Kenya: Eldoret testimonies

Jez Smith introduces the stories of ordinary Kenyans who got caught up in the post-election violence during 2007-8

‘My house was burned on the third day’, explains Esther Kinadoso gently as I sit at a desk at the front of the church, recording the absorbing personal testimonies of Eldoret Friends as they sit in the first row of pews, hunched towards me, keenly hearing each others’ stories, but also praying and upholding their peers.

When I came to Kenya I wanted to hear the stories of ordinary Friends like you and me, to understand a little bit of their lives and to bring something back to share in Britain and perhaps beyond. I particularly wanted to meet and connect with Friends in East Africa Yearly Meeting North because their Meeting is one that we in Britain may be more aware of without having ever met Friends from there.

So my friend Bainito brought me to Eldoret Friends Church where I could meet my fellow Quakers and hear their stories. The Friends that I met in Eldoret are ordinary people who, in late 2007 and early 2008, were affected by the violence that swept Kenya on the back of election irregularities but that had been bubbling away in the background for many years and had broken out on various occasions previously.

Although the violence was predominantly based on tribal grounds, it included many different factors and the repercussions are still being felt inside Kenya today. Events, as they unfolded, were covered in the Friend in 2008 and in many other places.

At that time Friends Church Peace Teams were formed to coordinate a response to the violence and to deal with community and individual need. The work continues today and efforts are currently being made to scope projects that could in the long-term lead to a peaceful and non-violent Kenya.

Over the next few pages you won’t read of the national efforts or of work being done behind the scenes. Instead, you will learn of what happened when violence erupted in these Friends’ streets.

It is hard for me to imagine what would happen if violence on this scale erupted around my home. I can’t imagine where I would go or what I would do. Would I go to my Local Meeting for support? Would I risk it? Or, considering another angle, what would I do if people came to me asking for help?

In Eldoret they had to answer these questions. The stories that you read here do not follow a straight narrative but from their words I hope that you will find glimpses of an extraordinary power.

Four Friends from Eldoret Friends Church describe their experiences during the violence that followed the 2007 elections
Two Friends share their experience of caring for the community

Long-term peace in Kenya requires more work, concludes Jez Smith
On one of my last days in Kenya Bainito and went to Iten, which has picturesque views over Kerio Valley. We sat on rocks as the light began to fade and we talked about everything and nothing. A rock hyrax scampered by, close to our feet, unperturbed by our presence.

As we drove back to Eldoret we saw a three-part sunset divided by dark cloud. Despite my best efforts to capture this stunning light it simply didn’t work out, so I did my best just to appreciate it as we continued home. As the sun faded and the sky got darker, we could see lightning forking and flashing far away in the clouds between the sunset. There was no thunder, no sound to connect to what we saw. In a way, this scene is Kenya today. A country filled with many wonderful people and great energy, but with a tension in the background, mostly far away, that at any time could come back and cause havoc.

The problems haven’t been solved, they have just been pushed into the background. The violence could come again at any time. Kenyan Friends are doing what they can to create a culture of peace, just as many other faith and other groups that form the civil society are, but is it enough? As I have witnessed and you have read, there are many challenges for the ordinary Friends, like those whom I met in Eldoret, in villages, towns and cities across the land. We need to find better ways to connect with each other, to lend a hand and give our support. Not to tell our Kenyan friends what to do but to see what we can share with each other, learn together and empower each other towards a brighter, peaceful future, when the kingdom of heaven on earth shows a broken world transformed.

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