Transforming educational and cultural exchanges
Eldoret, Kenya and IUPUI
For an ever so brief discussion, let's take up the question of your perceptions of Kenya. Not familiar with Eldoret? A western Kenyan city hosting the IU Kenya partnership providing AMPATH treatment of HIV and AIDS, Eldoret is the sister city to Indianapolis. Famous for marathon runners who practice at the Moi University sports field, Eldoret is a beautiful, lush, garden community that suffered most tragically from post - election violence n January and February 2008. You may have heard of a church in which women and children were burnt to death. Unfortunately, this occurred in Eldoret.
Tell us about your perceptions of Kenya and of Eldoret in particular”
Tell us about your perceptions of Kenya and of Eldoret in particular”
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Emily Young on
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I had honestly not heard much about Eldoret before my current Anthropology class. I must have heard it in the news as I'd heard about the post-election violence, but the name never struck with me. So, I researched. Many of the pictures I've found of the area are beautiful, but much of the news is sad. It's hard to wrap my head around there being so much death for exercising your democratic right to vote. Here, my friends and I encourage each other to vote. I cannot imagine living somewhere in which that right is threatened or discouraged.
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Permalink Reply by Peg Williams on -
My African friends were shocked also by the post-election violence in Kenya. When the news kept telling of daily deaths, they said "Not Kenya, this cannot be Kenya" Now we know no place is safe from violence but the level of violence shocked those who know Kenyans. They are friendly and progressive, we believe and I continue to believe this from my experience. If you can imagine it, I was walking down the road in Eldoret from the Med School to my host's home, and strangers, two young ladies, dressed smartly in dressy clothes, stopped to greet me. Now, granted I am mzungu (a white person), so I sort of stuck out like a sore thumb, but these two ladies not only greeted me, they stopped walking to visit with me and we carried on a conversation, learning about each other.
Well, I thought, that is the exception to the rule. A bit further along, a pretty young mom and her son greeted me and visited with me. This happened more often than not when I walked in Eldoret.
And you will be surprised, but in the capital city, Nairobi, while out for a walk on a Sunday, ladies stopped to talk with me, inviting me to come to their church with them. These events suggest to me the friendliness of Kenyans.
I suggest the terrible troubles of the post - election violence were committed by ruffians, hoodlums and criminals, not by most Kenyans. I may be mistaken.
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Such on -
I do not know very much or have heard very much about Kenya or Eldoret... I feel that it is very surprizing the things that go on in other countries of the world. It is very interesting how things are similiar and different from us. I could not imagine the events that went on during the election that our teacher was explaining to us in anthropology class. Most of these areas are very beautiful but they have a lot of violence among them. The women and children are not treated the same as here in the US which is very sad. I do not think that I would be able to live in an area where women are treated this way. The election is another area that bothers me. It would be scary to not have the right to vote in peace. I also believe that there are a lot of good people in Kenya but the news will only focus on the bad things that are going on.
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Permalink Reply by Molly on
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Like Emily, I hadn't heard of Eldoret until our Anthropology teacher told us about the violence going on with the last election. I am really embarrassed to say that I hadn't even really heard of that violence until I heard so in the class. This knowledge makes me really understand the importance of using our right to vote, and how lucky we are in the United States to be able to do so without fearing repercussions from the government. I looked up Eldoret through a google search and found the Moi University homepage. It looks like a beautiful campus and a great place to learn and get an education. I think that a lot of people take for granted the free public education we receive here in the U.S. I believe it is very sad that such a place as a church, known as a safe haven to millions around the world, was the location of a horrific violent act, in which women and children were the targets. I honestly don't know how anyone could purposefully hurt a child. They are so young and don't have the means or the knowledge to care for themselves. it makes me sick to think of them being targeted. I think Eldoret is a beautiful town and it's very sad that it was the location of all this violence. It just goes to prove that anywhere we go around the world, there is a potential for danger and uprising.
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Permalink Reply by Kelly Zimmerman on
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Like many in my anthropology class at IUPUI, I did not know about the extent of violence in Eldoret until my professor mentioned it in class. By viewing pictures, I find Eldoret to be a beautiful place that unfortunately has been tainted by violence. Here, in America, we don't think twice about the right to vote. It saddens me to think that by voting, I would bring harm to my family and friends if I were living in Eldoret. I believe that the people of Eldoret have been victims and I still believe them to be beautiful and interesting people that were 'in the wrong place at the wrong time' so to speak. They should not be looked at as violent people as a whole for this act of violence.
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Permalink Reply by Case Calvert on -
I can't say that i have heard of Eldoret but i am familiar with the knowledge that their are great Kenya marathon runners who are known around the world as some of the best runners. i have unfortunatly heard about the tragic events that has taken place. What a sad thing to hear especially when it sounds like eldoret is such a well built, wonderful place to be when there isn't this violence. I hope that it can be a place of peace and happiness again in the near future.
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Permalink Reply by Bryant Coffing on
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I have no knowledge of Kenya or Eldoret, but I have heard a little about the violence in Africa. If you have ever seen the movie, "Hotel Rawanda" then you will see the brutal truth about the violent acts occurring in Africa. It is sad that such a great continent filled with majestic lands and beautiful creatures is ran by selfish human beings. Hopefully one day peace can restore this broken nation.
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Permalink Reply by Eunice Karanja Kamaara on -
Hi everyone,
I can tell you for sure that the election violence witnessed after the elections in Kenya was unprecedented. It shocked many Kenyans that such violence could happen. Normally we have some hooliganism over elections campaigns and some people get carried away emotionally as they campaign for their candidates so many peace loving kenyans usually vote and stay away from the polling stations especially at night. But the right to vote has generally been safeguarded and assured all through. I can tell you that we had never seen anything like this.
I live in the outskirts of Eldoret town - about 5 mintues drive to the town centre). I walked to my voting station (about 10 mins walk) early in the morning, voted and went back home. In the evening of the same day the counting of votes started and we immdediately started exchanging notes on sms with friends from both political divides as we have always done. We thought it was fun until the presidential votes were announced and hell broke loose. We could nto believe it esepcially to hear that some of our colelagues' houses very near where we live had been burnt because they voted for one candidate and not the other. Since Eldoret was largely an opposition stronghold, those who were suspected to have voted in favour of the government side (like my family though nobody for sure knows who voted who since voting is by secret ballot) were targetted for violence. When we got the news that women and children had been burnt in a church where they had gone to seek refuge we thought things were now getting out of hand! I do nto believe any sober human person woudl engage in such and my suspiscion is that this was done an intoxicated mob. The church is about 5 kilometres from our house. Of course we were very shocked as that has never happened in the hsitory of Kenya. The next thing we did was to arrange to run away from Eldoret to Nairobi which we did the follwoing day. I will tell you that it seemed like a dream. Like Peg says, we did not expect it as kenya has been a peace loving nation. All our neighbours have been or continues to be at war but kenya has stood out as an island of peace. We host many refugees from our neighbouring countries but now for the first time we have our own internal refugees. What a shame!
The beauty of life is that every expeirence however tragic has a lesson. The lesson we got is that we must no take peace for granted. Now I know that no country is immune to violence and so every country should actively work towards maintaining the peace they enjoy.
Today I appreciate the globalvisits discussion forum much more than I did last year and the year before because I realise the need to engage in peace keeping and peace building activities. We must not take peace for granted and assume that because we have enjoyed peace all along, what happens to other countries lie Rwanda (very well captured in the movie Hotel Rwanda cited by Bryant) cannot happen to us. It happened to Kenya (thank God not to the same magnitude) even though we have been enjoying peace for many years. It is important to look out for anything that could lead to violence and deal with it long before it generates into violence. Discussing perceptions and correcting those that jeopardise peace is one way of preventing violence. Another day I will discuss how perceptions, many of which were wrong, contributed to the post election violence in Kenya.
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Permalink Reply by Ja'Neane Minor on
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I also had no prior knowledge of the violence in Kenya or Eldoret, but I have heard of violence erupting in other parts of Africa. I have seen the movies Hotel Rwanda and Blood Diamonds which depicts the corruption in these African countries. Also my nanny is from Zimbabwe so I made a special effort to pay attention to the violence that occurred after their elections. It is sad that one would be scared to vote in a "democratic" country. It is also tragic, since Kenyans like most vote by secret ballot, that peoples lives are being taken for believing to have vote in a manner that was not acceptable.
In response to Bryant Coffing who expressed sadness for a great continent filled with majestic lands and beautiful creatures that is ran by selfish human beings. All countries to some extent or another are ran by selfish human beings. Luckily in the United States it never comes down to violence and genocide. Our oppression comes in the form of poor or no health care for lower and middle class Americans, poor and underachieving schools for our urban students. Police brutality, prejudices and oppression for minorities, yes still. But also look at other countries, Afghanistan, Iraq, and so on, there are selfish individuals in power everywhere.
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Permalink Reply by Angel Claudio on -
Pray that the Lord will bring peace. I see selfishness in the leaders because if they cared at all about the lives of the Kenyans and all the visitors in Kenya, they will never do the things they are doing and in the process of it all, it is the poor and the inocent who are suffering. How can they prove to the Kenyans they care about them and want to lead them to a better Kenya if they are stirring all the violence? Just pray! God is able!
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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Sidwell on -
I have heard a little on the news and in class about the violence in Kenya. It is very sad to me that someone would have to live in these conditions and in a place of such corruption. It also makes me want to know more. Makes me want to know how this could be, its a hard concept to visualize not every having to experience anything like that in the United States. I feel very lucky to be born in a country where I have choices and the right to stand up for my beliefs and thoughts. When I was younger I visited a country that does not have the opportunites and freedoms I have in the United States. When I arrived back home I had a much better understanding and respect for the country I was born into. The only question I have for my country is why are we not helping more countries in need? Isn't that one of the reasons we are in Iraq at this time. To help their people and government, why are we not sending more help to Kenya like we are Iraq?
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Permalink Reply by Annie Grimm on -
Hi everybody,
I have heard of the post -election violence in Kenya. In Germany it was all over the news and in also in the newspapers. I am from Germany, living permanent in the US, but I am still watching the german news and reading the german newspapers online, because I personally do not care very much for the US ones. SORRY!!!
I personally think, that the news and the newspapers are opinionated and censored. If you have seen the movie "Vantage Point" you might remember, right at the beginning the one reporter documenting and talking about the demonstrations and then her boss telling her that the american people do not need to see this, there only want to see the president. That is my opinion and nobody has to get defense about it.
I am not familiar with the Eldoret. I have been in Kenya. I did a safari with my parents a few years back. It was a experience i will never forget. The nature and wildlife in Kenya is just one of a kind. It is unbelieble beautiful.
The freedom to vote and the freedom of speech in the western world has formed and marked us. It is hard to believe for us, that there are countries that work differently than ours. They have different customs and traditions, which can seem unfair and unusual to us. But it on us to accept those as equal and not try to change them with force, because in the long run we will just loose more then we will ever gain.
I hope i didn't make to many spelling mistakes. I really enjoyed this class. It was fun adn interesting at the same time.
Good luck to everyone
Annie
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For several years, Global Visits was a pioneer using modern communications technology to linking people together from diverse cultures. We called our efforts 'non traditional' student exchanges.
Now, we join the world of 'social networking' with a serious purpose: peace and understanding.
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