MAP International has launched a multi-pronged response to recent violence in Kenya that erupted after a disputed election between presidential incumbent Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.

In the wake of the vote held Dec. 27, when Kibaki was officially re-elected, more than 300 people have died in violent clashes primarily between supporters of Odinga, from the Luo tribe, and devotees of Kibaki, from the majority Kikuyu tribe. Thus far more than 100,000 people have fled their homes, fearing attacks from mob members wielding machetes and other weapons. If it continues unabated, there is fear the ethnic violence could spiral into genocide akin to that which consumed Rwanda in the mid 1990s.

"Tensions are extraordinarily high and the situation could deteriorate very quickly and very violently," said Chris Palusky, MAP International's relief director. "MAP is taking steps both to help those already displaced and injured in this crisis and also to prevent future escalation of the conflict."

MAP International is part of a consortium of local churches and international partner agencies that is providing psycho-social and other support to affected populations. Consortium representatives have also met with Kibaki and Odinga to help produce a diplomatic solution to the current crisis.

In addition, MAP is directly providing emergency supplies to alleviate the suffering and improve living conditions for many displaced Kenyans. MAP is sending both blankets and emergency food items to help more than 500 families, or about 2,500 people.

"Many of the people MAP is helping had very little before this crisis began," Palusky said. "They were living in makeshift dwellings in Kenya's slums and shantytowns with very little personal belongings. Now, they don't even have that. Their homes have been burned down. They've had to flee for their lives. MAP is meeting their immediate needs so that they may then begin to rebuild their lives."

Ethnic violence has been rare in Kenya, the most industrialized nation in the region. MAP International operates an office in the country's capital of Nairobi.