An end to “Mass Action”

After 3 days of protest, Nairobi experienced a day of peace. We are still hoping that leaders will find a way to come together in the next few days to give us reason believe that we are entering the beginning of the healing process for this nation. It was an ugly few days here with sustained violence, many deaths, property destruction and an absence of leadership. The news is stating 25-30 deaths over the past few days, but based on the stories from friends in Nairobi, this number is likely a low estimate.

We met up with friends today from Mathare at a downtown restaurant because of the instability of their area. The stories that they shared about their community were incredibly bleak. It raised some concerns on our end about what youth are seeing and how they are processing recent events. Gun shots, severed arms and burning homes...what are the hundreds of thousands of kids supposed to do after seeing something like this? Unfortunately, an immunity is eventually built so that responses to violence become irrational-perhaps the beginning of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

2 things that we need to highlight amongst our friends here in Nairobi...

• Our friend Mark, who works with youth in Mathare, was shot in the hand two nights ago. He was opening a gate leaving his mother's home and was shot by a police officer who was looking for someone else. The last segment of his thumb is gone.

• Pastor Alfred, one of our friends in Kawangware, lost his 6 month old son today. Please pray for his family at this time (see picture above). Other than diarrhea, we are not sure what symptoms led up to his death. Please pray for Alfred, his wife and other 3 children during this difficult time.

We are hopeful that diplomat visits this week will lead to conversations amongst the leaders of Kenya. I think that we are approaching a point where the government is realizing that there are issues that need to be dealt with and the opposition is recognizing the need to talk rather than carry out forms of “mass action”...I stand corrected-I read this morning the "peaceful" protests will go on again next week. Regardless of whether or not protests are set up to be peaceful, this week has shown that the police are given direct orders to contain those that want to assemble, defeating the chance of any peaceful gathering. People's emotions are running high these days and are not willing to meet governmental mandates.

We remain safe, a bit tired of all of this but hopeful for what is to come.