KENYA CRISIS REPORT: Letters from the Ground
Hundreds of thousands of Kenyans have been victimized by a weeklong spate of violence that has left nearly 600 people dead and countless thousands driven from their homes after the nation's disputed presidential election. With a massive health crisis looming, this week Ghana's President and head of the African Union, John Kufuor holds separate talks with both sides in Kenya's crisis over disputed elections in an effort to bring a peaceful solution to the crisis.
Blood:Water has been strongly tied to Kenya from our beginnings and some of our closest friends and partners reside there. Here are the reactions and stories from a few of them: (story continued)
"Thank you so much for your concern. Things went out of control in this lake town with hundreds of deaths and properties worth millions of Shillings went on fire and some looted. Kisumu has just remain a ghost town and basically most of activities are grounded.
Thank to almighty Lord that our Ofiice remain intact in the midst of all this calamity. GWAKO staffs are O.K and none of them faced this destruction. I think our weekly office devotions contributed to this, considering that the next doors were all broken into a thing stolen/looted.
Thank you so much for your love and deep concern. Pass our best regards to dear brothers and sisters [in America]. Tell them we are safe on the Lord."
-Benjamin Koyoo
GWAKO Ministries, Blood:Water Partner, Kisumu, Kenya
(AP)
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"Cathy and I have been in Kenya since before the election. There has
been horrific violence in some areas - in the towns around Lwala for
one thing, but particularly in Eldoret, Kisumu, Nakuru and Mombasa.
In Nairobi itself, the problems have been confined to the slums. In
all of these areas there remain problems with food, water and fuel
shortages, and a big humanitarian response is in the works thanks to
the red cross. This is the part of the story you're seeing in the
international press.
What you're not seeing in the press is the normalcy in the rest of the
country. The rural areas are peaceful, most towns in the country are
peaceful, and downtown Nairobi and the developed areas are peaceful.
Cathy and I decided not to return to Lwala after the elections because
of the problems in the nearby towns, and came to Nairobi instead for
safety. We've been very safe here, and the last few days we've been
able to be out and about, walking around downtown, taking public
transportation all around, etc.
Right now things seem to be returning speedily to normalcy. Whether
or not that trend continues depends on the politics. If Kibaki and
Raila can reach a reasonable agreement, I expect the violence will be
over. If they can't, there could be another flare-up. The coming
week should be very telling as far as those political agreements go.
The main mediator for the process arrives in Nairobi today, and there
are meetings scheduled all week, ending with a big meeting between
Raila and Kibaki on Friday."
Blessings,
-Joel Wickre
Blood:Water Board Member, Executive Director of Lwala Clinic
(AP)
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