escalating violence in the West

There have been a lot of mixed emotions in the past few days. While I have been finally getting out an about in Nairobi, seeing old friends, meeting new people and feeling rejuvinated, the news of increasing violence in Rift Valley has been absolutely sickening. This weekend, Nakuru and Naivasha were both sites of widespread gang violence, of house burning, murder and rape. It's hard to believe that this is happening in the Kenya that I love, a place that until recently has been largely peaceful. The Kenyans that I know have always been so proud of their country and optimistic for the future. These recent developments have brought shock, shame, and a sense of uncertainty and doubt. It's heartbreaking to see that loss of hope. It's heartbreaking to see these images, of boys who couldn't be older than 16 armed with bows and arrows, of people carrying mattresses and bundles while fleeing burning homes, of people shot and hacked and burned to death by their own neighbours. It doesn't feel real.

Here in Nairobi, things are calm, though the evidence of the local unrest is in the thousands that are still displaced, living in camps scattered across the city. Yesterday while travelling to meet friends, we passed a group of burned homes, pathetic piles of charred wood and plastic. A gas station in the area had also been burned and looted, while all around the site hawkers continued to sell their wares, women passed by carrying babies, dogs wandered through as if all was normal. Later, we passed by a small camp of displaced people. They had set up rows of tents that seemed to be fashioned with sticks and bedsheets -- hardly enough to feel secure, to keep out the cold at night or the unseasonable rain that we have been experiencing this past week. I can't imagine how these people must be feeling. Even if they came from the slums, at least there they had a place to call their own, perhaps a small business, a few possessions. Now they are unable to work, unable to return home, may have friends and family members, or not even know whether or not their loved ones are alive.

On Sunday I attended my first Mathare Roots meeting, a group run by youth from Mathare slum. They are planning to visit a few of the camps next weekend, to bring clothing and other provisions, to give a bit of entertainment and counselling where possible. I've been invited to go with them, and would like to bring whatever I can to provide some relief. If any of you would like to make a donation to buy clothing or food for people living in refugee camps, please email me and I'll see what I can work out.

Despite all of the horrific events of the past few days, being able to attend the Roots meeting and visit my friends has been amazing. There are so many projects running under the umbrella of this one group -- a sports program, community outreach, a photography group for the younger kids and a dance group, to name a few. One of the newer projects which my friend Tito is working on is an adolescent health program. Youth group members will visit informal schools in the area -- these are schools run by community members, attended by children who cannot afford to buy the uniforms and books or arrange transportation that would allow them to attend formal, government-established schools. The program would address myths about sexual activities and health, attempt to establish open dialog about puberty, menstruation, contraception and health. In an area where unplanned pregnancies and HIV/AIDS are still common and can be absolutely devastating if one hardly has the resources to support oneself, that knowledge can be immensely powerful. It's going to be a bit of a challenge to establish an atmosphere in which the kids feel comfortable talking about these sorts of things, particularly the young girls who tend to be quite shy, but I'm really excited about this program, and hope that I have the time to help out if I can.

At the meeting I also met my friends' new child, and was adopted by a ten-year old boy called Lucky who is taking part in the photography project. He took over my camera for a while, and is actually quite good. While at first he would hardly look me in the eye, by the end of the day he was sitting in my lap and dragging me around by the arm. His mom gave us permission to take him out for the evening, so we had our first little visitor in the apartment.

It has been a bit frustrating in a way, living in our little middle-class bubble of a neighbourhood while watching Rift Valley burn. While the politicians in Nairobi shake hands and smile for the cameras, they continue to reiterate their positions, aggressively refusing to concede anything to one another. I can't imagine what kind of political arrangement could be worked out at this point, and even if things stabilized at a political level, how long it will take this country to heal after neighbours have turned on each other. There has been some suggestion that some of the violence had been planned even before the elections -- that part of it had been orchestrated in order to reclaim land or to take revenge on Kikuyus for the disproportionate political and economic power some members of that group have enjoyed since independence. Many Kikuyus living in Rift Valley had moved to that area to work on farms established by British settlers, and have lived there ever since despite the land being the traditional realm of other groups (Maasai and Kalenjin?). I'm a little bit shaky on the history here and don't have a whole lot of access to this information, so I couldn't tell you exactly what the situation has been since independence, but I do know that land rights have been a big issue in that region, as in most of Kenya, and I'm sure this must have played a role in this weekend's attacks. Whether or not it had been premeditated, I couldn't really say. Thinking about that possibility makes me feel ill (what kind of monster could sanction this?), though I'm not sure whether it would be worse had it been planned or spontaneous.

I'm really wishing that I understood Swahili better in order to better follow the news reports here (as well as the Roots meetings and other conversations of interest). At least that's some incentive to improve my skills quickly. Hopefully I'll be able to get more information and understand the situation a little better soon.