambaras and a few who follow Srimad Rajchandra), staunch sectarianism is absent.
The first Jains, predominantly Shvetambaras, migrated from Saurashtra, Gujarat in India, around 1890. Their main means of livelihood in India was farming and their formal education, in terms of reading and writing. was minimal. Their knowledge about Jainism was also limited, but they brought along with them the Jain rituals, which are still performed in Kenya in the traditional manner. Their greatest possession was their strong values of hard work, simplicity and mutuality, which they brought with them along with their baggage.
For these pioneers, legal and administrative work was difficult to handle because of their limited education. As a consequence, the welfare and education of fellow Jains was of paramount importance. They worked and donated generously and unselfishly towards these goals. As a result, today the Jains of Kenya can boast of reputable nurseries, primary and secondary schools as well as colleges of higher education. Recognising the importance of competitive sports, a sports complex was also built in Nairobi.
Unfortunately, formal education and spiritual education did not grow at the same rate. More emphasis was put on the former. Therefore, people grew up to be professionals in various fields
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became well established financially; but something was still missing - the thirst for a 'Jain identity' started simmering and many welleducated Jains and youngsters started inquiring more and more about Jainism and its tenets.
Young Nairobi Jains at a Shri Chandna Vidyapeeth class There was a turning point in 1971 when Gurudev Shri Chitrabhanu visited East Africa. His discourses on Jainism created a lot of interest and awareness. Thus, the quest to attain more knowledge about our religion sparked off. In 1984, the building of the magnificent Jain temple in Nairobi also contributed to this quest. A religious class (pathsala) was started for children in 1945 where sutras and prayers were taught in the traditional way. They still continue to exist in the present day.
Yet, there was a huge need to learn Jainism in a systematic manner and to answer the 'Why?' questions. In January 1996, under the guidance of Shashikantbhai Mehta of Rajkot the organisation Young Jains Nairobi (YJN) was inaugurated, based on the success of the original UK Young Jains organisation. He advised the younger generation to form a group, where they could get involved in helping the less fortunate and in other charitable activities. There was a dire need for
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this because the younger generation was totally lost when it came to the cultural and religious aspects of life.
The first project that took off was 'Clothe a Family'. Here, people donated used and surplus clothes, shoes, toys, book etc., which were then sorted out by young and old volunteers. Approximately 80000 items were collected and distributed to the needy over a period of one year. This brought about a great sense of fellowship amongst the youth. The selflessness with which it was carried out amazed everybody. This was followed by a convention, where the founder of Young Jains, Dr. Atul K. Shah and his colleagues flew from London to conduct a retreat (shibir) and a Business Ethics Conference at the Inter-continental Hotel.
In 1997, Pujya Sadhviji Shilapiji was invited to Nairobi. With her and Acharya Shri Chandanaji's blessings, the Shri Chandana Vidyapeeth (SCVP) for children was started. A group of young ladies volunteered to be teachers: although they did not know the 'ABC' of Jainism, they were nonetheless willing to put their heart and soul into learning for themselves and then teaching the youngsters. Since then, SCVP has grown from strength to strength and to date we have 400 children studying with us on Saturday mornings. The teachers meet every Tuesday afternoon to discuss matters related to the classes and learn more. The effect of these classes was such that children would go home and ask their parents about Jain concepts. Of course, their parents not being well versed in Jainism themselves could not answer their questions so they demanded YJN to start classes for adults. Today we have 250 adult students the majority of whom are
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