KENYA NATIONAL NEWS – IMAGES
Violence continued in Kenya, where on Sunday the police and residents tried to quell a fire set in the Mathare slum in Nairobi. (NY Times)
Watching and waiting
January 21, 2008 at 5:24 pm (Culture, Kenya, Life, Nairobi, National News, News, Photos, Politics)
Tags: Mathare, political unrest, presidential elections
Aviation Ministry Reports on Evacuation, Supply Efforts
January 12, 2008 at 5:55 pm (Disaster Relief, Kenya, Life, National News, News, Politics)
Tags: disaster, Mission Aviation Fellowship
NATIONAL NEWS
Kenya’s MAF director reports on evacuation and supply efforts.
This from Christianity Today:
Bernard Terlouw, Kenya director for Mission Aviation Fellowship, was in his Nairobi office on January 1, planning how to best evacuate victims of the escalating violence. Amid the fighting that had broken out after the contested win of President Mwai Kibaki over challenger Raila Odinga, MAF had begun receiving calls from desperate Kenyans in Eldoret, Kisumu, Kitale, and other western towns.
“We were trying to see who needed help and where they could be routed through,” said Terlouw. As more calls came in and the planning continued, Terlouw said he and his team began to feel optimistic “that we were going to be able to do something for some of these people.”
Then Terlouw got a call on his cell phone from a man near Lake Victoria. “He was screaming at me because he was being chased into a field. He was saying, ‘Send a helicopter! I need a helicopter! Can you come to this park? I’ll do anything for you! I’ll work for you! I’m at this park.’”
“I told him I couldn’t send a helicopter because we didn’t have any,” said Terlouw. “There was no air field nearby, and we couldn’t get there. Suddenly, there was this deadly silence in my heart. … What happened with that man, I don’t know. I don’t even know who he was. He just called me on his cell phone, a man in western Kenya.”
As the death toll and number of displaced people has mounted, Terlouw said his team has been focusing on getting people out of the most dangerous areas. They’re also delivering supplies to some of the more than 300,000 displaced people who are congregating at schools, police stations, churches, and open fields…
Kenyans Can Meet the Challenge
January 8, 2008 at 3:54 am (Africa, East Africa, Faith, Kenya, Life, New Dawn Communities, News)
Tags: Ron Sukut
New Dawn Communities director gives message of hope during Kenya’s upheaval
This from Pastor Ron Sukut:
So many have worked so hard, for so long and have come so far. The situation in Kenya is very serious indeed, yet I am confident that the violent reaction to the recent elections can not destroy the good that has been accomplished.
This is a true and tragic test, but the people of Kenya have the spiritual depth, moral integrity, intelligent capabilities and determined fortitude to meet this challenge and emerge better than ever. Freedom and unity are too precious to surrender.
There is no turning back for Kenya, East Africa and even Africa as a unity of nations.
I believe in the emerging Kenyans! This unrest will only serve to bring to the forefront the positive character qualities of the responsible and caring Kenyan to seek for and find lasting solutions to their problems. The end result of this struggle will be to insure a better life for all Kenyans, and thus set the stage for a better life for all Africans. With the prayers and encouragement of the rest of the world, a good Kenya will prevail.
“Pamoja Tutashinda” Together we will suceed!
Election-related tribal violence leads to displacement, starvation
January 7, 2008 at 5:13 pm (Kenya, Life, National News, News, Politics, Prayer)
Tags: Alexander, Mwai Kibaki, Raila Odinga
GETTING TO KNOW KENYA – NATIONAL NEWS
As I learn more about Kenya, I’ll continue to post news stories. I pray for strength to the many Christian missionaries serving Kenya during this turbulent time. I pray for New Dawn Communities to continue being a beacon of hope, firm in the Lord Jesus.
At Kibera Lutheran Church in Nairobi, a small congregation gathers for Sunday service. The church was burned in postelection violence. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
This from the Los Angeles Times:
Thousands face starvation in Kenya
U.N. food agency says the situation is dire, with roads blocked amid tension and unrest over the disputed presidential election.By ROBYN DIXON
NAIROBI, KENYA — Up to 100,000 people face starvation in western Kenya because of election-related tribal violence, the World Food Program warned Friday, as rivals in last week’s disputed presidential vote showed no willingness to talk.
President Mwai Kibaki and contender Raila Odinga, who had led through much of the vote-counting process, continued to hold uncompromising positions: The opposition called for a new election, and Kibaki agreed — but only if the courts ordered it.
Odinga has described the courts as packed with Kibaki’s cronies, and most analysts and diplomats do not see going to the courts as a solution, in part because cases are processed too slowly.
Opposition claims of vote- rigging triggered tribal violence that has killed about 300 people. European Union observers said the vote failed to meet democratic standards.
