Please Sir May I Have A Bullet

It was an odd experience today to wake up and realize that I will be leaving in 6 weeks and that I was thinking about the manner in which I might be killed. I was reminded of little Oliver Twist saying “Please sir, I’d like some more”. And I thought, I wonder if I can ask to be shot. I just don’t want to be chopped into little pieces and slowly die. They say bullets aren’t that bad.
I got downstairs and opened my email and read this from a beloved Kenyan sister.

“Thanks for encouraging words, we didnt sleep in our house due to security,its bad susan,am holding on lord who is our refuge.The girls are still in nanyuki at my sister inlaws place, but may go home any time until things cool.If i had enough money could go by air to kisumu then by road to Butere.My request is your support if you can, its my prayer that our country goes back to normal.

Pray for us always
my love to you”

I felt like I had been hit in the by a huge deep object. My body was worn and my head ached. What do you do with something like that? Where do I begin? What was it like for Beatrice to have to hide away from her home because the kikuyu’s were being told to kill her tribe. They were in KARI for heaven’s sake. Everyone has gotten along in Kari. St. John’s where my friend is minister and Beatrice’s husband is choirmaster, my refuge, is comprised of all tribes. Now neighbors were indeed killing each other.


I called her immediately and discussed the situation. I knew the roads were closed going out to the west. I knew they had to fly, but alas, there is no way to get money to them. That’s the main reason I’m going in March (well that and I need to assess the situation for myself). We agreed that I might be able to purchase tickets online using a local airline. Yeah and I’m gonna be cute and skinny in this century.


God, even dealing here in the U.S with an airline with offices in N.Y but is Kenyan is like aerobics in hell. (you know after you finish your 5,678,923 push ups you can start on your 1,340,789 jumping jacks). First they would only let me buy two tickets, even though there are 4 in the family. I finally talked them into 3 because 2 are children, but Boaz my sister’s husband was out. Ok, I’ll take the deal. They then wanted me to send a copy of my credit card by fax. Ok, I’ll do that (I can cancel it right after the charge is made and paid). Ooops! Well no, they don’t take that Mastercard. No they don’t take American Express. Yeah this was after they got my fax.
Next…oh yes, they take paypal. Go figure since I would be using the same credit card for paypal that they just refused. 4 Hours later still didn’t have the address for the paypal payment, and BTW they spelled my friend’s name wrong. Now under the best of times in Kenya if your name doesn’t match EXACTLY what it says on your identity card, it’s just not happening without several days of deliberations.

I finally got the paypal payment off to the airlines, but have no idea if it went through. But tomorrow’s another day and we have till Friday to get it done. Who says you can’t have the same African experience here in the States as I do in Kenya?
I called Beatrice and Boaz back to tell them to reassure their terrified daughters that they were getting out of there as soon as possible. I got Boaz on the phone. He told me that if they could get to Kisumu and out of the city during the daylight they could get to Butere, their ancestral home. He said they would be safe once they were in the Western part of the Country since it is where their people are. He tells me that they are not killing the muzungus (whites) but I figure once the famine sets in real hard, I’m just a means to food and some crazy, hungry people could decide I’m better off to them dead.

I hear you God, I know it’s all about faith. But in case You’ve decided it’s my final trip, Please sir, may I have a bullet?

Snow God and Kenya

The snow came hurtling down this morning. I find the winter weather here in Boston offensive and would ordinarily go back to bed, but I needed to go to church today. I needed to try and understand the unfathomable. I needed a place to put my pain and my church is that place.
I was indignant that I had to brush the snow off my car. Damn! This snowstorm was not predicted, and here it was with gale force and tons of that nasty white stuff coating everything. The roads were dreadful and I suspect everyone was resentful of the sudden reminder that we live in a very cold place. People were trying to drive as if nothing was happening on the roads, despite a couple of inches, plus ice and minus any plows or salt. They drove like hooligans on the pike and I arrived at church late, which was fine with me. I was just glad to get there in one piece. Gosh, Boston drivers suck!
Scott Cambell, my pastor, preached an amazing sermon today. He always seems to hit just what I need to hear. It came from Matthew 4:12-23. It was about repentance. Now we are an amiable and very progressive church, so it wasn’t a sermon about sin and going to hell. Rather it was about getting ready to answer for what we have done, and in particular it was an admonition to leaders as well to lead justly and not stir the pot. Not to misinterpret the Bible for the sake of one’s own cause, and I felt the tears start to fall down my cheeks.
How did he know my heart was breaking for my beloved Kenya? When Scott was preparing the text this week, could he have envisioned the continuation of violence?Could he have known that more lives were lost in just the last 2 days due to tribal warfare? I had just read that the Kisi have joined in and are burning and killing. It’s spread to the entire area where I work. It’s gotten so bad that all road transportation between Nairobi and Western Kenya has been halted. 10 were burned alive in a bus today.
As mayhem is breaking out across Kenya I read of Odinga (who I had hoped would win) enjoying his multiple cars and servants and huge estates; his European education and his intractable stand with Kibaki and I want to spank him. I read of Kibaki’s demands, I’ve seen where he lives and I know his family is safe and I want to call him up and ask him if he is out of his f-----g mind. Can a white woman of privilege all the way on the other side of the globe sit in church and sob for her beloved land while its leaders squabble and hundreds die. I don’t get it, but at least I was in God’s house today and I felt for a moment safe and loved by the people who surrounded me. And I know I will return soon, no matter what…and I know He will let me know in His time. As Scott would say “It is a truth not fully revealed.”
But Lord, when You made me you know yYou only gave me six grains of patience. You know I used up all 6 before I even got out of bed this morning.I'm having a hard time waiting in case You're interested.
Keep the faith y'all. MM

Personal

It’s Personal Y’all.
You know those ads you see on T.V of little Jose or Maria looking pathetic, and then this sweet Santa Claus like guy says you can “buy” this kid for only a few dollars a day? And they will be happy to send you his/her tragic story. I’m always offended by those things, cuz I think if you were doing your job you wouldn’t be spending boatloads of money on advertising on T.V. and paying this guy who you notice never identifies himself. We don’t sell children or their tragic photos. Sometimes I mention names, but it’s because it’s personal. I know them, I watch them dance or curtsey to me. I see them run up to my van when I come. I watch their eyes sparkle when I give them a sweet. And I knew where they lived.

See that’s the deal right now. So many children have been displaced. So many children are dying. They don’t make the news, because they are dying the old fashioned way, they are starving to death or dying from diarrhea and malaria. It’s worse now because they are in refugee camps. There are thousands camped in my beloved Busia. They’ve lost over 100 kids this week in the camp. How many went to Manyole School or Mabunge or Malanga I don’t know. You see, to me they are all my children, and I feel so responsible and helpless. I cannot even get money to them right now because I can’t wire it what with the lack of electricity, I can’t send it via mail since you can’t trust the mail, so I must wait to carry it with me in March.
What totally astounds me is my friends over there and their simple gratitude for our prayers. When they can get one sentence to me via email it is always polite, always asks how I am, and then says something that will break my heart. It could be, “keep praying for us we are all so frightened”, it might be from Daniel, “sorry I couldn’t get back to you we have been having connectivity problems” (read that they have been burned out of the office and there’s no electricity where he is) or it might be “pray for our leaders that they may bring us to peace”. That’s all they want from me right now.
The situation is really quite dire. Mama Florence runs an orphanage for Women and Children with HIV in Orongo. I have visited her before and I am amazed at what one woman can do. This week when I got the UN Newspaper on line called IRIN she was featured. She’s not far from Kisumu, but very far. You see the orphanage is down a dirt road at least 5 miles from the nearest possible transportation. So when the weather is bad, as it usually is, it’s just a mud forest. And when the children are so ill they need hospital one of the widows must carry the child on her back for 5 miles to get to the road. However, the place is far from dreary. There are songs being sung throughout the compound as the women work the fields and the children go to school. There is the luscious sound of women’s laughter as they share a joke or watch a little one toddle after a chicken and teeter around giggling.
I leave you with her poignant story, not because we’re selling children here, but because these are the things that don’t make T.V. We’re too busy watching Hillary and Barack say nasty things about each other and spend millions doing it. But that’s tomorrow’s blog.
Be Good to each other y’all. MM
NAIROBI, 18 January 2008 (PlusNews) - Florence Gundo is the coordinator and founder of the Orongo Widows and Orphans Group, which cares for 288 orphans in western Kenya's Nyanza Province. Gundo told IRIN/PlusNews how the political unrest had affected the group.

"Our group consists of several women, many of whom lost their husbands to HIV and are HIV-positive themselves. We run a nursery where orphaned children come and spend the day and get a meal; some of the women also live with and care for the orphans as guardians. Most of these orphans lost their parents to HIV.
"When the violence broke out immediately after the election, at least two of the people we support were killed by rowdy youths in their homes. One of our widows was attacked and her home was torn down to the ground; she was very lucky to escape alive. One child-headed household had their home invaded - they were chased away and when they came back everything had been stolen.
"We had been supported by AMREF [the African Medical and Research Foundation] and MildMay [a UK-based HIV/AIDS charity] but this funding came to an end and we now buy food for the children with the proceeds from our income-generating activities - we grow and sell maize, sell baskets we make from reeds from Lake Victoria and also sell herbal medicines.
"During the fighting, our maize plantation was burnt so we have nothing left to sell or eat. Even if we did, Kibuye market, where we sell our things and buy food, was also burnt down.

"We have nowhere to get food now ... the nearest market is quite far and we are really struggling to feed the children. Some people brought us a truck full of grain the other day from Eldoret [a town in the Rift Valley], but we don't know how we will feed the children when this runs out.

"Fifteen of the orphans we care for are HIV-positive, and they require a more nutritious diet - for them the need is even greater than the rest.
"For those who are HIV-positive, getting drugs is also a major problem. They have to travel to the hospital and transport has become so expensive; before the election it was just 30 shillings [US 45 cents] to get to the nearest centre, but now it costs 100 shillings [$1.50], which, of course, we cannot afford to pay.
"We have been begging but how long can we do that? We need to get back on our feet to keep the children fed."
You can subscribe to IRIN News, which is a global humanitarian, online Newspaper: www.IRINnews.org.

Freenie Shack

The Freenie Shack.
I looked over what I had written and it was all a bit heavy. Truly there are some incredibly funny things that happen in Africa as well. On one of my trips a friend decided to come with me. He is an incredibly neat and precise man, but a delight to travel with.
We were on our way to visit another site and I was going to do an AIDS training. We had breakfast and were off.The roads to the the dock looked like something from a bad day in Bagdad. Pius (our driver) kept apologizing, but I just laughed. It’s how it is over there. It took several hours to get to Lake Victoria, then we had to take a long tail boat over and then a few more hours to get to the site.
I really needed to pee. (No way around that). But you see there are no public toilets where we are, that would require a gas station or a restaurant which don't exist where we go. So, I told the driver I needed to go wash up first .He informed me that we were too far from the guest house but I could use the facilities at the site. Ok, I'm game. I’ve squatted in some pretty dicey latrines. Nothing, however prepared me for this.
So...the facilities are located behind this bush. There is no door, just a piece of fabric. And there is a big ole hole in the ground with tons of flying things whirling up like a Hitchcock movie. Well,my companion had no intention of going into that place and having the boys bitten, but I had no choice. Down south we refer to a woman's privates as her Freenie. So me and my freenie hung over the hole and got bitten to death.
Being the gentleman that he was, my friend had brought me some bottled water to wash with, but I was so distracted by the “Swarm”, I just grabbed for the closest water I could find. Unfortunately it was from Lake Victoria and full of flagella. Yeah, that and malaria all in one trip. To this day I can’t figure out how my friend waited so long, but he was in the Air Force for a long time. Maybe they teach you these things.
K you should have seen the size of the spider we tried to kill that night. We needed a tennis racquet and we still missed it. I just took an extra sleeping pill and prayed that spidey would stay where he was and not be too mad at us for swiping at him. I can promise you we don’t travel 5 star!
Ah the joys of travel! And you know, I wouldn’t change a thing and I can’t wait to get back. You can do anything when your heart is in it. I guess that’s the deal.

Dont Know Where The Road Leads

I Don’t Know Where the Road Leads

I’m having a hard time composing today’s blog. I know people don’t want to keep hearing bad news, but there’s nothing coming out of Kenya that’s even remotely good. Odinga is organizing a mass funeral for those killed in the riots, but then he’s calling for boycotts and other rallies sure to stir people to a frenzy again.
Yesterday a monastery got surrounded and the terrified priest placed an emergency call because they were being pelted by angry mobs. Seems the monastery is one of the places for the refugees. There are a quarter of a million refugees, mostly from the Rift and Nyanza Province.

This year was a good year for the crops which got harvested before the rioting started, but because of the holidays and then the rioting resulting in an inability to get the crops to the storage facilities, they are rotting in the fields or being destroyed by weevils. What kind of Karmic joke is that? They finally have a good crop but now they can’t get it to market.
AIDS, always a killer in Nyanza will rise in the camps. Women and children are the most vulnerable. What with the raping and all. They will also get malaria and diarrhea. The hospitals are so overcrowded, there are fears of a total health care melt down. (Not by the way that their health care is anything to write home about in the best of times). Seems all the shootings are really taxing the system. Yeah, love that shoot to kill order. 7 more were killed in Kisumu today.

Free education has taken a dive as well. Seems the government isn’t going to give free education if there are more than 45 students in a classroom. We were so optimistic for our children in our village that they could at least start school and when I went over I could bring the funds to cover what the government didn't. I’m not sure I understand the logic. of not paying if the schools are overcrowded. It hasn't stopped them in the past for primary school. I’ve given up trying to understand. And in Nyanza province where I work the schools are shutting down in preparation for more violence. People here can’t fathom what a tragedy that is for Kenyans. Kenyans value education more than anything else for their children. It is the future for them and they don’t take it for granted as we do here in the States.

It may seem odd to you all, but I need to get back there. My heart hurts so much that I feel like I’m going to explode. I want to embrace my friends in Kari and see them well. I want to traipse through the red mud of Nambale and touch every child’s head and show them that Mama Mnboga has not forgotten them. I want to laugh with Miriam and Eunice and drink tea. I want to know that Omari, shy, wise, quiet Omari is all right. And I want to go on as we always have, but I know we cannot. And I don’t know where the road leads now. But I still have a Dream! (And you know I was there that hot August day in Washington, holding my Daddy's hand when MLK uttered those words.) I still believe them!
Keep the faith y'all. Dreams take time.

Color Of My Skin

The Color of My Skin.

I met with some Globonders yesterday. It is a unique organization, which is trying to help all peoples of the planet, develop businesses that will sustain their communities. I am a member and must say that working with folks from all over the world who also know there is a God who guides us was the clincher. These two Globonders want to join me on my next trip to Kenya. Now we all know what is going on over there (you have been reading my blog right?). However they seem like rather intrepid souls wanting to learn all that they can.
K clearly has never experienced third world nasties, bugs and freeny shacks and the thought of shots gives her the willies. C is a cowboy who looks for adventure but can’t imagine not being able to carry a gun when faced with potential physical harm. That’s the least of my worries.
I have taken others over to my heart home before. There is no way they are not profoundly changed by the visit. They marvel at the friendliness of the people, the charm of the children, the Monet like landscapes. Some are a bit aghast at the “hotels” we stay in. I’ve learned to break people in gently. I start them at what here would be a Super 8 with a pool. They’ve just been traveling for over 30 hours and are a bit ragged. They can even get a breakfast they will recognize, though no coffee. Kenyans, folks, don’t drink coffee. They will have to immediately get used to the noise and the guards that keep the compound safe.
I will take them to church the next morning to break them in. We’ll pass Muthare, the infamous slums that are being written about. No you can’t see them on T.V right now, remember Kibaki isn’t allowing live news coverage. They’re pretty shocking though. But KARI is magnificent. It is the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute. The homes there are neat and clean and have electricity. All the tribes are represented there since they bring their training and skills to this place. And indeed everyone gets along. It will be at the noon meal that they will begin their introduction to some of Kenya’s quirks. They will eat food they do no recognize and they will do it with their hands. They will be entranced by the people, and stimulated by the conversation and will feel they have met their African peeps. They will be right and wrong. That’s the deal.
We will return to our hotel and fly off to Kisumu. I have no idea what we will find when we get there. This is where their education will begin in earnest. They will see things that will turn their stomach, break their heart and infuriate them. Nothing, however will prepare them for the skin tax. I have never been with a white person who didn’t resent the skin tax, but it exists there just as it does here in America. We are Muzungu not Mwananchi. Rates at hotels in the countryside, things we buy at the shops, everything is more for us. And man does this seem to piss Americans off.
The usual complaint I hear is that they don’t understand what effect this will have on tourism. Or we’re trying to help them and they’re ripping us off. Yeah and they’re starving and you’re not. I never feel the color of my skin over there, because I accept it in the Karmic tradition and know it is not just in their country but also in ours.
Ah dear reader, you shout how dare I say that. We don’t have skin tax. Oh no, well who do you think is suffering now because of mortgage failures Rich white folks? Think again, it is the poor, the people of color who knew the least about financing the “American Dream” who got talked into those rates that now balloon out of sight. Which kids have the worst schools? Who lives in the worst housing? Who feel the most hopeless in America? Gangs are made up of young kids of color who don’t think they are going to live past 18 so they might as well steal, do drugs, whatever. If you don’t call that skin tax what is it?
So when the intrepid souls who come with me to Kenya in March are stunned when we check into the hotel and our driver pays almost nothing for the same room we will pay all of $22 for, or when we go into the market and pay 5 times as much for a pineapple as the woman standing next to us, I will be sure to remind them of this blog. And I pray they will accept the skin tax with grace as so many are forced to do here in America.
And this in from the Standard today. Gosh this covers everywhere I go. I've got 4 people who are supposed to be coming with me. Well, they're sentient creatures, they'll have to decide for themselves. As for me, I'm going home to my heart home no matter what.



UK travel advisory amended

Published on January 21, 2008, 12:00 am

By Philip Mwakio

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has reviewed its travel advisory to Kenya.

It said not all parts of the country were affected by the post-election violence.

The statement named key areas where British citizens should avoid. They include regions worst hit by the violence such as Nyanza, sections of Nairobi and parts of Rift Valley.

In a statement on http://www.fco.gov.uk, the office no longer advises against all but essential travel to Kenya, but essential travel to several parts.

‘We advise against all but essential travel to the following parts of Kenya; Western and Nyanza provinces, Rift Valley Province between Narok and Kitale, the central business district, Kibera, Mathare and Eastleigh areas of Nairobi, Uhuru Park and Mombasa town," reads the statement in part.

However, the office describes the security and political situation in the country as unpredictable.

Be A Raindrop

Be A Raindrop!

The news in Kenya just gets worse. Some protesters have wrecked some of the railway between Nairobi and Kisumu. Odinga has called off the rallies and is now calling for boycotts. The only people being hurt in all this is the poor. The politicians are still holding their jobs, but because of the riots, "rallies" and boycotts the shops must close, the roads are not safe, the supplies are not getting through, and the people are hungry. Prices for everything have gone through the roof in every area. Angry people have burned the crops and the earth. I just realized that the grain we were going to buy for the second half of the year to feed the children is going to be double the price at least. I guess I'd better get busy raising the money. (And it's not that much folks. To double what we give the schools means I have to raise another $5000).
So many have asked me about how One Village at a Time got started I decided it was time today to talk about hope and faith. We can always come back to tough stuff. I'm not going to forget it and neither will you.
In 2002 My assistant pastor asked me to go give a talk for her in Ethiopia. It was for an AIDS conference, but she couldn't go what with her being South African and our government's fears of all things African. She was afraid they wouldn't let her back into the country.Oh and she does have 2 children here in the states. So of course Mother M said yes. Doesn't everyone just pick up and toot off to Ethiopia? It was a real garden spot after 911 right? Long and short of it, after the shots, the visas etc,pastor didn't write the paper, but I went anyway. I figured I would figure it out when I got there. I am a woman of faith.

Two days into the conference and I still wasn't sure why I was there. In truth I was the only honky social worker amongst hundreds of well educated women theologians from all over Africa. While seated in my group they passed around condoms (male and female) and the women didn't know what they were or how to use them. So I wound up doing an AIDS training with no "models" (read black dildos) nor drawings of the female anatomy. I used bananas and melons and you can just figure out how that worked.

The following day we drove to see the head of the Blue Nile and Debre Libanos, the oldest church in Christendom. As we drove into this exquisite countryside, a faint mist dampening the windshield, we saw only vacant huts (we call them shambas in Kenya). The roads were strangely barren of the usual hordes of people who walk them carrying their bundles on their donkeys or more impressively on their heads. I turned to the driver to ask, and then it hit me. AIDS they were all dead from AIDS. Indeed in that part of Ethiopia the infection rate was over 30%.

My heart sank. Here I was thinking I was going to make this huge difference in people's lives, and the vastness of the problem led me to despair. Who was I do make any change? What could I possibly do one lone woman trying to teach and hoping to help children? I was a social worker from Boston, and I swore Africa was the last place I wanted to visit. Ha! Slowly I understood His message: "Be a raindrop, I will bring the rain."
Christ didn't say "I can't Lord, there are just too many lepers!" Moses didn't say " No can do, too many slaves can we cut them down to a manageable size". See they understood all they had to do is be a raindrop, albeit a mighty fine one and God would do the rest.

What I have learned is that there are many folks with really good hearts that want to do something for the planet, but either they get overwhelmed with the problem or they want to do it by themselves and yesterday would be their time schedule. Maybe it's working in Africa and seeing people lead their lives with such grace, maybe it's learning that it is always His way not my way that has helped me understand this concept. We have to have faith that we are all raindrops and our job isn't to fix the world, but to join with others and maybe make a little puddle, but ultimately have faith that God will clean it up.

I end with another poignant letter from one of my friends who managed to write me today. I'm going back to our beloved Kenya in March and I pray there I will find downpours.

"We are kept safe by the Lord of Hosts, who watches over us, in spite of all the violence in the country. We pray that our leaders would resolve this terrible conflict in our beloved nation. It is like Hell has poured its fury on us Kenyans. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers. Please relay my regards to Scott & the Church. Hopefully when you come in March our nation will have returned to normalcy."
best regards,

Be good to each other y'all. And don't be afraid to be a raindrop.
MM

Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice!

Ah what is not being reported in our news... I read the East Africa paper (it is part of the Nation but covers all of East Africa and is published once a week).The back story to the "diplomacy" negotiations shouldn't upset me but it does. Once again America only cares about what is in its short term interests. Boy when Bush finally kicks the bucket he's going to have a lot of explaining to do when he meets God.

Kufuor was off like a prom dress after a couple of days and Annan hasn't arrived yet. Annan came down with a flu "on his way to the airport" and went to bed. Now how does that happen folks? Ooops I just noticed I was too sick to fly? He was flying not driving so one would think he'd have noticed. Or maybe the aides would have noticed. Nah, there's something else afoot. Oh say the demonstrations by Odinga's side. Whatever, it looks like it is going to be a long dreary march to stability and all the Americans want is for them to settle down over there because it's driving up the price of oil. I know it will come as no surprise Bush is backing Kibaki. They both stole elections, so I guess they are definitely kindred spirts. Democaracy what's that???

Keep tuned folks, it's going to get curiouser and curiouser. 8 were killed in the rioting in Kisumu and the slums yesterday. ODM is having one more day of "protests" and then says they're going to stop. They bemoan the bloodshed but not enough to quit early.

Here's the article from the East African published today. I think I'm getting squiffy reading all this.
Have a nice weekend y'all. And don't forget to pray for the children. They continue to be so frightened.

Kufuor’s whistle-stop diplomacy was only to pave way for Annan

By JAINDI KISERO
The EastAfrican

Chairman of the African Union and President of Ghana John Kufuor had clearly come Nairobi hoping for a quick-fix solution to Kenya’s political crisis.

According to details The EastAfrican has gleaned from individuals who were close to the negotiations, the West African leader was clearly a man in a hurry.

It would appear that all he wanted to achieve was to get the protagonists Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki to a face-to-face meeting, arrange a photo opportunity for the two and jet out of the country — leaving the rest to a committee of eminent persons headed by the former secretary general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, to thrash out details of a comprehensive peace deal.

Contrary to widely held belief, the issue of appointing Raila Odinga prime minister did not arise at all during the negotiations with President Kufuor.

Originally, the plan was that the meeting with the ODM would take place at Orange House. But it is understood that the government protested, arguing that protocol demanded that the meetings take place at a neutral venue.

Our sources said the first meeting with Raila Odinga did not go very well. President Kufuor reportedly reminded Raila that he was still very young compared with Kibaki and could therefore wait to run for president again in 2012.

Kufuor gave Raila his own example, saying he had waited 30 years before eventually being elected president of Ghana.

Kufuor also stressed to Raila how they had a common background, pointing out that he himself had also served in jail for one-and-a-half years as a political prisoner.

The fact that President Mwai Kibaki had appointed a Cabinet also came up. The ODM team said the president had presented them with a fait accompli. President Kufuor said he had learnt about the Cabinet appointments while still on the plane.

Clearly, that first encounter did not go well. But it was when Kufuor met the rest of the ODM team that positions started hardening.

According to our sources, the ODM Pentagon members argued that it did not make sense to rush a face-to-face meeting with Kibaki without agreeing first on the subject matter.

They told the mediator that the parties needed to agree on the nature of the problem and the way forward first.

The following day, President Kufuor visited President Mwai Kibaki at State House. He returned to the ODM team to announce that Kibaki had agreed to meet Raila Odinga at State House.

He explained that Kibaki had informed him that his decision to appoint the Cabinet had been taken in good faith as the government had to function.

He reportedly gave the example of the Ministry of Education, which he said had to be appointed because schools had reopened. Kibaki also reportedly explained that the vice president had to be appointed so that he could fill the vacuum in case the president became indisposed.

As it turned out, the venue of the proposed meeting itself became a big issue. According to our sources, the ODM insisted that in view of the fact that President Kibaki had gone ahead and appointed a Cabinet, they would not agree to meet him at State House.

Instead, they wanted the proposed face-to-face meeting between Raila and Kibaki to be held within the precincts of parliament.

In the process of delivering this message, some of the remarks made by the mediator raised temperatures. He apparently told the ODM team that they should consider a meeting with the president as a great honour.

After debate, it was then agreed that the face-to-face meeting between Raila and Kibaki would take place at Harambee House.

It was during discussion of the Harambee House meeting that the controversial agreement on power-sharing that eventually caused the talks to collapse came up.

The meeting agreed that the controversial document would form the basis of the truce and consequently the face-to-face meeting between Raila and Kibaki.

Where did this controversial document come from and did President Kibaki know about its contents? Did the president commit to implementing the controversial agreement at any point during the negotiations?

What we have been able to establish is that at the height of the ethnic violence that gripped Rift Valley Province, a group of Mombasa-based businessmen and allies of Pentagon member Musalia Mudavadi joined hands with World Bank country director Colin Bruce apparently to offer freelance secret mediation between Mwai Kibaki and Raila.

We have also confirmed from the diplomatic community that all major diplomatic missions in Nairobi were aware of the parallel mediation process that had begun long before Kufuor came into town.

One senior Western diplomat, speaking to The EastAfrican under conditions of anonymity, admitted having been shown the document by Mr Bruce as early as Saturday last week.

It has also emerged that the document was widely circulated to Western diplomatic missions.

Did Colin Bruce have the mandate from Kibaki to work on the agreement?

Who were the other shadowy characters working with the World Bank representative? Is it conceivable that a senior World Bank official should have involved himself in the negotiations so intimately without the knowledge of his hosts? These questions still lack answers.

In a sense, the Colin Bruce saga has given credence to the perception that the president is surrounded by powerbrokers pulling in different directions.

Apparently, Colin Bruce intimated to many Western diplomats that everything was to be done secretly to prevent the hardliners in Kibaki’s Cabinet knowing what was going on.

While a well-designed and internationally mediated agreement might well tip the scales in favour of democracy, if Kenya retrogresses, grave strains will be placed on the stability of East Africa. What is emerging, however, is that the United States and European countries appear to be pulling in different directions in the conflict.

What emerges from the ODM side, however, are doubts about the US’s neutrality in the crisis.

Washington’s overriding concern in Kenya is stability. Indeed, ODM stalwarts say US top diplomat Jendayi Frazer, who was last Friday still in the country, has been pushing them to accept Cabinet positions in Kibaki’s government and ignore the genesis of the conflict.

In contrast, the Europeans, through the European Union, are pushing for a re-tallying of the presidential vote and, finally, a re-run of the presidential election.

Until the international community start to pull in one direction, Western policy will be an irritation rather than an obstacle to President Kibaki.

Going forward, John Kufuor’s aborted mediation attempt is likely to lead to more brinkmanship from both sides of the divide.

As it is, it is not clear whether ODM will embrace the next phase of mediation by Kofi Annan, expected to kick off next week.

In the broadest sense, Kenya may choose from two paths: one that leads towards reconciliation, reconstruction and democracy; and a second that leads to violence whether in the form of an insurgency, militia-based ethnic conflict or a civil war engulfing regions. The threat of wide-scale violence looms large. Pre-emption should be the focus of the international community.


MORE IN NEWS


* Take looters to court or forget aid, donors tell Dar
* Flower industry reports heavy losses despite peace on farms
* Uganda denies Museveni has taken sides
* US team says ‘flawed’ poll results now irreversible
* Kenya’s neighbours gain from its chaos
* Shilling bounces back but Nairobi bourse loses $625m
* Kibaki govt to face international credibility test
* A country created by grand theft, ruled by a clique
* Tea sector limps on as workers trickle back
* Corporate Kenya finally faces reality of tribalism
* Somalis touched by Kenyans’ suffering
* Mombasa port waives storage charges from Dec 25
* Enter three African elders, now the last-ditch hope for peace...
* Imperial presidency will eventually tear Kenya apart
* Kufuor’s whistle-stop diplomacy was only to pave way for Annan
* Civil society, media stand accused in political crisis
* Failure to disarm militias could lead to poll violence
* Will Cote d’Ivoire peace deal hold?
* FAO alert over rising costs of basic foodstuffs globally
* Indict RPF soldiers too, say tribunal lawyers




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But Then There Are The Peacekeepers

But Then There are the Peackeepers...

Things are not going well over there. I'm hearing it from all sections of the country. 6 have been killed in Kisumu today on the second day of rioting and I'm including an article at the bottom from the Standard. That's the other national newspaper. I do read both of them.

What is amazing is the group I call the Peacekeepers and what they bring to this effort. Just today another one has joined us and brought enormous enthusiasm and a real gift for change. She also brought me a chief of the Masai whose letter follows. Big Francis was Masai, and I hold that tribe in awe and appreciation. If only I had all the space in the world to tell you about each tribe. Anyway I'm glad to be in contact with the Masai and especially at this time because I will need them when I go over in March. And I am incredibly grateful for the Peacekeepers. I think I'd rather you read about them today than the pillage of the country of sweet agony known to me as Kenya.

I wrote this a week ago. I mean every word!

God Sends Only Angels

Ten years ago a psychic told me that there was a remarkable group of young people who would find me. They were on this planet to help birth the millennium in peace. When the year 2000 was in sight I got ready, I worked on a project, but it was a dismal failure.

Then the following year some new clients started appearing. They were special, they were far from broken, and in fact they were looking instead to change the direction of their lives. They were deeply dedicated to this planet, they cared about justice, the environment, animals, children. Not only did they care, but also they showed their passion by actually doing things to make this a better world. They were bright, well educated, determined, but what made them so remarkable were the choices they were making about money and its importance (or lack thereof) in their lives. They were choosing to give up corporate work for lower paying jobs that had more meaning.

I soon learned that they were the Peacekeepers. There are certain tenets to being a shrink. In my training I was taught to be a blank slate, never divulge personal information. So many rules were to be followed, never allowing people to see others come and go from one’s office was another one of them. Now I do not break rules just for the sake of breaking the rules, but I do know that rules are made out of fear, and that one should never be afraid of peace. So when the Peacekeepers started showing up, I heard the message and encouraged them to congregate, meet on my roof deck, have parties together and encourage them to be there for each other. I just had to get out of the way.

So many have come through my doors. They are the promise that was foretold to me those years ago. Right now a lot of them are working on a fundraiser for One Village. I watch in awe as they bandy terms about and organize with such grace. I marvel at their wisdom, their experience, their dedication and then I remember. God sends only angels and for me they are called the Peacekeepers. I know some of them will read this, and it’s time they get recognized for the miraculous people they are. I believe in them, they will change the world. I wish I could share them with all of you, but perhaps you will find your peacekeepers in your world. And to the Peacekeepers please believe in yourselves, in what you do and know that you make a difference. Never doubt who you are even when others don’t recognize you. And know that the doors here are always open to you.


And now the news:

.: Home .: Headlines .: News .: Business .: Editorial .: Commentaries .: Columnists .: Special Reports .: Sports .: letters .: Blog

Thousands of protestors dispersed in Eldoret

Published on January 17, 2008, 12:00 am

By Anderson Ojwang’ and Osinde Obare

Thousands of ODM supporters defied General Service Unit police officers and held a peaceful and successful demonstration in Eldoret town.

They took control of the town for more than three hours before police opened fire and dispersed them violently.

A demonstrator chanted: "We will continue to demonstrate until we get our rights. We will remain peaceful and no looting will take place during our protest. We voted for Raila Odinga but we were robbed."

Carrying placards and waving twigs, the demonstrators entered the town centre from three routes.

They converged near the district hospital on their way to the 64 Stadium, the venue of the planned rally.

Among the demonstrators were women with babies strapped on their backs, children, old women and men who walked from the outskirts of the town singing war songs and in praise of ODM leaders.

They marched on Uganda Road and other streets in the town centre under police escort and were addressed by their leader, former nominated councillor, Mr Faruk Teigut.

Speaking to the demonstrators, Faruk said they would remain peaceful and avoid looting.

Police kept vigil as the demonstrators marched for two kilometres to meet other protesters from Chepterit.

Before police dispersed them, traffic flow was normal and some businesses were operating.

Meanwhile, ODM supporters erected roadblocks on the Kapenguria-Lodwar road, a key route to Southern Sudan, and paralysed transport for several hours.

The group of about 800 members used logs and huge stones to block motorists heading to Lodwar and Lokichoggio.

Lorry drivers carrying relief supplies destined for the Kakuma Refugee Camp and Southern Sudan were stranded and only riot police rescued them.

Police later chased away the supporters and unblocked the road to allow free movement of vehicles.

More than 100 armed police officers sealed off Makutano Stadium in Kapenguria, a venue where a rally was to be held.

Opposition supporters demanded the resignation of President Kibaki. Carrying placards and twigs, the protesters chanted that ODM leader, Mr Raila Odinga, won the election.

Businesses remained closed and the streets were full of armed police officers to stop demonstrators from looting.

Riot police, led by the OCPD, Mr David Wambua, watched as the demonstrators marched and blocked them from entering the stadium.

In Kitale, police sealed off Kenyatta Stadium and blocked a handful of opposition supporters.

And So it Goes

And So It Goes...

I promised Daniel I would post his articles when he gets them published. We know that folks over here don't read the Kenyan newspapers. They prefer either T.V, or their own papers. Even the BBC doesn't go for the small stories. But it's the small stories that are what One Village is about. Kisumu is the town I fly into. Kisumu is the crazy place where I crash landed once, and almost did with my friend E another time. Kisumu is the last big town I see before I head into the rural areas. It's not that I love it, but that it was my introduction to the people I have come to love as my own.

It's been pretty much burned out. It was never a mecca of tourism, but more a town for things and people passing through. However it is a symbol of what is happening over there. The government is allowing no live news coverage. There has been no T.V coverage of anything happening since 30 December. There's a complete crackdown. And the soldiers have been given the order to "shoot to kill" for all the protesters. Even the protests have been outlawed. So democracy is shutting down in one of the most stable countries in Africa. I fear it will be another Zimbabwe or Uganda.

I heard from someone in public health that all Americans have been asked not to go into the country and that they should leave if they can. I don't know what to do with that. I plan to go back in March, no I promised I'd go back and I figure that unless there is all out war, I'm going to go back. I don't want fear to rule my life and it's not me they want to kill. I could just as easily get killed on the streets here at home. So, here's the news from Kenya.

NEWS EXTRA The Nation

Road to recovery likely to be long and hard for Kisumu after violent protests

Story by DANIEL OTIENO
Publication Date: 1/17/2008

A town that had established itself as a regional economic and commercial hub self-destructed in an orgy of violence as gangs went on the rampage under the pretext of protesting the outcome of the presidential elections.

A building set ablaze by rioters in Kisumu Town in retaliation after Kibuye market was razed last week. Photos/JACOB OWITI
From being the vibrant gateway of the larger Eastern African market, Kisumu has been paralysed by violence, and the aftershocks are being felt in Rwanda, Uganda and other countries which rely on Kenya’s road network for fuel supplies and for cargo from the port of Mombasa.

It will take years for the town on the shores of Lake Victoria to rise from the debris and regain its lost glory.

Anglican Bishop Francis Abiero said the town was facing “a slow, painful realisation that it could be condemned to endless stagnation”.

Death, blood and tears have been haunting the town since December 30, with authorities estimating that about 50 people could have been shot dead by the police.

Hospitals in the town have over 60 patients nursing gunshot wounds, while 146 others had been treated and discharged, said Dr Julianna Otieno, the medical superintendent of the New Nyanza General Hospital.

Sought treatment

The number could be higher because there were patients who sought treatment in private hospitals.

The debris of the destroyed buildings mirror the tattered hopes of thousands of people who worked in the town but now face joblessness. Supermarkets, bars, churches and industries are no more. They were looted and burned.

On Oginga Odinga Street, two branches of Ukwala Supermarket and two Bata shoe shops were looted and burned by youths. Port Florence Hospital and the Swan Centre, which hosted several shopping outlets, were not spared either. The same fate befell Tusky’s Supermarket and two branches of Kimwa Hotels on Jomo Kenyatta highway. Kimwa Hotels owner, Mr Miriti Muthara, said he incurred loses estimated at Sh40 million.

But managers at both Ukwala and Tusky’s said it was difficult to establish the amount lost because vital documents on stocks were destroyed.

On Obote Road, shells of burnt-out vehicles stand at intervals. Not even new cars that had been on display were spared by the arsonists; Looters also stole spare parts from the Crater Automobiles showroom which had six cars at the time. After stealing, they set the showroom on fire.

At the Lake Victoria South Water Board, the car park is littered with burnt shells of 17 vehicles which stand near the office block that was also destroyed by arsonists.

Stalls from where estate residents bought groceries were also reduced to ashes as was the Kibuye open air market, which feeds the town and provides employment to many. The town’s industrial area, where hundreds of casual workers used to line up every morning in search of jobs, now looks like it had been attacked by mortar fire.

What started as a street protest degenerated into massive looting within hours. Gangs moved from shop to shop, emptying stocks and then burning the premises.

But unlike post-election violence in the Rift Valley, where marauding gangs were targeting ethnic communities they accused of not voting for ODM, in Kisumu the pattern was more of random looting and burning.

However, it was also only in Kisumu that looters were felled by police bullets. Still, local businessmen have accused the police of not doing enough to secure the central business district from destruction as happened in Nairobi.

Gunshot wounds

A senior medical officer at the provincial hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said almost all the deaths recorded in Kisumu were from gunshot wounds.

“From a medical perspective, we think there was a shoot to kill order from the fact that most of those admitted either had bullets lodged in their abdomens or chests,” said the doctor.

Mr Aggrey Mwamu, the Law Society of Kenya West Kenya branch chairman, said over 80 per cent of the deaths recorded in the town occurred in residential areas, which in his view, were free of the looting reported in the Central Business District.

But Kisumu police boss Simon Kiragu denied accusations of high handedness and dismissed claims by the lawyer and the doctor as subjective.

“The police reacted depending on the magnitude of the violence, but even then, we tried our level best to restrain from shooting more people,” he said.

At the height of the chaos, there were rumours that the shootings were the work of military officers from Uganda, an allegation that police spokesman Eric Kiraithe later disputed.

Before the violence broke out, Kisumu was an attractive town for businesspeople because they enjoyed good returns from their investments. But now, many of them are lamenting after suffering huge losses at the hands of looters and arsonists. The business community, led by the local chapter of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has asked the Government to exempt them from paying taxes. They said that they had incurred huge losses and their books of accounts had been destroyed by fire.

The chairman of the Kisumu chamber branch, Mr Jerry Ochanda, expressed doubts that some businesses could be revived. According to him, grants would be needed to help them restock but even then the question of investor confidence still remains because many had fled and had vowed never to return.

Mr Ochanda said the losses incurred could run into billions of shillings. According to him, many of the burnt buildings will have to be brought down because they were damaged extensively.

Besides this, Kisumu has been struggling to get its routine supplies of vital commodities because major roads leading to the town still had illegal roadblocks manned by gangs of youths especially in Rift Valley.

Many businessmen and professionals doubt that Kisumu can recover soon without massive injection of external help.

“Donor support to micro-finance institutions and other affected groups can help alleviate these problems and save us from collapse,” said Mr Samuel Deya, the executive director of Adok Timo, a micro-finance institution. Mr Deya estimated that small and medium-sized businesses lost Sh50 million due to missed business opportunities and destruction of property. Close to 80 per cent of the such businesses were affected by the violence. These include 184 shops which were looted and burnt leading to a loss of 5,000 jobs. This will adversely affect micro-finance institutions which are unlikely to recover outstanding loans.

Some business premises that have started operations have to incur the extra cost paying for armed security to keep away hungry looters.

Business losses

Besides the business losses, Anglican Bishop Francis Abiero said healing could be hard to come by because politics shattered the harmony communities enjoyed in the past.

“The country is bleeding and the confidence and trust communities had in each other were eroded by the aftermath of the elections. It will take a long time to restore the glory of the town and heal the inter-tribal relations,” he said.

The Kisumu police boss has also expressed fears that the once secure town could become crime-prone because major shops and business activities had been grounded and the town had experienced a high exodus of investors. These could lead to further job losses.

In the estates, it has become difficult for shoppers to carry home their supplies because of hungry criminal gangs who steal from passersby.

Time To Meet The Children

Time to Meet the Children!

I thought it was time you met our children.Bless YouTube for making life easier for us would be cyber buffs.: YouTube is easier.
I haven't been able to get in touch with the teachers today to see what is happening. I have been reading the papers (as usual) and it continues to be dreary. There are reports of Ugandan soldiers being imported for the riots about to begin tomorrow. They are coming across the border in our little hamlet of Busia. They are gearing up in Eldoret and folks are fleeing in droves. Eldoret is a place I once spent a rather dicey evening wondering if I was totally out of my mind doing what I do. The answer, obviously is no.It's all political neither side is blinking yet. As always the poor are stuck in the middle.
Some schools aren't open, others the parents are too frightened to send the children Small wonder!We can't get the money to our schools yet to send the children to secondary school, but given that we are one of the hotspots, I'm not sure how that is working anyway. I'm hoping to get in touch with Charles today. He should be back in Mombassa. Poor man, for him it's a real toss up neither Mombassa nor Nambale are safe. However his family is in Nambale so I'm guessing he's on his way back there.

No guessed wrong, Charles is in Mombassa. We just got off the phone. We were sharing ideas on how to help the schools work together to set up viable businesses. The communication is always a bit difficult since my English is so accented for him and we are always trying to figure out sums in both dollars and Kenyan Shillings. We walk by faith, however, and somehow I know we will get there. I think Charles feels the same way. Parliament opens tomorrow in Kenya and the demonstrations by the opposition are scheduled for Weds. Charles sounded a little worried, which means he's probably a lot worried. He is a man of vast understatement and grace.

However, I wanted you to see what it looks like in happy times. These were taken last spring when I was there. I wanted you to see how much I love this place and these people, and I guess I want you to love them too.

I Only Stay In The Nicest Places

I Only Stay in the Nicest Places

For sometime now, I have promised more information about what I do exactly in Kenya. Some have wanted to know how it all got started, but that's for another time. I thought it was time to talk about the good stuff of Kenya, the amazing people, the children and also a bit about what it's like for me over there.

A few years ago the former chairman of the board suggested that I keep a journal, and so on each trip I recount my adventures. This is helpful for several reasons. One it keeps me from going nuts being alone for such long periods of time, and two it now can keep you informed of one woman's adventures trying to save a small part of the planet. The following comes from my latest trip in August of 2007.

15 August 2007
Nairobi, Kenya
The morning breaks cold and dreary. My room overlooks the highway and the matatus and trucks growl by emitting foul smelling exhaust. There are no emission controls here in Nairobi. I arrived very late on 13 August. As usual nothing is easy here. We were just about to land in Nairobi when we were diverted to Dar Es Salaam. Airport in Nairobi was closed because of a crash. So I got to spend 6 hours in Tanzania with a group of upset tourists. I am so used to it by now, that I’m not even fazed by an extra 8 hours onto my 24 hour trip. Or at least I thought so until I got to the Hotel and collapsed for an entire 24 hours.

My phone had expired as well (yeah of course it had) so I needed a new sim card and to call all my contacts here and give them the number. Big Francis is dead. No one wants to tell me how. John and Little Francis say everything is safe here in Kenya and I guess it’s what it has always been. John and Francis are Kikuyu and so there is tribal pride in saying all is well. I know there's tribal stuff going on in Mt. Elgon which is only 60 miles from our site. And the Mungiki were splashed all over the paper a couple of months ago. They even killed some of Kibaki's family, but then the police stormed one of the slums and summarily shot a lot of them. Little Francis will be my driver in Nambale. He will drive to Kisumu and then drive me for the 6 days I will be there. I love little Francis, we have become fast friends over the past couple years. He has had tinted glass put in his car and really fixed it up so it will be fine. But I always feel that little tug that tells me that they don’t want me to know everything. I am the muzungu ergo the outsider.

I spoke to Charles (our liaison officer) as well yesterday. He seems enthusiastic about the plans for the schools, but I realized if we don’t have some leader on the ground in Nambale to help encourage the people, they are not very well motivated. Perhaps it is my poor spirits right now, or my newfound skepticism, but I shall be most curious to see what progress if any they have made towards plans for making the program work. I shall also be asking for all the receipts, not just the ones for One Village, but I want to see what the schools themselves have spent for feeding the children. I should have thought about that earlier, but I just got so busy with our paperwork stateside, I forgot about this. Ah well, the joys of working in Africa.



Ok, I just have to laugh. I just got off the phone with Charles. I told him that I would need to see allthe receipts from the schools including what the parents had been contributing and he will take care of that. He said he thought that that would be a good idea. I also discussed with him that I had a driver from Nairobi which was expensive and that we could feed more children if we got someone from Nambale. In typical,” I’m not gonna tell you the whole truth fashion”, Charles assured me that it was a good idea for me to have a trusted person so that I would be “well taken care of”, which I translate as someone I know who will protect me. Gosh trying to figure out all the subtleties of this is exhausting. I later found out there are no cars to speak of in Nambale and everyone gets around on foot or boda-bodas (bicycles) which is really dicey now because of the rains and flooding.

Ah the end of another zany day in Kenya. Solomon (the new driver since Francis is busy racing to Kisumu) drove like a formula 1 driver though the continuous Nairobi traffic and smog to get me to the airport today.The trip to Kisumu was rather uneventful, which given my past history with this airport, is a blessing. When I landed it was wonderful to see Daniel’s smiling face and also Francis. We burbled along the pothole infested road till we got to a good spot and then it was pretty fair sailing. The guys were talking in the front about the dangers in Kericho and that no one travels that road at night alone. Gosh I was glad to have both my men in the car because it was dark. We traveled along until we were almost at Busia when I called Charles who informed me that we didn’t have rooms at the Blue York, they were full. Ok, I asked Charles to book these rooms 3 months ago and I spoke to him only an hour ago and there was no mention of no rooms. We were being re-directed to a fascinating place called Farmview, a bigger dump than either the Walimu or the Widda. Trust me I’m glad Francis is on one side of me and Daniel on the other. It is creepy and filthy.

The guys were hungry so we went to the kitchen at 9:30P and the games got really good. We ordered fish, and ten minutes later the waiter came and said it would take too long would we like chicken.The men translated that as they had no fish but didn't want to tell us. It's funny to watch the politesse here and how we can laugh at it. The guys really wanted fish, but though on the menu, not to be had. The men had chicken I had eggs and it still took 35 minutes. However I was able to glean a lot of information about Busia which is the largest town near Nambale. We had looked into helping with another project being built here but the info I got while waiting for a couple of eggs was worth the price of admission. (Well, sort of the place was really gross).
Daniel explained that no one would come to a retreat here because it is a border town and folks are just drifting through, it is not a destination. And it is butt ugly. And drinking or the lack thereof is not really a draw since both men observed that only drunks need a place to drink, regular people wouldn’t go to such places.

The bathroom here is caught in photos. I’m glad K and her mother didn’t see it.She was supposed to come on this trip, but I thought it would be too dangerous.
Night y’all

1

Living In A Parallel Universe

I'm Living in a Parallel Universe

Mother M is essentially a very enthusiastic and passionate woman. This is rather obvious by the blog here and the way in which I live my life. I have been fascinated by social networking sites and have been on several of them. First is the whole online dating thing. Definitely not something for women over 40. If you are over 45 men your age are not interested in you, and definitely if you are over 50. Men in that age range want the do-over, so give it up. If you really can't live without a man, try something where they have to pay to meet you. You will get more serious lookers at least. The online dating is too easy in the BVD's and the mouse clickin away at 2:00A.M. They like the idea of it more than the reality.
Then there are the sites that cater to social networking such as MySpace, Facebook and for my generation we can now go to a potpourri of sites for Boomers. I have been on one of those and blogging. In fact much of what I have put up here has been honed elsewhere. That is until last week.

It is clear to me that being a certain age is no reflection whatsoever of your maturity.I found what I thought was a really cool site for my peeps. I dove right in, making friends, writing letters, reading blogs and feeling pretty happy to have found such a thing. I made friends with some of the editors, and them Boom (if you'll pardon the
pun) The Boomer site rapidly devolved into petty sniping,"rants" and complaints.I kept thinking "God! Chris Hansen is coming to this site next." It got so bad that the few editors left had to do a reiteration of "Let's Play Nice." In the middle of all this ( while I am blogging away on what is happening in Kenya). I receive a bunch of letters from members who wanted me to talk to the editors about so and so. R U kidding???? Oh and one editor wrote me and asked me to form a group because so many had been thrown off the site for infractions of the TOU's. Is this OZ or the Twilight Zone? I would be interested in moderating a group for cranky boomers because I don't have enough real strife in Kenya and in my practice?

Now having been floating on these networking sites, Mother has, indeed, put a profile on Facebook to see how that works. Indeed of all of them I like that the best. Well it turns out that an old high school friend (class of 1965 and I know most of you weren't even around then) contacted me to catch up. I've sent her to this blog to read about what I do. Yesterday I get a call from her, she had a friend who was going to Kenya today and what did I think of that.Am I the only one who thinks that's odd. Is there anyone here who is reading this blog that isn't catching my drift about the potential for genocide next week? WTF you're not serious? Seems the friend thought that the publicity about Kenya was way overblown. Yeah and I'm going to be a size 6 anytime soon!

So Mother knows all of you reading this little excerpt are at least informed if not actually part of her parallel universe. And I'm glad you stopped by to check in. Oh and here's today's editorial from the Nation. Seems the Kenyans think what's happening is real. Ta Ta.
EDITORIALS (The Nation)

We need to address children’s plight urgently


Publication Date: 1/13/2008

UNICEF, the UN agency responsible for ensuring the welfare of children throughout the world, estimates that post-election violence has displaced at least 100,000 children in Kenya.

Together with their families, the children have been sleeping in police stations, church compounds and show grounds where existence is informed by a host of indignities that go side by side with homelessness.

With primary schools set to open tomorrow, now is an appropriate time to reflect on the plight of those children. A new school year marks an important milestone in the life a child. It is critical in determining the pathway to the future in a dynamic and competitive world where there is no substitute for education and the attendant skills.

Sadly, for those displaced children who should be in school, tomorrow is neither a happy nor a hopeful day. Their immediate future is threatened by intransigent circumstances way beyond their control.

Scores of schools have been razed the ground, and even where they have been left standing, the volatile atmosphere rules out the possibility that the children will be returning home for a long time to come.

Given the violent circumstances under which the children and their families were uprooted from their homes, school materials like books and uniforms have been lost. Reduced to destitution, their parents can hardly be expected to replace them.

And the politically-driven violence has not spared teachers either.

Some of them have been killed while others have fled with their families. It is unlikely that they would be willing to go back to their work stations until peace prevails and their security can be guaranteed.

All this points to a situation where these displaced children will certainly be absent from school. There is nothing to indicate that the government is seriously working out ways of ensuring that they will be able to report to a school tomorrow.

It is nowhere near adequate to request that displaced parents take their displaced children to the school nearest to their place of refuge. As it is, thanks to free primary education, schools are already congested.

Classrooms are bursting, and the teacher-pupil ratio has been stretched to the limit, making quality learning elusive.

It also important to bear in mind that many schools in the violence-torn areas have been turned into refugee camps for displaced families. So the additional challenges arises of providing alternative shelter for the displaced to create room in time for the commencement of learning tomorrow.

Many children have been separated from their parents in the mayhem. This situation is made worse by the fact that provincial education departments in the areas of conflicts are yet to resume work, so accurate information on absent children is not readily available.

Hungry children wandering around on their own face many dangers and are particularly vulnerable to child traffickers and pedophiles.

Children separated from their parents and lucky enough to find their way to refugee camps might find themselves in a situation where they will be ill-informed of availability of opportunities in the absence of adults close enough to watch out for their interest.

The displaced camps are poor substitutes for homes. Stories coming out them paint a gloomy picture of hunger, lack of adequate clothing and shelter.

We are talking of young souls whose innocence and sense of security have been profoundly shattered. Some of them have witnessed the killing of their parents and siblings. Others have witnessed their playmates being killed. Their homes, their last lines of security, have been burned before their eyes.

Besides proclaming their commitment to peace, the protagonists in this whole saga need to go out and assure those children of the rapid resumption of lives that have been arrested mid-stream. They need to guarantee them that they will never again suffer because of the politics of the day. They owe the children this much.


"

Keep Praying The Girls Are So Frightened

Keep Praying The Girls Are So Frightened

Kenya seems to be slipping out of the news. Not surprising since the riots have settled down till next week. But the President of Ghana, Kufour left after 3 days of fruitless talks and the opposition is calling for 3 days of rioting all over the country next week. (Well, they're calling it rallies but yeah....) Kofi Annan is going to take a crack at it if all sides will agree. I'm not too optimistic.

I was really happy when I read that secondary school fees will be partially covered by the government starting next week. Then I got this email from my friend. She and I are like sisters and I have watched her dedicated daughters grow into young women. It was just a couple lines:

"Thanks for your note we still trust God for everything in our country. Will keep you posted as things unfold. Keep praying the girls are so frightened with everything." Even if the schools do open, the children are so terrified to go back.

I read in the paper (Nation) that they are going to try and have some counseling for the children. I'm a shrink and I don't see how you can start counseling till you can reassure the kids aren't going to be killed on the way to school.And since it looks like an all out melee next week, especially where I work, I think I'd be counseling the folks to duck and hide.

I did read an interesting article about why the panga as a choice for killing and maiming. Because Kenya is an agrarian society, if I cut off your hands you can no longer work. So many who survived the attacks lost hands and arms. Simple reasoning it seems. I don't write this because it's grisly, but because so many people want to know why things are as they are. I struggle with that, but at least here is one answer I can understand.

Sometime soon I want to start the story of One Village at a Time and how it got started. Like Daniel, though, I feel folks need to know what is going on over there. So for now..keep praying, the children are so frightened.

And Then Theres This

And Then There's This

Ok, I wasn't happy with last night's election results. I was hoping Obama would really slam Hillary, but that didn't happen. At least no one was shot and businesses weren't burned. It's not just that I work in Kenya and Obama is a Luo, I really think the guy is good. If you haven't read his book Dreams From My Father do, it's better than his second. I loved his comment about his drug use. Yeah of course he inhaled that's the whole point isn't it? Duh! I'm really tired of people my generation with their holier than thou attitudes about drugs and the war.If you were a democrat back then, then you blew some weed at least and you were against the war. And if you didn't do that then why should I vote for you? Mother does not associate with Republicans so if you had the misfortune of being one of them you well.....
I love Obama because he admits that he was confused when he was younger, he was pissed, he took a while to figure out what he wanted to do.How refreshing, someone who actually had an adolesence.Someone who came from (oh dare I say it) a broken home, hell his was smushed like Humpty Dumpty. And he's still standing! Hillary, John, Mitt, Joe, Rudy Could you please get off the stage!

So of course they were talking about health care last night. I am all in favor of Universal health, but again, I'm as liberal as they get. And then this morning I was checking in on the Nation to see what's REALLY happening in Kenya and this article caught my eye. Remember I told you they don't have ambulances? Yeah, and they don't have health insurance so they get turned away from hospitals with blood pouring out of their wounds, even little kids. And if they get treated they will then owe their lives to the hospitals. So here's today's slice of Kenyan life.
shattered lives that political chaos has left in its wake
The Nation
Story by WALTER MENYA
Publication Date: 1/9/2008

Lorraine Awuor lies on the hospital bed motionless with bandages strapped on her left hand. The 11-year-old girl shuts her eyes as a twinge of pain courses through her small frame.

Ms Ruth Adhiambo feeds her sister, Alice Atieno, at the New Nyanza Provincial General Hospital. Atieno was shot by police during the skirmishes. Photo/ DAN OBIERO
The Standard Five pupil at St John’s Primary School in Koru, Nyando District, is recuperating at the Nyanza Provincial General Hospital casualty ward, a victim of police shooting in the post election violence.

She sustained gunshot wounds on her hands and chest after two bullets tore through the iron sheet wall of their rented house in Koru Town on New Year's day.

She and her two siblings are undergoing treatment but in different health facilities.

Her 48-year-old father James Ouma is overcome by emotion as he narrates the circumstances leading to her daughter’s shooting.

“We were not at home at the time... the children told us they took cover in our house as police dispersed the locals who were not contented with the elections results,” he says.

The X-ray examination showed a broken bone on the left hand and several bruises on the right hand and chest grazed by a bullet as it passed.

For close to five days, father and daughter have remained in hospital. The father hopes that Lorraine will be up soon to get back to school with her colleagues when the new term begins in a week.

Her plight has touched many hearts. When Mrs Ida Odinga visited the victims of police shooting at the hospital, her first stop was Lorraine’s bed.

In the meantime, Mr Ouma is troubled by the hospital bill, which he believes will be too high by the time Lorraine leaves the hospital.

He says that his income from employment at a chemical processing factory in Koru can hardly meet the basic family needs let alone hospital bills.

Next to Lorraine is Jackline Adhiambo, a 15-year-old pupil at a Kisumu school. She was shot in the right thigh as she walked home in Manyatta estate from a nearby shop.

Many more like Lorraine and Jackline remain at the hospital. According to the hospital's medical superintendent, Dr Julianna Otieno, the hospital has so far admitted 66 victims of the skirmishes to ward number two that houses the casualty sick bays.

In addition, Dr Otieno says that the hospital has treated and discharged 146 casualties in the out-patient section.

“The figures have been overwhelming but we have done our best to cope with the situation despite supplies running low,” she said.

Being the only referral hospital in the region, its resources have been stretched to the limit. More patients remain in the wards while others come regularly for dressing of wounds and check-ups.

Most victims are males, as our rounds in the wards and the medical superintendent’s assessment reveals. They have gunshot wounds in various parts of their bodies.

In one section of the male ward, Mr Mark Aroko, commonly known as Kobole, recovers after his left arm was amputated. Police shot him on Sunday evening a stone’s throw from his house in Nyalenda estate, he says.

The father of six and the sole breadwinner in the family is a hawker at the Kisumu bus terminus. For the duration he has remained in hospital, his two wives and children have faced tough times.

Biggest blessing

He says that some of his workmates have been the biggest blessing to him as they have contributed to help his family get at least a meal a day.

Mr Aroko was rescued by a group of youths who found him unconscious by the roadside. They took him to various hospitals with little success before finally settling on the Nyanza Provincial General Hospital four hours later.

Without any other means, the rescuers carried him on a bicycle. By the time they reached the hospital after failed attempts to admit him in four different health facilities, Mr Aroko had lost a lot of blood and had to be given blood transfusion.

He underwent two operations in three days, the last one culminating in the surgical removal of his left arm on the recommendation of the hospital medical staff.

He is still bitter with the way police treated the protesters. “I still do not understand why they came in the first place. Instead of protecting lives and property, they shot indiscriminately at innocent people and children,” he laments.

Whether he will go back to his previous duties is not in his mind at the moment. “I am interested in seeing myself out of this place (hospital). This is my priority at the moment because I know God will take care of the rest,” he states reassuringly.

Kibuye market

In the same room with Mr Aroko is a 13-year-old boy, Kevin Otieno, who was shot and in the left thigh at Kibuye market.

He was helping a friend remove whatever was left of his stall after a fierce fire started by an arsonist on a revenge mission consumed their premises.

He was the last to be brought to the facility that is now overwhelmed by huge number of patients. He could not get a bed and he lies on a mattress spread on the floor.

At the mortuary section, Dr Otieno says the hospital administration hired four people to assist the regular attendants who could no longer cope with the amount of work following the riots.

According to Dr Otieno, out of the 91 violence-related deaths reported by the Government in Nyanza Province, the provincial general hospital mortuary has received 51 bodies since the skirmishes broke out in Kisumu and its environs.









NT

What The Hell Is Going On Over There

What The Hell is Going on Over There??

"I've received some interesting email in the last few days. From my Kenyan friends it's been one harrowing story after another, from many of the Peacekeepers it's a question of how they can help. But then there are the emails with opening salvos like "the title of this blog. While Kenya may be "vital to our war on terror" (oops...I had to gag there for a moment) we don't really want to know the nittiy gritty of how the country is made up or what the real issues are. Poverty, famine, tribal warfare are not part of our vocabulary in Washington. It's nice that they are finally covering the news, but I find it particularly slanted towards the West. It's about our interests and not really the human tragedy that is evolving.

So here's the deal. I choose to bring you news from Kenya by Kenyans. Both of the articles are properly documented with the authors from the Nation (the better of the 2 newspapers). Frankly I think like our elections, we should let the Kenyan people speak for themselves about their country. I hope you are paying attention.

The first article has to do with the famine that is occurring over there. See because it's tribal, stealing isn't the deal, it's destruction. So many of the crops are being burned as are the supplies in the shops which will make it more difficult to farm once things settle down.
Story by SAM KIPLAGAT
Publication Date: 1/8/2008
"CLASH VICTIMS GRAPPLE WITH HUNGER DESPITE BIG HARVEST"
"The few who had harvested their produce lost it when arsonists set their stores on fire soon after President Kibaki was declared winner in the last General Election amid protests that the poll was rigged.

Mr Johnston Mwangi says he has never begged for food in his life.

We found the 46-year-old man and members of his family queuing for food at the Timboroa DO’s office. What angers him is the fact that lots of food was reduced to ashes in stores and those who are yet to harvest cannot do so because of fear of attacks.

“They (the attackers) should have taken the food and sold it or at least allowed us to take it away.

“Now we are suffering here without food yet we planted,” he said.

Mr Ayub Wanjohi, a father of 10, had to seek police protection to go and bury his son who was killed on January 2.

The boy was buried next to seven family members, who were hacked to death on the same night.

Mr Mwangi said that residents were forced to dig a trench and bury all of their dead together.

The burial was conducted in a hurry because the warriors kept chanting war songs from the forests. Attempts by police to scare them away by shooting in the air were fruitless.

An officer who asked not to be named said that many bodies were still lying on the farms uncollected.

Growing up

Mr Mwangi said that most of the attackers were young boys he had seen growing up and playing alongside his children. Most of them went to school with his children at Kamura primary and later Timboroa secondary.

“They are young boys who move in groups of between 100 and 200. They are heartless because they kill whoever they find on the way,” he said.

He added that most of the youths are his employees and he had paid them wages on December 24 and given them something for Christmas.

“They later descended on us and destroyed everything I owned,’’ he said.

The Second Article is a Commentary from Today's (well yesterday since it's Wednesday in Nairobi now) Nation. Macharia Gaitho is a real voice for Kenya and also quite eloquent in describing "What the Hell is going on over there" Frankly, though Americans claim they don't understand it is a little close to the bone this editorial.

"IT'S BUSINESS AS USUALFOR THE RICH AS THE POOR KILL EACH OTHER"

Story by MACHARIA GAITHO
Publication Date: 1/8/2008
I have been frequenting my local despite all the post-election chaos around.

Even when violence had reached crazy levels in the slums, not too far away, I found life pretty much normal.

At the shopping centre, typical of middle-class Nairobi, the beer was flowing, everybody was catching up with the news on TV, when not watching English soccer, and the car-wash and the outdoor roasts were doing their thing.

In the pubs, politics was of course the main conversation. While some may have a liking for specific joints, everything is pretty much multi-tribal. The barrel I sit around could be shared by a Kikuyu, a Kamba, a Luo, a Kalenjin, a Somali, a Maasai or any other person that makes it a microcosm of Kenya.

AND BETWEEN THE BEER AND THE banter, there is absolutely no tribal animosity even as the TV brings up images of ethnic violence hitting the poor all over the country, while their wealthy leaders fight by proxy over the spoils.

Even the jokes have been updated. In the early days of the vote count, the one about one Peter Marangi, hired by Mrs Ida Odinga, stocking up on gallons of orange paint was all the rage. And there was First Lady Lucy Kibaki getting packing and removals company, Othaya Express, in readiness for departure from State House.

By last weekend, Peter Marangi was desperately trying to exchange his orange paint for blue paint. Ida Odinga was stuck with rolls and rolls of orange curtain material. Othaya Express was demanding more money from Mrs Kibaki for unpacking and putting everything back in its place.

And life went on. Surreal? Bizarre?

Certainly, Kenya may be burning, on the brink of ethnic warfare and total breakdown, and yet the middle and upper classes carry on as before in the cloistered confines of secure estates, private clubs, gated compounds, razor wire and electric fencing.

Fools paradise, probably, and even more as we start to celebrate what we think is a return to normalcy.

The fact is that the artificial peace and tranquillity we have always taken for granted, has forever been shattered.

IN THE RIFT VALLEY, THE GENIE OF violence, uncorked in the early 1990s as the Moi regime sought desperately to halt the march of democracy, has never been stilled. It is always there, lurking below the surface, and ready to boil over at a moment’s notice.

Some elements, now in the Kibaki regime, might have created the Mungiki as a Kikuyu counterweight to the Moi era Kalenjin warriors in the Rift Valley (Such is a time we must cease this nonsense of a ‘certain community’ and say it as is it).

The problem is that such forces, once created, often take on a life of their own. We have witnessed after the elections an ethnic violence in the Rift Valley that could recur again and again unless the underlying grievances are properly and comprehensively addressed.

Some in the ODM initially welcomed the violence as the anti-dote to Kikuyu arrogance, until they realised it was directed by forces in their midst they had no comprehension of.

Then there was the urban violence, particularly in Nairobi, where the dreaded gang, Mungiki, was mentioned as the one leading the Kikuyu troops against their presumed enemies from the Luo and other communities.

If the Kalenjin warriors were an unofficial army of the previous government, then one wonders whether the Mungiki are playing a similar roles in this government.

One picture missed in all this is that it is the poor fighting the poor, the poor killing the poor, the poor burning the houses for the poor, the poor raping the poor, the poor decapitating the poor.

The poor are waging war against their fellow poor on behalf of the wealthy, who despite ethnic differences and party affiliations, are drinking together, sleeping together, pulling business deals together, partying together and playing golf together.

SO WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE poor realise they are nothing more than pawns and cannon fodder on the giant chessboard or monopoly set by which the rich and wealthy amuse themselves? "

And that my friends is what the Hell is going on over there.

Towards The Edge

Towards the Edge

It is almost Wednesday over in Kenya. Thank Heavens Raila Odinga called off the rally that he had planned. It will allow a little cooling off. Tribal hatred, though,is centuries old, and a few months or one crisis is highly unlikely to change much.

I spoke to Daniel today. It was good to hear his voice and listen to him laugh as he said his boss ran away. So many are leaving Kenya for the borders, Uganda and Tanzania. No one is fleeing into Somalia for obvious reasons. Besides, the trouble is in the Western part of Kenya and to the South. Daniel was more upbeat, he says things are calming down somewhat. Kisumu and of course our little Nambale/Busia (see map) were hit hardest. He had wanted to get internet in his place, but the shops have all been burned out so he must wait. To live or to work in Africa involves a lot of waiting, one just has to accept that even in the best of times.

It was good to get his opinions about what will happen next. He is grateful that the UK and US have sent mediators. We both agreed that new elections would have to be held. I teased him that we would have a Luo President (Daniel is Luo) before he did. It was good to hear him laugh. However his keen observations about tribalism and the hatreds stirred by the elections always amaze me in someone younger than my youngest child. But Daniel is a man, not a child and it is his generation that will lead this world. I suspect it is why I am pushing for a Luo over here.

I believe it is time for my generation to get off the stage. We are no longer foremen on the constructions site, and must gracefully move to consultants. I believe that just as parents have a hard time stepping away from telling their grown children what to do, so as Boomers we are having a tough time relinquishing the spotlight for new thinking and a new generation. I work with the Peacekeepers. I know they are meant to do great things for this world and they are.

Kenya is close to the edge. What will happen next no one knows. I pray for Daniel’s voice to remain strong. And I close today with an email I received from another friend who is an Anglican minister over there. It is how things stand as of today.

Dear Friends,

We thank God for all your prayers and thoughts sent our way for our family and the country at large. The events in our Kenya need God's intervention.

As a family we are safe and after one week of separation from the rest of the family, I finally was rejoined to them yesterday. It was a week of anxiety and worry for all of us.

Thanks for your concern.

We will keep you posted as events unfold.

Many blessings,
E