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29 February 2008
KENYA: UPDATE
From Bernard Terlouw,
Program Manager for MAF Kenya
Dear All,
Finally (and suddenly) a power-sharing agreement was signed by
President Mwai Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga, yesterday
afternoon. A new position of Prime Minister (who will have
significant executive powers) has been promised to Raila Odinga.
The
cabinet will be comprised of equal numbers of both parties.
President Kibaki has called for the Parliament to open next
Thursday, to make the necessary constitutional amendments. Many
in the country are happy and the atmosphere is very hopeful.
We
are all impressed with chief negotiator Kofi Annan. The
leadership, diplomacy and gentleness that he has demonstrated
throughout the very difficult and stressful process is
impressive and a true example. Already tomorrow the negotiators
will meet again to start discussing the next item on their
agenda, the long-term issues that influenced the recent crisis.
Those core issues include land ownership, poverty and
unemployment.
The battle is not yet over for all those
hundreds of thousands that are still suffering from the
consequences of the post election violence.
Over 1000 people have been killed, numerous
families have been displaced, many relationships have been
scattered because of the dispute over who won the elections. It
will take a lot of time to repair what is broken, to restore
what is uprooted and even much longer to heal wounds that are
too deep.
MAF-Kenya has during the whole conflict
continued to fly in the wider area, including Sudan and Somalia.
But we were grateful that we had the opportunity to also support
hundreds and maybe indirectly even thousands of people with
transport and sometimes also with supplies of what was most
needed.
We pray that the agreement will hold and that
the country can return to normality.
Thank you for all your prayers, for Kenya and
the leadership, for Kofi Annan and his team of senior African
mediators and for us as mission organisation.
We have appreciated all the extra emails and
phone calls. We thank the Lord that he has brought a turn in the
fate of this country.
With regards
A Bernard Terlouw
Programme
Manager MAF - Kenya
-end-
Media
Enquiries:
Claudia Van Riesen
Mission
Aviation Fellowship
519.821.3914
Click
HERE to make your Kenyan Evacuation
Relief Fund
gift using our 128-bit encrypted donation form right now.
30 January 2008
KENYA: SITUATION REPORT
From Bernard Terlouw,
Program Manager for MAF Kenya
The Humanitarian Situation
A vicious cycle of revenge
is spiraling out of control. What happens in the west of the country
is revenged in the Rift Valley or Central province, and that prompts
further retaliation in the west. The top US envoy to Africa
described recent violence in the Rift Valley today as "ethnic
cleansing."
There are days when
everything appears calm and almost back to normal. However, driving
home on a normal afternoon, one can find oneself suddenly confronted
by a large contingent of riot police and within seconds problems are
all around. Last week, not far from the MAF compound, a funeral
service for 28 victims of police violence was suddenly tear-gassed
and ended in a battle that left people dead or wounded, cars on
fire, and the regional telephone exchange demolished.
Yesterday an opposition MP
was assassinated in front of his house. Later the police again
lobbed tear gas into the group of mourners and even into the house.
The whole country saw on television how the screaming widow stumbled
out of her house, retching and eyes streaming. More violence erupted
within no time in several towns in the country.
Nairobi has remained
relatively calm, because the police have managed to contain the
fights in the slum areas, where fighting never seems to stop. Today
one member of our staff came out of her house to find three dead
bodies lying there, killed overnight. Groups fight each other and
each is also fighting the police. Politics have faded away.
Long-smoldering hatred among the Kikuyus, Luos and Kalenjin is
kindled into roaring flames.
Outside of Nairobi many
areas experience even bigger stress. Armed groups of young men are
visiting the large flower farms in the Rift Valley near Nakuru and
Naivasha, demanding that only members of certain tribes are
employed. Members from other tribes are beaten up, sometimes killed
or even burned alive.
In panic, people try to
get away. Today MAF has flown non-stop to rescue more than 50
Kenyans in that region from a horrible fate. Roads are blocked, more
houses are set on fire – sometimes with whole families inside.
More than half a million
people have taken to flight and are seeking refuge, at police
stations, churches, town halls, or army barracks. Dramatic
humanitarian situations develop. Reports about a staggering increase
in rape and other crimes make us shiver.
The police announce that
they are “investigating all crimes,” but it is obvious that nobody
really knows how bad the situation country-wide really is. But we
all fear that it is worse than we can imagine.
The Kenyan Red Cross is
coordinating relief efforts. Many Kenyans are willing to help,
collecting water and food, and making financial contributions.
Makeshift refugee camps are being put in place. Churches send out
groups of women to help the displaced. Many pray that an end will
come to this violence.
The news bulletins are
full of spokesmen from all sorts of organizations, asking Kenyans to
stop fighting, pleading with the politicians and the government to
seek reconciliation.
Many cry for peace. And
most, if not all of us, here in Kenya are very, very tired.
The Political Situation
Many cannot accept what
they see as gross injustice.
The fact that the real
outcome of the presidential elections remains unknown because of
fraud during the tallying process is confirmed by international
observers, foreign governments, and international organizations. But
apart from the violence, not much more has happened to address the
sense of injustice.
The recent arrival of Kofi
Annan and a team of mediators has given the country hope. After
visiting the most devastated areas, Annan was visibly shocked by the
level of pain and destruction he was witnessing.
Back in Nairobi, he has
guided the two parties toward a covenant that accepts his mediation
and will work on the main problems of the conflict, including not
only the disputed presidential election but also the deeper
economical and tribal issues. Within a month, positive results are
expected.
The Ministry of Mission Aviation Fellowship
After an initial wave of
flight requests in the first two weeks of January, the police
established more control over transport in the country. Thereafter,
the demand for our flights diminished because transport by road
became possible, albeit with police escorts.
We were grateful, because
we then were able to resume our normal flying into Sudan. Some
incidental requests for assistance with an evacuation or a delivery
of relief goods could be honoured.
The fact that our fastest
aircraft, the Pilatus PC12, was still stuck in the desert in North
Kenya after a prop-strike in November made things more difficult. An
engine overhaul of one of our piston aircraft and major maintenance
on the other piston aircraft left us with only our four Cessna C208
Caravans.
It was a blessing that our
pilot shortage was alleviated by the arrival of a short-term
volunteer (and former MAF-Kenya pilot). Working overtime we have
been able this week to restore the PC12 and the piston aircraft back
to service.
The recent surge in
violence has again blocked road transport and made intervention by
air critical. In just the last two days, MAF has evacuated 75
Kenyans to escape threats made against their lives.
The staff in the Nairobi
Operations Centre is working hard to deal with the chaotic stream of
incoming requests. At the same time, our team in Lokichoggio is
managing the continued flying into Sudan.
MAF Staff Morale
All MAF Kenya staff
members are Christians. All of us, Kenyans and expatriate
missionaries, are serving under Kingdom values. However, we notice
how we also are seriously affected by the tension in the country,
Kenyans of course above all.
We cannot deny that we are
aware of the tribal background of staff members, and we can see how
difficult it sometimes is to work together. We work with half an ear
tuned to the radio, struggling to concentrate, and all the time
there is the wearying repetition of small talk that seems to circle
around only one topic.
At devotional time, we
pray together, but what do we pray when the opinions are divided? Do
we pray “safe” or can we pray from the heart? At the same time there
is the fear when family members are affected in remote places in
Kenya, sometimes in Nairobi. Riots break out and we wonder if
children are safe while on their way home from school.
Many Kenyan staff members
live in very unsafe areas of the town. At the same time, information
is so sketchy and often unreliable. Dramatic messages create some
panic and we then all gather around the one television set. Many
days MAF Kenya management has had to take the cautious decision to
release staff early, so that we could all travel when disruptions in
town could be avoided.
It must be said – with
thanks to Jesus our Lord – that we all indeed are Christians, and by
His grace, we have been able to stand together in fellowship and go
through this together. No fights have broken out amongst us. I do
not even know about any angry words. Maybe sometimes we are even too
disciplined, but all of us are so aware that our ministry is
critical and that our calling is “to serve and be different.”
The only weapon we are
allowed to carry is “love.” We may have to have a private fight with
what is in our hearts, but we do believe that the only answer for
Kenya is to adhere strictly to the commandments that Jesus has
taught us: you love – even your enemies.
One Example
One evening, my phone was
ringing. When I answered, I heard the nervous voice of a woman
asking for help: “I am not safe here and I am told to leave, with my
three year old girl. Please, please help!” My question – “Where are
you now” – did not get a clear answer. I had no idea where she was
and she did not seem to be able to explain more.
Suddenly I realized that
the music teacher of my daughter was in the adjacent room, a Kenyan
from that region. A rushed question into the music lesson – “Do you
know this village?” – brought a moment of hesitation. “No, I think
not.” But then the teacher remembered a friend who had once
mentioned that village.
A quick call on another
telephone, while I was calming the woman, gave us the new
information from the friend. On our large wall map, we quickly found
the village, close to the Ugandan border and we were then able to
identify the nearest airstrip.
My heart leaped. We had
not flown to that destination for years, but just the next day we
happened to be evacuating some people from that area – and there
would be space on the flight! This was more than coincidence.
While I quickly passed on
the details to the frightened woman, my heart was filled with a
silent prayer: “Thank you, Lord. You do care for your people and it
is an adventure to serve You!”
-end-
Media
Enquiries:
Claudia Van Riesen
Mission
Aviation Fellowship
519.821.3914
Click
HERE to make your Kenyan Evacuation
Relief Fund
gift using our 128-bit encrypted donation form right now.
GUELPH, Ontario : January 8, 2008
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), a Christian, non-profit
ministry that serves missions and isolated people around the world
with aviation, communications and learning technologies, continues
to answer the emergency call for evacuations and humanitarian help
in Kenya, Bernard Terlouw, the MAF country director there, said
today.
Kenya's continued struggle for democracy remains embroiled in
violence. Today, the opposition party called for a new presidential
election.
Many Kenyans have been forced to take refuge from the violent mobs,
and police in Nairobi have set up barricades and halted traffic.
Hundreds have died.
MAF planes may be small, but their response hasn't been, Terlouw
said.
MAF pilots have flown to various towns in western Kenya, such as Eldoret, Kisumu, Kitale and Homa Bay, to evacuate both Kenyans, who
have been threatened, as well as staff members from such
organizations as Scripture Mission, International Committee of the
Red Cross, the Navigators and Gospel Fire International, who were no
longer safe in their homes.
As time passed, the panic period eased as relief teams got
organized, Terlouw said.
The Electoral Commission of Kenya declared President Mwai Kibaki the
winner of the Dec. 27 vote, but opposition leader Raila Odinga
challenged the outcome, which was backed by international
observations.
The challenge led to violent protests, beatings, burnings and
stabbings. Much of the chaos has been worsened by blockades, which
resulted in a shortage of food and fuel. Well over 300 have died in
mob violence, although not all of it related to the political
situation.
Terlouw said the instability is being used by some in a similar way
to when the government collapsed in 1982. Looting and organized
crime have occurred in the general unrest. In addition, indications
are that some people may have been settling old scores as the
volatility spread.
MAF missionaries reserved no fuel for getting themselves out of the
country, Terlouw said.
"It is this stand that is our testimony of Christ's strength," he
said. "The message that Jesus gave was that you love people who do
not love you. We could fly out, we could just ignore the facts that
some people were confessing other faiths and that some people were
fighting with each other. We simply said, if you need evacuation,
because we're a Christian organization, come on board, and we will
help you."
A number of organizations are shifting focus from evacuation to an
emphasis on food and health interventions.
The MAF program in Kenya provides aviation services, with a fleet of
seven aircraft, as well as information technology and logistics to
serve Kenya, Sudan and Somalia.
Media
Enquiries:
Claudia Van Riesen
Mission
Aviation Fellowship
519.821.3914
Click
HERE to make your Kenyan Evacuation
Relief Fund
gift using our 128-bit encrypted donation form right now.
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