They are counting on your arrival

What an odd turn of events in Kenya over the past couple of days! But maybe I say that because I really don't know that much about Kenyan culture - or any African culture, really; maybe this was all to be expected. It seems the country has devolved into a bit of chaos, with old ethnic rivalries springing into modern-day violence..

Kenyan Riot Police Turn Back Rallying Protesters
By Jeffrey Gettleman
Published: January 4, 2008

The *extremely* short version is that many people, including some independent observers, are questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election results from a few days prior. The existing president has unequivocally declared victory with 52% of the vote, and, in fact, has already sworn himself in for this next term (hasty, indeed!); on top of that, he refuses to negotiate with the opposition in any capacity.

You might think that that this sort of situation would be manageable in a civilized manner, but add in tribal allegiances (something I have no internal notion of), under-developed social infrastructure, and general trappings of a poor nation (even if it is one of the most successful in Africa), and you start to approach an understanding of how a society with a veneer of stability can so quickly fall from such grace. But, still, yeah, you can only just *start* to approach such terrible understandings..

Continue your contemporary Kenyan education with another article from the NYTimes, written by the same journalist:

Kenya, Known for Its Stability, Topples Into Post-Election Chaos
By Jeffrey Gettleman
Published: January 3, 2008

Again, start your journey here in newspapers like the NYTimes and in general Western media, but take it all with a grain of salt. One of the main ideas that I came away with after reading "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families" last month is that, like I mentioned before *for myself*, many international players who have a hand in the African condition (governments - continental and beyond, NGOs, foreign industry, journalists, general travelers) do not know the history of the people that they are observing and/or interacting with; they can hardly tell who is who sometimes. In other words, when they are giving commentary, passing judgments, or making decisions related to the African world, they are doing so with assumptions about "how people/societies work" that many times do not hold true there for one reason or another. And, hence, the place sometimes seems to be random and doomed to its failure after failure after failure.. even to people who should "know better".

In any case, the subject of "how to help Africa" - whatever that means - is a HUGE subject in itself and beyond the scope of this entry.

Admittedly, I would have probably glossed over these articles on "Kenya's problems", except for the fact that my sister has been living there for the past year and a half (in a village called Matayos, near Busia), working for the Peace Corps. In the weeks leading up to the election she had mentioned to us folks back home that there would be some precautions related to the election time, mostly in the form of travel restrictions. But I don't think that anyone imagined the scale of violence that has erupted.. although, again, it's hard to tell the true scope of the violence without being there first hand.

However, she did send an email yesterday describing a fairly dramatic evacuation out of Kenya:

"Hey all!!! Here's the update. Yesterday, the 2nd of Jan, another PCV and I were moved into Uganda. Peace Corps called me in the morning, then my supervisor came with his motorcycle to come pick me (first time I left my compound in a week and as we were just going there were fire burns in the roads and rocks for road blocks (hoolagans from diff places are stopping vehicles and making people speak their mother tongue and if they're kikuyu they're killing them):also, there's NO public vehicles running)) and brought me to Busia to this volunteers house. (Also, there's NO petrol/gas so it was a good thing I left when I did because his motorcycle was on LOW). Got to her house, and the Father from the Catholic Church, where she stays, took us across the border in his car where we met with 2 Uganda PCV's who live on the busia side of Uganda and we came up to Tororo, UG(27km from Busia, UG) for safety. TODAY: 13 PVCs in Kisumu are supposed to be leaving with the CDC via police escort and coming to meet us. We may stay here for another night or two or go to Kampala... we will have to wait and see. KNOW that I'm safe and thinking of everyone back in the States. It's quite surreal... Take care. Miss you, Love, Megan"

So, my sister is safe and sound, and just waiting in Uganda for things to cool out, hoping to return to her village in Kenya sooner rather than later. Luckily, Megan can roll with the punches, so I know she's been keeping high spirits throughout this unplanned adventure.

At this point, all I can say is that I hope for the violence to stop and some sort of reconciliation process to begin - within the national government, within local communities, and within each individual.. intellectually, spiritually or otherwise. And to all of you on that delicate, and sometimes terrible, journey - especially those in positions of power and influence: Godspeed. The path to peaceful resolution might be long, but your first steps must start now; the lives of a lot of people, in Kenya and beyond, are counting on your arrival.