Concerning suffering and hope...

“I used to be a teacher, but now…this”, Sammy Kavunga, an IDP from the Tumani Vision Self-Help camp, said this while gesturing to the ragged tents and barren land which he calls home. Gina, Ameer, and I spent all of Wednesday gathering interviews from camp members at Neema Self Help IDP camp and Tumani Vision, both of which are comprised of jerry-rigged tents of branches, tarps, and paper sacks. Both have sadly ironic names, e.g. “self-help group” when they are forced by violence, high unemployment, severe weather, lack of skills, and perhaps their own complacency to be admittedly dependent on “good wishes” of aid groups and their captors and saviors, the Kenyan government. Both camps featured people who tried to muster hope in us that our data will translate to increased donations, and microloans-I hope this is true.

It took around 3 hours at each camp to collect everyone’s data and to snap their pictures-many children were missing, either fetching water/firewood-if a woman or out to their grandmother’s for Christmas. Collecting data to aid future donation/microloan initiatives is hard, sometime monotonous work that is more than fulfilling. In the last 6 days, I have been able to do something that few will ever do: talk face to face to displaced persons, to enter their lives for a few minutes, to understand the human element at the root of violence and suffering-and I am a better person because of it. It is hard to fathom how a family of 9 could live in a squalid and incredibly small tent, often with animals. Gina remarked that she saw her grandmother in the 60-70 year old grandmothers who are not pampered, but are forced to sit on a black jerry can all day, idle, under the unforgiving Rift Valley sun. I saw too many children left alone in the dirt, appearing miserable, a young man cradling a broken soccer ball on his lap at Neema-melancholy

I digress, though there is suffering, hope always seems to permeate the most destitute of places. At Neema, and Tumani, a large number of kids said they want to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, and the most hoped for: Pilots. Steven Waweru, age 14, said he wants to be President of Kenya, specifically a good President. The children at these camps and the Amani camp hold out hope for a better more peaceful tomorrow. Near every child is going to school and many tell me they like math and English and social studies-these children are not yet lost to despair, through the help of the west and the stability of their own government, these kids can bring peace to their troubled political scene. Every adult I talked to wants to go back to their old businesses or back to farming, as is often the case, they don’t want to succumb to idleness as has been their lot. Furthermore, aid agencies have exhibited the epoch of human kindness. Habitat humanity came by the camp I am currently staying at, Vumilia Narok, celebrating their building of 3,000 houses in Kenya, including those at Vumilia Narok and Amani. Habitat brought food, hygiene supplies and promises of building more houses because of generous donations by Kenya’s central bank and the soft dr4ink producer Ribena (side note: Ribena is actually very good). I am heartened by the generosity of local aid groups and western aid groups alike.

After we are done at the camps, c. December 22nd, we will begin compiling a pdf containing stats, figures, full interviews, contact information, and etc from every camp member at 6/7 camps in Rift Valley. I hope this data will help Weber State STAND and Securus Via, amongst others, develop plans that will individually help these people lift themselves from extreme poverty, through education and skills training.

The days here are marked by dust and incessant sun and wind, but I am happy, I am where I should be- keep posted for the eventual posting of our research and more insights. Also, feel free to let me know what you want to hear about.