Thursday, January 24, 2008

How Our Ministry Partners Are Doing:

Akiba School is doing well. The school opened one week later than anticipated, and students continue to trickle in who had been stranded in various parts of the country. Otherwise, classes are going on as normal and the vast majority of teachers and pupils have returned.

The Computer College I work with next to Kibera has suffered during the post-election crisis. The school is located in St. Luke’s ACK church compound on the outskirts of Kibera, and multiple attempts have been made to break in to the compound to steal items from the church. The thieves seem to be targeting the computers in the school. There is also a nursery school and card making centre on the compound. So far nothing has been stolen, but the church’s night guard has been hospitalized since last week for injuries suffered in the attacks. St. Luke’s cannot afford to increase security and is considering closing or possibly moving the computer college. Several other churches in the neighborhood have been burnt to the ground, but so far St. Luke’s has not been threatened by arson.

At Light and Power, things have been relatively quiet. Immediately following the elections, several of the windows at the Centre were broken by rock-throwing youths, and a metal gate was stolen during the night. A Kikuyu-owned grocery store nearby the Centre was also raided. The attackers were rebelled by machetes and one of the boys who failed to escape was beaten to death. Other than these few late-night incidents, life in Gatina has been calm and peaceful. Residents are going about their business and Light and Power has been operating as normal. The guys at the Centre come from many different tribes and their unity has been an example to the community. They continue to debate and joke regularly about the elections.

At Planting Faith, we have postponed our meetings with the farmers. Normally we travel once a week to different sites around Thika, Muranga, and Mount Kenya. These areas are all calm and businesses and schools are operating without any problems. Some families from rival tribes, however, have left their homes in fear. We are waiting till things cool down a bit more, but will probably resume our meetings by the end of the month.

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