January 7, 2008

NAIROBI--Millions of Kenyans went to the polls to choose their president in the national elections after Christmas. But for Benta Nyipolo and hundreds of thousands of Kenyans like her, being forced from their homes in the violence sparked by the election dispute was something they did not choose.

The violence erupted across Kenya immediately after the results of the vote for president were announced on December 30, 2007. Ms. Nyipolo, a resident of Muthare, a large slum area in the country's capital of Nairobi, said groups of angry people went on a rampage through the area. They broke into houses, hacked people to death with machetes, raped women, and stole property, from stoves to furniture. "They even took spoons," she said.

Some of Ms. Nyipolo's neighbors were killed, and she heard of one pregnant woman being thrown to her death from a high place. "It was really scary," she said.

She sent her 8-year-old daughter to stay with a friend the first evening of the violence. After three days, as the violence escalated, she and others were forced to leave their homes.

Some of Muthare's residents fled to a small patch of land outside the gate of Moi Air Force Base, just across from the slum area, where they felt they could receive some measure of protection from the military personnel guarding the gate.

Dressers, desks, plastic sheeting, empty jugs, and even some live animals including ducks and goats are some of the items in scores of piles spread out across the grass that people brought with them when they fled. People dragged sofas and hauled cushions and mattresses to sleep on. The metal bowls and fire pots they managed to grab from their kitchens now form makeshift cooking areas on the ground.

For several days, these families have been displaced in their own country, just meters from their own neighborhood. And they have fled violence in a country that has long been a sanctuary for millions of refugees from its neighbors--Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia.

It is now estimated that some 500 people across Kenya have been killed in the violent unrest, while hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from their homes.

"The situation here is hard," said Ms. Nyipolo. The group of families outside the air force base have stayed on this spot with very few supplies. In addition to continued fears for her safety, Ms. Nyipolo said she is also worried about becoming sick from sleeping outside in Nairobi's cool nights without a blanket, so she has fortunately been able to sleep at a friend's house.

On January 4 and 5, Church World Service, through its local partner, the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church (KELC), distributed emergency relief supplies to Ms. Nyipolo and

the 346 other families in the makeshift camp. With an initial grant of $20,000 from Church World Service, KELC was able to distribute flour, salt, cooking oil, vegetables (tomatoes, carrots and beans), blankets, clothing, and feminine hygiene products. The Church World Service/KELC distribution of emergency supplies began Jan. 2.

After finishing the distribution of supplies on the second morning to the people staying outside the air force base, the coordinator and volunteers of the distribution from KELC went to the Muthaiga Police Depot Station on the other side of the Muthare slum area. Other Muthare residents had fled there for the protection the police presence could offer.

Ms. Nyipolo is unsure of what will happen to her. For now, the slums are too dangerous to enter, even for organizations bringing relief supplies. She cannot return to her neighborhood, where shops and homes have been looted and destroyed. While many are trying to work towards a political resolution, many of Kenya's displaced citizens will have to continue to wait for a settlement of the crisis found in the streets.

Stephen H. Padre is a freelance journalist working in Nairobi, Kenya, and is writing on behalf of Church World Service and the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church.

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Media Contact: Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net