New Week

It was an abbreviated week due to the holiday, which consumed (thankfully) the first two days of the week. Work was busy, but I began yesterday with a new policy: I only look at email at 9, 11, 1, and 3. This boosted my productivity immediately, and I'm hoping it continues to help. I suspect it'll relieve some stress, too. Sensei told me how he did it, and I like it a lot.

Wednesday I went to the chiropractor, and took these on the way home:




They were taken free hand with the new lens. The building in the last picture is a school close to home. It's difficult to explain the geography properly, but it's a pretty setting and I was happy to catch the sunset by the pond.

Thursday was teaching, and it was busy. The time off brought out a lot of people, including a student I hadn't seen in a long time. Hopefully we'll be able to keep him involved, since he has taken quite a bit of time off. This is the kid who understood geometry when he was eight. Quite intelligent, but his side kick is lazy.

Friday was work, as previously mentioned, and an interesting day. While it's received some press coverage in the States, I don't know how many of you would know that Kenya recently held elections. Due to corruption charges, the elections are being contested, and violently. My aunt and uncle both live in Nairobi, as well as the marketers I met when I visited them in August. I have heard from everyone, and they are all okay, but necessities have been difficult to come by and the violence seems to be increasing.

Here's a report from my uncle:

Yesterday (Jan 3) was the worst day we have seen in Kenya by far except for way back in 1982 during the coup attempt. We stayed pretty much glued to the radio or TV the whole day and into the night, partly because I was responsible to make sure we were safe in the Crisis Consultant position! Remarkably our cell phones worked all day! Although we weren't personally affected the "news" was all around us. We were really locked in, first by choice because we ordered everyone to stay at home, then when the troubles started the police blocked roads and we could not have gone anywhere if we wanted to.

Ngong road had police blockading movement because of people coming out from Kibera by Nakumatt Prestige, Mbagathi Way (the 4 lane that goes to the hangar from Mayfield) was blocked by police because of people coming out from Kibera trying to get down to Uhuru Park on Uhuru Highway. Argwings Khodek (the road that goes from Hurlingham-Remember "Burger King") to Yaya (we took Ethan there looking for various artefacts) was blocked by a mob of ODM supporters confronting police.

Then the Uchumi Grocery (behind Adams Arcade and Java House) was looted. The ad hock Toi Market (open air used clothing stalls behind Adams Arcade) was looted and somewhat destroyed. There were running battles with police in many areas of Nairobi. Ngong road had at least 4 blockades made by demonstrators with burning boards and tires-I was out today and saw the burn marks.
The main Cape to Cairo Highway through Nairobi was a battle ground as demonstrators tried to gain an entrance to Uhuru Park downtown. They never made it. The road to Thika was also the scene of many pitched confrontations. Remarkably no one was killed in the confrontations in Nairobi. 3 total died but they were peripheral deaths, a guy that got electrocuted by a dangling wire.

Around Kenya in Kisumu, Eldoret, Kitale, Mombasa, and Bungoma, there was trouble on a similar scale. More people died in these smaller towns, not sure why, but I suspect the police were on their good behaviour due to the media coverage in Nairobi. Still the number of deaths was small compared to the activity. The major deaths have occurred in up country areas like Eldoret where the church was burned with Kikuyus in it. They are saying now that over 100,000 are displaced (IDPs Internally Displaced People), don’t you just love the labels they put on real suffering human beings. Several times during this series of clashes they pictured a man or a woman who had just lost their home or a family member. It made it so poignant to see them sit down on the bare ground in the middle of the road or their compound in an upright sitting stance and just begin to wail, just cut loose and wail at the top of their lungs. We saw people running for their lives carrying a chair or a baby. I would like to ask them what they are carrying the chair for? The most probable answer they might give is; "this is all I have left in this life". Imagine having nothing left in this life except for a chair! And knowing that your government and your country don’t have the means or the will to help you recover. And your family is all gone. And community is far more important in Africa than it is in our country.

We've had other reports as well, but in general things are fairly tense. Whites are not being targeted, as the elections are generally divided on tribal boundaries and whites participate in the tribal economy.

I remarked upon returning from Africa that tribalism seemed to be something of an anachronism in Kenya, but this is certainly one instance in which it hasn't faded. I understand from reading Kumecucha that the electorate is generally from one tribe, while the constituents are generally from others. Change has been afoot in the country for some time, and the constituency expected the incumbent government to be defeated in the election. Raila's loss (he's the opposition leader against incumbent Kibaki) is what threw the country into its present paroxysms.

In any case, it's good that people are still alive and kicking, and it's certainly not like Rwanda, but if those of the praying sort would contribute a few, it would be appreciated.