Many of you know that my parents are currently in Kenya on a 3 month mission trip, due to return the end of January (we miss you so much!). I also have a brother who lives there with his wife and three daughters. Another brother has gone to visit them over the Christmas holidays. So over half of my family is there now.
Currently there is rioting in Kenya over recent elections. If you want a quick overview of the situation, you can read an article or listen to reports. My parents and visiting brother are basically stuck in their home and my brother emailed me his reflections on the situation, which I thought would help anyone with New Year's Resolutions to become better world citizens, so I'm posting his email below.
They are a little nervous about his return trip to the US on Jan 1. His flight leaves at midnight and my parents don't drive there at night under normal circumstances, so they sure aren't looking forward to their drive to and from the airport in the middle of riots. I'm sure they could use some prayer. In their own words: "We are not afraid because we know God knew all about this when we signed up for this assignment and we are in His hands and care."
Anyway, my brother's email:
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Don't know if this is getting any attention in states. But I'm basically in lockdown here. The sham election has been declared and martial law imposed. All broadcast media has been taken off the air. The U.S. government appears to have confirmed the results. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Here is something I wrote up about my experience (since there is nothing else to do but sit in our compound and play scrabble).
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I can already see today's events written up in the newspaper I grew up reading. The High Point (NC) Enterprise reserves a small corner on the bottom of page 4 for international coverage. Each day, under the headline "Glimpses Around the World," readers are offered a small world map with six numbers pointing to different countries. These numbers, in turn, correspond to story blurbs of 40-50 words. Yes, the astute American can get the world in 60 seconds. On most days, we even get the neat symmetry of one story per continent.
Today, Kenya was likely chosen to represent Africa in the Enterprise. The story may read: "Sporadic violence broke out throughout Nairobi today as opposition leaders formally disputed the anticipated results of Wednesday's presidential election. Incumbent president Nanu Kibeki called for calm while early leader Raina Odeki asked the electoral commission of Kenya to investigate results in districts dominated by the Kikuru tribe loyal to the governing party. International observers have noted irregularities in the voting and appear unlikely to validate the still delayed results."
This story feels so much larger than any such blurb would imply. As I write, I am holed up in a house outside the city. The streets are eerily empty. Stores are closed. My week in Kenya has been dominated by the election and the drawn-out results. Any further sightseeing is unlikely.
I was caught up in this drama yesterday. My parents and I left Nairobi early in the morning for a journey into the Rift Valley for a safari in a national park. It is difficult to imagine a disputed election out in the country. The vast valley dwarfs its human inhabitants. An extinct volcano and ancient lake remind me that I am in a land that precedes any human concerns. And on safari, the most interesting exhibit is human vulnerability.
Our driver, Ignacio, was informed in the early afternoon of looting and fire near his home in the slum neighborhood known as Kabira (well documented in the Constant Gardner). We contacted my brother in the U.S . embassy and decided to head back to Nairobi before dark. En route, Ignacio continued to receive information--on phone and through conversations with other drivers. His explanations and translations from Swahili left me confused. But I could read the concern on his face and a speedometer that registered speeds much too fast for the pot-holed streets we journeyed through. At one point, Ignacio suggested that I may need to drive because he "was very very black" and that, in some places, thugs might not recognize his tribe.
Ill-informed on all the tribal and political dimensions of the election, I was as concerned as I have ever been traveling. But the threat to my safety pales in comparison to the average Kenyan. Hopefully these safety concerns are temporary. But regardless of how the election pans out, Kenya will remain divided for the next five years.
And the readers of the Enterprise will have another blurb to fit into their grossly oversimplified narrative of Africa. Readers will easily conclude, in less than 60 seconds, that the vast continent of Africa is best understood as a corrupt place still unprepared for the responsibility of democracy.
On this my first trip to Africa, I now realize how deep this narrative penetrates me. What surprises me about Kenya? And what does such surprise say about me? Why do I lack the imagination to see so many other stories in Africa? And what will it take U.S. news sources to treat Africa with fairness by developing such an imagination?
Yes, corruption is rampant. Decades of colonialism followed by post-colonial strongmen like Kenyatta and Moi have taken a toll on government structures. Such corruption explains why, amidst unprecedented economic growth, income disparity has widened under Kibeki. And the failure of real reform ensures that forty percent of Kenyans still subsist on less than $1 per day.
But unfortunately, the closeness of the election and the ensuing violence obscures what could and should be a more optimistic story, one of democratic triumph. The failure of Kibeki to deliver on promised reforms (and the unanticipated backlash to his alliance with former president Daniel Arap Moi) explains why Kenyans ousted much of its Parliament on Wednesday. Most of Kenya wanted change. And record numbers of Kenyans stood in line for hours to ink their finger and register a resounding complaint.
From Wednesday night until Friday afternoon, it was clear that Raila would be the new president. Kebeki refused to acknowledge defeat. Then the electoral commission, slowest in tallying votes from Kebeki strongholds, began adding returns favorable to the exisiting government. In ways suspicious to international observers, those latter votes have given Kebeki a small edge.
An announcement looms this afternoon. The smell of suspicion is in the air. Violence has already broken out in neighborhoods like Kabira where locals feel they have been wronged yet again. A formal announcement suggesting a Kibeki victory will undoubtedly unleash another round of looting and thugery tonight.
"Glimpses Around the World" will have new blurbs in the coming weeks to reinforce our unimaginative narrative of Africa. And the ego of a few men, in a nation filled with such promise, will continue to define Africa.
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