It's been about a month and Kenya is still in turmoil since the presidential election. Latest reports say 800 people have died since Kibaki announced his win. Personally, I feel fairly uneducated - I'm learning more about tribes and politics than I ever have before. I mostly rely on BBC.com and NPR on the way to school. (Side note - I really like NPR. I'm one of those . . . I've only started listening since the Kenyan election, trying to stay on top of things, but I think I've been suckered in.)
So those sources give me the news, but I check in with my Kenyan friend from Taylor who explains it all to me and gives me the personal side, making it that much more real. I've only spent a month in Kenya, I am in no way an expert on politics. But that one month did a lot for me - to place Kibera and Naivasha, to have a face to go with the label of Kikuyu or Luo. This summer we heard that tribalism was dying out, or fading in the cities, at least. Apparently that assumption was rather inaccurate.
Friends in Nairobi on AIM's media team have taken some really telling photos of Kibera. Kibera is already a wonder, all of those people crammed into the squalor of this slum, and then riots, tear gas, rubber bullets, live bullets . . . homes been burned and people killed and fragile stability shattered.
What little I know about Kenya causes my heart to ache with each news update. Join me in praying for Kenya - for stability, forgiveness, for reconciliation.
