Okay kids, put your serious hats on.
In case you live under a rock, or just don't care about news that takes place outside of America (I'm not sure which is worse), there is major conflict in Kenya right now, as a result of a recent election in which President Mwai Kibaki was re-elected, and many people think the voting was rigged. To make a very complicated story short, now various tribes are killing each other in a manner of "ethnic cleansing", which is, you know, kind of the same theory that Hitler was going for. It's a lot like what happened in Rwanda, except not on the same scale. Yet. The terms "political dissent" and "conflict" have been generously applied to the situation, but they won't be applicable for much longer if this continues. "Ethnic cleansing" is only a slightly less graphic-sounding and a very short hop, skip, and jump from a little problem called "genocide".
Obviously, this is an awful situation. And maybe, if you're an asshole, you're thinking, "Who cares? Everyone in Africa is killing each other." In which case would you not only be an asshole, you'd also be wrong. There are several countries in Africa that are peaceful. AIDS may be a problem everywhere, war is not. Kenya, up until recently, happened to be one of those countries that was perfectly safe and brought in some of the largest tourism revenue in the continent. And now, it's falling apart, just like Rwanda, Uganda, Sudan, Sierra Leone, the Congo, Ethiopia and Somalia. Of Africa's 53 countries, most of them are actually at peace. Yet Africa gets such a bad reputation because of the extent of the horrific war crimes and disasters that have erupted in recent years. The last thing it needs is for another one of its countries to fall.
This situation breaks my heart. Living in Tanzania last summer, which borders Kenya to the south and is also a very peaceful country, I had a lot of friends that came from there and traveled there. I regret that I never made it there in my travels. If something like that can happen in Kenya, it can happen in Tanzania, and that would devastate me completely. TZ is more of a home country to me than England is, and I spent more time in the UK. I desperately hope and pray Kenya can resolve its issues and get back on its feet before it's destroyed entirely.
And now, shameless nostalgia.
God damn, what I would give to be back there.
Watu wangu wa Kenya, nakupenda wote. Hatakuwi imani. Naona matengemano.
3 comments:
How awful. It's amazing to me that it hasn't gotten more press coverage, but perhaps it's easier for the media to just pretend it isn't happening. Your photos are gorgeous. I just hope that one day when I can visit, Kenya will still be.
Yeah, this is truly a tragic situation. Hope it doesn't get worse. And certainly not as bad as Rwanda.
Have you ever read Shake Hands with the Devil? I shudder to think that the events of Rwanda could be repeated anyplace else.
@ oob: Yeah, it's always easier for the media to pretend these things aren't going on. I hope you get to go there for yourself and see how wonderful it is.
@mark: I haven't read it, but now I will. =) Thanks!
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