Monday, January 31, 2011

Something to Think About


30 January 2011

As I watched the situation in Egypt unfold from Boston, I must admit that my first reaction was one of admiration and fascination that the internet, and particularly Facebook and Twitter could possibly topple a government. I have been reading “In the Time of the Butterflies” about the Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic and the years and lives it took to take him down. And now it seems there was a possibility it could be done in a matter of days and the speed of cyberspace.

Now I am here in Kenya. When I arrived on Saturday night the Egyptian Soccer team was sitting on the steps leading up to my hotel. They had lost to Kenya, but that was far from their minds as they watched their country explode. The did not want to return. Their faces were drawn and the coaches also had a tight expression on their faces. When I awoke in the morning, they were gone, so I guess they went home.

I have an eerie feeling being here now. I am not afraid for my safety, but the memory of post election violence of 2007-08 is never far from my mind. And what strikes me now is that everything is up for grabs. They no longer need leaders (like Kenyatta and Musyoka who started it up for elections) to fulminate bad feelings. I am here, far from the US and I know what tribal hatred looks like, I know what corruption does to the spirit of the poor, I know there is famine here again. I also know the intelligence of the college students and graduates who are withering without a job and I see the possibilities of eruptions all over Africa.

In the U.S people tend to separate out one country from another. I suspect they are deeply concerned about Egypt. That has been our “ally” for years and so stable. Folks like to vacation there, take a trip up the Nile. And now we are evacuating Americans. But Americans don’t really pay attention to what is going on in the rest of Africa. The Sudan (which is next door to Egypt) is going to blow, but no one cares, Darfur was just so 90’s.  But they are rioting in Khartoum, Tunisia, and given the haves and have-nots over here, there is a lot watch and to think about.

I don’t know how I feel about all this. There is a part of me from the 60’s, that time of being an empowered student that applauds their courage and roots them on. After all we toppled a presidency and nothing horrible happened.  But the older part of me thinks that we are now so interconnected (thanks to that very same internet) that doesn’t know if the unbridled power of social media and student revolutions may achieve goals that the students and people could not have foreseen.

It is an interesting time to be over here. I am anxious to read the papers each day, since they are much better than what you get online, and to talk to people. To get their take on what is happening and where the road will lead. It surely is a time to pay attention.

So I hope you’ll follow this with interest and get your friends to care about this continent. They have been waiting too long.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Cutting My Way Through Customs


Gotta love native dress. I should maybe be ashamed of my shenanigans but it is for the greater good. I always dress in a dress the woman here in Nambale make for me. I have played this one act play so many times. It’s always a bit of a nail biter.


First there is the layering of clothing that must take place to go from snowy Boston to equatorial Africa. That means long underwear under the rather flashy green dress. As I hit Amsterdam, off go the bottoms of the long johns. The socks came off in the plane and just before we land, I dash into the minute bathroom and take off the rest of the under garments so I look fresh as a daisy.

I was carrying 5 brightly painted suitcases. That is a whole lot of stuff to be carrying, and despite covering the real stuff with either condoms or used Christian books for children; there is always the possibility they are going to make me open it up.

As I wend my way down to the luggage area, much to my delight my suitcases are swirling around the carousel. There was a woman immigration officer who commented on my outfit saying, “You look very smart”. Ringer, I’m in.  I knew I could charm my way through customs by talking about my fetching painted luggage and reassuring her that they were Christian reading material and condoms. And that dear readers is how I got $16,000 worth of medications into the most corrupt country in Africa (not including Mugabe).


want to read more? go to www.onevillageatatime.org/blog

Friday, January 28, 2011

And The Hits Just Keep Coming

I really don't have to comment on this. It's so appalling that I'll let the article speak for itself.
How anyone could go to Gaddafi for help in a Human Rights quest is beyond the ridiculous. Musyoka is one of the gang of government folks in Kenya who were accused of War Crimes by the ICC. And he doesn't want to go to the Hague for a trial. OMG some things are just too egregious.


Gaddafi backs Kenya's quest for ICC deferral

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has supported Kenya’s intention to request the UN Security Council to call for deferment of its cases at the International Criminal Court.
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Mr Gaddafi said Kenya was an important member of multilateral institutions like the African Union and United Nations and therefore its considered opinion on how to handle her internal affairs should be respected.
“Africa has come of age in the respect of human rights and provision of justice. If Kenya says they want to use local judicial mechanism and demonstrate that this will be so in respect to the suspects of the post-election violence then so be it,” said the Libyan leader.
The Libyan leader who met Kenya’s Vice President Mr Kalonzo Musyoka at his retreat farm in the outskirts of the capital Tripoli said African problems requires African solutions, adding that the continent should only attract international attention in case members are completely unable to handle their internal affairs.
The VP, who was accompanied by Tourism minister Najib Balala and Nominated MP Mohamed Affey said Kenya was committed to the continued implementation of the Rome Statute and recognition of the role the ICC plays in securing respect for human rights and delivery of justice globally.
“All that we are asking is for a deferral to allow the setting up of a local judicial mechanism to try the suspects of the post-election violence. This is the only way we can encourage Kenyans to have faith and trust in the brand new institutions being established under the new constitution," said Mr Musyoka.

want to know more? go to www.onevillageatatime.org/blog

Thursday, January 27, 2011

How Could I Forget


The snowstorm last night has delayed my departure. It’s not a big deal since nothing happens fast in Africa anyway. Tomorrow will be soon enough to leave. You see I forgot and today’s headlines screamed at me of the uglier side of Africa. They kill gays.
Want to read more? go to www.onevillageatatime.org/blog

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

You Have to Go Far to Find What is Near

Francis, my driver taught me that a few years ago. I don't remember the circumstances, but inevitably they had to do with driving on a long dusty road and coming home to where we were staying and discovering what we needed.  As I prepare for my trip I think of all the hands that are holding me as I go forth.
Want to read more?? got to www.onevillageatatime.org

Sunday, January 23, 2011

I Am Readying

I love some of the ways Kenyan English works. One of them is to take nouns and make them verbs. So I am readying. My Kenya mobile phone is charging right now, I am pulling out my ksh and my phone cards. Start taking the anti-malarials in a couple of days, press the Ketange, and think of all that is ahead.

I am carrying well over the weight limit in medications. I am also bringing tee shirts from Tiny Revolutionary to our littlest children. I will be building a pre-school (well the building is there) and teaching the ECD teachers how to help children be more creative. They will learn about sandboxes and water play and dress up. None of that happens over there now. I will go to the local department store and buy cups and pans and spoons for children to learn to measure and experiment. Originally Monica asked me to bring toys, but I am going to do her one better. I will teach child development, where I started 40 years ago.

I am reading "Cutting For Stone" which many are as well. One of the sentences I loved is:
"We live our lives going forward, and then think about them going backward." There is no such thing as wasting time. With all the things I have done sometimes I wondered why did I have to learn that? or wow I didn't need that graduate degreee...but it's not so. Every moment of life lines up for the next thing and many years down the road you may find that something learned a lifetime ago is just what you need at this moment in time.

I am so glad to be going home to Kenya. When I am away this long there is an ache in the pores of my body. I long for the smells and sounds. I miss driving with Francis, laughing with Monica and most of all the children swarming to touch my hair. I want to see the weather coming at us over the valleys, hear the pounding of the rain on the tin roofs.

Check in on our website to follow my adventures. The blog is moving over there this week. I will always leave a link here for you to get there, but if you want to see what's happening it will be on our website. www.onevillageatatime.org

Do join me. I will try and open up the world for all of you.
Opak Ruoth

Monday, January 17, 2011

Centrum or Advil???



Before they get to customs
Despite all my blessings tonight I am sad.  All the medications came today from MAP International and they’re great. So many things we need. I’ve got one suitcase fully packed. Of course I can’t let customs see the meds when I come into the country. I have a full receipt for everything, but they would try and take them. Someone in their family could use what I am bringing in or it would sell on the black market.
So I pack carefully and then cover them all up.  I’ve travelled so many times I know what puts customs people off, condoms and my black dongs. (I use them for AIDS trainings) So as you can see the before and after photos, I doubt the guys at the borders are going to dig through the condoms.  
This adds a whole new meaning to cover up!


It’s the decisions you see that I hate. The Claritn is out and so is the Pepcid and the Metamucil for constipation. Those are no brainers. I have a 80lb limit (or 50lb per one suitcase and I’ll probably have to pay a little bit more for the second one) But  I have an abundance of multivitamins and Advil. Which is more important? Which one should I bring? And in what kind of world do we live in where someone must make that decision given the poverty of the place I’m going.? I think of the constant coughing of the children, so the cough tabs and dimetap are immediately added as are the kids multi-vites. But for the grownups, the women…vitamins are probably better than pain killers… Did you know that 1 in every 18 women where I work dies in childbirth? Can you imagine that? Can you imagine going into an OB practice and thinking if there were 9 women in that room pregnant, one would die?

Sometimes being a raindrop just doesn't feel like enough.





Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Ok This is Just Wrong



I'm getting packed to go on home. Of course there is about a foot of snow outside so I'm glad my plane wasn't supposed to leave today. I hope you all remember my reporting on the election violence in Kenya 3 years ago. I surely do.

It turns out that some of the most prominent names in politics in Kenya were named by the Hague for their crimes of inciting the riot and the aftermath. It even includes the vice president of the country, and the son of a former president, Uhuru Kenyatta. They face trials and prison. We all know politicians hate being caught (Hey Hey Tom Delay 3 yrs for you!) but this is totally outrageous.
 Kalonzo Musakoya (the VP) it seems would rather not have an international trial. Seems that he would like to be tried  probably in Kenya. Hmmm....no corruption there. But the deal is he's going to 6 other African countries to try and talk them into pulling out of the Hague agreement so that he can be tried locally. Really? Really??
 Sometimes when I read these things it makes me crazy angry. For the children killed in the church fire in Eldoret, for the burnings, and terror of my nieces hiding in a field at night praying they wouldn't get killed, man I think this guy and his cronies should be held in an international court with full network access.
Just as we are facing the aftermath of killings and attempted murder of one of our congresswomen, it is time to stop the violence everywhere. For me the works of the Kenya 6 are far more egregious since they were planned and carried out by officials, not just one lone nut job.
And that's my take on politics for today.

Below is the Nation Reporting.

Kenya seeks AU backing on bid to pull out of Hague

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By OLIVER MATHENGE omathenge@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Tuesday, January 11 2011 at 21:00
IN SUMMARY
  • VP and three ministers in mission to woo African leaders
The government has sent ministers to lobby different African countries to support its efforts to have the six Kenyans named by the International Criminal Court tried locally.
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The brief for the ministers, who include Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, is to urge the African leaders to support Kenya’s efforts to try The Hague Six locally.
The Nation learnt on Tuesday that Mr Musyoka is currently in South Africa to meet President Jacob Zuma over the issue.
Sources said that the VP will on Thursday hold talks on the same issue with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
Next week, he will be in Malawi on the same mission — which comes two weeks before African Union heads of State meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a major summit.
Sources close to the VP confirmed that Mr Musyoka had discussed the matter with his host in South Africa.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Shhh...Don't Tell...They're Killing People

The voting continues in the Sudan. It's hard to get the truth out of folks.
This article just upsets me. "A UN source speaking on condition of anonymity"...really? really??? This comes from an MSNBC article. So let's see let's lie and say things are going well when they are killing each other. The UN must save face right? or is it George Clooney? Or just whom?

As I said yesterday, I didn't have high hopes for no violence, and we don't know exactly how much is going to happen, but that the UN source can only tell what's happening on promise of anonymity is disgraceful Aren't the supposed to be the ones reporting what's happening.

The second article comes from the Nation which I trust more than MSNBC. Still says that there are areas where the killing has started. It's not that I'm blood thirsty, I pray for peace, but I know the hatred that runs deep within tribes. The resources in the Sudan are located in the south, so what's in it for the north to give up gracefully? Pray people, pray.



"This is their last attempt to try to disrupt the voting process but they will not succeed," Aguer said.
Misseriya leader Mokhtar Babo Nimr told Reuters 13 of his men had died in Sunday's violence and accused southerners of starting the fighting.
"They attacked us because they don't want the Arabs to go south to water their herds but the cattle need water and they will go. If they continue to stop us going south this fighting will continue."
A U.N. source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there had been another clash in the village of Todach on Monday morning.
In another sign of tension, Aguer said two men — a Ugandan and a northern army soldier — were arrested with four boxes holding
700 rounds of AK-47 ammunition in the southern capital Juba on Sunday night.
The northern army's spokesman, al-Sawarmi Khaled, on Monday denied any link to the ammunition or the clashes.

Janjaweed 
The Sudanese president's regime is accused of unleashing Arab militias known as janjaweed, against rebels in the Western Darfur region which have committed atrocities against ethnic African towns and villages. The U.N. says some 300,000 people have died since 2003. The government denies backing the janjaweed and says the death figures are inflated.
Southerners, who mainly define themselves as African, have long resented their underdevelopment, accusing the northern Arab-dominated government of taking their oil revenues without investing in the south.
Southern Sudan is among the world's poorest regions. The entire France-sized region has only 30 miles of paved roads. Because only 15 percent of southern Sudan's 8.7 million people can read, the ballot choices were as simple as could be: a drawing of a single hand marked "separation" and another of clasped hands marked "unity."
Independence won't be finalized until July, and many issues are yet to be worked out. They include north-south oil rights, water rights to the White Nile, border demarcation and the status of the contested region of Abyei, a north-south border region where the biggest threat of a return to conflict exists.
Most of Sudan's oil is in the south, while the pipelines to the sea run through the north, tying the two regions together economically.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Nation Kenya's national paper



JUBA, January 10, 2011 (AFP) - The feuding Misseriya Arab and Ngok Dinka peoples of the disputed Sudan district of Abyei on Monday both reported heavy losses in clashes over the past three days totalling at least 33 dead.
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"Thirteen Misseriya have been killed and 38 wounded since Friday," Misseriya tribal leader Hamid al-Ansari said.
Abyei chief administrator Deng Arop Kuol said: "The total for these three days, we lost about 20 to 22 Dinka.
"They attacked us three times already and we are expecting them to attack again today."
UN peacekeepers have been sent to Abyei to investigate, UN Mission in Sudan spokesman Kouider Zerrouk said.
Tensions in the district on the north-south border have been rising with the launch of a landmark independence referendum in the south on Sunday.

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Sunday, January 9, 2011

Got Hope?

Hardly seems possible that it was 2 years ago I was readying for Obama's Inauguration. The tee shirts and slogans abounded and one that I loved was a take off on Got Milk? I wear it now and it says Got Hope? I'm not really sure. I'm not talking about Obama or the horrific shooting in Arizona yesterday, I'm talking about the Sudan. I read different accounts of the voting today and it's mixed. Of course our news reports some killings, but the African papers seem to be saying it's going pretty well.

A good friend talked me out of going there right now. He assures me that the rebels are coming up from Darfur and that the north is going to have to stop them. Then he went into all the other possibilities of potential dangers in the Sudan as it reaches its arms up to the  to snatch a new country down from the African sky.

 Southern Sudan, how will it name itself? What flag will it fly? What anthem?  And how will the North and the South divvy up the oil, the people, the rest of the resources? I read in the Nation that the religious animosity is beginning. The president of the Sudan already has started by saying that any southern sudanese who work in the north will be fired. And he's going to make Islam the national religion of the North.

Having lived through the chaos of Kenya's ugly election violence and watching how their constitutional referendum came with such peace is encouraging. I ask myself will the Sudanese be tired of fighting and end up in peace, I hope so. But again, I have to be honest. I don't  really have hope. I wish I did.
Stay tuned y'all and I'll keep you informed. Our papers never really cover Africa.

Here's what the Nation had to say about it.

NEWS

S. Sudan: Thorny issues that must be resolved

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A soldier guards a polling station in Juba on January 9, 2011 on the first day of a week-long independence referendum expected to lead to the partition of Africa's largest nation and the creation of the world's 193rd UN member state. AFP PHOTO/Roberto SCHMIDT
A soldier guards a polling station in Juba on January 9, 2011 on the first day of a week-long independence referendum expected to lead to the partition of Africa's largest nation and the creation of the world's 193rd UN member state. AFP PHOTO/Roberto SCHMIDT 
By EMEKA MYAKA GEKARA newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Sunday, January 9 2011 at 22:00
Even as Southern Sudanese appear likely to vote for divorce with the North, the real test of a peaceful coexistence with Khartoum will depend on how the two states resolve contentious issues.
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The two states would also have to agree on a common currency, payment of foreign debt and the future of the oil-rich region of Abyei.
The agreement must be reached before July 9 when the new state would be proclaimed.
The other thorny issue is the fate of the nearly 1.5 million Southern Sudanese — mostly Christian — living and working in the North.
President Omar-al-Bashir has already declared that if the southerners opt for separation those working in the North will be discharged.
The Southern Sudanese hold 20 per cent of the jobs in public service.
Mr Bashir has announced that if the South goes separate, he will change the constitution in the North to impose Sharia law and ensure that Islam and Arabic are the official religion and language, respectively.
Analysts have warned unless mutually agreed upon, they contentious issues run the risk of re-igniting conflict and preventing smooth secession.
“We are supposed to decide on how to deal with the huge $35 billion (Sh2.8 trillion) external debt and the sharing of boundaries.
Our breaking away will not mean that we cut oil to the North,” says Mr Garang Majak Angok, a former Finance minister in the South.
President Bashir and Salva Kiir of the South, have pledged to resolve the issues with sincerity, fairness and in consistency with international laws to ensure cordial relations between the two possible states.
“I have reiterated several times that even if Southern Sudan separates from the North it will not shift to the Indian Ocean or to the Atlantic Coast,” said Mr Kiir recently.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Home Again Home Again Jiggidy Jig

The first post of 2011. I liked 2010, so I'm thinkin' I'll probably like 2011. May there be grace and peace to all of you this year and a feeling of abundance.

Undaunted by the debacle that was Christmas travel, I am totally looking forward to going back to Kenya in a couple of weeks. Now, in faith, I shall not nor ever will fly British Air so it is easier to be optimistic. Of course Delta is not in the best financial state, but I hope they can pay for the gas and de-icer that it seems BA could not.

For me it's Christmas again. Only the good stuff, not the icky travel of the last week or so. The first box of medications arrived, (amoxicillin, erythromycin, vitamins, antifungals, etc) and there are more on the way. I have a good many bandages and I can't wait for the stethescopes and suture kits. Ah...it's amazing what makes a girl happy. I totally have this nailed as well. I'm going to do my regular condom, dildo packing trick. Meds on the bottom, a layer of clothes, then the condoms and the dildos on top. The customs folks hate it when I shove those things in their faces and they always push me right through. If I didn't do that they would totally hassle me about this shipment and probably want to bag a whole lot of the medications I'm bringing in to sell or use themselves. Ah corruption.

I must say  I am frequently overwhelmed by the faith people have in me. They are generous and kind and they are willing to do whatever to help One Village. This month the generosity has been particularly touching as has the team spirit of the Board of Directors. They are totally amazing in case I haven't said that enough. And they know so much cool stuff that I don't and they know how to do the things I can't. It saddens me to think how many people my age don't have the remarkable young peacekeepers in their lives. They just don't know how philanthropic, kind, creative, compassionate, funny and inspiring they are. 

So I'm whipping out the suitcases, getting my adapters ready,grabbing the dildos and condoms  and hiding the drugs. I am having a hard time waiting. I smell the pungent earth, I hear the cacophony of the animals and the vendors, I see the children running towards me and I taste the ever present grit and smile. I'm going home soon.