Trouble in Kenya

**Bogy** · 01-02-2008 03:10 AM

Some of you know from previous posts that my daughter serving our nation as a member of the Peace Corps, stationed in Kenya. You may also be aware, if you have paid any attention to the news in the past few days, that elections in Kenya, and the transfer of power, do not proceed as smoothly in Kenya as they do in the U.S. The events of the past few days have been anticipated for as long as my daughter has been in Kenya, about 18 months now. Some of you have communicated to me at various times that you think about my daughter, and so for those of you who may be concerned, here's an update.

As I said, this was not unexpected. Partly because of the Christmas holiday, and partly so that they would not be alone if things did get...well, the way they are, my daughter and two of her friends spent Christmas together. The election took place on the 27th. Monday morning, after seeing news reports and reading others online, I phoned my daughter to see how things were going. She stated that the violence was not at that point to close to them, but that the Peace Corps was trying to make arrangements for them to be picked up and brought to Nairobi. There was no petrol available in the community they were in, and the roads were blocked in place with checkpoints. Monday night/Tuesday morning the gunfire got to within a kilometer of them. They were able to hire a car to take them to where the Peace Corps vehicle would pick them up. Two men from the community went with them, to get them through the checkpoints. Much of the trouble is based on tribal affiliation. My daughter is a blue-eyed blond, but one of her friends immigrated to the U.S. from India (the Kenyans are familiar with people from India, and this was not a problem), and the other is African-American, and has the skin coloring associated in Kenya with the opposition tribe. At the checkpoint the men from the community
explained that all three women were from America, and they were able to get through.

When we spoke with her on Tuesday, about 11:00 AM our time, so 8:00 PM there, they were in a house in a gated community, with a four foot wall and a ten foot barb wire fence on top of that, with security, and more security at the gate to the house, with a third gate to the entrance to the upstairs of the house with the bedrooms. Wednesday they were expecting to be transferred to a home the Peace Corps owns, where a staff person had been living until just a few days ago. He went back to the states. Some of the Peace Corps Workers are already there. Normally when they come to Nairobi they stay near the City Centre, but that area is expected to be the focus of violence on Wednesday/Thursday. They are also being housed where they are, so that if the decision is made to evacuate them they will be closer to the airport.

Kenya has made some great advances in the past few years. My daughter has said she wouldn't mind staying in Kenya after her term is up (at least before these events), because the cities offer anything you can find in any large city in the world. But the country also has a huge disparity in wealth between the cities and the rural areas, and even the cities are home to huge slums. Kenya has a tremendous problem with corruption.

News accounts state that thousands of tourists are stranded in Kenya, some I am sure who were there for the Safari trips, and many more on the coast, especially in the Mombasa area (where my daughter and her friends had hoped to meet other PCW's to celebrate the New Year as they did last year. While there had been hope that there would not be the kind of upheaval they are now experiencing, as I said previously, it was not really unexpected. Probably the severity was not anticipated. My daughter had told us when she first got there that if we were able to come while she was there, we did not want to come at this time.

We are able to keep in contact with our daughter. She has a cell phone. However, if she needs to contact us she makes a quick call just to tell us to call her back. The phone service is a pay as you go system, and they are not allowing users to buy more minutes so that people cannot communicate. So she is conserving the minutes she has. She is not charged for incoming calls. Live broadcasts were banned soon after the elections, and most of the information she has of what is going on comes from friends and family outside of Kenya who are calling or texting her.

BTW, Happy New Year.

**Tom in TX** · 01-02-2008 12:20 PM

Happy New Year, to you also!
Thanks for the update on your daughter. I sure hope she remains safe, and can continue her good works!
Tom in TX

**navychop** · 01-02-2008 12:27 PM

Originally Posted by Bogy

....elections in Kenya, and the transfer of power, do not proceed as smoothly in Kenya as they do in the U.S.....

Master of the understatement.

I hope all goes well with her. She will certainly have the experience of a lifetime.

**Geronimo** · 01-02-2008 12:41 PM

Thanks for the update. I will pray for her.

**Scott Greczkowski** · 01-02-2008 12:44 PM

Wow amazing update. Glad to hear that she is ok.

**Bogy** · 01-02-2008 12:45 PM

Update today was that she and her friends were transferred to the other house, where they joined 16 other Peace Corps workers. They passed through 2 gates with security before they reached the house, and have a security person with them in the house. Her post is on Lake Victoria, just a kilometer from Uganda. She has heard that other PC workers in the area were told to go to Uganda, which would most likely have been what she would have been advised to do. She has heard that homes have been burned in her community, and she is very worried for one of her friends, who is a well known supporter of one of the opposition leaders. Many Kenyans are also taking refuge in Uganda, so he may be one of these.

**Van** · 01-03-2008 07:47 AM

I can only begin to get an inkling of how your feeling right now as a father wanting to protect your daughter and the frustration at not being able to do it. I have admiration for what your little girl is doing in that part of the world and Im sure that if she stays after her term is done she will continue to do great things.

**nsaspook** · 01-03-2008 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by Bogy

Update today was that she and her friends were transferred to the other house, where they joined 16 other Peace Corps workers. They passed through 2 gates with security before they reached the house, and have a security person with them in the house. Her post is on Lake Victoria, just a kilometer from Uganda. She has heard that other PC workers in the area were told to go to Uganda, which would most likely have been what she would have been advised to do. She has heard that homes have been burned in her community, and she is very worried for one of her friends, who is a well known supporter of one of the opposition leaders. Many Kenyans are also taking refuge in Uganda, so he may be one of these.

Good to hear she's ok. It looks like it's only going to get worse.
News | Africa - Reuters.com

Mobasa is a cool place, but Kenya was unstable 25 years ago when I was there.
Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron-262 [HMM-262]

We have people who can get them safely out of country.

**mwgiii** · 01-03-2008 12:48 PM

Amazing story Bogy. Keep us updated on her situation.

**Bogy** · 01-03-2008 03:50 PM

There are some hopeful signs. This news report is from about 10 AM Central time in the US, or about 7 PM Kenya, Thursday.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday to beat back crowds heading for a banned rally to protest Kenya's disputed election, and the president said he is willing to talk to the opposition once calm has been restored.
The attorney general called for an independent body to verify the vote tally.
Kenya's electoral commission said President Mwai Kibaki had won the Dec. 27 vote, but rival candidate Raila Odinga alleged the vote was rigged. The dispute has triggered ethnic violence across the country that killed 300 people and displaced 100,000 others.
As attempts at mediating the crisis gained momentum, Kibaki said he was willing to hold talks.
"I am ready to have dialogue with concerned parties once the nation is calm and the political temperatures are lowered enough for constructive and productive engagement," Kibaki said, hours after police halted the planned march by opposition protesters.
South African Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu flew to Nairobi and met Odinga. Tutu said afterward that Odinga was ready for "the possibility of mediation."
Tutu gave no details but said he hoped to meet Kibaki as well. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said Kibaki had no plans yet for such a meeting.
A European Union official said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana would discuss a proposal to mediate the crisis.

The Associated Press: Police Disperse Protesters in Kenya

Kenya was a British colony, and they and the U.S. have been working hard to get the parties to talk, and it seems they are quickly reaching that point. Bishop Tutu is there, and Barack Obama yesterday taped a plea for all parties in Kenya to cease the violence. With his Kenyan roots, Obama is a national hero there. My daughter met him when he was there visiting family, and the enthusiasm of the crowds was tremendous. From what my daughter has heard, the proposal mentioned at the end of this article is a coalition government.

Thank you for your support. It is greatly appreciated.