Hakuna shida hapa (no problem here)! That is, my shamba seems to have been unaffected by my month’s absence, but the political stalemate is still the talk of the country. The violence has stopped for the most part (and it was never in OUR area of Kenya) but both candidates are claiming to have won the election and refuse to talk to each other. VSO calls this atmosphere an “uneasy calm” and they’ve decided to assess each placement on a case-by-case basis. Sorry, western Kenya volunteers! Tala’s safe for now, and we finally got the “OK” to head back on January 19th. This was good news because we were getting sick of being on house arrest in a crappy hotel in Nairobi with all the other volunteers.
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Alan Orth
GNU/Linux, Indian food, and Death Metal!
Hakuna Matata (No Worries)
First and foremost: Sara and I are safe (but bored out of our minds).
Three weeks ago Sara and I posted that we’d be taking a small holiday to the Kenyan coast (maybe ten days or so). Now, nearly twenty days later, we are still not sure if the holiday is over and where we’ll end up. Unless you’ve been living on a small island in the Republic of Kiribati you know that Kenya had an attempt at democracy on December 27, 2007. For months candidates campaigned and talked tough and proud Kenyans marched in the streets in support of their candidates. Well that was fun… but nobody was surprised when domestic and international observers decided that the elections didn’t quite meet democratic standards. For nearly a week following the announcement of the “winner” Kenya was gripped with ethnic clashes in which over 500 people have been killed and 200,000 people have been displaced. I’m sure the real numbers will never be known. The situation is peaceful now, but there is a looming humanitarian crisis as supplies of food and water start running low in refugee centers. The politicians are in talks about having talks (haha), so think good thoughts.
Happy Holidays!
Sara and I won’t be updating much in the next two weeks as we are going on a safari (“journey” in Kiswahili) to Mombasa! I don’t think there will be any of the big five animals Kenya’s known for where we’re going, but we’ll keep our eyes out during the bus trek.
We have taken hundreds of pictures these last few months and we selected the best of those to keep you busy while we’re gone. Here are some samples:
Or you can view the gallery by clicking HERE.