Harambee

Wow it is so nice to read the Nation and the Standard and not hear horrible news. I'm assuming that you all know that they reached a settlement and that the killing has gone way down. No it hasn't stopped, but at least they have a mediated power sharing. I refuse to be too optimistic since it's going to take time to see how it shakes out. But for my Kenyan friends they have hope that things might return to some semblance of normal.

My friends are mostly Luhyas and Luos so they were badly affected by the hatred and the looting and killing. E now lives in Nairobi and only drives back and forth to her church. She has to leave before dark. Beatrice would like to leave Kari but can't because it's a job and they need the money, her daughter remain terrified.

"R is fine though still scared but we hope things will be okey,we moved to town last week temporary for things to cool, we wish to move away completely but my hands are tied due to finances . we shall wait upon our God for He is good and provides when in need. R her results are out and thank God for good performance she got an A- as mean grade ,we are happy for her but she isnt happy becouse she may not make it for medicine degree since one needs an A, but God can work out miracle for the desire of her heart, or she could go for parallel and could even begin in may , so my sister pray with us for Gods will. we are happy as a country that one step is done to share power for peace in our country and hope other things will sort themselves for onces and for all. We look forward to the Kenya we knew since childhood. "

There is such elegance in my friend's letters that you must just read them sometime.

Now it is time to get busy and start raising more funds. The Peacekeepers are at it again and doing a bang up job of getting our first event off the ground. I love having them over for the planning sessions and feeling the energy. It puzzles me as to why my generation clings so desperately to power, when it is clearly the 30 somethings turn and they are so clearly capable.

I'm sending checks out to the schools this week for scholarships. The children's essays are amazing and we need to reassure the villages we have not bailed. The money for food will wait until they get their records in order. I heard from Charles last week and he sent me 2 gentlemen's names who I can call to help the schools get their accounts in order. They are in Nambale and if I wait till Monday morning it will be evening there. I will be more likely to get them. I am adamant that they must be accountable for their records before more money goes out. It's really hard to get people to change their thinking. They understand the long and detailed accounts they must give the governments, but they balk at our simple accounting.

I met this really cool woman yesterday, with a business background (MM doesn't have that) who really gets sustainability. She was so cogent about profit and the need for the folks to make a profit to be sustainable. She also pointed out that One Village needs to at least make enough money to pay for someone to take over my job one day. As she pointed out no one in their right mind would spend all this time and effort doing this for nothing. I'm not really doing this for nothing, I'm doing it because God asked me. The really cool thing is that Catherine gets that too.

So today, despite the snow and the muck, I'm feeling pretty chipper. We have walked through the valley of the shadow of death and we're still standing. Stay tuned.