"Little by little we've accepted"

Friends,

I've been at the Vumilia Narok IDP camp for 3 days now. I feel welcome, safe, and novel-people still call me Jesus and little kids still flock around us. It is beautiful here and apparently we are a few hours walk away from a solitary Zebra and a group of Gazelles. We've spent most of our time interviewing camp members and walking great distances. Last night we were taken on a walk that knocked me out for 15 or so hours-hours of walking that featured a Kikuyu house that was burned by the Masai during the post-election violence.A Kikuyu died in a senseless act of tribal violence.

For now, I'll record what I've learned from my interviews-bear in mind that I'm no journalist, i'm more concerned with finding answers than telling a story.

Cause of the conflict
-All camp reps that I spoke with agree that the Government, lead by PM. Ralia and President Kabiki (sp?) has fomented ethnic tensions, pitting one tribe against another

-Mbusua & Karinge, George, and G Wangombe, camp reps for Narok, Elderot, and Amani respectively, confirmed that land conflicts, i.e. lack of land titles, disputed tribal land claims, and government negligence in regards to land issues, are the impetus for election violence that occurs every five years.

-Wangombe claims that each tribe in Kenya lays claim to land of historic importance to them, hindering efforts to divide up land legally and increasing conflict.

The life of an IDP

-Children walk 3 km (+) every day to school- some 6 or so miles daily.
-Women walk 2 km to fetch water in heavy Jerry cans daily, men only do this if the women demands or if single

-Wood is around 6 km away and again, women are likely to fetch the wood

-UNHCR tents have largely been replaced by 20 X 16 ft. concrete houses that lack furniture, but provide protection against the wildly-oscillating weather.

-Most camp residents say that they are idle, dependent, and that they wish to return to their self-sufficient days-most blame the government

-Some camp members sell crops they produce on their small salinized plots of land, but rain doesn't come often and the plots are 50 X 100.

-Some residents walk well over 6 km to work for a small plot of land for a rich farmer for an 8 hour shift, in which they will garner 100 ksh or $1.50.

-The children seem bored, they sift dirt through their fingers and play "football" with wrapped paper-mostly they chase the goats.

Their dreams

-The majority of the residents i have spoken with are skilled in farming and wish for large plots of land to farm on-some others are more educated and wish to start businesses selling crops or other basic goods

-Nobody I have spoken with wants to return home-they are afraid and many of their houses were burned in the violence-many lack titles to their original land, a major problem.

-They want to be independent

Needs Assessment

-Education: A school needs to be built nearby the camps, allowing kids to concentrate on their studies and to advance above their positions-diversification of their skill-set is needed to make money in a drought-ridden area. School supplies are desperately needed. Education is the key to mitigating violence, reducing birth-rate, and improving the lives of the displaced [note: Monique has donated $6,000 for a school at the camp and Gina and I have purchased grade 1 textbooks and story books to start their textbook collection]

-Dental Hygeine: There are no toothbrushes/paste at any of the camps I have visited. At Armani I asked Wangombe, the camp Secretary, if people would use toothbrushes if available, he confirmed this. Brownish/black and crooked teeth are a problem here, tooth decay also exacerbates other medical problems at the camp

Irrigation: Drought has rendered the camps' humble crops largely obsolete-resulting in the constant withering of maize, beans, and tomatoes. The Amani camp seems to receive better rainfall, though the camp is just yards away from Narok and Elderot. Each camps would like to see irrigated water so that their crops would survive.

Individual titles: Camp members at each camp lack individual property titles. This is a problem because that camp member can't use his/her house as leverage to obtain a loan for business or any other use. Lacking individual titles puts him/her at risk to loose their house without legal recourse-a problem that helped spark past violence.

Health facilities: The nearest health facility is approximately 5 km away and is very basic. The clinic costs money, which many can't afford. Health care has been limited to a one-time measel shot by the government and the medications with volunteers from Marafiki INC has purchased-sickness abounds

Water supply: Water here is drawn from a well and is not subject to purification. Parasites are common in unpurified water, leading to malnutrition and generalized apathy.

*** Each camp expressed similar concerns and the aforementioned are the most emphasized. Concerns are simple, boredom and hunger permeate the camps.

NGO's active in the area

-Habitat for Humanity built their shelters
-The Red Cross provide immediate post-violence relief, including shelter and food
-UNHCR, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees provided food and the current tents at this location in Rift Valley
-JPPC (?) a Japanese company is working to provide running water for the camps
-Local Kenyan orgs help with food and other needs
-Marafiki INC, a group founded by volunteers such as myself in May, have purchased land, medications and are soon to build a school and a maize mill on the Narok land.

*** I am heartened by the passion and compassion of NGO's-they have saved many lives. The Kenyan government has also provided 35,000 ksh to each person to buy the land they are on and to provide food-they also bring shipments of food. Food shipments come anywhere from once every month to once every several months, Armani camp suggests the former, Nakarot and Elderot calims the latter- the truth is ambiguous.

-All camps say the government does "nothing" and is the cause and hopeful savior of their problems

Microloans: Mr. Wangombe from Armani plainly stated that he doesn't like microloans because they are forced to pick groups of 5 and he said that 2-3 of those are slackers. He would form a group if he could pick the participants and if it were a group of 2-3. He would prefer the money be given to him- I told him that would make an NGO uncomfortable-we agreed to disagree.

So much to write. This is simply a preliminary report-I have many more camps to investigate. Soon, Gina and I will be organizing a preliminary teaching program and story hour, as well as a soccer program and will be laying the grounds for a sponsorship program vis a vis census data.

Thanks for reading.

Cameron