From: David Zarembka
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 10:48 PM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya--Feb 26
Dear All,
On Thursday Gladys and I will be flying to the United States for three weeks. Thus you will not be receiving any reports from Kenya (although I might send out a "Report from the US" if something worth saying occurs). I will be speaking in many places. Here is what I have lined up so far. If you need more details about a particular event, contact me or Dawn Rubbert (who sends out these reports for me).
Dave's Speaking Schedule in US for March 2008
Arrive in DC Feb 29, 7:20 AM
Sunday, March 2 - William Penn House, DC--6:30 potluck
515 East Capitol Street,
SE Washington, D.C. 20003
Phone (202) 543-5560
http://williampennhouse.org/
Monday, March 3 - Cincinnati, Ohio - 7 - 8:30 pm
Community Friends Meeting
3960 Winding Way
Cincinnati, OH 45229-1950
(513) 861-4353
http://www.quaker.org/ovym/com.htm
Saturday, March 8 - Portland, Oregon (evening)
Multnomah Meeting
4312 S.E. Stark Street
Portland, Oregon 97215
(503) 232-2822
http://www.multnomahfriends.org/stark_street.html
Monday, March 10 --St Louis, Missouri - Light repast 6:15 / Presentation 7 - 8:30 pm
St. Louis Friends Meeting
1001 Park Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63104
(for info call Dawn at 314-647-1287)
http://www.stlouisfriends.org/
Thursday, March 13 - Wilmington, Delaware 7 pm
Westminster Presbyterian Church
1502 West 13th Street
Wilmington, DE 19806
(303) 654-5706
http://www.wpc.org/
Rt. 52/Delaware Ave. at 13th / free parking beside the church
Friday 3/14 - Wilmington Friends School (individual classes) 8 - 11 am
Friday, March 14 - Haddonfield, NJ - 7 pm
Haddonfield Friends Meeting
Friends Avenue & Lake Street (One block west of Kings Highway)
Haddonfield, NJ 08033
856-428-6242
http://www.pym.org/haddonfield-qm/haddonfieldmm/index.htm
Saturday, March 15, - Haverford, PA - Noon to 3:00 pm
Lunch with David Zarembka - Presentation/discussion afterward
Haverford Friends Meeting
855 Buck Lane
Haverford, PA 19041
http://www.haverfordfriendsmeeting.org/
Sunday, March 16 - Bethesda, Maryland - 12:30 pm
Bethesda Friends Meeting
7415 Beverly Rd
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 986-8681
http://www.bethesdafriends.org/
Monday, March 17-New York City, (tentative)
Tuesday, March 18-New York City, (QUNO), Tentative
Wednesday, March 19-Leave for Kenya
Friday--March 21-arrive in Kenya
Hope you have enjoyed my thoughts and experiences to date. I will resume the reports after I return to Kenya in late March.
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Feb 24. Rpt 34, Whom to blame? - David Zarembka
From: David Zarembka
Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 11:54 PM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya-- # 34 Feb 24
Dear All,
The team lead by Kofi Annan was supposed to release the details of the power-sharing agreement between the two sides on Friday. That didn't happen. It seems like the Kibaki/PNU side is again procrastinating (they feel that time is on their side). So the Raila/ODM side has called for mass action on Wednesday (Feb. 27). Rather than just demonstrations, as in the past (which were broken up violently by the police), ODM is calling for what I would describe as a general strike. No one is to go to work; roads will be blocked, etc. Due to the recent history of violence this action will be extremely effective--everyone will be afraid to travel or to go to work. Everyone will stay home and the country will shut down. On Wednesday we were planning to go to Nairobi for our flight to the US on Thursday. If the action is not called off by Monday, we will travel to Nairobi on Tuesday. See how effective this threat is!
Yesterday Gladys and I went to Kakamega for a meeting with CAPP (essentially peace committee members) and AVP members from the various yearly meetings. During this meeting a woman from Chwele Yearly Meeting, which is right below the fighting on Mt. Elgon, told us that the previous night a member of one of the Quaker meetings was attacked by the Sabaot Land Defense Force (SLDF) which is responsible for much of the destruction and death on the mountain. His head was cut off and has not yet been found. (Note: Is it more "civilized" to attack people, say in Iraq, with heavy weapons so the body parts are all over the place?) Most of the Sabaot, who live higher up on the slopes of the mountain, have been displaced, so the SLDF is now moving further down the hill to steal cattle and goods, killing people in the process. This area is very heavily populated by Quakers; every mile or two is another Quaker school. As the violence increases--and the current political crisis has been a great "cover" for increased attacks and ethnic cleanings in the area--the Quakers there will be more and more affected. Will the larger Quaker community in Kenya and the world take note of this and respond?
Yesterday we also bought goods in Kakamega for the internally displaced Lumakanda people who are now at the police station in nearby Turbo. We picked up four members of the Church including the pastor, James Majeta. As usual we delivered the food. There has not been significant rain in this area for almost four months. The IDP camp is at the top of a hill on fields that grew corn last year. The place is totally dry. The soil is very loose. The wind blows much of the time, sometimes very hard, and the dust blows everywhere. In an hour my hair (like everyone else's there) was covered with dust. They told me that a cow dies almost every day because there is not sufficient grass to feed them. As I looked at the cows I could see that many were thin with ribs showing. Although some of the people have moved back to their houses (see the comments about Silas Njoroge below) and some have returned to Central Province (the Kikuyu "ancestral home"), those who remain do not have homes to return to and perhaps do not even know where their "ancestral home" is.)
Here I will tell a story. You have to figure out the moral of the story. Gladys has a distant relative who works in Nairobi; but his wife and children live near us. These people are therefore Luhya, the dominant group in Lugari District. They are the ones who supply us each morning and evening with milk for our tea (and other uses). There are two older sons, Anthony, 21, and Nivan, 20. Both have completed secondary school and, as even they themselves say, are part of the "idle youth" who have nothing to do. About two weeks ago Nivan brought the evening milk about 6:00 pm. He went to the road, saw his brother and another friend, and they decided to walk over to Anthony's girlfriend's house. As they walked near the hospital and police station, there was a group of three Kikuyu boys following them. One of them came up to Nivan and started to attack him. The attacker then pulled out a machete and tried to strike him on the head. Nivan put up his left arm to ward off the blow and the machete cut through one of his arm bones and half way through the second. They rushed Nivan to the nearby hospital. About 8:00 pm the hospital called and told us to come and see him. This we did. By the time we reached the hospital he had been stitched up, given an antibiotic, and was doing fairly well considering the circumstances. Gladys paid the hospital bill. (It cost a little over $5. What would this have cost in the US?). Neither Anthony nor Nivan knew the attacker, but they did know the boys he was with. At this point it looked like this was an ethnic attack with a Kikuyu attacking a Luhya.
So then we went to the police station to report the incident. As soon as we arrived, the policeman said this was a case of a love triangle. If this is correct, then this is not one ethnic group attacking another, but "ethnic love" as two boys are fighting over the same girl (who is a Luhya). The only problem with this interpretation is that the girl is Anthony's girlfriend, yet Nivan is the one who was attacked. Moreover, as Anthony said to me, "If I had a rival, I didn't know it." So you can decide, "Is this ethnic hatred or ethnic love?" As I have said before, if one investigated the details of many of these incidents, the results would not be too clear.
Last Monday Gladys called the Anthony and Nivan's Mom and asked her to send them up with the evening milk. We talked with them more about the incident--Nivan is recovered well enough. ("I don't want to be a cripple," he sometimes says. Then other times he talks about how lucky he was to put up his arm to ward off the blow since he probably would have been killed.) The attacker has fled Lumakanda area and no one knows where he is. One of the other Kikuyu boys had been put in jail but he was released since he hadn't actually done anything that was a chargeable offense. We discussed with them the idea of doing AVP with the youth. Would they be able to assemble a group of 20 youth, male and female, of various ethnic backgrounds to have a workshop? They said they could so we arranged for five or six of them to come back on Friday to meet with us and Getry, the AVP coordinator; and they came. Five youth (2 female, 3
male; 4 Luhya and 1 Luo) came to discuss the situation with Getry. The result is that on March 3, Getry and two other facilitators will begin an AVP workshop with them which will include Luhya, Nandi (local Kalenjin group), Luo, and Kikuyu. They said they have known each other since they were kids in school.
But another interesting thought came out of the discussion. Getry had introduced the idea that the youth were being blamed for all the violence. Anthony responded that on Dec 30 (the evening the election results were announced and the violence started) many adults were telling the youth to attack the Kikuyu. In particular, the adults said to attack Silas Njoroge whose house was looted but not burned -- perhaps because it is close to the town and the police station. (He has now returned to his house.) If the youth killed someone, they were told they could come back for a reward. Anthony said, and the others agreed, that there was a lot of peer pressure to join in the attacks and the youth really faulted the older people for promoting this.
Ray Downing, a doctor at Webuye Hospital, (who formerly worked at the Quaker Lugulu Hospital up the mountain from Webuye) asked the question, "Why don't we study those areas (such as Webuye and Bungoma) where there was no violence?" In other words, rather than focusing only on the bad areas, why don't we try to understand the good areas? At one point I replied that I thought the Webuye/Bungoma area had not erupted into violence because the people there voted for Kibaki rather than Raila. (This voting was really anti-Raila, who they didn't like, rather than pro-Kibaki. Nonetheless, it got Kibaki the votes he needed. Ray
Downing replied that the older people in the area voted for Kibaki, but that the younger people voted for Raila. Later I was in a meeting where two parents said they had voted for Kibaki while their children had voted for Raila and that this had brought great tension into the family.
This led me to realize that it is the elders (Bush, Cheney, et alter) who send the youth to war in Iraq. It is the Kalenjin elders who send their warriors to attack the Kikuyu and the church which was burned down in Eldoret. It was the elders here in Lumakanda who encouraged the youth to attack the local Kikuyu. Where the elders did not encourage the youth, or perhaps discouraged the youth from attacking, the youth were not violent. If this interpretation is correct, then it is the older people who are responsible for the violence, death, and chaos in Kenya and not the youth who physically did the damage.
I guess this is enough thoughts for one day.
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 11:54 PM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya-- # 34 Feb 24
Dear All,
The team lead by Kofi Annan was supposed to release the details of the power-sharing agreement between the two sides on Friday. That didn't happen. It seems like the Kibaki/PNU side is again procrastinating (they feel that time is on their side). So the Raila/ODM side has called for mass action on Wednesday (Feb. 27). Rather than just demonstrations, as in the past (which were broken up violently by the police), ODM is calling for what I would describe as a general strike. No one is to go to work; roads will be blocked, etc. Due to the recent history of violence this action will be extremely effective--everyone will be afraid to travel or to go to work. Everyone will stay home and the country will shut down. On Wednesday we were planning to go to Nairobi for our flight to the US on Thursday. If the action is not called off by Monday, we will travel to Nairobi on Tuesday. See how effective this threat is!
Yesterday Gladys and I went to Kakamega for a meeting with CAPP (essentially peace committee members) and AVP members from the various yearly meetings. During this meeting a woman from Chwele Yearly Meeting, which is right below the fighting on Mt. Elgon, told us that the previous night a member of one of the Quaker meetings was attacked by the Sabaot Land Defense Force (SLDF) which is responsible for much of the destruction and death on the mountain. His head was cut off and has not yet been found. (Note: Is it more "civilized" to attack people, say in Iraq, with heavy weapons so the body parts are all over the place?) Most of the Sabaot, who live higher up on the slopes of the mountain, have been displaced, so the SLDF is now moving further down the hill to steal cattle and goods, killing people in the process. This area is very heavily populated by Quakers; every mile or two is another Quaker school. As the violence increases--and the current political crisis has been a great "cover" for increased attacks and ethnic cleanings in the area--the Quakers there will be more and more affected. Will the larger Quaker community in Kenya and the world take note of this and respond?
Yesterday we also bought goods in Kakamega for the internally displaced Lumakanda people who are now at the police station in nearby Turbo. We picked up four members of the Church including the pastor, James Majeta. As usual we delivered the food. There has not been significant rain in this area for almost four months. The IDP camp is at the top of a hill on fields that grew corn last year. The place is totally dry. The soil is very loose. The wind blows much of the time, sometimes very hard, and the dust blows everywhere. In an hour my hair (like everyone else's there) was covered with dust. They told me that a cow dies almost every day because there is not sufficient grass to feed them. As I looked at the cows I could see that many were thin with ribs showing. Although some of the people have moved back to their houses (see the comments about Silas Njoroge below) and some have returned to Central Province (the Kikuyu "ancestral home"), those who remain do not have homes to return to and perhaps do not even know where their "ancestral home" is.)
Here I will tell a story. You have to figure out the moral of the story. Gladys has a distant relative who works in Nairobi; but his wife and children live near us. These people are therefore Luhya, the dominant group in Lugari District. They are the ones who supply us each morning and evening with milk for our tea (and other uses). There are two older sons, Anthony, 21, and Nivan, 20. Both have completed secondary school and, as even they themselves say, are part of the "idle youth" who have nothing to do. About two weeks ago Nivan brought the evening milk about 6:00 pm. He went to the road, saw his brother and another friend, and they decided to walk over to Anthony's girlfriend's house. As they walked near the hospital and police station, there was a group of three Kikuyu boys following them. One of them came up to Nivan and started to attack him. The attacker then pulled out a machete and tried to strike him on the head. Nivan put up his left arm to ward off the blow and the machete cut through one of his arm bones and half way through the second. They rushed Nivan to the nearby hospital. About 8:00 pm the hospital called and told us to come and see him. This we did. By the time we reached the hospital he had been stitched up, given an antibiotic, and was doing fairly well considering the circumstances. Gladys paid the hospital bill. (It cost a little over $5. What would this have cost in the US?). Neither Anthony nor Nivan knew the attacker, but they did know the boys he was with. At this point it looked like this was an ethnic attack with a Kikuyu attacking a Luhya.
So then we went to the police station to report the incident. As soon as we arrived, the policeman said this was a case of a love triangle. If this is correct, then this is not one ethnic group attacking another, but "ethnic love" as two boys are fighting over the same girl (who is a Luhya). The only problem with this interpretation is that the girl is Anthony's girlfriend, yet Nivan is the one who was attacked. Moreover, as Anthony said to me, "If I had a rival, I didn't know it." So you can decide, "Is this ethnic hatred or ethnic love?" As I have said before, if one investigated the details of many of these incidents, the results would not be too clear.
Last Monday Gladys called the Anthony and Nivan's Mom and asked her to send them up with the evening milk. We talked with them more about the incident--Nivan is recovered well enough. ("I don't want to be a cripple," he sometimes says. Then other times he talks about how lucky he was to put up his arm to ward off the blow since he probably would have been killed.) The attacker has fled Lumakanda area and no one knows where he is. One of the other Kikuyu boys had been put in jail but he was released since he hadn't actually done anything that was a chargeable offense. We discussed with them the idea of doing AVP with the youth. Would they be able to assemble a group of 20 youth, male and female, of various ethnic backgrounds to have a workshop? They said they could so we arranged for five or six of them to come back on Friday to meet with us and Getry, the AVP coordinator; and they came. Five youth (2 female, 3
male; 4 Luhya and 1 Luo) came to discuss the situation with Getry. The result is that on March 3, Getry and two other facilitators will begin an AVP workshop with them which will include Luhya, Nandi (local Kalenjin group), Luo, and Kikuyu. They said they have known each other since they were kids in school.
But another interesting thought came out of the discussion. Getry had introduced the idea that the youth were being blamed for all the violence. Anthony responded that on Dec 30 (the evening the election results were announced and the violence started) many adults were telling the youth to attack the Kikuyu. In particular, the adults said to attack Silas Njoroge whose house was looted but not burned -- perhaps because it is close to the town and the police station. (He has now returned to his house.) If the youth killed someone, they were told they could come back for a reward. Anthony said, and the others agreed, that there was a lot of peer pressure to join in the attacks and the youth really faulted the older people for promoting this.
Ray Downing, a doctor at Webuye Hospital, (who formerly worked at the Quaker Lugulu Hospital up the mountain from Webuye) asked the question, "Why don't we study those areas (such as Webuye and Bungoma) where there was no violence?" In other words, rather than focusing only on the bad areas, why don't we try to understand the good areas? At one point I replied that I thought the Webuye/Bungoma area had not erupted into violence because the people there voted for Kibaki rather than Raila. (This voting was really anti-Raila, who they didn't like, rather than pro-Kibaki. Nonetheless, it got Kibaki the votes he needed. Ray
Downing replied that the older people in the area voted for Kibaki, but that the younger people voted for Raila. Later I was in a meeting where two parents said they had voted for Kibaki while their children had voted for Raila and that this had brought great tension into the family.
This led me to realize that it is the elders (Bush, Cheney, et alter) who send the youth to war in Iraq. It is the Kalenjin elders who send their warriors to attack the Kikuyu and the church which was burned down in Eldoret. It was the elders here in Lumakanda who encouraged the youth to attack the local Kikuyu. Where the elders did not encourage the youth, or perhaps discouraged the youth from attacking, the youth were not violent. If this interpretation is correct, then it is the older people who are responsible for the violence, death, and chaos in Kenya and not the youth who physically did the damage.
I guess this is enough thoughts for one day.
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Feb 21, Rpt 33, Not looking good - David Zarembka
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 10:26 PM
Subject: AGLI -- Report form Kenya -- #33 Feb 21.
Dear All,
Politically things are not looking good. The Government (PNU--Kibaki) side, after immense pressure from the US, Britain, the EU, and many others, has not compromised hardly at all. They are continuing to say much of what they said right after the election--Kibaki is in power and the Constitution cannot be changed to accommodate any settlement. The Opposition side (ODM--Raila) is planning to start holding demonstrations again after a week if Parliament is not called into session to vote on the Constitutional changes needed for a settlement. The Government then says they (ODM) are bringing on violence and ODM responds by saying that it is the Government who is violent when they forbid peaceful demonstrations as allowed by the Kenya Constitution and international law. The tear gas, water cannons, and live bullets are what is making the demonstrations violent. For some reason, the authorities in Kapsabet had allowed demonstrations before and they were peaceful and the youth blew off their steam. The Kibaki side wishes to procrastinate as long as possible since with each passing day they remain in power.
Noah Weksa, a PNU Member of Parliament from Western Kenya, a Quaker, and Minister for Science and Technology, has called for a power sharing agreement--this is at some variance with
the PNU hardliner stance. It will be interesting to see if some of the PNU, non-Kikuyu MP's start to break away to form that moderate middle that will be necessary for a resolution.
On Tuesday Gladys and I were at the Friends Church Peace Team (FCPT) meeting and I heard this interesting story. There are still about 1000 Kikuyu camped at the police station in Kakamega. On Sunday 350 Luhya who had been displaced from Naivasha, Nakuru, and Central Province and returned to their "ancestral land" as is the phrase here (i.e., ethnically cleansed) arrived in their truck at the police station, but the police turned them away--presumably because the Luhya would have problems staying with the Kikuyu. When the truck returned to town, not really knowing where to drop the people, the bicycle taxi drivers got aroused. In mass, as they do during the rioting, they returned with the truck to the police station and demanded that the Luhya be allowed to stay there (or they would begin attacking the Kikuyu). The police backed down and the Luhya stayed with the Kikuyu in the police station, both as internally displaced people.
In the reports on the FCPT distribution which I missed when we were in Uganda, a number of people commented that the internally displaced people would see the Red Cross vehicles pass them by, but never stop to help. FCPT is distributing to those who have not been serviced by the Red Cross. These people are ethnically mixed, but none are Kikuyu. It seems that the Red Cross is servicing only Kikuyu. People I know in Lumakanda have stopped me in the streets here to complain about the Red Cross not helping the Luhya. This should be investigated and if true, the Red Cross should be taken to task for this discrimination.
Our 42 one-day listening workshops for the 496 staff at the Center for Disease Control in Kisumu have been completed. I talked to the Director and she was very pleased with them as she had heard many positive reports from the participants. We had brought Chris, one of the HROC facilitators from Rwanda, to help out. The HROC program in Rwanda is planning listening sessions for survivors of the recent earthquake in Cyangugu at the southern end of Lake Kivu so Chris will be able to bring the Kenya experience back to Rwanda.
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Subject: AGLI -- Report form Kenya -- #33 Feb 21.
Dear All,
Politically things are not looking good. The Government (PNU--Kibaki) side, after immense pressure from the US, Britain, the EU, and many others, has not compromised hardly at all. They are continuing to say much of what they said right after the election--Kibaki is in power and the Constitution cannot be changed to accommodate any settlement. The Opposition side (ODM--Raila) is planning to start holding demonstrations again after a week if Parliament is not called into session to vote on the Constitutional changes needed for a settlement. The Government then says they (ODM) are bringing on violence and ODM responds by saying that it is the Government who is violent when they forbid peaceful demonstrations as allowed by the Kenya Constitution and international law. The tear gas, water cannons, and live bullets are what is making the demonstrations violent. For some reason, the authorities in Kapsabet had allowed demonstrations before and they were peaceful and the youth blew off their steam. The Kibaki side wishes to procrastinate as long as possible since with each passing day they remain in power.
Noah Weksa, a PNU Member of Parliament from Western Kenya, a Quaker, and Minister for Science and Technology, has called for a power sharing agreement--this is at some variance with
the PNU hardliner stance. It will be interesting to see if some of the PNU, non-Kikuyu MP's start to break away to form that moderate middle that will be necessary for a resolution.
On Tuesday Gladys and I were at the Friends Church Peace Team (FCPT) meeting and I heard this interesting story. There are still about 1000 Kikuyu camped at the police station in Kakamega. On Sunday 350 Luhya who had been displaced from Naivasha, Nakuru, and Central Province and returned to their "ancestral land" as is the phrase here (i.e., ethnically cleansed) arrived in their truck at the police station, but the police turned them away--presumably because the Luhya would have problems staying with the Kikuyu. When the truck returned to town, not really knowing where to drop the people, the bicycle taxi drivers got aroused. In mass, as they do during the rioting, they returned with the truck to the police station and demanded that the Luhya be allowed to stay there (or they would begin attacking the Kikuyu). The police backed down and the Luhya stayed with the Kikuyu in the police station, both as internally displaced people.
In the reports on the FCPT distribution which I missed when we were in Uganda, a number of people commented that the internally displaced people would see the Red Cross vehicles pass them by, but never stop to help. FCPT is distributing to those who have not been serviced by the Red Cross. These people are ethnically mixed, but none are Kikuyu. It seems that the Red Cross is servicing only Kikuyu. People I know in Lumakanda have stopped me in the streets here to complain about the Red Cross not helping the Luhya. This should be investigated and if true, the Red Cross should be taken to task for this discrimination.
Our 42 one-day listening workshops for the 496 staff at the Center for Disease Control in Kisumu have been completed. I talked to the Director and she was very pleased with them as she had heard many positive reports from the participants. We had brought Chris, one of the HROC facilitators from Rwanda, to help out. The HROC program in Rwanda is planning listening sessions for survivors of the recent earthquake in Cyangugu at the southern end of Lake Kivu so Chris will be able to bring the Kenya experience back to Rwanda.
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Monday, February 18, 2008
Feb 18, Solid progress, David Zarembka
I'll not repeat any of what I have been sending in my "Reports from Kenya." Since the Kenya situation is taking most of my time and thought I will report on it first.
AGLI has already received over $16,000 for our Kenya Relief and Reconciliation Fund from the US and almost $7,000 from England. (Note that relative to size, we are doing much better in England where I have made no special effort. You can draw your own conclusions.) With these funds (and hopefully more) we have lots of plans.
We are just finishing the 42 one-day AVP-style listening sessions with the Center for Disease Control. They seem to have gone very well even though many were during most difficult circumstances--participants showed up, an MP was assassinated, and the workshop was in turmoil as the people didn't know how and if they would get home. I will be reading the daily workshop reports soon. I am expecting to have a "surplus" from these workshops as the CDC paid us for our services. These will be used to further the AVP program.
The US Institute of Peace (who have twice given AGLI grants and we have another under consideration) hooked us up with Kuki (mother) and Sveva (daughter) Gallmann who run a 100,000 acre game preserve near Lake Baringo. They were bringing 40 youth for a week from the slums of Nairobi and they really needed help with the peacemaking component of their project. So we dispatched Getry Agizah (AVP coordinator who is only 28 years old), Peter Serete, and Martin Oloo. They did essentially the basic AVP in the morning and in the afternoon the preserve had art, drama, music aspects (which is what they do, besides nature conservancy). It went really well. So USIP has asked us to submit a joint grant application for up to $50,000. I have sent Kuki and Sveva a general plan. This application would be separate from the one we have in the pipeline (we are supposed to learn by the end of March).
We have done AVP at Friends Theological College. Half the students have gone through advanced. We have a plan to have all the 80 students (and some staff) complete through advanced by Easter break (almost a month long). Then we will do 4 Training for Facilitators at one time, with as many apprentice workshops in their Quaker churches as we can handle afterwards. This should then give us a large group of beginning facilitators. Half will graduate in June and so we can start using them in our regular workshop.
There is a place near Kakamega called Takatifu (Holy) Gardens which is a small retreat center. Starting on Monday Feb 25, we will be doing two AVP workshops there per week, hopefully mostly with youth. The Gardens will supply the site, food, and accommodations when necessary, while AVP will supply materials and the facilitators. We will continue with this as long as it continues to work out.
Then our regular AVP facilitators will be doing at least 100 AVP workshops (basic and advanced) with youth at various sites where we can organize. I am hoping to do one or more here in Lumakanda where a distant relative of Gladys's (a young Luhya man) was attacked by a Kikuyu with a machete and badly cut in the arm. (Was this an ethnic attack or a dispute over a girlfriend?) I hope I can get both sides to come to a workshop. I am also going to try to arrange for AVP workshops in the IDP camp where the Lumakanda Kikuyu went--when I go I notice many youth just hanging around doing nothing.
To do all of this for this year we have hired two assistant AVP coordinators, Peter Serete and Bernard Onjalo, and a part-timer, Eunice Okwemba (who is my sister-in-law, but one of the most active AVP facilitators). The funding for these will come out of the Kenya Relief and Reconciliation appeal.
Malesi Kinaro has been in the forefront of peacemaking here among Quakers in Kenya. She was the first to visit the IDP camp in Kakamega (when others were still too shocked and afraid to go), did listening sessions with the youth in Kakamega who participated in the violence, arranged for
> peace-making sessions between the Kipsigis and Kisii elders where 10 to 20 people were killed and hundreds of houses, shops, and schools were burned, and helping with the first 8 day of our listening project at the CDC. AGLI has agreed to make her a released Friends (which is a new concept here in Kenya) to continue to pursue her peacemaking endeavors as the way leads her and her support committee. AGLI will be raising specific funds for this from the Kenya workcampers, AVP facilitators who have come from overseas, people she met on her 2004 AGLI tour in the US, and others who know her work.
This past week Gladys and I went to Bududa, Uganda to see the situation there and visit/support Barbara Wybar who is there for 8 months. The technical institute has moved to a new site and given the name Bududa Vocational Institute. It opened on Feb 4 and has 32 students (plus two more the day we were there) which is more than the low 20's the school had in December. The new head, Paul Balidawa, has hired two new qualified teachers for the three programs--nursery school teaching (the most popular), tailoring, and bricklaying. They are hoping to get electricity (perhaps with a diesel generator) so that they can start teaching computer skills and a secretarial course (these will be extremely popular). The capacity of the building is 80 students so they have to start thinking of how to plan for the future.
The Children of Hope orphans program (which will be given a new name) is under "new management." They had there first session on Feb 9--I have reported on this in my regular reports. The most significant innovation will be rather than have the hierarchical all-powerful head (the "big man" method of administration so common in Africa and the cause of much mismanagement including the Children of Hope program), the staff (mostly school teachers) will run the program cooperatively with everyone having an assigned duty. If this works, it will be a good model for others.
Fortunately we have great, highly functioning staff in Rwanda, Burundi, and North Kivu because I have been unable to give much attention (and focusing on the other countries is difficult for me at this time). They are just continuing with their work. To put it another way, since there are no problems, I don't hear much. Both the Burundi and Rwandan programs have bought small cars as getting around to remote areas is difficult and frequently very expensive. Adrien's tour is turning out very well and he will be with us at the FPT meeting in Portland. Gladys and I will be there too. We will arrive in the US on Feb 29 and I have a lot of speaking engagements until we leave on March 17.
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Friday, February 15, 2008
Feb 13, calming down, Sukie Rice (in ME)
Dear friends,
Dorothy and other Friends spent the day with them distributing blankets and food and praying and encouraging them. It is these visits that have become so important. As one Friend, David Z. says, "In this kind of work, one cannot get discouraged by the unmet needs, but must focus on what you have accomplished. If people only eat well for a few days, it is still better than having to scrounge around for a little food and going to sleep hungry. Moreover, as I have learned in the past, visiting people who have been the victims of violence is perhaps one of the most important peacemaking activities one can initially do. As the Burundians say, "A real Friend comes in the time of need"
It is with real relief that I can write that the reports we are getting from Kenya is that there has been a continued calming of things all around and in the Kakamega area. With Kofi Annan working with Kibaki and Odinga, the political process is moving forward and people are holding their breath that progress will bring some serious resolutions to the crisis. With schools and shops re-opening, people are trying to return to "life as normal" (as if there can be a "normal" again with so many shops in town burned and thousands of people in the refugee centers). The calm is like tip-toeing on egg-shells with violence flaring up for moments here and there (especially after a member of parliament was shot and killed a week ago). And everyone is very cautious, but very grateful that things are quieting down.
Friends Emergency Relief Work
The major effort of the Friends in western Kenya right now is the relief work they are doing... and Kakamega is currently the center for their efforts. They are working in very close coordination with one another, choosing the sites they will visit together and how best to purchase the supplies they bring. The Care Centre is being used as the central location to bring piles of blankets and the large bags of maize, beans, rice, 
cooking oil and soap. These things are purchased from the places where the best prices can be found, brought to the Care Centre and then loaded into a lorry to be taken to the camps where the refugees or IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) are staying.
cooking oil and soap. These things are purchased from the places where the best prices can be found, brought to the Care Centre and then loaded into a lorry to be taken to the camps where the refugees or IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) are staying.The International Red Cross is getting to many of the larger camps, bringing tents and food enough for one meal a day. But they are not reaching all the areas by any means, and there is serious lack of food, blankets and sanitary needs in all the camps.
Mt. Elgon area
Last week they filled a large lorry full of supplies (such as the forty 200-pound bags of maize) and then loaded up the Care Centre van and a truck full of Friends to go to a couple of places north of Kakamega. After dropping off a lot of supplies and a group of Friends at a camp near Kitale, the rest then continued west toward the Mt. Elgon area (Trans Nzoia District) where 4000 people are in camps with NO assistance being brought to them. (The IRC trucks passed them by to deliver food and supplies to another IDP camp down the road where there were Kikuyu refugees. As the Mt. Elgon refugees are non-Kikuyu, people saw this as another example of the government?s favoritism of Kikuyu over others in the country).
It is mostly Luhya and Sabaot people here who have had to flee their homes over a land distribution conflict that has been active for a year and half, and has flared up especially since the election. Over 400 people have been killed there and many thousands displaced. Women with children have been separated from their husbands and fathers when "rebel soldiers" came in and they have no idea where they are. Although many areas of Kenya are calming, this area definitely is not with significant violence and many new displaced people each week.
Dorothy and other Friends spent the day with them distributing blankets and food and praying and encouraging them. It is these visits that have become so important. As one Friend, David Z. says, "In this kind of work, one cannot get discouraged by the unmet needs, but must focus on what you have accomplished. If people only eat well for a few days, it is still better than having to scrounge around for a little food and going to sleep hungry. Moreover, as I have learned in the past, visiting people who have been the victims of violence is perhaps one of the most important peacemaking activities one can initially do. As the Burundians say, "A real Friend comes in the time of need"Next Stop
They are purchasing more food and blankets now and tomorrow they will take another truck load of relief supplies to an IDP camp in Cheptulu, which is south of Kakamega near Kaimosi. This camp is filled with Kikuyu who have been victims of the ?violence in Kisumu, one of primary centers of the violence.
Dorothy (Selebwa, who runs the Care Centre - MG) says there have also been truck-loads of people who are Luhya who come from other parts of the country but have been "shipped" to the Kakamega area because it is Luhya and therefore safe. "But they are just dropped here. And they have no homes or family here. So what are they to do?" she asks. People take them in. All over Kenya, people are reaching out and taking people in. Stretching. And stretching some more.
Happy Birthday
You wanna hear a fabulous story? You betcha! Well, one of the Friends at New Haven Meeting turned 60 last week and had a lovely celebration with a number of her friends. She asked people not to give her gifts but instead contribute to Friends of Kakamega, especially for the relief work. One of her guests had gone on our trip to Kakamega last summer and showed pictures and talked about the Care Center. Well, she just sent me $900 in checks from her friends! Happy Birthday, Barbara! What a great birthday present! Thank you!
And thank you to all of you who continue to hold Kenya in the Light. Here is a prayer which Eden Grace (staff of Friends United Meeting in Kisumu) has sent out.
Please join us in praying for
His hand of calm to stay the angry hearts,
His hand of comfort to bind up the wounded in body and spirit,
and His hand of wisdom to guide all of us
who seek to do His will today and every day.
Mirembe,
Sukie
Friends of Kakamega
51 Hunter Road
Freeport, ? ME ?04032
207-865-3768
Monday, February 11, 2008
Feb 11, Rpt 31, Calming down, early trainings, David Zarembka
From: David Zarembka
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 1:55 AM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya -- #31 Feb 11
Dear All,
On Friday Kofi Annan announced that an agreement was being reached between the two sides and the details will be available early this week. People are guardedly hopeful that some accommodation will be reached. But, as they say, the devil is in the details. (One of my favorite explanations of the current crisis is from a woman who said, "On Dec 30 Satan came to Kenya.") I would not be surprised that the agreement when announced might lead to another round of violence as the "hardliners" on both sides will feel that they have been sold out by the compromises. Hopefully I am wrong.
The changes are supposed to be far-reaching. I have some qualms about the fact that 8 negotiators and their political parties are chartering the course of the country, meaning that women, youth, the religious community, NGO's, and the business community are all, as usual, left out. This was the case with the compromise in Burundi and the result has been a squabbling, ineffective government. When will the world develop a system where all parts of society negotiate the conditions for a country's existence and well-being? I am certain that both political parties will see that their interests are properly served before those of the other actors in the country. It is possible that the "compromise" made lead to a political storm (rather than a violent storm) by those who have not been consulted. Or perhaps everyone is so tired that they will accept anything handed to them.
Lumakanda town, this morning (Monday), has been more like a normal day than any other since Dec 30. Many people are in town going about their various businesses, the motorcycle taxi drivers are busy, and I can easily buy a newspaper!
What the Daily Nation (Kenya's largest newspaper with a circulation of over 1,000,000!) covered today was all those affected by the violence--children not in school, children in IDP camps, colleges and other institutions who have lost their staff, manufacturing businesses that are closed, hospitals and other government offices which are understaffed as the employees fled, roads that aren't being built, lost employment, and the other costs of 6 weeks of violence and stalemate. A Quaker in Nairobi whose wholesale establishment was looted says he will re-open, but not now. A large-scale farmer I know says he is cutting back on the acreage of maize (corn) he will plant next month because he does not know if he will get seeds and fertilizer, or what price he might have to pay. The cost of travel has almost doubled--for example, a matatu from Lumakanda to Kakamega has gone from 120/- to 200/- ; and the price increase does not seem like it is going to go down to where it was before. I have seen people wanting to get a ride in a matatu asking for the price and, seeing that it is more than they have, not making the ride.
[Note: /- is the symbol for Kenyan Shilling.]
Okay, I need to report some good news. There is a place in Kenya called the Laikipia Nature Conservancy (www.gallmannkenya.org). It is a 100,000 acre preserve next to Lake Baringo in the drier parts of the Rift Valley. They have a 60 person education center and they have done peacemaking activities there in the past in addition to their normal purpose of conservation education. Right now they have 40 youth from the Nairobi slums, many of whom were involved in destruction, there for a week of "healing". They needed some help so the United States Institute of Peace [USIP], which has supported both AGLI and the Conservancy in the past, recommended us to them. As a result Getry Agizah, Peter Serete, and Martin Oloo, all young, experienced AVP facilitators, are leading these youth through the AVP course on esteem, communication, cooperation, and non-violent conflict resolution each morning. In the afternoon others lead sessions on art, drama, music, etc. The three facilitators had problems getting there because the bus broke down. I asked Getry if she was happy and she reported, "We are very happy and glad to have the Nairobi youth. Life is simple and peaceful. Just finished the sessions. We are on the truck going around the forest (where there is much wildlife)."
Likewise we are continuing the daily listening sessions with employees at the Center for Disease Control in Kisumu. As the situation in Kisumu has calmed down these trainings seem to have become routine with the participants being energized at the end of each day with the training activity that is called "On the Way Forward."
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 1:55 AM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya -- #31 Feb 11
Dear All,
On Friday Kofi Annan announced that an agreement was being reached between the two sides and the details will be available early this week. People are guardedly hopeful that some accommodation will be reached. But, as they say, the devil is in the details. (One of my favorite explanations of the current crisis is from a woman who said, "On Dec 30 Satan came to Kenya.") I would not be surprised that the agreement when announced might lead to another round of violence as the "hardliners" on both sides will feel that they have been sold out by the compromises. Hopefully I am wrong.
The changes are supposed to be far-reaching. I have some qualms about the fact that 8 negotiators and their political parties are chartering the course of the country, meaning that women, youth, the religious community, NGO's, and the business community are all, as usual, left out. This was the case with the compromise in Burundi and the result has been a squabbling, ineffective government. When will the world develop a system where all parts of society negotiate the conditions for a country's existence and well-being? I am certain that both political parties will see that their interests are properly served before those of the other actors in the country. It is possible that the "compromise" made lead to a political storm (rather than a violent storm) by those who have not been consulted. Or perhaps everyone is so tired that they will accept anything handed to them.
Lumakanda town, this morning (Monday), has been more like a normal day than any other since Dec 30. Many people are in town going about their various businesses, the motorcycle taxi drivers are busy, and I can easily buy a newspaper!
What the Daily Nation (Kenya's largest newspaper with a circulation of over 1,000,000!) covered today was all those affected by the violence--children not in school, children in IDP camps, colleges and other institutions who have lost their staff, manufacturing businesses that are closed, hospitals and other government offices which are understaffed as the employees fled, roads that aren't being built, lost employment, and the other costs of 6 weeks of violence and stalemate. A Quaker in Nairobi whose wholesale establishment was looted says he will re-open, but not now. A large-scale farmer I know says he is cutting back on the acreage of maize (corn) he will plant next month because he does not know if he will get seeds and fertilizer, or what price he might have to pay. The cost of travel has almost doubled--for example, a matatu from Lumakanda to Kakamega has gone from 120/- to 200/- ; and the price increase does not seem like it is going to go down to where it was before. I have seen people wanting to get a ride in a matatu asking for the price and, seeing that it is more than they have, not making the ride.
[Note: /- is the symbol for Kenyan Shilling.]
Okay, I need to report some good news. There is a place in Kenya called the Laikipia Nature Conservancy (www.gallmannkenya.org). It is a 100,000 acre preserve next to Lake Baringo in the drier parts of the Rift Valley. They have a 60 person education center and they have done peacemaking activities there in the past in addition to their normal purpose of conservation education. Right now they have 40 youth from the Nairobi slums, many of whom were involved in destruction, there for a week of "healing". They needed some help so the United States Institute of Peace [USIP], which has supported both AGLI and the Conservancy in the past, recommended us to them. As a result Getry Agizah, Peter Serete, and Martin Oloo, all young, experienced AVP facilitators, are leading these youth through the AVP course on esteem, communication, cooperation, and non-violent conflict resolution each morning. In the afternoon others lead sessions on art, drama, music, etc. The three facilitators had problems getting there because the bus broke down. I asked Getry if she was happy and she reported, "We are very happy and glad to have the Nairobi youth. Life is simple and peaceful. Just finished the sessions. We are on the truck going around the forest (where there is much wildlife)."
Likewise we are continuing the daily listening sessions with employees at the Center for Disease Control in Kisumu. As the situation in Kisumu has calmed down these trainings seem to have become routine with the participants being energized at the end of each day with the training activity that is called "On the Way Forward."
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Feb 8, Report 30, David Zarenbka
From: David Zarembka
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 3:32 AM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya-- # 30 -- Feb 8
Dear All,
I have not made a report for the last three days because each day I have been on the road. Tuesday Gladys and I went to Kakamega to buy relief supplies for our Lumakanda IDP's who are now in Turbo. On Wednesday, I went to Kaimosi to the Friends Theological College to work out a plan for them to do AVP in their churhes during April vacation. On Thursday, Gladys and I went in the north Rift Valley to distribute relief supplies with the Friends Church Peace Team; I have reported on this in another email.
While others think Kenya is calmiing down, I don't. I think that it has entered another stage where the dramatic headlines of burning buildings and multi-deaths is over and a more subdued,
but perhaps a more destructive and deadly mopping up, has begun. I can call this "reaping the harvest of the prior violence."
Tuesday on our way to Kakamega we stopped by Florence and Alfred Machayo's house to deal with the maize (corn) that needed to be bagged for delivery in the North Rift. Alfred was not there because he was escorting a Luhya friend of his who was a magistrate in the Nandi (Kalenjin) area. The magistrate had been told that he had to leave Nanci in a week or his house would be burned down. So, he was looking at the plot he has in Lugari District and determining how he can live there with his family. In other words, one family quietly (as far as the media is concerned) displaced. I suspect he will be out of his job also.
In the last few days another home was burned near Kipkarren River. In this case the old Kikuyu had died, but his daughter lived in his house, which was burned down, and his nice cassava field was completely destroyed. In my report on the visit to north Rift Valley, I mentioned the considerable violence on Mt Elgon. The paper reports that over 1000 teachers have not reported for work in North Rift Valley and that many students have also not returned. When we visited the Lumakanda people in the camp at Turbo, they told us that their numbers have been increasing. Two communities in Lugari District, which formerly had not been attacked, were attacked last week during the unrest and more people had fled to the camp.
In other words, houses will be burnt here and there. The violence of the past will compel people to flee as soon as they feel that they are being targeted. The targets are no longer only the Kikuyu in the western provinces, but anyone who happens not to live in his/her home area; i.e., who do not speak the local language.
I has occurred to me that the situation in Kenya is exactly the same as in the region of Rwanda, Burundi, and North and South Kivus. But in this case the issue is within one nation while the other is international. Let us compare the Rwandans with the Kikuyu. Rwanda is over-populated and so the Rwandans immigrate to North and South Kivu (and also Tanzania and Uganda) where they are considered "foreigners" by the local people and by the Governments of the region; and therefore, by the international community. Almost all the wars in the region since 1990 have been based on whether the Rwandans have the right to live as citizens, with benefits and privileges, in one of these countries. The answer is "No," but the Rwandans don't want to leave so fighting erupts.
In Kenya, the Kikuyu were originally confined to Central Province which is much smaller than Rwanda. The number of Rwandans in Rwanda is more or less equal to the number of Kikuyu in Kenya. Since 1900 the Kikuyu have moved out of Central Province to other parts of Kenya under the assumption that they were Kenyan citizens moving within their own country. But others, particularly the Kalenjin and Maassi groups take the positioin that Kikuyu were given land that was stolen from them by the British and therefore they don't have "rights" of land ownership in these areas.
Since Kenya is itself a nation supported by the international community, the regionalists don't have the legal right to expell the Kikuyu as the Congolese, Tanzanians or Ugandans have with the Rwandans. I read in the paper today that Tanzania is expelling 220,000 Burundians who have been in Tanzania since 1972; 36 years! Burundians do not seem to be very welcoming of these returnees because they really have no place to put them.
In effect our concepts of who belongs to what nation needs to be questioned/considered, while at the same time we have to address the issue of whether a group that historically occupies a certain territory has the right to exclude others. And then there has be fights over the boundaries of these "indigeneous territories"--this is essentially what is happening in the conflict on Mt Elgon. I am certain that almost everyone reading this report will come down on the side of the right of a person to live anywhere "in his/her own nation." But one must remember that the great "ethnic cleanizing" happened at the end of World War II when millions of people were relocated to their "home country" whose boundaries had changed substantially so that Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Latvia, etc. all became ethnically homogeneous and the multi-national countries of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia had to be broken up into ethnic enclaves. The American (and now European) efforts to keep out illegal immigrants is no more than this same issue--if Americans don't like Mexicans in their borders, while shouldn't people from North Kivu not like Rwandans, or Kalenjin's not like Kikuyu, Luo, Luyha, and others within "their borders?" There have been suggestions (not considered seriously) that Kenya ought to be divided into two new countries with the Rift, Western, and Nyanza Provinces becoming Kenya II.
These are all hard issues. I don't see anyone in the international community addressing them at any depth. Surely the United Nations and all its constitutent governments are committed to the current status quo. I would like to see some considerations of better alternatives.
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 3:32 AM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya-- # 30 -- Feb 8
Dear All,
I have not made a report for the last three days because each day I have been on the road. Tuesday Gladys and I went to Kakamega to buy relief supplies for our Lumakanda IDP's who are now in Turbo. On Wednesday, I went to Kaimosi to the Friends Theological College to work out a plan for them to do AVP in their churhes during April vacation. On Thursday, Gladys and I went in the north Rift Valley to distribute relief supplies with the Friends Church Peace Team; I have reported on this in another email.
While others think Kenya is calmiing down, I don't. I think that it has entered another stage where the dramatic headlines of burning buildings and multi-deaths is over and a more subdued,
but perhaps a more destructive and deadly mopping up, has begun. I can call this "reaping the harvest of the prior violence."
Tuesday on our way to Kakamega we stopped by Florence and Alfred Machayo's house to deal with the maize (corn) that needed to be bagged for delivery in the North Rift. Alfred was not there because he was escorting a Luhya friend of his who was a magistrate in the Nandi (Kalenjin) area. The magistrate had been told that he had to leave Nanci in a week or his house would be burned down. So, he was looking at the plot he has in Lugari District and determining how he can live there with his family. In other words, one family quietly (as far as the media is concerned) displaced. I suspect he will be out of his job also.
In the last few days another home was burned near Kipkarren River. In this case the old Kikuyu had died, but his daughter lived in his house, which was burned down, and his nice cassava field was completely destroyed. In my report on the visit to north Rift Valley, I mentioned the considerable violence on Mt Elgon. The paper reports that over 1000 teachers have not reported for work in North Rift Valley and that many students have also not returned. When we visited the Lumakanda people in the camp at Turbo, they told us that their numbers have been increasing. Two communities in Lugari District, which formerly had not been attacked, were attacked last week during the unrest and more people had fled to the camp.
In other words, houses will be burnt here and there. The violence of the past will compel people to flee as soon as they feel that they are being targeted. The targets are no longer only the Kikuyu in the western provinces, but anyone who happens not to live in his/her home area; i.e., who do not speak the local language.
I has occurred to me that the situation in Kenya is exactly the same as in the region of Rwanda, Burundi, and North and South Kivus. But in this case the issue is within one nation while the other is international. Let us compare the Rwandans with the Kikuyu. Rwanda is over-populated and so the Rwandans immigrate to North and South Kivu (and also Tanzania and Uganda) where they are considered "foreigners" by the local people and by the Governments of the region; and therefore, by the international community. Almost all the wars in the region since 1990 have been based on whether the Rwandans have the right to live as citizens, with benefits and privileges, in one of these countries. The answer is "No," but the Rwandans don't want to leave so fighting erupts.
In Kenya, the Kikuyu were originally confined to Central Province which is much smaller than Rwanda. The number of Rwandans in Rwanda is more or less equal to the number of Kikuyu in Kenya. Since 1900 the Kikuyu have moved out of Central Province to other parts of Kenya under the assumption that they were Kenyan citizens moving within their own country. But others, particularly the Kalenjin and Maassi groups take the positioin that Kikuyu were given land that was stolen from them by the British and therefore they don't have "rights" of land ownership in these areas.
Since Kenya is itself a nation supported by the international community, the regionalists don't have the legal right to expell the Kikuyu as the Congolese, Tanzanians or Ugandans have with the Rwandans. I read in the paper today that Tanzania is expelling 220,000 Burundians who have been in Tanzania since 1972; 36 years! Burundians do not seem to be very welcoming of these returnees because they really have no place to put them.
In effect our concepts of who belongs to what nation needs to be questioned/considered, while at the same time we have to address the issue of whether a group that historically occupies a certain territory has the right to exclude others. And then there has be fights over the boundaries of these "indigeneous territories"--this is essentially what is happening in the conflict on Mt Elgon. I am certain that almost everyone reading this report will come down on the side of the right of a person to live anywhere "in his/her own nation." But one must remember that the great "ethnic cleanizing" happened at the end of World War II when millions of people were relocated to their "home country" whose boundaries had changed substantially so that Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Latvia, etc. all became ethnically homogeneous and the multi-national countries of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia had to be broken up into ethnic enclaves. The American (and now European) efforts to keep out illegal immigrants is no more than this same issue--if Americans don't like Mexicans in their borders, while shouldn't people from North Kivu not like Rwandans, or Kalenjin's not like Kikuyu, Luo, Luyha, and others within "their borders?" There have been suggestions (not considered seriously) that Kenya ought to be divided into two new countries with the Rift, Western, and Nyanza Provinces becoming Kenya II.
These are all hard issues. I don't see anyone in the international community addressing them at any depth. Surely the United Nations and all its constitutent governments are committed to the current status quo. I would like to see some considerations of better alternatives.
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Feb 8, Report 29, "Feed the Hungry"- David Zarenbka
From: David Zarembka
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 12:58 AM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya # 29 -- Feb 8
Dear All,
"Feed the Hungry."
Two weeks ago Kenyan Friends held a conference in Kakamega sponsored by the Friends Church in Kenya, Friends United Meeting--Africa Office, and Friends World Committee for Consultation--Africa Section. At that meeting, it was decided to form a committee which has been titled "Friends Church Peace Team" (FCPT). I was appointed to the committee which has now formed an "Emergency Relief and Reconciliation Programme." As its first major activity, yesterday, about 30 Friends visited a number of internally displaced people in the Trans Nzoia District next to Mt. Elgon in the Rift Valley. With funds donated from the United States, England, and elsewhere, a truck filled with food, maize (corn), beans, rice, sugar, salt, cooking oil, blankets, and soap, was be to delivered.
Gladys and I were assigned to provide the forty 200-pound bags of maize; here in Lugari District maize is cheaper since this is the maize belt region of Kenya and there is a surplus for export elsewhere. Gladys and two youth spent Monday and Tuesday bagging the 40 sacks at Florence and Alfred Machayo's home. Then on Wednesday she waited all day for the truck she had hired to take the maize to Kakamega. It never showed up so she arranged for another truck to come at 5:00 a.m. on Thursday morning. When it had not shown up by 8:00 AM, we called John Muhanji of FUM who was organizing the distribution. He decided to have the truck which was coming from Kakamega with the rest of the goods drop by the Machayo's and pick up the maize (and us as we had travelled the five miles or so to her house). This worked out well and actually saved the transport costs.
The people who had gathered in Kakamega came up north in three vehicles and together with the truck we drove to a junction near where we were going to distribute the food. Henry Mukwanja who works for the National Council of Christians of Kenya in that region had identified about ten places where approximately 4000 people had not received any assistance from either the Red Cross, the Government of Kenya, or the World Food Program. These people noted that the Red Cross trucks passed them by to deliver food and supplies to the Kikuyu who were in an IDP camp down the road-- as non-Kikuyu, theysaw this as another example of the Government's favoritism to Kikuyu over other people in Kenya.
Gladys and I joined the third group with a Seventh Day Adventist Church which was going to a small shopping center, 5 or 6 small shops on the side of the road, at Misemwa where officially there were 259 families totaling 1600 people; an average of about 6 people per family. The amount of food we unloaded seemed massive--14 two hundred pound bags of maize, for example. Yet each family was given only about 10 pounds of maize, 2 pounds of beans, a blanket, a cup of sugar, a half cup of salt, a few ounces of cooking oil, and the families with children received some rice. This would be enough only for a few days! Of course the place was packed with people waiting patiently for the distribution--many women. I estimated that 2/3 of the families were headed by women; there were many small children (the older ones, I hope, were in school), old men, youth, etc.
These people were not Kikuyu, the group usually targeted in the violence in western Kenya, but mostly Luhya and some Sabaot (Kalenjin group). There was no internally displaced persons camp like we are go to in Turbo; the people live in houses in the area. For example, in the small Seventh Day Adventist Church, eight women were living with their children. Others had rented a room in the area and a few were staying with relatives. One woman told me that she had moved with her husband and four children--and a fifth was well on its way--to live with her sister who also has four children and there was not enough food for this suddenly, vastly expanded, family. All the displaced people had come with nothing more than what they could carry.
As usual when one delves into the details of conflict, the situation is different from the usual simplistic explanation of Kibaki versus Raila, Kikuyu versus Luo. The people here had fled from Mt. Elgon where there has been an active conflict for the last year and a half. Human Rights groups in Bungoma had tallied 400 dead and 150,000 or more displaced before the election violence began on December 30. Note that this compares to the official count of 1000 dead and 300,000 displaced from the election violence. In other words, some conflicts are "more important" than others. But the fact that this conflict was not properly dealt with when it occurred indicates why so much of Kenya could erupt into similar violence.
[NOTE: David and others visited Mt. Elgon in early November 2007. AVP workshops had begun there prior to the election. David wrote a report about the history of the area and the violent conflict which had already been going on for over a year.]
The conflict in Mt. Elgon was between two clans of the Sabaot group, the Soy and Ndorobo, over land. The first group, which thinks that they have not been dealt with fairly in the land distribution by the Government have formed the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLBF). They have automatic rifles and retreat into the forests on Mt Elgon to hide. We had seen an area on Mt Elgon where every house on the hillside had been destroyed. The election results were used by the Sabaot Land Defence Force as a reason to attack anyone in their area from another group. This included Kikuyu who fled to the camp nearby, as well as the Bugusu of the Luhya group. I had heard of a case where 11 Bugusu were executed by the SLBF and the bodies thrown into a latrine. While I have never heard any reference to this massacre in the media (compare this to the 17 who were burned to death in the church near Eldoret), this was confirmed by a doctor at the Webuye Hospital where the exhumed bodies were later taken. So it did not take much for the Bugusu to flee. Then the Ndorobo, who were supplied by the Kikuyu in their trading across the border into Uganda, attacked the Sabaot for attacking the Kikuyu. So, Sabaot also had to flee to Misemwa.
I talked at length with Mildred, one of the 8 women living in the church. She has six children, the
youngest was on her shoulder as we talked. Her husband had left for the day when the SLDF came in red uniforms (ie, this is an organized rebel group) and told them to leave. So she did. She has no idea where her husband is and there is really little way for him to find out where they have fled. She does not want to return to her farm on Mt. Elgon, where she had lived for 12 years, but has little idea what the future will bring for her.
Andrew and his wife and four children (he was also holding his youngest child on his shoulder) were attacked in the middle of the night and fled down the mountain with nothing but what they had on. He lives in a room in a house nearby. He says that he survives by doing day labor when he can. He also told me he did not want to go back. When I asked people, they told me that the land on Mt. Elgon is very fertile and well-watered and that is why they had bought plots there in the past.
While the media, both internationally and locally, reports (as the Government would like them to) that the situation in Kenya is calm and returning to normal, this is clearly not the case on Mt. Elgon. The previous night there had been some killings (unconfirmed) and hundreds more had fled down the mountain. These newly displaced people were not on the list of 259 families to receive the aid we had brought.
After three hours distributing the relief supplies at Misemwa and talking with the people, after a short sermon and prayer, we left and joined the other people at a small "hotel" where we all got a snack and discussed the pro's and con's of what we had done for the day. For example, in our case, since the site was not a "camp" and this was the first time that the group had received any assistance, there was no distribution system in place as occurs with the Lumakanda IDP group in Turbo. On Saturday Gladys and I will go to Kakamega to meet with the Friends Church Peace Team to decide what we will do next.
Although the food seemed to be little in relationship to the need, I still felt good knowing that we had helped as we were able. In this kind of work, one cannot get discouraged by the unmet needs, but must focus on what has been accomplished. If people only eat well for a few days, it is still better than having to scrounge around for a little food and going to sleep hungry. Moreover, as I have learned in the past, visiting people who have been the victims of violence is perhaps one of the most important peacemaking activities one can do initially. As the Burundians say, "A real Friend comes in the time of need" (I am the one who capitalized the "F" in friend).
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 12:58 AM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya # 29 -- Feb 8
Dear All,
"Feed the Hungry."
Two weeks ago Kenyan Friends held a conference in Kakamega sponsored by the Friends Church in Kenya, Friends United Meeting--Africa Office, and Friends World Committee for Consultation--Africa Section. At that meeting, it was decided to form a committee which has been titled "Friends Church Peace Team" (FCPT). I was appointed to the committee which has now formed an "Emergency Relief and Reconciliation Programme." As its first major activity, yesterday, about 30 Friends visited a number of internally displaced people in the Trans Nzoia District next to Mt. Elgon in the Rift Valley. With funds donated from the United States, England, and elsewhere, a truck filled with food, maize (corn), beans, rice, sugar, salt, cooking oil, blankets, and soap, was be to delivered.
Gladys and I were assigned to provide the forty 200-pound bags of maize; here in Lugari District maize is cheaper since this is the maize belt region of Kenya and there is a surplus for export elsewhere. Gladys and two youth spent Monday and Tuesday bagging the 40 sacks at Florence and Alfred Machayo's home. Then on Wednesday she waited all day for the truck she had hired to take the maize to Kakamega. It never showed up so she arranged for another truck to come at 5:00 a.m. on Thursday morning. When it had not shown up by 8:00 AM, we called John Muhanji of FUM who was organizing the distribution. He decided to have the truck which was coming from Kakamega with the rest of the goods drop by the Machayo's and pick up the maize (and us as we had travelled the five miles or so to her house). This worked out well and actually saved the transport costs.
The people who had gathered in Kakamega came up north in three vehicles and together with the truck we drove to a junction near where we were going to distribute the food. Henry Mukwanja who works for the National Council of Christians of Kenya in that region had identified about ten places where approximately 4000 people had not received any assistance from either the Red Cross, the Government of Kenya, or the World Food Program. These people noted that the Red Cross trucks passed them by to deliver food and supplies to the Kikuyu who were in an IDP camp down the road-- as non-Kikuyu, theysaw this as another example of the Government's favoritism to Kikuyu over other people in Kenya.
Gladys and I joined the third group with a Seventh Day Adventist Church which was going to a small shopping center, 5 or 6 small shops on the side of the road, at Misemwa where officially there were 259 families totaling 1600 people; an average of about 6 people per family. The amount of food we unloaded seemed massive--14 two hundred pound bags of maize, for example. Yet each family was given only about 10 pounds of maize, 2 pounds of beans, a blanket, a cup of sugar, a half cup of salt, a few ounces of cooking oil, and the families with children received some rice. This would be enough only for a few days! Of course the place was packed with people waiting patiently for the distribution--many women. I estimated that 2/3 of the families were headed by women; there were many small children (the older ones, I hope, were in school), old men, youth, etc.
These people were not Kikuyu, the group usually targeted in the violence in western Kenya, but mostly Luhya and some Sabaot (Kalenjin group). There was no internally displaced persons camp like we are go to in Turbo; the people live in houses in the area. For example, in the small Seventh Day Adventist Church, eight women were living with their children. Others had rented a room in the area and a few were staying with relatives. One woman told me that she had moved with her husband and four children--and a fifth was well on its way--to live with her sister who also has four children and there was not enough food for this suddenly, vastly expanded, family. All the displaced people had come with nothing more than what they could carry.
As usual when one delves into the details of conflict, the situation is different from the usual simplistic explanation of Kibaki versus Raila, Kikuyu versus Luo. The people here had fled from Mt. Elgon where there has been an active conflict for the last year and a half. Human Rights groups in Bungoma had tallied 400 dead and 150,000 or more displaced before the election violence began on December 30. Note that this compares to the official count of 1000 dead and 300,000 displaced from the election violence. In other words, some conflicts are "more important" than others. But the fact that this conflict was not properly dealt with when it occurred indicates why so much of Kenya could erupt into similar violence.
[NOTE: David and others visited Mt. Elgon in early November 2007. AVP workshops had begun there prior to the election. David wrote a report about the history of the area and the violent conflict which had already been going on for over a year.]
The conflict in Mt. Elgon was between two clans of the Sabaot group, the Soy and Ndorobo, over land. The first group, which thinks that they have not been dealt with fairly in the land distribution by the Government have formed the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLBF). They have automatic rifles and retreat into the forests on Mt Elgon to hide. We had seen an area on Mt Elgon where every house on the hillside had been destroyed. The election results were used by the Sabaot Land Defence Force as a reason to attack anyone in their area from another group. This included Kikuyu who fled to the camp nearby, as well as the Bugusu of the Luhya group. I had heard of a case where 11 Bugusu were executed by the SLBF and the bodies thrown into a latrine. While I have never heard any reference to this massacre in the media (compare this to the 17 who were burned to death in the church near Eldoret), this was confirmed by a doctor at the Webuye Hospital where the exhumed bodies were later taken. So it did not take much for the Bugusu to flee. Then the Ndorobo, who were supplied by the Kikuyu in their trading across the border into Uganda, attacked the Sabaot for attacking the Kikuyu. So, Sabaot also had to flee to Misemwa.
I talked at length with Mildred, one of the 8 women living in the church. She has six children, the
youngest was on her shoulder as we talked. Her husband had left for the day when the SLDF came in red uniforms (ie, this is an organized rebel group) and told them to leave. So she did. She has no idea where her husband is and there is really little way for him to find out where they have fled. She does not want to return to her farm on Mt. Elgon, where she had lived for 12 years, but has little idea what the future will bring for her.
Andrew and his wife and four children (he was also holding his youngest child on his shoulder) were attacked in the middle of the night and fled down the mountain with nothing but what they had on. He lives in a room in a house nearby. He says that he survives by doing day labor when he can. He also told me he did not want to go back. When I asked people, they told me that the land on Mt. Elgon is very fertile and well-watered and that is why they had bought plots there in the past.
While the media, both internationally and locally, reports (as the Government would like them to) that the situation in Kenya is calm and returning to normal, this is clearly not the case on Mt. Elgon. The previous night there had been some killings (unconfirmed) and hundreds more had fled down the mountain. These newly displaced people were not on the list of 259 families to receive the aid we had brought.
After three hours distributing the relief supplies at Misemwa and talking with the people, after a short sermon and prayer, we left and joined the other people at a small "hotel" where we all got a snack and discussed the pro's and con's of what we had done for the day. For example, in our case, since the site was not a "camp" and this was the first time that the group had received any assistance, there was no distribution system in place as occurs with the Lumakanda IDP group in Turbo. On Saturday Gladys and I will go to Kakamega to meet with the Friends Church Peace Team to decide what we will do next.
Although the food seemed to be little in relationship to the need, I still felt good knowing that we had helped as we were able. In this kind of work, one cannot get discouraged by the unmet needs, but must focus on what has been accomplished. If people only eat well for a few days, it is still better than having to scrounge around for a little food and going to sleep hungry. Moreover, as I have learned in the past, visiting people who have been the victims of violence is perhaps one of the most important peacemaking activities one can do initially. As the Burundians say, "A real Friend comes in the time of need" (I am the one who capitalized the "F" in friend).
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Feb 4, Report 27, Ancient Tribal Hatreds, David Zarembka
From: David Zarembka
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 7:02 AM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya--Feb 4
Ancient Tribal Hatreds
As I indicated in a previous report, most of the international reporting about Kenya is based on the assumption that "ancient tribal hatreds" explains what is going on. Evidence which does not fit into this framework is ignored. Let me give some examples.
> the human rights advocates and leaders of NGO's who have criticized the government over the election tallying, the use of live bullets, the restrictions on press freedom, and, the right to hold demonstrations. In other words, some of the most vocal critics of what is happening are Kikuyu.
Some of the violence in Naivasha was Kikuyu gangs fighting other Kikuyu gangs. Since this does not fit in -- it has been ignored. There are large areas of Western Province (perhaps over half of the area) and possibly also parts of Nyanza and Rift Valley provinces, but I don't have as much information about those regions, where the Kikuyu have not been forced out, their houses and shops have not been looted and burned, and they are still living peacefully with their neighbors. Many non-Kikuyu have been in the forefront of visiting and bringing relief to those Kikuyu in IDP camps. The Red Cross volunteers who were helping at Lumakanda were mostly local Luhya.
I have heard one sermon and heard reports of other sermons that a good Christian does not loot, destroy, and/or kill ANYONE. One can explain both WWI and WWII as "old tribal hatreds" between the Germans and the French/English. From before 1066 to 1914 European history can be explained as "ancient tribal hatreds" between the English and French. As you can see, this doesn't explain anything, but rather is an excuse to avoid develving more deeply into root causes of conflict. So when you see articles about ethnic animonsities (to use the current more polite term) in Kenya, please realize that you are being served only icing.
Peace,
Dave
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 7:02 AM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya--Feb 4
Ancient Tribal Hatreds
As I indicated in a previous report, most of the international reporting about Kenya is based on the assumption that "ancient tribal hatreds" explains what is going on. Evidence which does not fit into this framework is ignored. Let me give some examples.
- A Luhya woman from Lumakanda Friends Church is hiding a Kikuyu woman who gave birth on Dec 30 when the violence started.
- I know a Luo (who are supposed to "hate" Kikuyu) whose brother is hiding a Kikuyu in his house.
> the human rights advocates and leaders of NGO's who have criticized the government over the election tallying, the use of live bullets, the restrictions on press freedom, and, the right to hold demonstrations. In other words, some of the most vocal critics of what is happening are Kikuyu.
Some of the violence in Naivasha was Kikuyu gangs fighting other Kikuyu gangs. Since this does not fit in -- it has been ignored. There are large areas of Western Province (perhaps over half of the area) and possibly also parts of Nyanza and Rift Valley provinces, but I don't have as much information about those regions, where the Kikuyu have not been forced out, their houses and shops have not been looted and burned, and they are still living peacefully with their neighbors. Many non-Kikuyu have been in the forefront of visiting and bringing relief to those Kikuyu in IDP camps. The Red Cross volunteers who were helping at Lumakanda were mostly local Luhya.
I have heard one sermon and heard reports of other sermons that a good Christian does not loot, destroy, and/or kill ANYONE. One can explain both WWI and WWII as "old tribal hatreds" between the Germans and the French/English. From before 1066 to 1914 European history can be explained as "ancient tribal hatreds" between the English and French. As you can see, this doesn't explain anything, but rather is an excuse to avoid develving more deeply into root causes of conflict. So when you see articles about ethnic animonsities (to use the current more polite term) in Kenya, please realize that you are being served only icing.
Peace,
Dave
Feb 4, Report 28, from David Zarembka
From: David Zarembka
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 11:19 AM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya -- # 28 - Feb 4
Dear All,
While burning houses and deadly violence fills the news here in Kenya, AGLI has played a part in a great peacemaking activity!
The Kipsigis are a Kalenjin group around Kericho in the Rift Valley. The Kisii are their neighbors across the border in Nyanza Province. As soon as the election results were announced, the Kipsigis began targeting the Kisii; they were incorrrectly perceived as having supported Kibaki in the election. Last Thursday [1/21] when a Kipsigis Member of Parliament [David Kimutai Too] was killed by a Kisii policeman, extensive violence broke out on the border between the two groups. Between ten and twenty people were killed; many, many wounded; and tens of houses burned.
Jared is an AVP facilitator in Kisii and coordinator of the Uzima Foundation program there (Uzima works with youth empowerment). He is married to a Kipsigis woman who had to go into hiding in order keep from being attacked.
Malesi Kinaro wrote a proposal to AGLI to support negotiation/reconciliation meetings between the Kipsigis and Kisii elders. Naturally I agreed.
I just received the following text message from Malesi:
"Jared is walking in the air. He just finished chairing a meeting that brought together District Commissioners, Members of Parliament, and elders from Kispsigis and Kisii. He says it went so well he doesn't think fighting will continue. We have been working to see this day when we make the first step. AGLI, through FPCD (Friends for Peace and Community Development), AGLI's partner in western Kenyan, gave 108,000/- ($1550) for this and Uzima gave 40,000/- ($575). The journey is still long and much money needed. The Lord reigns!" [NOTE: /- is the symbol for Kenyan Shillings.]
If this has saved the life of even one person, our efforts have been rewarded. Thanks to Jared for this great effort!
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 11:19 AM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya -- # 28 - Feb 4
Dear All,
While burning houses and deadly violence fills the news here in Kenya, AGLI has played a part in a great peacemaking activity!
The Kipsigis are a Kalenjin group around Kericho in the Rift Valley. The Kisii are their neighbors across the border in Nyanza Province. As soon as the election results were announced, the Kipsigis began targeting the Kisii; they were incorrrectly perceived as having supported Kibaki in the election. Last Thursday [1/21] when a Kipsigis Member of Parliament [David Kimutai Too] was killed by a Kisii policeman, extensive violence broke out on the border between the two groups. Between ten and twenty people were killed; many, many wounded; and tens of houses burned.
Jared is an AVP facilitator in Kisii and coordinator of the Uzima Foundation program there (Uzima works with youth empowerment). He is married to a Kipsigis woman who had to go into hiding in order keep from being attacked.
Malesi Kinaro wrote a proposal to AGLI to support negotiation/reconciliation meetings between the Kipsigis and Kisii elders. Naturally I agreed.
I just received the following text message from Malesi:
"Jared is walking in the air. He just finished chairing a meeting that brought together District Commissioners, Members of Parliament, and elders from Kispsigis and Kisii. He says it went so well he doesn't think fighting will continue. We have been working to see this day when we make the first step. AGLI, through FPCD (Friends for Peace and Community Development), AGLI's partner in western Kenyan, gave 108,000/- ($1550) for this and Uzima gave 40,000/- ($575). The journey is still long and much money needed. The Lord reigns!" [NOTE: /- is the symbol for Kenyan Shillings.]
If this has saved the life of even one person, our efforts have been rewarded. Thanks to Jared for this great effort!
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Jan 30, update & photos, from Sukie Rice
January 30, 2008
Dear friends,
There have been alternating waves of encouraging signs and horrible
violence over the past two weeks. Just as I begin to write an Up-
Date, something new happens. So I have to start over in my
writing. Now I'll try again:
AT THE CARE CENTRE
Things had began to cool down in Kakamega and ALL the children have been brought back to the Care Centre, plus some new children. For many of them this has been a very frightening time and some have seen things that children shouldn’t ever see. There was much joy of
being back with friends and having enough food to eat. Food costs have doubled, as has fuel, making it very hard for poor people to buy food or get around at all. Friends of Kakamega sent over extra money so that Homebased-sponsored children would have extra so their guardians could buy food.
Elementary schools opened, but many of the teachers at the Kakamega Primary Schools have not been able to “report to work” (either because they could not travel because traveling has been too dangerous, or because they are of the persecuted tribe). During the first week of school, with only 50% of the teachers present, classes were 100 children per room instead of 50 and it was chaos. (Never thought I'd think of "only 50" students in a class as reasonable.) So the children were attending only in the mornings, being sent home each day at noon. Just yesterday the school began its full day, but many teachers still are not there because they are of the
"wrong" (Kikuyu) people. It has a long way to go to become normal.
VIOLENCE IN KENYA and KAKAMEGA TOWN
I am sure you heard on the news last week about Kofi Annan's visit, and the "famous hand-shake" between Odinga and Kibaki. Unfortunately not an inch did either one budge from their intransigent positions and neither did much of anything to quell the violence. Then
retribution violence erupted last week in Nakuru and Naivasha as well as continuing in Kisumu which has become like a ghost town. Raymond Ojiambo (the Care Centre van driver and computer man) says that the burnings have set Kisumu back 60-70 years of progress. (All photos are by Raymond.)
You have probably heard that the violence in the Rift Valley is continuing. And perhaps you have heard that it broke out again in Kakamega. It seems that some young men from Kisumu (Luo tribe) decided that things had become too settled in Kakamega and they decided to go and heat things up. And so on Monday morning a bus- load of youth arrived in Kakamega and the town went "wild" again. Right away the men began slashing and burnings in town and everyone
ran in terror. Kakamega had been heavily policed but as things had quieted down there recently, many police had been relocated to more violent areas, and so there was not a strong police presence.
Meanwhile truck-loads of people have come pouring back into the police station compound for safety. Dorothy was going to see if some of the women and children might be moved to the Care Centre as a dry place with food and friendship. But they would have to have armed guards accompany them as the Care Centre and Friends Church on the compound would need protection. The Care Centre is a mile away from the center of town and so things are not burning there. But they are very cautious and it is terrifying to know this all happening in their own town.
EMERGENCY RELIEF
The call for Emergency Relief from Friends of Kakamega that we sent out 10 days ago has been answered by many of you. Over $12,000 for relief work has been received!! plus money for increased food costs for the children. We are STUNNED. And EXTREMELY GRATEFUL.
Gifts of all sizes (including one enormous gift which came in a small, simple envelope-- such a Quakerly thing to do!) all add up and we want to thank each and every one of you for reaching out at this time. We are sending it over right away.
Dorothy has brought hundreds of blankets and food to Displaced Persons camps, the largest being in Lugari where 18,000 people have been held for safety. She says people are so grateful for the help and encouragement. They do not know how they will be able to rebuild their lives. But knowing that other people are reaching out to them has been as important as the material goods. We are wire transferring the money we receive from you through our bank in Maine
to their bank account at Standard Chartered Bank of Kenya. Thus, the money is safe in the sending. Once it is withdrawn, it is up to Dorothy and the USFW to be safe as they purchase what is needed and then to deliver it. Please keep your prayers with them as this can be difficult and potentially dangerous work.
The Emergency Relief Fund will be continuing for a long time now so if you know anyone who might be interested in helping, please send them this file. One check came in today from a lady who had heard about it from her mother ... who heard about it from a friend.... who heard about it from a Quaker in Vermont. So PLEASE get the word out!
QUAKER PEACE CONFERENCE IN KAKAMEGA
Last week, a 4-day Peace Conference of 60 Quaker leaders from all over Kenya (who were able to travel there) took place in Kakamega to seek guidance from the Spirit as to how they might best work together at this time. They developed 7 areas of focus and an Action Plan around each. I will send that to you in a separate email. The presence of Friends has already had an effect, both as people committed to non-violent conflict resolution (thru the Friends Peace Teams/Alternatives to Violence Project) and their direct assistance to people in the Displaced Persons camps. The Friend's testimony that "There is God in EVERY person, and they should be
valued as one of God's children" is very relevant here.
EVENTS and ANALYSIS
Today a second Parliament Minister was shot and killed. David Too was from the Eldoret area (east of Kakamega) and of the ODM Party, as was the other minister in Nairobi. ODM leader, Raila Odinga, says these killings are political motivated and designed to reduce the numbers of ODM members in Parliament.
Kofi Annan says some progress is being made but it will take many months and probably a year to put together the political "apparatus" that can help lead Kenya out of this morass. The Kenyan system is set up so that "winner takes all" and we mean ALL. So when they have a close election, those who loose, loose everything. Thus the desperation to be "winner." This has to change and a new constitution needs to be drawn up to reduce tribal/ethnic disparities and spread the representative power around to all the people.
Ethnic Cleansing: I do not agree with Bush's envoy Frazier that this is ethnic cleansing. Yes, It does fall on ethnic lines. And it certainly does fall on party lines. And now there is revenge and
old scores that are being settled. But it is primarily an economic/social class struggle. You see in Nairobi very wealthy Kenyans and you see millions in some of the worst slums in the world. There is a middle class, but it is very small; instead the biggest picture is the dramatic differences between the very poor and the rich. Clearly it is the young men who are poor, disenfranchised and without hope (and faith) who are doing the violence. Yes, there is ethnic
hatred of the haves (Kikuyu) by the have-nots (Luo and others) and years and years of rage is pouring forth. (We know about this in our country.) And now revenge killings are making it horribly worse. There are also old land disputes being "settled." (The government has in the past given people's land away to others and, especially in Eldoret area, these old land-ownership disputes are the cause of much of the fighting.)
But ethnic cleansing and genocide are terms for when a government and it's ethnic people set forth to wipe out another grouping of people. This is not the case in Kenya.
Arrests are being made of people who are burning and looting. Human Rights groups and others have rightfully pointed their finger at police who have been shooting indiscriminately. Usually killing people from another tribe. Kibaki has to be the one to stop this.
Odinga and Kibaki are supposed to be the leaders in all this, but I question leadership that puts all its energy into positioning for power and does not respond to the horror that their people are going through. Both men have encouraged their tribal groups in "showing their strength", i.e. how much violence they can do. Both have been extremely weak in insisting that that violence be stopped. Yesterday, at the beginning of the talks, Kibaki's men spent well over an hour just insisting that Kibaki should be seated in the middle because he's president, rather than Kofii Annan as the mediator. While 500,000 people's lives and an entire country's well-being is at stake, this kind of positioning for power is obscene.
Harboring refugees
Meanwhile Quakers (and I believe others, but don't have confirmation on it) in the western part of Kenya are hiding refugees in their homes from the violence. Some are doing it in secret, afraid of retribution. Others are doing it openly as a statement that they will not desert their neighbors. (But with armed guards to protect them.)
Eden Grace, staff of the Friends United Meeting in Kisumu, (who has just been evacuated from Kisumu with her family and other Americans to Nairobi) writes:
Please, please continue praying for peace in Kenya. Things have reached a frightening "tipping point", where we can envision a truly horrible future. But at the same time, we know that God is a miracle-worker, and that He has not abandoned Kenya, so we remain hopeful. Please join us in pleading for His hand of calm to stay the angry hearts, His hand of comfort to bind up the wounded in body and spirit, and His hand of wisdom to guide all of us who seek to do His will today and every day.
Praying for peace, hope and reconciliation,
Sukie
P.S. I have struggled over sending the last photo. Please forgive me if I have offended you in adding it to the email. If photos have not appeared in your email and you wish to receive them, please write
to me and i can send them individually.
Dear friends,
There have been alternating waves of encouraging signs and horrible
violence over the past two weeks. Just as I begin to write an Up-
Date, something new happens. So I have to start over in my
writing. Now I'll try again:
AT THE CARE CENTRE
Things had began to cool down in Kakamega and ALL the children have been brought back to the Care Centre, plus some new children. For many of them this has been a very frightening time and some have seen things that children shouldn’t ever see. There was much joy of
being back with friends and having enough food to eat. Food costs have doubled, as has fuel, making it very hard for poor people to buy food or get around at all. Friends of Kakamega sent over extra money so that Homebased-sponsored children would have extra so their guardians could buy food.
Elementary schools opened, but many of the teachers at the Kakamega Primary Schools have not been able to “report to work” (either because they could not travel because traveling has been too dangerous, or because they are of the persecuted tribe). During the first week of school, with only 50% of the teachers present, classes were 100 children per room instead of 50 and it was chaos. (Never thought I'd think of "only 50" students in a class as reasonable.) So the children were attending only in the mornings, being sent home each day at noon. Just yesterday the school began its full day, but many teachers still are not there because they are of the
"wrong" (Kikuyu) people. It has a long way to go to become normal.
VIOLENCE IN KENYA and KAKAMEGA TOWN
I am sure you heard on the news last week about Kofi Annan's visit, and the "famous hand-shake" between Odinga and Kibaki. Unfortunately not an inch did either one budge from their intransigent positions and neither did much of anything to quell the violence. Then
retribution violence erupted last week in Nakuru and Naivasha as well as continuing in Kisumu which has become like a ghost town. Raymond Ojiambo (the Care Centre van driver and computer man) says that the burnings have set Kisumu back 60-70 years of progress. (All photos are by Raymond.)
Shops in Kisumu
You have probably heard that the violence in the Rift Valley is continuing. And perhaps you have heard that it broke out again in Kakamega. It seems that some young men from Kisumu (Luo tribe) decided that things had become too settled in Kakamega and they decided to go and heat things up. And so on Monday morning a bus- load of youth arrived in Kakamega and the town went "wild" again. Right away the men began slashing and burnings in town and everyone
ran in terror. Kakamega had been heavily policed but as things had quieted down there recently, many police had been relocated to more violent areas, and so there was not a strong police presence.
A Kikuyu owned electronic shop (where we got a CD player for the Care Centre) and other shops next to it in flames.
Meanwhile truck-loads of people have come pouring back into the police station compound for safety. Dorothy was going to see if some of the women and children might be moved to the Care Centre as a dry place with food and friendship. But they would have to have armed guards accompany them as the Care Centre and Friends Church on the compound would need protection. The Care Centre is a mile away from the center of town and so things are not burning there. But they are very cautious and it is terrifying to know this all happening in their own town.
EMERGENCY RELIEF
The call for Emergency Relief from Friends of Kakamega that we sent out 10 days ago has been answered by many of you. Over $12,000 for relief work has been received!! plus money for increased food costs for the children. We are STUNNED. And EXTREMELY GRATEFUL.
Gifts of all sizes (including one enormous gift which came in a small, simple envelope-- such a Quakerly thing to do!) all add up and we want to thank each and every one of you for reaching out at this time. We are sending it over right away.
Dorothy has brought hundreds of blankets and food to Displaced Persons camps, the largest being in Lugari where 18,000 people have been held for safety. She says people are so grateful for the help and encouragement. They do not know how they will be able to rebuild their lives. But knowing that other people are reaching out to them has been as important as the material goods. We are wire transferring the money we receive from you through our bank in Maine
to their bank account at Standard Chartered Bank of Kenya. Thus, the money is safe in the sending. Once it is withdrawn, it is up to Dorothy and the USFW to be safe as they purchase what is needed and then to deliver it. Please keep your prayers with them as this can be difficult and potentially dangerous work.
The Emergency Relief Fund will be continuing for a long time now so if you know anyone who might be interested in helping, please send them this file. One check came in today from a lady who had heard about it from her mother ... who heard about it from a friend.... who heard about it from a Quaker in Vermont. So PLEASE get the word out!
Women and children at the K. Displaced Persons Centre
QUAKER PEACE CONFERENCE IN KAKAMEGA
Last week, a 4-day Peace Conference of 60 Quaker leaders from all over Kenya (who were able to travel there) took place in Kakamega to seek guidance from the Spirit as to how they might best work together at this time. They developed 7 areas of focus and an Action Plan around each. I will send that to you in a separate email. The presence of Friends has already had an effect, both as people committed to non-violent conflict resolution (thru the Friends Peace Teams/Alternatives to Violence Project) and their direct assistance to people in the Displaced Persons camps. The Friend's testimony that "There is God in EVERY person, and they should be
valued as one of God's children" is very relevant here.
EVENTS and ANALYSIS
Today a second Parliament Minister was shot and killed. David Too was from the Eldoret area (east of Kakamega) and of the ODM Party, as was the other minister in Nairobi. ODM leader, Raila Odinga, says these killings are political motivated and designed to reduce the numbers of ODM members in Parliament.
Kofi Annan says some progress is being made but it will take many months and probably a year to put together the political "apparatus" that can help lead Kenya out of this morass. The Kenyan system is set up so that "winner takes all" and we mean ALL. So when they have a close election, those who loose, loose everything. Thus the desperation to be "winner." This has to change and a new constitution needs to be drawn up to reduce tribal/ethnic disparities and spread the representative power around to all the people.
Ethnic Cleansing: I do not agree with Bush's envoy Frazier that this is ethnic cleansing. Yes, It does fall on ethnic lines. And it certainly does fall on party lines. And now there is revenge and
old scores that are being settled. But it is primarily an economic/social class struggle. You see in Nairobi very wealthy Kenyans and you see millions in some of the worst slums in the world. There is a middle class, but it is very small; instead the biggest picture is the dramatic differences between the very poor and the rich. Clearly it is the young men who are poor, disenfranchised and without hope (and faith) who are doing the violence. Yes, there is ethnic
hatred of the haves (Kikuyu) by the have-nots (Luo and others) and years and years of rage is pouring forth. (We know about this in our country.) And now revenge killings are making it horribly worse. There are also old land disputes being "settled." (The government has in the past given people's land away to others and, especially in Eldoret area, these old land-ownership disputes are the cause of much of the fighting.)
But ethnic cleansing and genocide are terms for when a government and it's ethnic people set forth to wipe out another grouping of people. This is not the case in Kenya.
Arrests are being made of people who are burning and looting. Human Rights groups and others have rightfully pointed their finger at police who have been shooting indiscriminately. Usually killing people from another tribe. Kibaki has to be the one to stop this.
Looking for relatives
Odinga and Kibaki are supposed to be the leaders in all this, but I question leadership that puts all its energy into positioning for power and does not respond to the horror that their people are going through. Both men have encouraged their tribal groups in "showing their strength", i.e. how much violence they can do. Both have been extremely weak in insisting that that violence be stopped. Yesterday, at the beginning of the talks, Kibaki's men spent well over an hour just insisting that Kibaki should be seated in the middle because he's president, rather than Kofii Annan as the mediator. While 500,000 people's lives and an entire country's well-being is at stake, this kind of positioning for power is obscene.
Harboring refugees
Meanwhile Quakers (and I believe others, but don't have confirmation on it) in the western part of Kenya are hiding refugees in their homes from the violence. Some are doing it in secret, afraid of retribution. Others are doing it openly as a statement that they will not desert their neighbors. (But with armed guards to protect them.)
Eden Grace, staff of the Friends United Meeting in Kisumu, (who has just been evacuated from Kisumu with her family and other Americans to Nairobi) writes:
Please, please continue praying for peace in Kenya. Things have reached a frightening "tipping point", where we can envision a truly horrible future. But at the same time, we know that God is a miracle-worker, and that He has not abandoned Kenya, so we remain hopeful. Please join us in pleading for His hand of calm to stay the angry hearts, His hand of comfort to bind up the wounded in body and spirit, and His hand of wisdom to guide all of us who seek to do His will today and every day.
Praying for peace, hope and reconciliation,
Sukie
P.S. I have struggled over sending the last photo. Please forgive me if I have offended you in adding it to the email. If photos have not appeared in your email and you wish to receive them, please write
to me and i can send them individually.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Feb 3, Report 26, David Zarembka
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2008 6:16 AM
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya-- # 26 - Feb 3
Dear All,
Moses Musonga is the General Secretary of the Friends
World Committee for Consultation--Africa Section. He
just buried his brother-in-law who was killed with six
arrows in his body in the conflict around Kaimosi between
the local Luhya and Kalenjin groups who both supported
the opposition candidate.
One of our brother-in-laws, Wilson, is an over the road
truck driver. He carried cement from Mombasa to the Rift
Valley and returns with tea for export. In the Rift Valley,
he was beaten up and all the cement stolen, but fortunately
they did not burn his truck. Again both Wilson and the
Kalenjin who attacked him were politically on the same side.
On Friday I attended a meeting of the Quaker Leaders
and yesterday (Saturday) I clerked a meeting with the AVP
facilitators from the western provinces. At this point no one
thinks that the situation in Kenya is about politics--that is,
about who won the election. The election was no more than a
"trigger" that unleashed all the hidden, covered-up
resentments that have built up over the years and decades.
Although the media (including the international media) seem
to report that things are calming down (ten people now
being killed is reported on page 8 of the Daily Nation), there
was no one in either of those two meetings who felt that this
was true. Perhaps things are calmer in the cities (but not really
in Kisumu) or perhaps the death of ten people is no longer "news."
Or perhaps they are tired of saying the same thing over and
over every day. Many doubt that a political agreement will calm
the escalating violence.
It was heart-wrenching to hear person after person tell of the
violence and destruction in their community. At least two people
in the AVP meeting talked about how they had voted for Kibaki
while their children had voted for Raila and this had brought a
great deal of tension into the family. Rather than the usual "tribal
explanation" for the voting, there is another one, that the older
people wanted to stay with Kibaki while the younger people
wanted change with Raila. But at least in the rural areas, it doesn't
seem like the youth voted very much (while their elders did). I saw
a statistic which said that 81% of the population in Kenya is below
31 years of age. Hard to believe, but with the rapid population
increase of the 1970's and 1980's this is a possibility. Of course it is
this younger population who feels left out of Kenya's future. There
is no doubt, by the way, that the MP's elected on Dec 27 last year
are much younger and better educated than those from the
previous parliament. Many "old" politicians who have been elected
decade after decade were defeated. In a breath of fresh air
(compared to the US where a politician remains in office until he
retires or moves on) only 80 out of 212 PM's were re-elected
(this includes the leaders such as Kibaki and Raila).
There were seventeen facilitators (including Gladys and me)
at the AVP meeting. After we finished the de-briefing mentioned
above, we discussed how we could reach the youth. We then talked
about the kind of programs we would like to do. My goal for the
next six months, pending raising sufficient funds, is to do 100 AVP
workshops with 2000 youth in at least five sites. We learned from
Rwanda that it is better to concentrate in a few areas with lots of
workshops to impact a community rather than spread them out
everywhere with little impact in any one community. We hope that
in the next week or two the facilitators will go back to their
communities and develop concrete plans for AVP workshops with
the youth (or as one person suggested, with the police!).
I guess I need to end with a good story. Henry Mukwanja, a Quaker,
works for the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) in the
North Rift Valley. On Dec 30, when the violence began, he and two
co-workers were in a remote place and they stayed inside for two
whole days. On the third day they ventured out but ran into a
menacing group of youth who were doing violence in the area. Henry
called out, "God loves you." One of the youth responded, "No, he
doesn't." And then what? Everyone started laughing and the tension
was broken and all was well with Henry and his companions.
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya-- # 26 - Feb 3
Dear All,
Moses Musonga is the General Secretary of the Friends
World Committee for Consultation--Africa Section. He
just buried his brother-in-law who was killed with six
arrows in his body in the conflict around Kaimosi between
the local Luhya and Kalenjin groups who both supported
the opposition candidate.
One of our brother-in-laws, Wilson, is an over the road
truck driver. He carried cement from Mombasa to the Rift
Valley and returns with tea for export. In the Rift Valley,
he was beaten up and all the cement stolen, but fortunately
they did not burn his truck. Again both Wilson and the
Kalenjin who attacked him were politically on the same side.
On Friday I attended a meeting of the Quaker Leaders
and yesterday (Saturday) I clerked a meeting with the AVP
facilitators from the western provinces. At this point no one
thinks that the situation in Kenya is about politics--that is,
about who won the election. The election was no more than a
"trigger" that unleashed all the hidden, covered-up
resentments that have built up over the years and decades.
Although the media (including the international media) seem
to report that things are calming down (ten people now
being killed is reported on page 8 of the Daily Nation), there
was no one in either of those two meetings who felt that this
was true. Perhaps things are calmer in the cities (but not really
in Kisumu) or perhaps the death of ten people is no longer "news."
Or perhaps they are tired of saying the same thing over and
over every day. Many doubt that a political agreement will calm
the escalating violence.
It was heart-wrenching to hear person after person tell of the
violence and destruction in their community. At least two people
in the AVP meeting talked about how they had voted for Kibaki
while their children had voted for Raila and this had brought a
great deal of tension into the family. Rather than the usual "tribal
explanation" for the voting, there is another one, that the older
people wanted to stay with Kibaki while the younger people
wanted change with Raila. But at least in the rural areas, it doesn't
seem like the youth voted very much (while their elders did). I saw
a statistic which said that 81% of the population in Kenya is below
31 years of age. Hard to believe, but with the rapid population
increase of the 1970's and 1980's this is a possibility. Of course it is
this younger population who feels left out of Kenya's future. There
is no doubt, by the way, that the MP's elected on Dec 27 last year
are much younger and better educated than those from the
previous parliament. Many "old" politicians who have been elected
decade after decade were defeated. In a breath of fresh air
(compared to the US where a politician remains in office until he
retires or moves on) only 80 out of 212 PM's were re-elected
(this includes the leaders such as Kibaki and Raila).
There were seventeen facilitators (including Gladys and me)
at the AVP meeting. After we finished the de-briefing mentioned
above, we discussed how we could reach the youth. We then talked
about the kind of programs we would like to do. My goal for the
next six months, pending raising sufficient funds, is to do 100 AVP
workshops with 2000 youth in at least five sites. We learned from
Rwanda that it is better to concentrate in a few areas with lots of
workshops to impact a community rather than spread them out
everywhere with little impact in any one community. We hope that
in the next week or two the facilitators will go back to their
communities and develop concrete plans for AVP workshops with
the youth (or as one person suggested, with the police!).
I guess I need to end with a good story. Henry Mukwanja, a Quaker,
works for the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) in the
North Rift Valley. On Dec 30, when the violence began, he and two
co-workers were in a remote place and they stayed inside for two
whole days. On the third day they ventured out but ran into a
menacing group of youth who were doing violence in the area. Henry
called out, "God loves you." One of the youth responded, "No, he
doesn't." And then what? Everyone started laughing and the tension
was broken and all was well with Henry and his companions.
Peace,
Dave
David Zarembka, Coordinator
African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams
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