Hey friends, family,
Yesterday I spent all day buying and distributing food in an IDP (internally displaced persons) camp near Naivasha in Eastern Kenya. The IDP camp was established by the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) following the post-election violence that ravaged Kenya from December 2007 on to 2008. Over 300 people died in that violence and over a 100,000 people were displaced from their homes, many of whom never returned to their homes due to the burning of their houses or a more intrinsic psychological reaction to the death of their families. This camp is located about 2 hours from Nairobi and is composed of numerous families sheltered in large tents. The only other notable structures in the camp are porta-potties and barbed wire. The Camp was situated on one acre of land that was surrounded by vast gardens, which are owned by the disproportionately wealthy Kenyans, not the IDP residents. Although the camp is not suitable for permanent residence, many of the current inhabitants can't go back home and are not receiving assistance from the government to do so.
7 volunteers, along with our hired driver and interpreter, rented a van and first traveled to a wholesale retailer to purchase bulk staple foods for the people at the IDP camp. We pooled our money and bought 31,850 KSh worth of maize, rice, sugar, cooking butter, sweets, and female hygienic supplies (about $430). We then stopped for a bite to eat then headed to the camp. Our van almost became stuck several times and a head on collision was always a worry- Kenyan drivers walk the line between driving like maniacs and driving like professionals, more likely they drive like both. When we arrived at the camp we were given a tour of the "houses" by the locals and a translation of their explanation by our guides. Unsurprisingly, the tents lacked basic sanitation, they were very dirty and fecal matter from chickens and other small animals littered the floor. The area of each dwelling was unsuitably small for the often large families that resided in there and each family's food supply was pathetically inadequate (some small leafy vegetables, a scoop of dirty yellow maize, half of a small bag of flour). One incidence struck me to the core, perhaps more so than any I have seen heretofore. In one tent we were told that families are forced to collect water using old sulphuric acid cans (battery acid) that contained residual elements of the acid. Commonly speaking, these people were forced to drink poison every time they drank water. I was horrified.
Pneumonia and other sicknesses were ubiquitous at the camp, little babies were either coughing or found to have 'snot" all over their faces. The living conditions were ineffable except, as to say, unsuitable for anything more than a weekend spent camping. However, not all was melancholy at this camp. Little children were delighted at our presence and swarmed around each volunteer, hardly, if ever, relinquishing our hands. They loved to play with my arm hair and delighted in my long hair. They enjoyed getting their picture taken and we obliged. Their laughter and excitement boosted my spirit and made me feel somewhat like a celebrity- white people are not a common sight there.
After a short period of time we started the process of distributing the food. I say process because even in that relatively small IDP camp there were deep divisions between the residents,a microcosm of the largely tribal and ethnic divides that set the country aflame a year ago. At first, one side of the camp would not join the rest of the camp to receive the food because of these divisions. My job was scooping the rice for each person in line, we tried avoiding the children because mothers would send up several of their children to get rations unfairly. We had a somewhat organized line of rice, sugar, cooking butter then maize. Alice and I gave candy to a swarming mass of children beforehand to distract them- we were absolutely mauled- it reminded by of a zombie horror movie where I was the unfortunate victim. Sweets must be a delicacy. All in all we distributed food to hundreds of people and over 70 families- it is hard to keep accurate records in such chaos. We gave 2 scoops of rice , 1 scoop of sugar, a portion of cooking butter to each person as well as maxi pads to young women. We had a great deal of food, so we also gave seconds after a deal was made. The line for seconds was much more chaotic.
The deal was that the people at the camp could get seconds only when they all came together as a group and received them. In a very hollywood-esque moment each volunteer climbed on top of the van and promulgated a short speech about the need to come together and that the western nations cared for Kenya- as evidenced by the fact that the UK, USA, and Canada were all represented there. Our translator relayed our messaged and convinced the group to hold unity meetings to work past their differences. In a moment that told of hope in a fractured country, every camp member shook hands and greeted each other with "Jambo Sana" and "Armani" nice to meet you and peace" I saw the potential for country- wide unity beginning on a grassroots level, I saw the power that service and much needed food can have on unity and the promise of hope. Maybe the camp will continue their stubborn infighting, maybe not, but on that day our simple act of distributing food to starving people made all of the difference.
I sit here in the internet cafe full of hope and full of what President Obama calls "The fierce urgency of now." So much can be done with so little money and just a little caring and strong-willed satyagrah (soul-force) and ahimsa (non-violence). My belief in the UN was renewed and restrengthened. Anyone who doubts the UN should follow our footsteps and see all of the fathomless people that have a chance at life because of the UN. I am a wholehearted believer in the UN and think that all Western nations should redouble their efforts to maintain and increase the legitimacy of that stalwart body.
People at this camp are not idle, the parent work in sub-sweatshop labor to pay for their kids to attend a school that is 2 km away, they work extremely long hours digging in fields for 100 ksh($1.30) a day just for the hope that their kids can work for a better Kenya, for a less violent and more whole nation. While we were at the camp, we saw a baby that was born 6 days ago. The pride in his father's eyes was inspiring and credent- here was a proud parent living amongst privation and disease, rejuvenated by the birth of a new child- one can only wonder what his thoughts were as he stood with the help of a walking stick- nearing 7 feet tall.
The group was so affected by this life changing moment that we solidified our promise to visit a Ugandan refugee camp the following weekend. The problem is that it will be much more expensive. We are looking for wiling donors to help us buy food and to rent a van to go to a refugee camp in Uganda. If you might be interested, e-mail me at weberstatestand@gmail.com.
Thank you for reading and I hope that you are inspired to take some action to help these people and others who suffer.
With a full heart and a hopeful song,
Cameron
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