Continued Kenya violence disrupts food supply
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With no schools to attend and the trauma of forced
displacement, children are among those most affected by violence that
has followed the Dec. 27 re-election of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki. A
UMNS photo © Juan Michel/WCC.
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A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*
Feb. 14, 2008
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Some 5,000 Kenyans have sought refuge at a
hastily built camp in the village of Tigoni, outside of Nairobi. A UMNS
photo by the Rev. John Calhoun.
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Continued violence in Kenya has displaced hundreds of thousands of
citizens and disrupted the food supply in parts of that African nation.
Stockpiled food has quickly disappeared, and the United Methodist
Committee on Relief is appealing to United Methodists to donate money to
bolster the food supply. UMCOR has spent $120,000 on relief needs in
Kenya since early January, assisting more than 10,000 people in the
region.
"There’s just not enough food to feed people," said the Rev. Sam
Dixon, UMCOR chief executive, in a Feb. 12 interview with United
Methodist News Service.
A thousand people have been killed in Kenya since the Dec. 27
re-election of President Mwai Kibaki, according to news reports. The
election results have been disputed by supporters of opposition leader
Raila Odinga and, as of Feb. 13, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan was serving as a mediator between the two political leaders.
Much of the violence is thought to be related to ethnic affiliation.
Kibaki is Kikuyu and Odinga is Luo, but both have support from other
ethnic groups. In terms of major ethnic groups, about 20 percent of
Kenya’s population is Kikuyu, 14 percent is Luo, 13 percent is Luhya, 11
percent is Kalenjin and another 11 percent is Kamba, according to
reports by the BBC.
"UMCOR joins the world community in being deeply disturbed by the
violence and destruction of property that the unresolved political
dispute has fostered," said Dixon. "In many cases, it is the most
vulnerable who are being victimized by the violence."
Annan offers 'real hope'
The Rev. John Calhoun, a Kenya-based missionary with the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries, credits mediation efforts by Annan
for providing "real hope that the politicians have finally understood
what the Kenyan people have been saying for weeks: It is time to end the
bloodshed, and find a solution to this crisis," according to a Feb. 11
letter from Calhoun.
The humanitarian crisis, however, may not be resolved so quickly,
said Calhoun, who serves as coordinator of humanitarian relief and
church development for the Methodist Church in Kenya. He estimated that
more than 300,000 people remain displaced and said it may take months
before they can return home.
Calhoun and colleagues from the Methodist and Anglican churches
visited a temporary camp for displaced persons on Feb. 6 at Tigoni, a
small village outside Nairobi.
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Burnt houses and looted shops are a common sight in the Rift Valley near Nairobi. A UMNS photo © Juan Michel/WCC.
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"The residents of the Tigoni camp are mostly Luo and Kalenjin
tribespeople who were driven from their homes and jobs on the
Kikuyu-owned tea plantations of this beautiful and fertile region," he
said in his report. "In just the last two weeks, more than 5,000 persons
have sought shelter in this hastily built camp on the grounds of the
Tigoni police station; more than 1,000 of these displaced persons are
children."
UMCOR has assisted United Methodist Bishop Daniel Wandabula, of the
denomination’s East Africa Annual Conference, in addressing the
humanitarian needs of both those inside Kenya and refugees who have fled
to Uganda.
Food, water, temporary shelter and medicines funded by gifts to UMCOR
are being distributed through United Methodist churches in the region
and by the annual conference, according to Dixon.
Food exhausted in Nairobi
In the Nairobi district, UMCOR purchased food for distribution under
the leadership of Superintendent Carol Ososo. "Food was stockpiled at a
central location, and local churches who had received those displaced by
the violence were able to pick up some food supplies," Dixon said.
"Unfortunately the supply was quickly exhausted due to the high demand."
He added that UMCOR is making arrangements with a private donor to
ship 20 forty-foot containers of relief supplies for Kenya. The
Methodist Church of Kenya and the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi will help
process the shipment when it arrives.
UMCOR also is supporting the relief work of Action by Churches
Together, which is being carried out by the Methodist Church of Kenya,
led by Calhoun and by other denominations. ACT launched a $4.5 million
appeal for Kenya on Feb. 4 and its partners have been working to improve
conditions in the camps for displaced persons.
ACT funding, for example, enabled the purchase of 2,300 IDP kits
designed to provide for a family’s non-food emergency needs. Each kit
includes a kitchen set, mosquito nets, female hygiene items and
blankets. Members of the ACT Kenya Forum also have acquired 1,619 tents
for displaced families.
The Church of Sweden, an ACT partner, has supported nationwide
assessment of the psychosocial effects of the violence and mass
displacement.
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Children in the Tigoni camp enjoy a cultural
performance during a visit by Tumaini Na Undugu, an ecumenical aid
organization. A UMNS photo by
the Rev. John Calhoun.
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Calhoun said that relief supplies at Tigoni and other camps are being
provided by church groups, the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and several
U.N. agencies. Working ecumenically, the Methodist Church in Kenya,
Anglican Church of Kenya and the Presbyterian Church of East Africa have
created an organization called Tumaini Na Undugu (Hope and
Brotherhood), according to Calhoun.
During his visit, Tumaini Na Undugu sponsored a cultural event that
included music, comedy, games and face painting. "The events of the day
brought several hours of joy, laughter, relief, and hope to thousands of
persons living in anxiety at Tigoni camp," he wrote.
Continued concern
Concerns over Kenya linger by African ecumenical leaders such as the
Rev. Sam Kobia, a Methodist and Kenya native who serves as chief
executive of the World Council of Churches, and the Rev. Mvume Dandala, a
South African Methodist who leads the All Africa Conference of
Churches, based in Nairobi.
In "A Call to all Kenyans from the All Africa Conferences of
Churches," issued Jan. 21, Dandala mentioned the long-time hospitality
extended to the council in a way "that has made us feel truly Kenyan"
and recalled how a Kenyan once helped broker peace in South Africa.
"If Kenyans see this crisis as simply just one of their problems that
they will in time resolve, let it be said that the rest of the
continent is desperate, for if it happens thus to Kenya, how about the
rest of us, what hope do we have?," he wrote. "Kenya, you are one of the
custodians of the last vestiges of hope for this continent! Please
steward our collective hope."
An international delegation from the World Council of Churches
visited Kenya Jan. 30-Feb. 3 as part of the council’s "Living Letters"
initiative to show solidarity and support the peace and reconciliation
efforts of Kenya’s churches. The visit was hosted by the National
Council of Churches in Kenya.
"It is time to end the bloodshed, and find a solution to this crisis."
–The Rev. John Calhoun
The reconciliation efforts have included face-to-face encounters
between Christian leaders from the Kalenjin and Kikuyu communities and
the Kikuyu and Luo communities. An interreligious forum, with
representatives from Christian, Muslim and Hindu communities, also is
addressing the crisis by promoting political mediation, peace messages
and a nationwide prayer movement and by providing relief aid.
The seven-member "Living Letters" delegation met with Kenya's vice
president Kalonzo Musyoka, and with Odinga, the leader and presidential
candidate of the Orange Democratic Movement. Delegation members asked
the two leaders to seek a compromise solution to the election dispute.
Donations to assist UMCOR's response in Kenya can be dropped in local
church collection plates or mailed to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York,
NY 10087. Write "UMCOR Advance #982450, International Disaster
Response-Kenya" on the check memo line. For credit card donations, visit
UMCOR's Web site at www.umcor.org for online giving information or call (800) 554-8583.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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