In case you didn't hear, Kofi Annan requested that the rallies scheduled for today (Thursday) be called off and thankfully, the opposition party did just that. I am so thankful for that because it meant that my drive to Eldoret to catch my plane to Nairobi was very uneventful (minus what I'll mention below).
For those of you who know Jared, he made it safely to Nairobi as well and will be spending the day tomorrow in the Soweto Slum visiting a school that we are assisting in with a feeding program as well as sponsoring 4 children from there and beginning a new widows micro-business project with.
I am staying at my friend's Jonathan & Sharon's house here in Nairobi. They are amazing and so hospitable to let me stay with them. Tomorrow we're supposed to be going to visit an area that has some displaced people. When Jonathan mentioned that to me, I was immediately excited about the idea. Just to spend time with these people, to hear their stories, to pray for them, would be so amazing.
It was an emotional day for me. Leaving Kitale and then Eldoret; hugging Amanda and Daniel at the airport, knowing that this could be the last time that I ever see Amanda again. Knowing that I won't see my kids for 4 weeks; it was tough.
This was the first trip to Eldoret since the whole Kenya election/rioting began. It was devastating to see what I saw on the drive to town. There is this little town called Soy, which is close to Eldoret. The buildings, so many of them, burned to the ground. It was the remnants of a war zone; it was utterly heartbreaking. Tears welled up in my eyes, saddened by the so many lives that would forever be changed because of this.
Then we hit another little town en route to Eldoret, burned matatus and a car, so severly burned. We approached the gas station that my friend Tony works at; I knew he was working and I had told him that I would come to say goodbye to him before heading off to the airport. It would be the first time that I had seen him since the all this chaos had started in the country. As soon as I saw him, I felt relief, knowing that he was truly okay, seeing him in the flesh. I went to shake his hand but instead we just hugged, relieved friends seeing each other again. I was so thankful to see him.
We, as in Daniel, Amanda and I, spent a few hours in Eldoret before we headed to the airport. En route, we got stopped by a police officer, us wondering what we had done wrong. We pulled over and he asked if we were going to the airport, we said yes. So he asked for a ride. Of course we would. So here we were, driving to the airport with a policeman in the backseat with Amanda....with a really big gun in his hand. Amanda asked if she could have a picture with him, so I took their picture...so know that her blog will be better then mine because she will have a picture of her and the policeman and his big gun. But know that I took the picture for her. Right Amanda? :)
I fly out of Nairobi tomorrow evening at 11:20 pm, which is 3:20 pm EST. I will be arriving at Pearson in Toronto on Saturday at 2:50 pm EST. I will be heading straight to Windsor. For those of you in the Newmarket area, I will be there on the 30th. I'm so excited to see everyone and to especially meet my new nephew Ben whom I haven't gotten to meet yet. He is now 8.5 months old. There is so much going on: newspaper interview, tv interview, speaking engagements, etc. So pray for me; I can get a little nervous.
Thank you everyone for your prayers, especially for our travel time today. The prayers were answered and Jared and I are safe.
I look forward to seeing you all very soon.
Love you all!
Meredith
xoxoxoxo
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Thursday Travels...Kenya Update
Prayers are needed. The opposition party in Kenya is calling for a “Prayer Day” on Thursday; well at least that is the updated report. This is the day that Jared and I leave the fairly safe-haven of Kitale and venture through Eldoret to Nairobi.
First of all, I have to say that the Canadian Embassy/Canadian High Commission has been awesome through all of this instability in Kenya. During the high violent times, I was getting a phone call every day from them, confirming my whereabouts and my safety. They had already outlined my escape route for me to get out of Kitale should things get bad here. They, including pretty much all major Embassies, had contacted our Kitale airport (which consists of a blue building to store the odd airplane and a little shed like building as the control tower) to expect planes to fly in should they need to get any of “their people” out.
Yesterday, the Canadian High Commission called me to just check in. I told them about my plan (as well as Jared’s) to leave on Thursday. Jared will be taking a bus from Kitale to Nairobi; the time of the morning he will be leaving will be okay for him to pass through Eldoret without any problems. Daniel, Amanda and I will be going to Eldoret that morning as well to get me to the airport. Even if I’m at the airport hours ahead of time, I’m more than okay with that.
The Canadian High Commission has told me to call them Thursday morning so that they can provide us with up-to-date information regarding our travel route. So although, I thoroughly enjoy the thought of an adventure to send me out of Kenya and on to Canada for 4 weeks, I’m sure Daniel, Amanda and my family back home wouldn’t enjoy it. So, prayers would be greatly appreciated.
I had a lengthy conversation with a Kikuyu today. I heard his thoughts and opinions on what is going on in this country and sadness overwhelmed both of us. He was impressed with my knowledge of the current events, with my take on the tribes and tribalism and with a bit of the history that I knew of Kenya, the tribalism, the people.
I have so many thoughts/opinions but it’s not for me to share on here, not for me to share with the general public. Although I do know factual things, I am also a woman who speaks from emotions: deep and passionate emotions, my own personal emotions of all that is going on. That can sometimes be a dangerous thing.
I can’t pretend that I understand all the ins and outs of what is going on here. I can’t pretend what the years and years of tribal clashes, specifically between the Kalenjin and Kikuyu is all about. But I can’t pretend that this will eventually all be swept under the rug and everything will be fine.
In a country that says they are 80% Christians, they’re actions these past 3 weeks have told otherwise. Where’s the unity? Where’s the “loving your neighbour as yourself”? A Kalenjin man can love his Kikuyu friend 4 weeks ago, but today he is waving his bow and arrow at that same friend, chasing him away, threatening to kill him, if not already killing him. Where did God go?
I know that God is here; I see Him working but where did God go in these people’s lives? Why did they turn to the anger, the bitterness, the bows/arrows, the machetes, rather than turning to God? They chose sin; they chose violence. And now over 250,000 people are left homeless, refuges in their own country. Now there are going to be a staggering amount of women who are left as widows. Now there will be a large amount of children who are left as orphans. For what? What did all this violence accomplish?
And if some of you recently read Daniel’s blogs, the anger only continues. To think, even in the slightest bit, that all of this could have been pre-planned. This could have been orchestrated by the campaigning parties, far before Election Day. It makes me sick; it makes my heart ache. It makes me want to fight even more for the next generation of children in this country. It’s them who can make a difference in this place; if they are taught against tribalism, against hatred and racism, then perhaps Kenya can someday be a place that the world once thought they were. A peaceful African nation.
In Canada in 3.5 days!!!!
Love you all!
Meredith
xoxoxoxo
First of all, I have to say that the Canadian Embassy/Canadian High Commission has been awesome through all of this instability in Kenya. During the high violent times, I was getting a phone call every day from them, confirming my whereabouts and my safety. They had already outlined my escape route for me to get out of Kitale should things get bad here. They, including pretty much all major Embassies, had contacted our Kitale airport (which consists of a blue building to store the odd airplane and a little shed like building as the control tower) to expect planes to fly in should they need to get any of “their people” out.
Yesterday, the Canadian High Commission called me to just check in. I told them about my plan (as well as Jared’s) to leave on Thursday. Jared will be taking a bus from Kitale to Nairobi; the time of the morning he will be leaving will be okay for him to pass through Eldoret without any problems. Daniel, Amanda and I will be going to Eldoret that morning as well to get me to the airport. Even if I’m at the airport hours ahead of time, I’m more than okay with that.
The Canadian High Commission has told me to call them Thursday morning so that they can provide us with up-to-date information regarding our travel route. So although, I thoroughly enjoy the thought of an adventure to send me out of Kenya and on to Canada for 4 weeks, I’m sure Daniel, Amanda and my family back home wouldn’t enjoy it. So, prayers would be greatly appreciated.
I had a lengthy conversation with a Kikuyu today. I heard his thoughts and opinions on what is going on in this country and sadness overwhelmed both of us. He was impressed with my knowledge of the current events, with my take on the tribes and tribalism and with a bit of the history that I knew of Kenya, the tribalism, the people.
I have so many thoughts/opinions but it’s not for me to share on here, not for me to share with the general public. Although I do know factual things, I am also a woman who speaks from emotions: deep and passionate emotions, my own personal emotions of all that is going on. That can sometimes be a dangerous thing.
I can’t pretend that I understand all the ins and outs of what is going on here. I can’t pretend what the years and years of tribal clashes, specifically between the Kalenjin and Kikuyu is all about. But I can’t pretend that this will eventually all be swept under the rug and everything will be fine.
In a country that says they are 80% Christians, they’re actions these past 3 weeks have told otherwise. Where’s the unity? Where’s the “loving your neighbour as yourself”? A Kalenjin man can love his Kikuyu friend 4 weeks ago, but today he is waving his bow and arrow at that same friend, chasing him away, threatening to kill him, if not already killing him. Where did God go?
I know that God is here; I see Him working but where did God go in these people’s lives? Why did they turn to the anger, the bitterness, the bows/arrows, the machetes, rather than turning to God? They chose sin; they chose violence. And now over 250,000 people are left homeless, refuges in their own country. Now there are going to be a staggering amount of women who are left as widows. Now there will be a large amount of children who are left as orphans. For what? What did all this violence accomplish?
And if some of you recently read Daniel’s blogs, the anger only continues. To think, even in the slightest bit, that all of this could have been pre-planned. This could have been orchestrated by the campaigning parties, far before Election Day. It makes me sick; it makes my heart ache. It makes me want to fight even more for the next generation of children in this country. It’s them who can make a difference in this place; if they are taught against tribalism, against hatred and racism, then perhaps Kenya can someday be a place that the world once thought they were. A peaceful African nation.
In Canada in 3.5 days!!!!
Love you all!
Meredith
xoxoxoxo
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Friday Fun...Kenya Update
Yesterday some of us went to Western Kenya to pay school fees at three schools. As we were driving, I looked out the window and was captured once again by the beauty of this country, the rolling hills of different shades of green; the banana trees with big beautiful leaves like a palm tree, children playing in their yard. By the looks of it you wouldn’t even think the country had been at war for the past 3 weeks.
As we were driving by these areas, the song From a Distance by Bette Midler came to my head. It’s an 80’s song (or perhaps an early 90s song) but they’ve been playing it a lot on the radio here in Kenya due to the unrest in the country. Some of the lyrics are as follows:
From a distance, there is harmony and it echoes through the land.
It’s the voice of hope; it’s the voice of peace; it’s the voice of every man.
From a distance we all have enough and no one is in need.
And there are no guns, no bombs and no disease
No hungry mouths to feed.
From a distance you look like my friend, even though we are at war.
From a distance I just cannot comprehend
What all this fighting is for.
This fighting among the tribes has caused so much damage in relationships. Husbands are leaving their wives because they are from conflicting tribes. There was one man who was Kikuyu and he left his Kalenjin wife after 27 years of marriage – because of these current problems. A friend of mine in Kitale has ended it with his girlfriend because she is of a different tribe; he said that it would cause many problems for him if he were to stay with her.
Things have started to calm down now and once things get back to a “normal” way again, what is going to happen to the people remaining? Will the husband go back to his wife? Will the boyfriend try to win back his girlfriend? Will the youth that killed the father of his friend because he was of a different tribe be forgiven? The anger, the hatred of today will have heavy consequences tomorrow. There is going to be so much guilt and hurt and the people who did so much harm won’t be able to go back and fix it. They won’t be able to bring back the people they killed, they slaughtered because of moments of anger and hatred.
It was in the paper this morning that the opposition party will stop all rallies from now on. Rather than rallying, they will be telling the public to boycott certain businesses. I think this is definitely a step in the right direction. Perhaps people will start to get bored of all the fighting; they will get frustrated and decide to go back to their normal lives (as normal as it can be). We can only continue to pray.
So the schools we visited yesterday were amazing. The first school was for deaf children. We spent tons of time with the children there. The organization Grassroots Canada sponsors some children there and our organization, Transformed International, assists them in their two projects here in Kenya as we are on the ground. We went to pay the school fees of about 15 students at this first school called St. Anthony’s. It’s absolutely beautiful there; probably the best school I have ever seen in Kenya.
It was hard communicating with the children since my sign language sucks; I haven’t used the little that I learned in over 15 years. I can pretty much sign my name and that’s it. The children would sign their names for us but Amanda asked them (as she knows a bit of sign language) if they had name signs. It’s a gesture that is given for each child; rather than spelling out their whole name, each letter. So the kids started showing us their name signs and I caught on quickly so I could call over a child by using their name sign. The kids also gave each of us our own name sign as well. I had such a good time with them.
It was amazing to see these children in this environment. Some of the kids (3 of them) we had never seen in their school environment before; we had only seen them at the home they live in. It was difficult for them; they were the odd ones out, living in a home where everyone spoke and could hear. But here, we were the odd ones out; these kids were full of joy and in their element and can communicate with everyone. We on the other hand, had a hard time communicating but the kids were patient with us, showed us some hand signs, and used charades to get what they were saying across. It was one of the most fun times I had in a long time.
There were moments when I walked away from the children, on the verge of tears. I ached for them, they will never hear their own joyous laughter; they will never hear a song; they will never hear the words I love you. Some people see them as imperfect, burdens, sick, broken, but these children displayed more joy, more peace, more laughter then most of us, who are “perfect”, do. They all accept each other no matter what; they love each other no matter what; they help each other no matter what. We can learn so much from these children; they’re the ones who have it together.
The second place we went to was a school for mentally and physically disabled children. Grassroots Canada has two children there. We met a little boy named Samuel who has Down syndrome, probably one of the cutest and funniest boys I have ever met. He was being enrolled in to the school so it was his first day to see the place. He immediately fit in; the other children talking to him but also letting him do his own thing. Once he realized that he was going to stay there, he went and grabbed his belongings and brought them to the main office. One of his items was this metal box (most boarding students use these boxes to hold and lock their belongings in) that was almost as big as him. He wrapped his arms around it and attempted to carry it across the front yard of the school all by himself. Daniel went over to help him but Samuel insisted he could do it by himself….he insisted by turning away from Daniel and shaking his head no profusely. So Daniel backed away until Samuel dropped the box, Samuel then looked at Daniel with his beautiful puppy dog eyes. Daniel carried the box with Samuel to the main office.
We also have a little girl there named Emma; she’s just a beautiful little girl. Amanda and I immediately went looking for her and when we turned the corner and saw her standing in a play area with two other girls, we immediately shouted her name. She turned to see us and gave us the BIGGEST smile ever. We ran over to her and hugged her. I then noticed this other little girl standing in the middle of the yard; she was looking at Amanda and me playing and talking to Emma. I went over to her and saw that the name Elizabeth was sewn to her dress. So I bent down to get eye level with her and asked her in Swahili if she was Elizabeth. She looked at me with these big beautiful brown eyes and smiled. I told her that I was Mary Elizabeth (my middle name) and she started to laugh and bounce up and down. I hugged her and she clung to me, craving that physical touch.
After visiting with Emma and getting Samuel settled and both of their school fees paid for, we headed off to our third and last destination. It was an all girl’s deaf school that Grassroots sponsors one girl. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see this girl because she hadn’t shown up for school yet. Just like all schools in Kenya right now, many student and teachers haven’t reported to school due to recent events. Although schools do have some students, they aren’t really teaching as there are still so many absent students; they don’t want the students, when and if they do arrive to be far behind in class. I think they will give it another week or two.
On the way back to Kitale, we saw about 3 peaceful rallies (just hundreds of people standing around while someone spoke through a microphone or loudspeaker) burned down homes, and burned vehicles. The reality of the riots still very visible. It made my heart sank, so many lives changed forever over something they had no control of in the first place.
Today, I spent my last day with our kids out at the children’s home. All the children were sad that I was leaving but I promised them that I would be back; I would see them in about 5 weeks. I told them, “Kenya ni nyumbani yangu. Na rudi.” which means “Kenya is my home. I’m coming back.”
I know my blogs/emails are long but I just have so much to say at times. I want you, back in North America, to get a picture of what we see here, what life is like here. And I can only do that in words and photos.
I’ll be in Canada in ONE WEEK…that’s SEVEN DAYS!!!! I can’t wait to see some of you.
Love you always,
Meredith
xoxoxoxo
As we were driving by these areas, the song From a Distance by Bette Midler came to my head. It’s an 80’s song (or perhaps an early 90s song) but they’ve been playing it a lot on the radio here in Kenya due to the unrest in the country. Some of the lyrics are as follows:
From a distance, there is harmony and it echoes through the land.
It’s the voice of hope; it’s the voice of peace; it’s the voice of every man.
From a distance we all have enough and no one is in need.
And there are no guns, no bombs and no disease
No hungry mouths to feed.
From a distance you look like my friend, even though we are at war.
From a distance I just cannot comprehend
What all this fighting is for.
This fighting among the tribes has caused so much damage in relationships. Husbands are leaving their wives because they are from conflicting tribes. There was one man who was Kikuyu and he left his Kalenjin wife after 27 years of marriage – because of these current problems. A friend of mine in Kitale has ended it with his girlfriend because she is of a different tribe; he said that it would cause many problems for him if he were to stay with her.
Things have started to calm down now and once things get back to a “normal” way again, what is going to happen to the people remaining? Will the husband go back to his wife? Will the boyfriend try to win back his girlfriend? Will the youth that killed the father of his friend because he was of a different tribe be forgiven? The anger, the hatred of today will have heavy consequences tomorrow. There is going to be so much guilt and hurt and the people who did so much harm won’t be able to go back and fix it. They won’t be able to bring back the people they killed, they slaughtered because of moments of anger and hatred.
It was in the paper this morning that the opposition party will stop all rallies from now on. Rather than rallying, they will be telling the public to boycott certain businesses. I think this is definitely a step in the right direction. Perhaps people will start to get bored of all the fighting; they will get frustrated and decide to go back to their normal lives (as normal as it can be). We can only continue to pray.
So the schools we visited yesterday were amazing. The first school was for deaf children. We spent tons of time with the children there. The organization Grassroots Canada sponsors some children there and our organization, Transformed International, assists them in their two projects here in Kenya as we are on the ground. We went to pay the school fees of about 15 students at this first school called St. Anthony’s. It’s absolutely beautiful there; probably the best school I have ever seen in Kenya.
It was hard communicating with the children since my sign language sucks; I haven’t used the little that I learned in over 15 years. I can pretty much sign my name and that’s it. The children would sign their names for us but Amanda asked them (as she knows a bit of sign language) if they had name signs. It’s a gesture that is given for each child; rather than spelling out their whole name, each letter. So the kids started showing us their name signs and I caught on quickly so I could call over a child by using their name sign. The kids also gave each of us our own name sign as well. I had such a good time with them.
It was amazing to see these children in this environment. Some of the kids (3 of them) we had never seen in their school environment before; we had only seen them at the home they live in. It was difficult for them; they were the odd ones out, living in a home where everyone spoke and could hear. But here, we were the odd ones out; these kids were full of joy and in their element and can communicate with everyone. We on the other hand, had a hard time communicating but the kids were patient with us, showed us some hand signs, and used charades to get what they were saying across. It was one of the most fun times I had in a long time.
There were moments when I walked away from the children, on the verge of tears. I ached for them, they will never hear their own joyous laughter; they will never hear a song; they will never hear the words I love you. Some people see them as imperfect, burdens, sick, broken, but these children displayed more joy, more peace, more laughter then most of us, who are “perfect”, do. They all accept each other no matter what; they love each other no matter what; they help each other no matter what. We can learn so much from these children; they’re the ones who have it together.
The second place we went to was a school for mentally and physically disabled children. Grassroots Canada has two children there. We met a little boy named Samuel who has Down syndrome, probably one of the cutest and funniest boys I have ever met. He was being enrolled in to the school so it was his first day to see the place. He immediately fit in; the other children talking to him but also letting him do his own thing. Once he realized that he was going to stay there, he went and grabbed his belongings and brought them to the main office. One of his items was this metal box (most boarding students use these boxes to hold and lock their belongings in) that was almost as big as him. He wrapped his arms around it and attempted to carry it across the front yard of the school all by himself. Daniel went over to help him but Samuel insisted he could do it by himself….he insisted by turning away from Daniel and shaking his head no profusely. So Daniel backed away until Samuel dropped the box, Samuel then looked at Daniel with his beautiful puppy dog eyes. Daniel carried the box with Samuel to the main office.
We also have a little girl there named Emma; she’s just a beautiful little girl. Amanda and I immediately went looking for her and when we turned the corner and saw her standing in a play area with two other girls, we immediately shouted her name. She turned to see us and gave us the BIGGEST smile ever. We ran over to her and hugged her. I then noticed this other little girl standing in the middle of the yard; she was looking at Amanda and me playing and talking to Emma. I went over to her and saw that the name Elizabeth was sewn to her dress. So I bent down to get eye level with her and asked her in Swahili if she was Elizabeth. She looked at me with these big beautiful brown eyes and smiled. I told her that I was Mary Elizabeth (my middle name) and she started to laugh and bounce up and down. I hugged her and she clung to me, craving that physical touch.
After visiting with Emma and getting Samuel settled and both of their school fees paid for, we headed off to our third and last destination. It was an all girl’s deaf school that Grassroots sponsors one girl. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see this girl because she hadn’t shown up for school yet. Just like all schools in Kenya right now, many student and teachers haven’t reported to school due to recent events. Although schools do have some students, they aren’t really teaching as there are still so many absent students; they don’t want the students, when and if they do arrive to be far behind in class. I think they will give it another week or two.
On the way back to Kitale, we saw about 3 peaceful rallies (just hundreds of people standing around while someone spoke through a microphone or loudspeaker) burned down homes, and burned vehicles. The reality of the riots still very visible. It made my heart sank, so many lives changed forever over something they had no control of in the first place.
Today, I spent my last day with our kids out at the children’s home. All the children were sad that I was leaving but I promised them that I would be back; I would see them in about 5 weeks. I told them, “Kenya ni nyumbani yangu. Na rudi.” which means “Kenya is my home. I’m coming back.”
I know my blogs/emails are long but I just have so much to say at times. I want you, back in North America, to get a picture of what we see here, what life is like here. And I can only do that in words and photos.
I’ll be in Canada in ONE WEEK…that’s SEVEN DAYS!!!! I can’t wait to see some of you.
Love you always,
Meredith
xoxoxoxo
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Kenya Update...Rallies
Today was an interesting day.
I was in town today and at around 12:00 or so, I received a text message from a shop owner that I know. His message simply said, “Be careful today.” I knew that this was serious.
Shortly after that, Daniel found me as he too was in town and said, “We need to go. [Our friend] told me that the rioting is starting.” We called our taxi guy and he immediately came and got us. Within those few minutes, we could see shops closing (some already closed) and police all around. It’s like they came out of nowhere.
You could sense the rush, the tension, and the fear in the air.
Our taxi driver said that the rallying was starting soon at the local Stadium. There were also rumors of a well-known MP in the area. An MP known for “adding excitement” to these types of events. But I don’t know…just rumors.
We stayed home the remainder of the day. Through conversations with friends, town never really settled down. We’ll see how things are tomorrow.
Yesterday there were 4 rioters shot and killed by police just outside of Kitale. They were 100 rioters found with AK-47s. Where they got them, who knows. These rioters also burned over 16 homes in the area, leaving many families homeless.
There have been deaths today (and yesterday) in Nairobi (Kibera Slums), Kisumu and Mombasa. As far as I know, things in Eldoret have been okay. They had a rally yesterday, that for the most part was peaceful and an estimate of almost 1 million people were there. Some say that Eldoret was a little more crazy today.
The ODM party has said that they will continue with these rallies until the president steps down from his position. I don’t if that will ever happen (at least for the next 5 years) and so I don’t know how long these rallies will take place. I pray it’s not for very much longer.
I was in a store today and there were a few ladies talking about the current events. This one lady said, “They need to stop involving the Kenyan people and start dealing with it in the government. It is their responsibility to fix this. There has been too much blood shed and no more people should die.” I couldn’t agree more.
I was in town today and at around 12:00 or so, I received a text message from a shop owner that I know. His message simply said, “Be careful today.” I knew that this was serious.
Shortly after that, Daniel found me as he too was in town and said, “We need to go. [Our friend] told me that the rioting is starting.” We called our taxi guy and he immediately came and got us. Within those few minutes, we could see shops closing (some already closed) and police all around. It’s like they came out of nowhere.
You could sense the rush, the tension, and the fear in the air.
Our taxi driver said that the rallying was starting soon at the local Stadium. There were also rumors of a well-known MP in the area. An MP known for “adding excitement” to these types of events. But I don’t know…just rumors.
We stayed home the remainder of the day. Through conversations with friends, town never really settled down. We’ll see how things are tomorrow.
Yesterday there were 4 rioters shot and killed by police just outside of Kitale. They were 100 rioters found with AK-47s. Where they got them, who knows. These rioters also burned over 16 homes in the area, leaving many families homeless.
There have been deaths today (and yesterday) in Nairobi (Kibera Slums), Kisumu and Mombasa. As far as I know, things in Eldoret have been okay. They had a rally yesterday, that for the most part was peaceful and an estimate of almost 1 million people were there. Some say that Eldoret was a little more crazy today.
The ODM party has said that they will continue with these rallies until the president steps down from his position. I don’t if that will ever happen (at least for the next 5 years) and so I don’t know how long these rallies will take place. I pray it’s not for very much longer.
I was in a store today and there were a few ladies talking about the current events. This one lady said, “They need to stop involving the Kenyan people and start dealing with it in the government. It is their responsibility to fix this. There has been too much blood shed and no more people should die.” I couldn’t agree more.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Kenya Update...and Excited!!!
As some of you may have been following CNN or BBC on the on-goings of Kenya’s political chaos, there was to be a 3-day rally, beginning today, across the country.
The rally was to begin this morning and amazingly it rained, heavy rains, this morning so the rallies couldn’t begin. Especially in the rough rioting areas of Nairobi and Eldoret. Rain!?!?!? I love it.
However, as the day goes on right now, the rain has subsided and some of the rallying has begun. The news is telling us of some tear gas taking place in downtown Nairobi. The city centre has been blocked off; people can only leave the city centre, no one can enter it.
I just talked to my friend in Eldoret; they are currently (as of 3:30 pm) rallying in the town streets. Thousands of people are marching the streets; but thankfully, it’s peaceful. As of right now and as far as my friend knows there are no burning of buildings, cars or tires. There is no violence of beatings or killings. Even the police are allowing the rally to take place; the people aren’t causing problems and being peaceful about it so there is no need to cause problems. We can only pray that it continues to go that way.
I have heard; however, that there is major rioting in Kisumu right now. The police are shooting their guns in the air to try to break up the rioting. Let’s pray that no one is seriously hurt or killed in this place. No more violence.
There wasn’t much police around in Kitale town today. Amanda and I did see an army vehicle filled with soldiers, with full gear on. Town, for the most part was peaceful. There didn’t seem to be much, if any tension in the air.
I just pray that this rally lasts today and if so, it remains a peaceful one.
On another note, wow, I’m off to Canada in 9 days. Time is flying by quickly; there is still much to be done here as I will be gone for about 4 weeks. This Saturday, I hope to spend time with our kids at the children’s home as it will be my last Saturday with them for at least a month.
I’m feeling good about going to Canada; God has given me the peace to leave. I’m really excited to spend time with my family (I get to meet my new nephew!!!!) and friends. I’m excited about the speaking engagements that are coming my way. I’m excited for the time to spend with God and the restoration that He wants me to have. I have peace that He will protect my family here in Kenya and with that…I’m ready to come to Canada for a few weeks. I’m EXCITED!!!
Love you all!
Meredith
xoxoxo
The rally was to begin this morning and amazingly it rained, heavy rains, this morning so the rallies couldn’t begin. Especially in the rough rioting areas of Nairobi and Eldoret. Rain!?!?!? I love it.
However, as the day goes on right now, the rain has subsided and some of the rallying has begun. The news is telling us of some tear gas taking place in downtown Nairobi. The city centre has been blocked off; people can only leave the city centre, no one can enter it.
I just talked to my friend in Eldoret; they are currently (as of 3:30 pm) rallying in the town streets. Thousands of people are marching the streets; but thankfully, it’s peaceful. As of right now and as far as my friend knows there are no burning of buildings, cars or tires. There is no violence of beatings or killings. Even the police are allowing the rally to take place; the people aren’t causing problems and being peaceful about it so there is no need to cause problems. We can only pray that it continues to go that way.
I have heard; however, that there is major rioting in Kisumu right now. The police are shooting their guns in the air to try to break up the rioting. Let’s pray that no one is seriously hurt or killed in this place. No more violence.
There wasn’t much police around in Kitale town today. Amanda and I did see an army vehicle filled with soldiers, with full gear on. Town, for the most part was peaceful. There didn’t seem to be much, if any tension in the air.
I just pray that this rally lasts today and if so, it remains a peaceful one.
On another note, wow, I’m off to Canada in 9 days. Time is flying by quickly; there is still much to be done here as I will be gone for about 4 weeks. This Saturday, I hope to spend time with our kids at the children’s home as it will be my last Saturday with them for at least a month.
I’m feeling good about going to Canada; God has given me the peace to leave. I’m really excited to spend time with my family (I get to meet my new nephew!!!!) and friends. I’m excited about the speaking engagements that are coming my way. I’m excited for the time to spend with God and the restoration that He wants me to have. I have peace that He will protect my family here in Kenya and with that…I’m ready to come to Canada for a few weeks. I’m EXCITED!!!
Love you all!
Meredith
xoxoxo
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Time to release...
As most of you have been reading Daniel’s blogs, you can get the sense of calmness in Kenya. Things are SLOWLY getting back to normal. Minus the fact of armed police and soldiers roaming our streets. Minus the constant rumors that things can go crazy at any moment. Minus the fact that some of our friends have gone back to their “tribal” part of the country until things…cool down??? Whenever that is!
My heart aches; I feel a heaviness, a burden, a sadness and I can’t seem to shake it. I had a good crying session the day Daniel was back, safe in Kitale and Faith was on the plane heading back to the US. I had another decent few minutes crying session the night I heard Tony running for his life, while on the phone with him. I’ve cried a few tears, not much, since then but that’s it. But I know there is more there; I know that there is this overwhelming emotional sensation in me right now. All I want to do is sob, but I can’t. It’s like I’m not ready to yet.
I pray; I’ve prayed so much for this country, for these people, for the beautiful, helpless children and I don’t know what to pray anymore. I just sit there and say, “God, what more can I ask? What more can I ask of You?”
I’m excited to be coming to Canada in two weeks, to see my family, my friends, to share with people my stories, my pictures, my heart, my life for Kenya. But I also feel like I am abandoning my home in a time of need. What if things break out again while I’m away? What if I’m needed here?
I just need to release what’s building up inside; I need to release the devastation that happened in this country. I need to release the sound of my friend screaming and running for his life. I need to release the thought of women and children being locked in a church and burned alive.
God’s heart is broken in what happened in this country; His tears are far more than we could ever cry. But I know He will get the glory in all of this; I know that at the end of it all, we will be praising Him for all that He has done and for the mercy, grace and love He has poured on us. We may not understand it all but I choose to trust in Him and in His ways.
Love you all!
Meredith
xoxoxoxo
My heart aches; I feel a heaviness, a burden, a sadness and I can’t seem to shake it. I had a good crying session the day Daniel was back, safe in Kitale and Faith was on the plane heading back to the US. I had another decent few minutes crying session the night I heard Tony running for his life, while on the phone with him. I’ve cried a few tears, not much, since then but that’s it. But I know there is more there; I know that there is this overwhelming emotional sensation in me right now. All I want to do is sob, but I can’t. It’s like I’m not ready to yet.
I pray; I’ve prayed so much for this country, for these people, for the beautiful, helpless children and I don’t know what to pray anymore. I just sit there and say, “God, what more can I ask? What more can I ask of You?”
I’m excited to be coming to Canada in two weeks, to see my family, my friends, to share with people my stories, my pictures, my heart, my life for Kenya. But I also feel like I am abandoning my home in a time of need. What if things break out again while I’m away? What if I’m needed here?
I just need to release what’s building up inside; I need to release the devastation that happened in this country. I need to release the sound of my friend screaming and running for his life. I need to release the thought of women and children being locked in a church and burned alive.
God’s heart is broken in what happened in this country; His tears are far more than we could ever cry. But I know He will get the glory in all of this; I know that at the end of it all, we will be praising Him for all that He has done and for the mercy, grace and love He has poured on us. We may not understand it all but I choose to trust in Him and in His ways.
Love you all!
Meredith
xoxoxoxo
Friday, January 4, 2008
Kenya Update...Back to Normal???
It was a normal day today in most parts of the country and especially here in our town of Kitale. Pretty much all the stores, including banks and the post office were open.
There is still a bit of tension in the air, a bit of fear. Perhaps it’s because there are quite a few armed police and soldiers walking the streets of Kitale with their big rifles (don’t know much about guns so I have NO IDEA what they’d be using; AK-47’s, M16’s – all the same to me!), with their two big military trucks parked at the side of the road.
I have never experienced something like this before, walking alongside armed soldiers, walking by a massive military truck. It’s all new to me; it’s fascinating, yet intimidating at the same time. It’s like stepping in to a war movie.
There were many people in town today that were stocking up on food, this being a slight sign that there is still a sense of fear or instability in people. Usually in crisis situations such as this, the food is first to go and so people were ensuring that they had enough to last them for a month or so. Preparing for the worst, I guess.
Daniel and I went shopping and stocked up on some non-perishable things. We need to take precautions. Although we feel that things are getting better, we still need to be prepared. As things aren’t completely back to normal yet, there is still that chance that it’s not over yet.
But we’re praying, we’re praying that we’ve seen the worst of it. We’re praying that people can bring peace back and help those that lost property or friends or family in this ordeal. We’re praying that the people will start to see each other as fellow Kenyans and NOT as tribes. We’re praying for unity among the people; we’re praying for the love of brothers and sisters to surface in this place.
Thank you everyone for your continued prayers; they mean so much to us. We couldn’t have gotten through this without the encouraging words received by all of you.
We love you!
Meredith
There is still a bit of tension in the air, a bit of fear. Perhaps it’s because there are quite a few armed police and soldiers walking the streets of Kitale with their big rifles (don’t know much about guns so I have NO IDEA what they’d be using; AK-47’s, M16’s – all the same to me!), with their two big military trucks parked at the side of the road.
I have never experienced something like this before, walking alongside armed soldiers, walking by a massive military truck. It’s all new to me; it’s fascinating, yet intimidating at the same time. It’s like stepping in to a war movie.
There were many people in town today that were stocking up on food, this being a slight sign that there is still a sense of fear or instability in people. Usually in crisis situations such as this, the food is first to go and so people were ensuring that they had enough to last them for a month or so. Preparing for the worst, I guess.
Daniel and I went shopping and stocked up on some non-perishable things. We need to take precautions. Although we feel that things are getting better, we still need to be prepared. As things aren’t completely back to normal yet, there is still that chance that it’s not over yet.
But we’re praying, we’re praying that we’ve seen the worst of it. We’re praying that people can bring peace back and help those that lost property or friends or family in this ordeal. We’re praying that the people will start to see each other as fellow Kenyans and NOT as tribes. We’re praying for unity among the people; we’re praying for the love of brothers and sisters to surface in this place.
Thank you everyone for your continued prayers; they mean so much to us. We couldn’t have gotten through this without the encouraging words received by all of you.
We love you!
Meredith
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Brief Kenyan Update...
He stands at the bridge that enters in to his community. He needs to protect his people; he MUST protect his people. But deep inside of him, he’s praying to God that they, the “bad” ones, won’t come. He’s young; he’s only 24 years old; he’s not married, no children. He still has a life ahead of him. He has dreams and goals that he wants to accomplish.
But he must do it. He must stand guard of his community; protect his people at any costs, including his life. No matter what.
It’s not a choice, it’s a command. He must be at the bridge every day, all day. If he chooses to stay at home, if he chooses to go to another place for safety, his people, the ones that he is called to defend, will find him. They will find him, call him a coward, harass him, abuse him and then kill him. They will kill him for not defending his community, his people.
Every night he goes to bed and cries, thankful that he is still alive; he made it through another day. And every day he wakes up and wonders if this is the day. Is this the day that he will need to defend his people and possibly die? And if it’s not, he continues to pray to God for the “bad” ones not to come. He can’t hurt a person, let alone kill them, even if they are the “bad” ones. But there is nothing he can do, his hands are tied. He must stand at the bridge that enters in to his community and put his life on the line for his people.
This is a daily battle of a friend of mine. These are his true emotions. And I’m sure that this is the thought of many young men standing at their bridges, their roads, protecting their community, their people. Some of these men don’t want to be there; they don’t want to harm another human being, but they must. They must or they will be ridiculed and killed from the people they are told to protect.
My heart aches for these men just as much as it aches for the people they are waiting for to come.
I got a phone call this morning from a Kikuyu friend. He is standing on the main road that leads in to Eldoret town. He is waiting in anticipation to what today’s events will bring for him. He has nowhere to run, nowhere to go. He can’t run to the core town, where there are many police to possibly protect him because there are barricades of people, different tribe from him, blocking the way to town. These roadblocks are asking for ID's of people as the name of the person will identify what tribe they are from. If it’s a Kikuyu name, they will be beaten severely or even killed.
Daniel and I were looking at the news on the internet this morning and on the screen was a picture of a morgue in Kisumu, lined with dead bodies, people walking by the dead bodies, trying to identify their loved ones.
I couldn’t sleep last night; I had dreams…well not dreams, more like nightmares. I saw houses burning; I saw my friend dying. I woke up in the night sobbing and just started praying.
Some of you may think, “Meredith, get back to Canada now.” But first of all, I can’t. It’s too dangerous to travel right now. There is no public transportation to get me anywhere anyway. Secondly, the safest place I can be is exactly where I’m at right now…my home in Kitale. Thirdly, I have friends/family here that I love and am concerned about. To know that I am close to them, just a phone call away for them, is what gives me a sense of peace right now. To be in Canada, thousands of miles away from these people, would drive me crazy. If I can bring a calmness to my friends when they can call me and I can pray for them, then I know that it’s good for me to be here and I’m thankful to be here. I promise you all that I would NEVER do anything stupid to put myself in danger.
I can’t say it enough, I am so thankful to all of you for your prayers, support, phone calls, text messages and emails.
I love you all!
Meredith
Xoxoxoxo
But he must do it. He must stand guard of his community; protect his people at any costs, including his life. No matter what.
It’s not a choice, it’s a command. He must be at the bridge every day, all day. If he chooses to stay at home, if he chooses to go to another place for safety, his people, the ones that he is called to defend, will find him. They will find him, call him a coward, harass him, abuse him and then kill him. They will kill him for not defending his community, his people.
Every night he goes to bed and cries, thankful that he is still alive; he made it through another day. And every day he wakes up and wonders if this is the day. Is this the day that he will need to defend his people and possibly die? And if it’s not, he continues to pray to God for the “bad” ones not to come. He can’t hurt a person, let alone kill them, even if they are the “bad” ones. But there is nothing he can do, his hands are tied. He must stand at the bridge that enters in to his community and put his life on the line for his people.
This is a daily battle of a friend of mine. These are his true emotions. And I’m sure that this is the thought of many young men standing at their bridges, their roads, protecting their community, their people. Some of these men don’t want to be there; they don’t want to harm another human being, but they must. They must or they will be ridiculed and killed from the people they are told to protect.
My heart aches for these men just as much as it aches for the people they are waiting for to come.
I got a phone call this morning from a Kikuyu friend. He is standing on the main road that leads in to Eldoret town. He is waiting in anticipation to what today’s events will bring for him. He has nowhere to run, nowhere to go. He can’t run to the core town, where there are many police to possibly protect him because there are barricades of people, different tribe from him, blocking the way to town. These roadblocks are asking for ID's of people as the name of the person will identify what tribe they are from. If it’s a Kikuyu name, they will be beaten severely or even killed.
Daniel and I were looking at the news on the internet this morning and on the screen was a picture of a morgue in Kisumu, lined with dead bodies, people walking by the dead bodies, trying to identify their loved ones.
I couldn’t sleep last night; I had dreams…well not dreams, more like nightmares. I saw houses burning; I saw my friend dying. I woke up in the night sobbing and just started praying.
Some of you may think, “Meredith, get back to Canada now.” But first of all, I can’t. It’s too dangerous to travel right now. There is no public transportation to get me anywhere anyway. Secondly, the safest place I can be is exactly where I’m at right now…my home in Kitale. Thirdly, I have friends/family here that I love and am concerned about. To know that I am close to them, just a phone call away for them, is what gives me a sense of peace right now. To be in Canada, thousands of miles away from these people, would drive me crazy. If I can bring a calmness to my friends when they can call me and I can pray for them, then I know that it’s good for me to be here and I’m thankful to be here. I promise you all that I would NEVER do anything stupid to put myself in danger.
I can’t say it enough, I am so thankful to all of you for your prayers, support, phone calls, text messages and emails.
I love you all!
Meredith
Xoxoxoxo
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
More Kenya News...
Happy Belated New Year. I should have said that yesterday in my email/blog but it totally slipped my mind. I’m sorry.
Briefly, our new year’s eve consisted of us praying for our friends around
Well, it’s Wednesday morning here in
Today is a normal day in town. All the banks, post offices, supermarkets, etc. are open. There is still a lack of food though as the transportation has been down for the past 6 days since the elections happened so no supplies have been around. However, the public transportation is working today; which is definitely a good thing. It’s a sign that things have calmed down a bit.
The local news is back up on the radio. I know that some of you may have heard about a church burning down in Eldoret with Kikuyu inside and it killing about 30-40 people. That information is true; however, we are being told the number of deaths is more in the range of 150 people.
What we have been told here, is that the opposition has requested a rally tomorrow (Thursday) and the government denied the request. I have been told that the opposition will be doing the rally anyway. So, we don’t really know what tomorrow will bring.
There is a peace among us right now. All of our friends who were in tough situations are currently safe. Our friend with his wife and child in Eldoret were able to get out of their home. The police in Eldoret gave these families 3 hours to escape their homes. The police surrounded the streets of Eldoret and for those three hours, the Kikuyu people were able to move. Our friends are in a safe location now.
With our friends who have the 25 children, Daniel was able to wire them some money (through the cell phone) so they now have money to purchase food for them and the children today.
Here in our town, our Kikuyu friends have been outside of their homes (yesterday and today) and are feeling safe at the moment. They even hung out with other tribes the other night for a football game, laughing and joking and having a great time. It’s a joy to see them come together, stay together when others around them can’t do that.
My update today is short and maybe even a bit sweet….things are calm and normal as of right now. We just ask for your continued prayers for tomorrow’s rally and the possible repercussions of this rally. We pray that the rally brings peace rather than more violence.
I’m hoping that all of this will be resolved soon. As of right now, I’m still planning on the visit to
Thank you everyone for your continued prayers, support and emails. We APPRECIATE them, more than you know and we know that God is listening. We can feel the comfort and peace over us individually, as a group and with the people here. We just ask you keep them up over the next few days.
I love you all!
Meredith
xoxoxo
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
New Update - still have communication too!
Yesterday was an emotional day; a release of tears.
Shortly after one o’clock, yesterday morning, I hung up the phone with my mom. The understandably so, reassurance phone call. After I hung up with her, I heard God say, “Release it now Meredith, its okay. Give it to me.” And I did. I just began sobbing, the uncontrollable sob.
It was a release of the past few days; the chaos around the elections, Daniel finally making it home safely and Faith making it to London, England. I have been on the phone continually text messaging or talking to friends around Kitale and other parts of Kenya to ensure that they are safe and to get updates of their area.
Here’s a bit of factual information for you. The president who won the election is from the Kikuyu (key-ku-u) tribe. The opposition leader is from the Luo (lew-o) tribe. Kikuyu are the largest tribe in the country and most of the business in the country is run by Kikuyu. Some say the Kikuyu are hard workers, good business people and therefore other tribes are jealous of that. Others say that Kikuyu are in fact lazy but good at corruption and that is why they own many businesses. The president who won was the current president, fighting to keep his title.
Polling stations were broadcasting that the counted ballots that were made in the polling stations were not the same numbers that the Election Commission of Kenya (ECK) was announcing on the air. For most of the tallying of votes, the opposition leader was winning - by over a million votes; however when the final count was done, the current president, the Kikuyu, ended up with 4,584, 721. The opposition leader, the Luo, ended up with 4,352,993 votes, a mire difference of 231,728 votes. The opposition and most of the country cried out “Corruption! Rigging!”
So now, the Kikuyu people of this country are paying the price. Because they voted for this president, their homes are being burned to the ground; their lives are being threatened or beaten, if not taken.
Yesterday was a rough day.
I got a phone call from my friend Paul who lives in Eldoret. He was asking how we were doing in Kitale. I told him that things in our area were fine on the other side of town; there was rioting, consistency of gun shots and stores being burned to the ground. I asked how Eldoret was and he said it was really bad. He had been running from his community as there was a lot of violence and burning of Kikuyu homes. A few moments later, I could hear screaming, women and men screaming in the background. I asked him what was going on and he said, “They’re coming. I’m running. I’ll call you later.” And the phone went dead. Finally 3.5 hours later, he called. He was in a safe place.
Less than an hour after my phone call with Paul, another friend in Eldoret called me. He was frantic I could barely understand what he was saying; he was sobbing. This was the phone call:
Tony: Mary, I’m calling to say goodbye. They’re burning our houses. They’re coming. They going to kill me; I’m a Kikuyu. I’m going to die.
Me: You’ll be okay Tony. Just go to a safe place. (I hear screaming and shouting in the background)
Tony: Oh my god Mary, they’re coming. They are surrounding us. They’re coming.
THE PHONE GOES DEAD.
I call back….
Mary: Tony, where are you? What’s going on? (People still screaming and shouting in the background).
Tony: It’s the [another tribe name here]. They have bows and arrows. They’re chasing us. Oh my god Mary, oh my god….pray…they’re coming, so many of them.
Me: Run Tony, run as fast as you can.
Tony: I have to go (he’s shouting it, panting as he’s running). THE PHONE GOES DEAD.
Everyone in our living room is looking at me; they could hear what I was saying and some could hear the sound of Tony’s voice screaming and crying in to the other end.
I sat for a moment, trying to register the phone calls that I had just had. I put my head down to pray but instead, I put my head in my hands and began to sob, hearing the screams of the people in the background of the phone calls and then the terror in the voices of my two friends as they started to run for their lives.
Three hours later, Tony called me. He said he was in a safe place…for now.
We got another phone call from a children’s home that we assist that is supported by Grass Roots Canada. The father of the home, Martin, called Daniel to tell him that he and Ruth and the children they care for (around 25) had to flee from their home. They found refuge just a few kilometers from their home at a church in the Moi Barracks (the military training camp in their area). They had fled early in the day; none of the children had eaten all day. Martin had gone back to his home, to find the house had been ransacked and all of their food had been taken. As of now (9:30 am on New Year’s Day), they still have not eaten. We have told Martin that if he can find a way here or send someone here, we will give them the money to buy food, to hold them over for a few days. We’re hoping to hear from him soon.
Daniel called some other Kikuyu friends of ours in Eldoret, to see how they were doing. The husband/father was emotional. He and his wife and their little girl were in hiding, locked up in their home, praying not to be found. They could hear people from outside their home begging for their lives and then being killed. The husband/father said that if they were found, they know there would be no hope for them. They would die.
We also have friends in Eldoret who are from the Kisii (key-see) tribe and are mostly supporters of the current/new president. They had to flee from their home yesterday too, the wife being 9 months pregnant. They have found refuge in town that has been deemed as a safe place, surrounded by police with guns.
We have good Kikuyu friends here in Kitale that are seeking shelter, staying in their homes, they’re lives in danger. I call my friend Pauline to see how she’s holding up; I can hear the fear in her voice.
Our friend’s lives are in danger; they can’t leave their home, because they fear if they venture out and are recognized as a Kikuyu, they will beaten or killed.
The death toll as of 1:00 pm yesterday was at 124 people and that’s only the known, reported people. Reports say that after yesterday’s rioting across the country, the numbers should be and will be much higher. And those numbers will consist of mostly Kikuyu people. Five Kikuyu people were slaughtered yesterday in Kipsongo, a slum area in Kitale.
We were at one of the very few open restaurants in town for lunch yesterday and the news came on. The president has ordered that the media can NOT report live coverage so all the news was taped just an hour or so before. There was a scene of the night before in a city called Kisumu, one of the worst rioted places in the country so far. The one scene was of men walking down the street in a marching formation with machetes in their hands, ready for battle. The next scene was taken in the dark of the night, a silhouette of a man with a machete dancing in the street with billows bright orange and red flames (tires on fire) behind him. It was a scene straight from Hotel Rwanda.
I know that some media reports in North America have referred to what is going on here as similar to the Rwanda genocide in 1994. We can only pray that it doesn’t become that way. We are praying that things will be resolved and calm down before more blood has been shed.
We prayed last night; we prayed for our friends, our children, the people of the country and for you, our families back home. We pray that God will give you a peace about us being here and that He is truly protecting us. We are so safe in our compound; we are safe in the part of town we live in. We ask that you pray for this country, for the people whose lives are being threatened, for the Kikuyu people. We ask you to pray for quick resolution and for the leaders of this country to be given wisdom on knowing how to bring peace to their people.
Please know that I am not afraid for my life; I am afraid for my friend’s lives. I cry the tears for my friends who are in fear, who with every little sound that is made near their home; they jump or shake in fear. For those who have been on the run and continue to run from the bows and arrows and angry people, those I cry for, I fear for. Pray for them.
I love you all,
Meredith
ADDED UPDATE….
We have heard from our friends in Eldoret. The husband/father that is hiding with his family is still in hiding. He says the killings of lightened a bit but still continuing. Our other friend in Eldoret who fled with his pregnant wife, is still safe in the place he is at. The main town of Eldoret is quiet but the outskirts, there continues to be some rioting. We’ve been told that there are (excuse the graphics) many Kikuyu heads on the road…many beheadings have happened.
The family that was chased from their home is now back, although they still need to be very cautious. Paul and Tony are fine in the areas that they are in.
There is to be a public announcement/speech of sort from the opposition on Thursday. The country is in anticipation for this. The supermarkets were open today so we stocked up for the next few days. There is no phone credit in town so the credit I have left, which is still a good amount, must last awhile. So I may not text message or call much.
Know that the Canadian High Commission has contacted me again to ensure that I am okay. Our team here is taking every precaution to keep safe. WE ARE SAFE. If we weren’t, we would go to a place where we could be.
It’s been an emotional rollercoaster the past few days. We still have the cell phone networks and internet in town (internets in homes aren’t working but should be tomorrow, we’ve been told) so know that I will keep in touch as much as I can.
Thank you everyone for your emails, your prayers, your text messages and your phone calls. They are all so encouraging and give us a piece of mind. Although, I may not respond to all of them, please keep them coming.
I love you all.
Meredith
Shortly after one o’clock, yesterday morning, I hung up the phone with my mom. The understandably so, reassurance phone call. After I hung up with her, I heard God say, “Release it now Meredith, its okay. Give it to me.” And I did. I just began sobbing, the uncontrollable sob.
It was a release of the past few days; the chaos around the elections, Daniel finally making it home safely and Faith making it to London, England. I have been on the phone continually text messaging or talking to friends around Kitale and other parts of Kenya to ensure that they are safe and to get updates of their area.
Here’s a bit of factual information for you. The president who won the election is from the Kikuyu (key-ku-u) tribe. The opposition leader is from the Luo (lew-o) tribe. Kikuyu are the largest tribe in the country and most of the business in the country is run by Kikuyu. Some say the Kikuyu are hard workers, good business people and therefore other tribes are jealous of that. Others say that Kikuyu are in fact lazy but good at corruption and that is why they own many businesses. The president who won was the current president, fighting to keep his title.
Polling stations were broadcasting that the counted ballots that were made in the polling stations were not the same numbers that the Election Commission of Kenya (ECK) was announcing on the air. For most of the tallying of votes, the opposition leader was winning - by over a million votes; however when the final count was done, the current president, the Kikuyu, ended up with 4,584, 721. The opposition leader, the Luo, ended up with 4,352,993 votes, a mire difference of 231,728 votes. The opposition and most of the country cried out “Corruption! Rigging!”
So now, the Kikuyu people of this country are paying the price. Because they voted for this president, their homes are being burned to the ground; their lives are being threatened or beaten, if not taken.
Yesterday was a rough day.
I got a phone call from my friend Paul who lives in Eldoret. He was asking how we were doing in Kitale. I told him that things in our area were fine on the other side of town; there was rioting, consistency of gun shots and stores being burned to the ground. I asked how Eldoret was and he said it was really bad. He had been running from his community as there was a lot of violence and burning of Kikuyu homes. A few moments later, I could hear screaming, women and men screaming in the background. I asked him what was going on and he said, “They’re coming. I’m running. I’ll call you later.” And the phone went dead. Finally 3.5 hours later, he called. He was in a safe place.
Less than an hour after my phone call with Paul, another friend in Eldoret called me. He was frantic I could barely understand what he was saying; he was sobbing. This was the phone call:
Tony: Mary, I’m calling to say goodbye. They’re burning our houses. They’re coming. They going to kill me; I’m a Kikuyu. I’m going to die.
Me: You’ll be okay Tony. Just go to a safe place. (I hear screaming and shouting in the background)
Tony: Oh my god Mary, they’re coming. They are surrounding us. They’re coming.
THE PHONE GOES DEAD.
I call back….
Mary: Tony, where are you? What’s going on? (People still screaming and shouting in the background).
Tony: It’s the [another tribe name here]. They have bows and arrows. They’re chasing us. Oh my god Mary, oh my god….pray…they’re coming, so many of them.
Me: Run Tony, run as fast as you can.
Tony: I have to go (he’s shouting it, panting as he’s running). THE PHONE GOES DEAD.
Everyone in our living room is looking at me; they could hear what I was saying and some could hear the sound of Tony’s voice screaming and crying in to the other end.
I sat for a moment, trying to register the phone calls that I had just had. I put my head down to pray but instead, I put my head in my hands and began to sob, hearing the screams of the people in the background of the phone calls and then the terror in the voices of my two friends as they started to run for their lives.
Three hours later, Tony called me. He said he was in a safe place…for now.
We got another phone call from a children’s home that we assist that is supported by Grass Roots Canada. The father of the home, Martin, called Daniel to tell him that he and Ruth and the children they care for (around 25) had to flee from their home. They found refuge just a few kilometers from their home at a church in the Moi Barracks (the military training camp in their area). They had fled early in the day; none of the children had eaten all day. Martin had gone back to his home, to find the house had been ransacked and all of their food had been taken. As of now (9:30 am on New Year’s Day), they still have not eaten. We have told Martin that if he can find a way here or send someone here, we will give them the money to buy food, to hold them over for a few days. We’re hoping to hear from him soon.
Daniel called some other Kikuyu friends of ours in Eldoret, to see how they were doing. The husband/father was emotional. He and his wife and their little girl were in hiding, locked up in their home, praying not to be found. They could hear people from outside their home begging for their lives and then being killed. The husband/father said that if they were found, they know there would be no hope for them. They would die.
We also have friends in Eldoret who are from the Kisii (key-see) tribe and are mostly supporters of the current/new president. They had to flee from their home yesterday too, the wife being 9 months pregnant. They have found refuge in town that has been deemed as a safe place, surrounded by police with guns.
We have good Kikuyu friends here in Kitale that are seeking shelter, staying in their homes, they’re lives in danger. I call my friend Pauline to see how she’s holding up; I can hear the fear in her voice.
Our friend’s lives are in danger; they can’t leave their home, because they fear if they venture out and are recognized as a Kikuyu, they will beaten or killed.
The death toll as of 1:00 pm yesterday was at 124 people and that’s only the known, reported people. Reports say that after yesterday’s rioting across the country, the numbers should be and will be much higher. And those numbers will consist of mostly Kikuyu people. Five Kikuyu people were slaughtered yesterday in Kipsongo, a slum area in Kitale.
We were at one of the very few open restaurants in town for lunch yesterday and the news came on. The president has ordered that the media can NOT report live coverage so all the news was taped just an hour or so before. There was a scene of the night before in a city called Kisumu, one of the worst rioted places in the country so far. The one scene was of men walking down the street in a marching formation with machetes in their hands, ready for battle. The next scene was taken in the dark of the night, a silhouette of a man with a machete dancing in the street with billows bright orange and red flames (tires on fire) behind him. It was a scene straight from Hotel Rwanda.
I know that some media reports in North America have referred to what is going on here as similar to the Rwanda genocide in 1994. We can only pray that it doesn’t become that way. We are praying that things will be resolved and calm down before more blood has been shed.
We prayed last night; we prayed for our friends, our children, the people of the country and for you, our families back home. We pray that God will give you a peace about us being here and that He is truly protecting us. We are so safe in our compound; we are safe in the part of town we live in. We ask that you pray for this country, for the people whose lives are being threatened, for the Kikuyu people. We ask you to pray for quick resolution and for the leaders of this country to be given wisdom on knowing how to bring peace to their people.
Please know that I am not afraid for my life; I am afraid for my friend’s lives. I cry the tears for my friends who are in fear, who with every little sound that is made near their home; they jump or shake in fear. For those who have been on the run and continue to run from the bows and arrows and angry people, those I cry for, I fear for. Pray for them.
I love you all,
Meredith
ADDED UPDATE….
We have heard from our friends in Eldoret. The husband/father that is hiding with his family is still in hiding. He says the killings of lightened a bit but still continuing. Our other friend in Eldoret who fled with his pregnant wife, is still safe in the place he is at. The main town of Eldoret is quiet but the outskirts, there continues to be some rioting. We’ve been told that there are (excuse the graphics) many Kikuyu heads on the road…many beheadings have happened.
The family that was chased from their home is now back, although they still need to be very cautious. Paul and Tony are fine in the areas that they are in.
There is to be a public announcement/speech of sort from the opposition on Thursday. The country is in anticipation for this. The supermarkets were open today so we stocked up for the next few days. There is no phone credit in town so the credit I have left, which is still a good amount, must last awhile. So I may not text message or call much.
Know that the Canadian High Commission has contacted me again to ensure that I am okay. Our team here is taking every precaution to keep safe. WE ARE SAFE. If we weren’t, we would go to a place where we could be.
It’s been an emotional rollercoaster the past few days. We still have the cell phone networks and internet in town (internets in homes aren’t working but should be tomorrow, we’ve been told) so know that I will keep in touch as much as I can.
Thank you everyone for your emails, your prayers, your text messages and your phone calls. They are all so encouraging and give us a piece of mind. Although, I may not respond to all of them, please keep them coming.
I love you all.
Meredith
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
