Kenya Update

The political upheaval here in Kenya has been quite unbelievable over these past two weeks. Kenya has always been known for being a peaceful and stable country in the past. However, that image is now changing as a result of the recent election. It is estimated that around 500 people have been killed and around 250,000 displaced from their homes as a result of post election violence. Most of the initial violence was targeted against the Kikuyu people living in non-Kikuyu areas. However, now the Kikuyu are outraged at the violence against their people, and they are initiating violence against the Luo and other tribes. We live in a very Kikuyu province and had not heard of any problems here until this week, when non-Kikuyu's are now having to flee their homes due to threats and violence. There were even anonymous threats posted at our hospital here this week. I have had to work quite a bit more than usual this week, because our Kenyan ob/gyn is not Kikuyu and did not feel safe even reporting to work. There has still been no violence reported in our town, but there is a lot of fear among the Kenyans here due to what is happening.

Things do seem to be improving in Nairobi, and we now can get fuel and groceries here again. Thor was able to travel to Nairobi this week to get some supplies and to get Kammie's birth certificate. We plan to try to go in again to apply for her passport this week if things stay stable enough. More large political rallies are being scheduled this week, so we're not sure what that will bring. We hope and pray that a resolution to the election dispute will be reached, so that this needless violence can come to an end.