Weekly Update 1-7-08

Well this was a different week. We did not go to Kalunga Hills at all because of the riots and unrest here in Nairobi. Things were peaceful up in the hills but Nairobi, Mombasa, and Eldoret were not so much. The death toll from post election violence is over 300 now and so much of it is just senseless looting and burning similar to that which accompanied race riots of the 60s or what was seen in New Orleans after the hurricanes. Some of it is tribal, Pres. Kibaki is Kukuyu while Odinga is Loi and they really don't seem to like each other. The burned Church full of refugees and hacking deaths in Eldoret were between these two tribes. It is unlawful for citizens in Kenya to have guns with out special permits so the only arms really are suppose to be those of the military and police. You have to wonder what would possess someone to show up to a gun fight with a machete but the authorities tend to shoot anyone that is armed because it is assumed they are gangsters. So I guess in frustration the citizens fight among themselves with clubs and machetes. We were out of our compound for a while on Wednesday morning to work at St. Mary's but then the opposition tried to stage a march that afternoon and things got ugly again. The opposition claimed they were going to keep marching until they got their way but Odinga has finally asked his supporters to give it up while politicians negotiate in talks for a solution to the supposed rigged election. Saturday President Taylor released us from our compound so we were at Kilili for church Sunday. Because we leave by 6:45 each morning we go up country and return by 5 or 6 we figure even if they do march they will be cleared by the time we get back to town. We will keep our phone on and if things get unsettled we can divert to Chuluy and stay with a couple and young missionaries there. I think though that with the exception of looters that everyone is frustrated and will do anything to return to the peaceful pre-election Kenya. I think any continued unrest will be confined to the slum areas such as Kibera and we can avoid those areas rather easily. We were never really threatened but are close enough to Uhuru Park that we could hear the rifle fire and tear gas canisters each time an effort was made to rally there. There is still a very heavy military presence camped there that we see each time we leave our flat. We had stocked up on groceries so our biggest inconvenience was when Elder Bishop had to switch to powdered milk. The Ice cream was sufficient to get us by until Saturday and then I braved the long lines to re-supply that critical item.

My biggest frustration about being confined was the work we were trying to get accomplished with the unbaptized member kids before they had to return to school on the 7th but the start was moved back to the 14th so we have this week to get them close enough that we can finish up on Sundays after school starts again.

It did feel good to just veg a couple of days with no obligations to speak of and I was able to read a couple of books but if I am just going to lay around I sure would rather do that in Meridian, Idaho. We are still waiting on our phone connection as commerce just ground to a halt last week. No one wanted to be caught in the middle of what was going on and the down town area was blocked by security forces to keep any sizeable group from forming up. One of the other retired military types here made a run to our APO boxes at the embassy last week so we got a bunch of the christmas remembrances to keep our interest during the confinement. Thanks for those items and your many prayers for our safety. They were truly heard and answered.