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