The Kenya Restoration Fund Global Partners has established the The Kenya Restoration Fund to assist our partner organizations in their life-saving work and especially to help the people of Kenya who have been adversely affected by the post election violence, to restore their families’ lives to some semblance of normalcy as quickly as possible. The fund will serve no political agenda; its aim is solely to help rebuild our present projects that have suffered from the violence. Each new day brings revelations about the tragedy that continues to unfold in Kenya. The news we gather from the media does not do justice to the challenges faced on the ground by our project partners, dealing with the results of the terrible violence that swept through parts of Kenya and affected hundreds of thousands of people’s ability to lead their lives as they had previously. Thanks to Ross and Ruth Roskamp and Dr. Jane Burruss, each of whom have donated $10,000 as the seed money and first donations to this Fund. We are deeply grateful for the message such donations send to all those who want to help. Thanks to Kathe Schaff, a co-founder of the worldwide organization Gather the Women, who co-created the idea of this Fund. Thanks to Kimberly King and Sherry Mills, participants with Global Partner at the African Grassroots Women’s Conference in Kenya, who have shared their deep concern by establishing similar funds within their respective organizations. Thanks to each of you who have contributed to our Kenya projects through the years with long term community development in mind and heart. Our present efforts stand on your shoulders.

The following are excerpts of emails that Global Partners received from our Project Partners in Kenya:

From M. A. Mughal, Crescent Medical Aid Kenya
10th January, 2008

For the safety of our medical staff and the patients attending the clinics, I had closed all our clinics facilities and services for 14 days up to 6th January, 2008, following the very violent turmoil situation in Kenya following the presidential elections whereby hundreds of innocent were killed and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and made homeless.

By the Grace of Almighty God calm is now returning gradually although the political situation is still very volatile and tense.

Regarding the SONCAM orphans program in Kisumu
Dear friends/friends of Kenya – A call came in yesterday from a good friend who knows of my work in Kenya and was worried that my sisters & brothers of the heart are in danger. Unfortunately after 40 years of peace and strong African leadership, it has been the worst of weeks there and my dear friends and the women and children in Kisumu, Nairobi and other surrounding areas are at great risk. We have heard from many of our friends including Joyce Oneko whom many of you know or know about, but I still do not have word from Monica & Lister, my friends who are pastors and work with orphan children in and around Kisumu. I pray they are well, but the city is virtually shut down. Just weeks ago I walked along peaceful streets with no fears but now there is much to fear.

From John Malago, Director, Matata Hospital in Oyugis, one of the worst affected areas

This is following our telephone conversation on 7th Jan. 2008 and I wish to tell you and all our friends that we are fine in Oyugis healthwise but with a lot sadness and stress as Oyugis is one of the most affected by the post election violence victims. Matata Hospital remained to be the only equipped hospital in the district and we are managing to cope up with this up to now due to the shipment support we received from DRI in the month of November 2007, and previous support we ever received from GPFD. May we take this opportunity to thank the GPFD and DRI for this humanitarian aid which came at the correct time. At this moment we have one full ward for those victims assaulted by gunshots and those stabbed with knives.

For the last two days the situation was fare but today again when President Kibaki announced of his new cabinet the situation changed and battles started again and now we are not sure when this type of situation will come to an end.
We will appreciate any well wishers who may help us take care of the victims.

Comment from Peter Verbiscar-Brown
In our phone conversation, John Malago said that his Matata Hospital is the only medical facility in the area providing treatment for gunshot wounds, and could use help for payment for drugs and procedures. The district hospital was closed due to the violence against government staff. For some time Matata had the only clean water and electricity in town, thanks to the support Global Partners had provided with well reconstruction and generator purchase in the past. Government water delivery vehicles were burned. Oyugis was without deliveries of milk and food for 3 weeks. Hooligans block roads demanding payments. The DRI shipment is from Direct Relief International sponsored by Global Partners, containing essential medicines, supplies and medical equipment, including more wheelchairs, and has proved to be life-saving. We were planning to visit Oyugis in late January, but those plans are now cancelled. In the gracious Kenyan way, John Malago said that he was sorry but he and his staff could not provide a visit “free from stress.”

My Dear Friends,

Thank you all for your kind words, prayers, phone calls and emails.

As you know, as a nation, Kenyans have been having their hearts in their shoes for the past one week. Our lives literally stopped on the 29th December 2007, and we went into a state of shock. I live right next to Kibera (the slum that has now become famous because of the movie "The Constant Gardner"), and the area that first erupted into violence, being the stronghold and the constituency represented by Raila Odinga. The sound of gunshots and shouts of looting, and smoke from houses being burnt kept us awake for three straight days.

After being holed in the house for three days, I decided to do something just to make me feel that life can be normal again. On 4th January, with my daughter Dani, niece Lilian and a good friend, we decided to go to Jamhuri Park, the largest park in Nairobi, where we hold our annual trade fairs, where most displaced women and children from Kibera are being "housed". Armed with a few pencils and notebooks, four litres of drinking water and two toilet rolls, we went to the place where people were being registered, and asked that anyone who wanted to talk should be sent to us under a tree. We set up our "counselling base" under two trees, one for adults and the other for children.

In less than fifteen minutes, we had more than twenty people, mostly women with their children. We tore the note books we had into small papers and gave the children to start drawing. In the meantime, we just let the adults talk in turns, first standing, and then we all sat on the grass. This went on for two hours, and at the end of the day, we had assessed the most needed basic requirements - sanitary pads and toilet rolls.

The next day we went back to our counseling sessions again, this time having rallied in many friends who had brought in dozens of sanitary pads, drawing and writing materials for kids and a little food. At the end of this second day, we left feeling very encouraged because we had talked with women and men from different ethnic backgrounds, and there was no animosity, just confusion and shock that such a thing could have happened in our beloved country.

I have always said that Kenyans are the most resilient human beings on earth. Today my heart is full of hope for my country. I have been in more than five meetings today, meeting with friends and colleagues from different ethnic backgrounds, to find ways of reaching our young people with messages of peace. Unfortunately most of the destruction that have been experienced by the country was done by young people below the age of 25 years, and as the older generation, we are looking at the causes, because we realize that the election violence was just a symptom of something that has gone terribly wrong.

From: JOYCE ONEKO
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 11:02 PM

My dear friends,
We are still safe but tense. Even though there are no more gun shots and no houses being burnt, people are going about their businesses in a very careful manner. I have now been working at the Mathare Slums for the last several days (my God, I don't even know how many days). Some of you will have heard about Mathare, the largest slum. As with most slums in Nairobi, most of the occupants here are Luos because they cannot afford better houses. The issue of disputes between
landlords and tenants is something that has been going on for a long time, because the landlords increase rent at will, without providing any services (but then, what's new!). One of the campaign promises from the ODM team was that the tenants in slum areas would not pay rent. Of course this is all nonsense ... So, before elections, a lot of Luos were given notices to vacate houses.

Anyway, when trouble started, the Luos in Mathare burnt Kikuyus' houses and the lucky ones escaped and came and camped in front of the army barracks which is just across the road. Because of security reasons, they cannot be allowed inside, so they are camped right outside the gate.
When Mama na Dada went to Moi Air Force Base, Mathare, on the 3rd January, it was initially to assess the situation of women and children living outside the gate of the Barracks. Our main aim was to offer counseling services to all the people living here, with a focus on women and children, to avoid them getting post-trauma stress disorders. We have been on the ground since then, starting as early as 6.30 a.m. and finishing at 5 p.m. After two days on the ground, we took over the coordination and all the logistics arrangements of the place. We have 470 children, 387 adults and 23 pregnant mothers. I had no idea what I was letting myself into!

During the one week that we have been here, I have had some very trying moments, especially listening to women whose husbands and children were either killed or hurt in the violence. There is such raw sadness on their faces, but this is not just because of the loss of their loved ones, but at the loss of friendship and neighbourliness. Most of the people in this base are Kikuyus, and they can't understand how the Luos they have lived with all these years have now turned against them. It is ironic that most of the 20 plus volunteers I'm working with are Luos, serving Kikuyus. I know God has a purpose why He has put me and my colleagues in this position.

It is not all bad. When things were so confused the first day I went on the ground, I just took out my note book and tore papers and gave children, and as soon as I started giving the few near me, hundreds came out, and before long we were singing gospel songs and dancing our feet out. Several friends have now donated crayons, pencils, books and other playing things, and when we have had our struggles with adults, we go for comfort to the children and just let go. The sad thing is that they all draw guns, fire or people lying in bed.

We do not know how long this will go on. Today there have been a few tense places, with some women demonstrators having been dispersed forcefully. I believe if all women talk and think peace, we will have peace, and this is what I'm doing, trying to talk and think peace myself, and trying very hard to get the women I'm working with to see why we all need to think peace. We will overcome.


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