Kenya

The images of Kenya in the news hurt.

Places that we visited 14 months ago are shrouded in smoke. Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret. This is insane. Two men who say they want the best for Kenya instead by their actions are tearing it apart. Kibaki, by all appearances, has cooked the election. Odinga is urging rioting. No longer Kenyans, now tribal Kikuyu and Luo. The common man has so little, those in the slums has even less. Yet they destroy what little they do have. Insanity.

I have 5 sponsor kids in Kenya. Two are Maasai and live far in the bush, they should be alright.

But 3 live in the slums of Nairobi, tho thank God not Kibera. Two are in Soweto. The headmaster of their school reports, “the last three days I have been spending in school with Holly house children. We are all terrified of what is going to happen at last. As write this email there are gun shots everywhere as the police fight to contain the protesters. Please Pray for us that we go back to our normal lives very soon.” And in the Dandora slum is Tyson, sponsored by friend JoAnna, but we visited him when we were there in ’06. I count him as one of “mine” too. Tyson is Luo. He is an orphan who lives with his older brother and family. I pray the brother doesn’t do something stupid.

The kids are supposed to be starting back to school on Monday. Starting their new year of classes. Will classes start on time? Will the school even be there? Will they be alive to go?

Damn it. It’s not supposed to be this way.

UPDATE: School start was postponed for a week, to 14 Jan.