Eldoret, Kenya and IUPUI

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Permalink Reply by kerubo on July 30, 2008 at 12:27am

Oh, and Eunice Kamaara, if you are reading this, i must say that your earthly friend, my anthropology lecturer, Ms. Peg Williams is a die hard fanatic of yours and misses your bountiful presence. She talked about you quite often, and it was especially wonderful for me as her talk rejuvinated in me some sense of home as i am always overly nostalgic. I hope to see you in September, is it? Yeah, when you come.

Kwaheri

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Permalink Reply by Eunice Karanja Kamaara on July 30, 2008 at 10:38am

Hi everyone,

I read from many of our American friends feelings of guilt that you did not know about the post election violence until Peg Williams told you about it. Please, there is nothing to feel guilty about. Andrea, I would not agree with you that it is because you are “brought up in a world of selfishness and status” that you did not know about Eldoret. I can tell you that there are lots of important things that we Kenyans do not know about the US and many other parts of the world not because we are not interested but because we have no social connections there. As you appropriately indicate, you knew a bit about Kenya because your ‘boyfriend’s friend is from Kenya. So guys, please don’t feel bad that you do not know much about Eldoret. Now you will know because we are socially connected through this technology and can share our experiences.

Jason, am sorry with you that Lucas sang was so brutally murdered. You say that in the US "famous" people are put on a pedestal and society as a whole goes to great lengths to keep them out of harm's way. I am not necessarily saying that this is a virtue of our culture, just commenting on how Lucas Sang would probably not have even been allowed to come into contact with such danger in our society”. We too here in Kenya love and respect our heroes and heroines. My response to your concern is that Kenya was not ‘normal’ at that point and so we cannot quite say that what happened to any person then is what usually happens in Kenya. Like I often tell my students, war never benefits anyone as in situations of war, there are no winners. Everyone is a loser so that the pursuer and the pursued both get tired. If we all understood this, we would very much guard peace knowing that though we may not be the target of violence, at some point violence loses target and anyone may fall victim.

Roshena, you accurately observe that the impact of violence goes beyond the immediate effects. Besides those who died, injured or lost property during the skirmishes, the economic and other sectors of our country were very badly affected. Currently, we are experiencing a wave of riots in secondary schools with incidences of some students burning school facilities. In my opinion, these children are not to blame. We, the adult population are. To a large extent, youth behavior is only a reflection of the adult world.

Hi Kerubo. I did not know you are in Indy. I look forward to meeting you. I understand the way you even now get angry about the post election events in Kenya but I can assure you as one on the ground that everything is fine now. And I agree with you that one has try to be sober and rationale rather than get emotional about these events even though I know it can be hard. The truth of the matter is that there were too many issues/factors around the violence that one has to look at it from many perspectives to understand it. Of course the claims of election rigging triggered the violence but there were many factors behind it including youth unemployment. I remember presenting a paper in Philadelphia about 5 years ago and was talking about all African countries being in conflict – some of them in active conflict and others like Kenya in latent conflict which threaten to burst into war any time. Little did I know that in Kenya the conflict was going to burst sooner than later. Many injustices including corruption in the country made me predict that Kenya had latent conflicts but even as I predicted that these conflicts threaten to turn active, I did not believe myself. As I noted earlier in this forum, Kenya has been an island of peace. We all hope that it is now behind us and pray that God keeps us united as one country and one people. We all need one another to survive.

Where I come from we say that one should not be embarrassed about his/her relatives because there is nothing you can do to disassociate yourself with them. To put it crudely: “Even if your mother goes mad and runs around the market place naked, she is still your mother!”. Kenya is ours and we are still proud to be Kenyans. All our Kenyans are brothers and sisters and our concern should be how to live peacefully with each other.
Now we have an opportunity to ‘wire peace’ (to borrow someone’s expression) through globalvisits. Lets keep at it.

Cheers,
Eunice

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Permalink Reply by Bayan Dakuginow on July 30, 2008 at 11:02am

It's always interesting to hear more about different cultures in the world and we learned quite a bit about Kenya in class. The more different people I meet and places I go, the more I realize that people are not all that different in fundamental ways. Cultural norms and customs may differ, but people share similar hopes and desires.

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Permalink Reply by Tanui, Martin K. on July 30, 2008 at 12:29pm

I am a Catholic priest from Kitale, a neigbouring town to Eldoret. It was sad, very sad when a priest whom I knew well was killed on the road as he was travelling to his home diocese of Nakuru. Fr. Kamua was a lecturer at one of our local Seminary (institution where future priests are trained). It was a senseless and brutal killing. The killers knew what they were doing as Father was dressed in priests' attire. The perception of the Church by those who thought the Church was partisan might have contributed to this henious crime. This perception does not in any way justify the killing, but it shows how perceptions can inform evil acts.
Another area of concern as we do some soul searching is what role the Church played, plays, either through omission or commission, in what eventually resulted/results into violence of that magnitude. Although the culpability of the Kenyan Church might not be similar to that of Rwanda in the 90s genocide there, one may ask whether evangelisation or the Christian message has taken root in people's perceptions and actions. At the heart of the post-election violence was stereotyping and prejudices based on one's ethnic community. This was the case, so much so that the "waters of baptism" was lighter than the "blood of ethnicity". This means that the Church needs to redefine and evaluate its strategies of evangelisation, otherwise it will be rendered obsolete in relation to its teaching of love and brotherliness/sisterliness. I hope it is not too late to do that.

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Permalink Reply by Andrea Korty on July 30, 2008 at 2:08pm

Eunice,

Thank you so much for commenting on my post. It's nice to know what other people are thinking. I can definitely see where you are coming from, and I totally agree. Yet, what I have come to learn from my own experience is that in America, unless people have those social connections, they are oblivious to the issues. Those social connections are what make the problems seem REAL because they hit close to home. Not just like they are worlds away. I don't really know if what I am saying makes any sense, but I just feel as if, in general, we all need to care more about each other. There is too much anger and hate in the world.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Hope on July 30, 2008 at 3:15pm

My knowledge of Kenya is very limited. I have only heard about the incredible marathon runners that come from Kenya and then the violence that followed the most recent Presidential election. I am aware that there is a power sharing deal going on at the moment. I was very sorry to hear about the violence that followed the elections. It is my hope that the current power arrangement is able to continue with no further problems. I do not know how often elections are held, but I am very curious.

Like you, I am curious about what the people of Kenya think about us. What is the perceptions of young American students that most Kenyans would have? As America's effects on the world differ greatly from country to country, I wonder how Kenyans feel about Americans.

Kenya, like many of the countries around the world, is one that I would like to visit. I wonder what the people of Kenya do for fun. What is life like for the average young Kenyan boy or girl?

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Permalink Reply by Tblazic on July 30, 2008 at 4:04pm

Like many of the replies from non-native Kenyans, I am not familiar with the culture and daily life of the people in Kenya. I do remember pictures of Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana from geography class and the general location next to Uganda and Somalia in East Africa. The extent of my exposure to current events in Kenya had been limited until news of the recent violence which erupted after the elections. It is hard to grasp the magnitude and impact that events such as these have on communities and the individuals that live through these atrocities. After constantly seeing the evils, domestic and foreign, played out in headlines and snapshots daily through the media, it can be numbing. One can become somewhat complacent to the violence and injustice that occurs throughout the world because of the constant exposure from afar (via news outlets). I am thankful that we have open forums to discuss these issues and not let them be another news story.

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Permalink Reply by Emily on July 30, 2008 at 5:25pm

I also think we are very lucky that this day and age we have technology like this to help us connect with other people of the world, it is especially helpful in such a class as anthropology. Like many of the other students in my anthropology class I had not heard of any of the post election violence in Kenya. I really had never heard of anything about Kenya before in my life, even the marathon runners. In fact, this anthropology class opened my horizons to the world. I knew that I did not pay attetion to the news especially worldwide news, but I did not realize how much information and knowledge I was missing from being so stuck on my own country. I think it is very shocking and appauling what people go through to gain power. It is extremely sad that it had to happen to the beautiful Kenya.

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Permalink Reply by Kierria Harrison on July 30, 2008 at 6:26pm

Unfortunately, I was unaware of the post-war situation of Eldoret until I enrolled in Professor William's cultural anthropology course. As a very opinionated citizen of the United States, I have taken for granted such freedoms as voting and speech. I do so with with an absence of fear and harsh consequences. The fact that thousands of people have lived and experienced such devastating conditions is sickening.
On a positive note, I am thankful for the opportunity to become educated on such topics. Not only do I feel that we benefit from an educational perspective, but also we are able to exchange such information and create supportive, humanistic relations with the students and citizens of Eldoret.

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Permalink Reply by Eyenae Akwa on July 31, 2008 at 2:20am

Its sad for a Kenyan like me to comment on the post election violence that rocked the nation during the late and early this year. Kenya has always been an island of peace in a sea of turmoil and a role model for young and upcoming democracies in Africa, but that was before the election. The eruption of violence was largely as a result of a perceived rigged election, percieved economic and political power inequalities between different ethnic groupings and the perception of violence as a means of expression of discontent and show of might.
In my opinion, ehnicity is a major factor in African politics. One usually relies on the support of members of his or her ethnic grouping for major support. On the days leading to the election, most politicians spurred hatred by spreading negativities against opponents from different groups.
The unfortunate events that followed was to me, largely a result of wrong perceptions about socio- political and economic situation of the country and the expected rewards for political power.
I hope we will one day heal our nation and be the positive role model for other African countries.

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Permalink Reply by Naomi Luchera Shitemi on July 31, 2008 at 7:31am

I couldnt agree with you more Akwa and the other colleagues who have been commenting on Eunice´s pobing, especially on the Kenyan post election tragedy. Eunice says, and rightly so, that the Kenya of post election strife is not the normal Kenya we know. Unfortunately, often the 'not normal' could eventually turn into the 'normal' as the not normal situations prevail for long. The countries of the world that have experienced strife and war for years on end cannot claim this is their normal being. How do we ensure this does not happen in Kenya?

Tanui Martin does a soul search and wonders whether the church could have done better or whether it did anything at all in ensuring the brethren are indeed each other's keepers. One however wonders, who is the church and where do responsibilities start and end in such situations of multiple roles, identities and responsibilities?

Yet our colleagues from across the seas confess to have no idea of Kenya or very little and distant ideas for that matter.

What amazes and challenges me therefore is the fact that we can be very insignificant and invisible yet again very significant and visible at the same time depending on issues and standpoints emanating from us or affecting us in comparison with perspectives and orientations from elsewhere. But, when one's house is burning, (Sorry for the choice of illustration because it reads differently in the current Kenyan context but it is the way we depict the worst of tragedies that can befall one in the community where I come from – killing and deliberate house burning was never a strategy in any problem/conflict resolution in our community and indeed we are one Kenyan community), attention is then focused on what next for the victim. Even if insignificant, one becomes very visible and significant then. This happened to Kenya and those that had never heard of Kenya could not help but hear! Even my little beautiful town of Eldoret made headlines, wrong headlines of course.

The challenge, I agree with Eunice, is how can humanity ensure the entire world is a peaceful village for all inspite and despite whatever else that makes us different? How can we put structures and measures in place that can assure individual and collective freedoms and accountabilities? How can we ensure harmony in diversity, especially political and economic harmony in diversity and appreciate that we have the honourable tools in language by which we can dialogue and agree to disagree without setting each other on fire and stabbing each other.

Indeed I would very much like to believe that what happened in Kenya was just a bad nightmare but then reality cannot allow me this pleasure. It is even worse knowing that Eldoret is currently my home and that I witnessed what i did. Courtesy of a friend in the media, I have audio-visual recordings of some of the worst happenings but i have never gathered enough courage to listen or watch. I keep wondering what lessons are to be learnt for the better of the future?

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Kamiri on July 31, 2008 at 12:24pm

Hi guys,

My name is Kevin Kamiri. I live in Eldoret. I will be doing my secondary examiantiosn this year and hopefully join the unveirsity next year. I just want to thank every you all for your kind comments and concern for Kenya. It was a bad tiem for us after the elections. I will write more another day.

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