from cambridge

Bronwen emailed me the the next few blogs which she wrote a week or so ago. The Nakuru cyber cafe was connecting to email but not the blog website today.

How the events have affected me

The first time that it really hit me the seriousness of the events was when my closest friend Nyox’s uncle was murdered. before that it had been kinda fun and exciting going around in the landcruser rescuing people and giving out food etc. even when we rescued someone who was about to be forcefully circumcised in the street it didn’t hit me properly. there were fires and people fighting but I was not really involved emotionally but when one of your friends loses someone…after that it hit me that people I actually know are affected.

I have been very pleased to see that my mum has loaded some photos for me! these are from quite some time back but nonetheless good to see!

as you have red from my mum’s post I had to flee from Egerton and am now safe in Nakuru, here are posts that I wrote earlier and had saved into a pendisk to go to a cyber with later. there was a computer at the school, YASHA where I was working last week, I was actually, (shock horror to those who know me well) TEACHING computer classes! and art which is not so surprising. but now at the red cross I have found a moment between work to connect to the internet through their special card thing (it is expensive though which is why I cannot send individual emails!)

so now, back at the red cross… I came pretty much in a state of shock on Saturday, from Egerton when we had come with the police escort, on the road there was no-one, just some burnt vehicles. then when we reached town the streets were lined with people sitting on their belongings, homeless. I was scared. I had wanted to come back to Red Cross but not like that! when we saw the house burning we were all just outside looking at the flames, hearing the wails and gunshots and sirens. the next day we went to see the sight, no one was hurt but nothing was left. Those people now have to relocate. so back at red cross I am now kinda an IDP myself, have been staying at various other volunteers places, Scovia who I was staying with before has gone to work I Eldoret, Winnies place has been unsafe as has Janice’s. Most people are hosting many other volunteers or family members, we all pull together at Red Cross, it is a great community. Today I am working in the office but for the rest of the week I have been back at the showground, one of now three camps operating under Nakuru branch red cross, things there are not as they wee before. we now have around 6000+ IDPs but it is hard to manage, they are being given only one meal per day- there is some problem as there is enough food but it seems no way of cooking efficiently for so many people. I was issuing gate passes but then found people walking willy nilly in and out. It is frustrating. the president was meant to be coming yesterday but then one of the leading opposition leaders was murdered in Nairobi leading to complete chaos. here in town things seem fairly stable, we can walk around again but there is still a curfew 6pm-6pm and many people out guarding their houses with bangas (big knives) even one of my friends Mash has been out in the night with the other men of their estate ‘providing security’, I wonder what good it is but then what do you do if all your neibours are out? Say no I won’t protect the women and children? so I understand why he is out. People are advised not to travel and if they do it is with a police escort. I would not go anywhere no my own at the moment. We wonder when all of this will be over. I was disappointed to hear Annan the mediator say that he hopes in the next year things will be sorted! A YEAR! That is too long but then look at the destruction…

Things turn bad…

Today, Friday the 25th of jan, I was intending to go back to Nakuru to work for Red Cross some more over the weekend and catch up with my friends there but the place is completely blocked off. People were killed overnight and the road was blocked from morning. Now there is a total ban of people moving in or out from any sides til 7 am tomorrow. I have heard from my friend Charles who is still working in the store at the showground that in the last 36 hours the number of displaced people staying there has risen from 4000 to 6000. and at the time of texting he could see a truckload of 100 approaching. And today was meant to be the last day of the showground hosting people! So much for that government initiative! Dispite the promising first talks between Kibaki and Raila last night things have really gone down hill. It is so frustrating and had really been breaking me to pieces today, watching all the events on the TV and being entirely helpless. I cannot go anywhere or do anything to help the situation. We are shut in, most evenings there are gunshots. School is down to half days so that people can get home early enough. Some of the teachers are camped out in the university, others have to flee to the fields and sleep outside. Half the kids don’t turn up. Yesterday the plot two along from the school was burning as early as 2pm, it has never been that early.

My 19th

That was really a great day, the night before I went back to Egerton and had a feast prepared for me by the Venter family, then a relaxing bath in how water with candles followed by timothy massaging my feet and Joy brushing my hair. Then in the morning we had cake at the school with all the teachers singing to me. After that I headed back to town with Moki to the showground, she was to come and volunteer too, where I got called to an emergency out in Rondi, a truck of refugees turned over by the side of the road. We had no means to get there so four of us red cross guys piles into a private car and sped it there in time to did first aid on the victims and help them pile their things into another vehicle. What shocked me most was counting the number of vehicles going the other direction, towards the showground. In one hour I counted 25, each holding up to 60 people. Bear in mind some of the would just be stopping for some food then move on but even still. That is a lot of people.

In the evening when we got back to the red cross branch, I of course told everyone that it was my birthday, in Kenya this is ‘bathday’ so everyone, mainly my male friends it has to be said, chased me around the compound with buckets of water! It was a good laugh and didn’t matter about getting wet as the weather was good. Even so I did not fancy walking back (yes it is safe to walk before dark again) in the wet clothes so made one of them fetch me some to borrow from the donations (I gave them back the next day) but the ones that my friend Tony selected (the main culprit in the wetting affair) made me look what Botto the driver described as a Chocho! (a grandma!) then to top off the day I got a phone call from my mother (still a novelty) and one from my friend Lucy in England – the first time that I spoke to a friend from back home in over 4 months! It was greta to chat.

The showground

This is where the IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) have been placed. The majority are Kikuyus from Eldoret and the Black forest where they were chased away from their homes in fear of being murdered or having their homes burnt down. Many have lost relatives and are suffering illness and of course large amounts of trauma. These people arfe all displaced due to the post election violence. I was there, the previous week, as the first truckload came in, 60 or so people with all their belongings thinking, wow, what are we going to do with these people? By the 6th the place had estimated at around 150,000. People just kept piling in with as much as they could carry with them, you could tell they did not intend to go back. To leave your home and travel miles in a crammed lorry sitting precariously on top of your belongings holding your babies- what you were leaving behind must have been bad. The situation just grew to extents that no-one predicted, the sanitation, food everything had to be sorted at extremely short notice. It was somewhat like a festival, minus the bands and with no structure, who has a structure for a mass migration like that!? Us red crossers were running around doing all sorts gradually as the days progressed getting into the swing of it, but the first days, they were chaos. But equally people were leaving to new places, to friends, to family, wherever they could go. The situation was all over the news, reporters everywhere getting the story, (I even got myself on the ABC- Australian news and was seen by my granny!).

So shelter had to be sorted, to start with they were just in the showground arena on the grass, there was a room set aside for kids and mothers with babies but that was it. Then food, a committee was set up to cook for everybody. Then a medical station- luckily the showground is right next to PGH so over came all the councilors that I used to work with back in the Youth Centre along with their medicines and the student doctors- one of my days was spent in their room sorting out the tablets into envelopes- we were using old drink bottles for the syrups, that is how primitive it was. We also had our packs on and were giving out first aid. Then there had to be people to receive and register the IDPs, people to receive the donations, people to organize tracing- linking up people with lost relatives, security, night team, store team…

Before I had malaria I was in the store, somewhat cooler than in the sun sorting out the enormous pile of clothes into men’s, women’s and children’s!- I lasted roughly 2 hours of that before I was in a state of feeling faint! There I was working alongside two guys called Charles, one called Mash and our coordinator called Ron, then outside of it we had people recording the donations and others carrying them to us, it was important to keep the IDPs well away from the door and also the donators as the space was small and the IDPs might take things. We had to supply ALL requests for any type of donated item then record where it went. This was difficult for several reasons, 1, because the space we were operating in was small, smaller than out kitchen at home!(but with a bigger ceiling), 2, because SO many people came at the same time, 3, things kept getting lost under each other, 4, pens were scarce, 5, how to know who was genuine and who was just taking items- we had reports of people taking items in bulk from the store under the claim that they were going to distribute them out to the field then finding them leaving and selling them. So I was given the responsibility over the sanitary towel, toothpaste, soap, toilet paper, Vaseline distribution for the whole place to try and gain some coordination. This was difficult, to keep up with demand and to make sure that the items went to the IDPs not to people who might sell them. But I really enjoyed it, a chance for responsibility and to get to know some new people. The group in charge of the babies were fantastic, Farooq was catering for the needs of over 500 Babies, I felt privileged to be able to help these people.

A great highlight for me was WHEN I MET A REPORTER FROM ABC (AUSTRALIAN NEWS) WHO INTERVIEWED ME!!! And my granny and grandpa saw it!! International star or what.

Now, actually a week after I started writing this blog, the showground is still runnin with 4000 pople camed there, but now they are in tents for each family and the people running it are greatly reduced so as to get rid of the problems. The government wants the people to move on but where to? Their families and friends have also fled, they have no money to get anywhere. I dont know what will happen.

photos

Here is a photo of Bronwen with Timothy Ventner she sent us by CD. Plus two at NNH one showing the building and the other with Sipora who has just been released. The last is of Bronwen at Lake Nakuru taken back in September.

latest update - from cambridge

Once again Bronwen is finding it difficult to get on the net and give you more news so she has asked me to give my version of the latest.
She is now fully recovered from Malaria and had a good weekend in Nairobi with Scovia and Nyox and saw Lucy from Cambridge who flew in prior to an organised trip. The two girls will be travelling togther later. Bronwen has since then written a large chunk of blogs to tell you what went on over new year but the internet access at Yasha school has not been working well and the last 48 hours have been quite frightening.
Late Friday night - as I was talking to her on the phone- gunshots could be heard. The school has Kalenjin on one side and Kikuyu on the other fighting back and forth in the area. A little later they could see the neighboring houses about 500m away up in flames. They could hear screams and sirens and a huge fire rising in the sky. The children at Yasha were very frightened and the adults too. No-one slept properly. Next morning a decision was made to leave. The school may be the next target as the land is rented from a Kikuyu man and so the other groups will burn it down to get at him, not to get at the Ventners or the school kids - they are just in the wrong place. The school wil remain closed for at least a week. It was only half open last week anyway as many parents wanted to keep children home in case of a sudden need to flee.
'Everyone' packed a small bag - including Bronwen, and squeezed into the Ventner car to attempt to get to safety. By 'everyone' I mean the Venters and various children with no relatives nearby. The staff and other local school families who have been sheltering in the school area have nowhere else to go and so will stay and run into the forest if necessary. So Bronwen and the others are in a car trying to get to Nakuru - which has been closed to outsiders for the last few days. Armed men refusing entry on Friday when Lydia wanted to go to the dentist and Bronwen was trying to return to the red cross! Luckily they found a vehicle carrying wounded to hospital - accompanied by army conscripts waving guns. They were given permission to follow for a while. Then everything stopped and the soldiers came over - they held the gun close to the car and said that the 'family' could only follow on payment of a charge - Lydia handed over the cash (gb£7) willingly - Wilco through gritted teeth- and were allowed to continue. The armed youths at Nakuru let the convoy, which had by now acquired a police escort, through at last and they were able to go through the town safely. In town Bronwen could go to the bank and withdraw money donated to Yasha from the church and collected at my annual teaparty and a little extra so that if her card gets lost or stolen Lydia will be able to 'post' her some. She could also buy more phone credit so we are back in touch. Bronwen is now back under the safety umbrella of the Red Cross and very grateful for it. She says there is a real difference when you are out 'in the bush' and on your own compared to the protection of being in an organisation. After a period of the Red Cross camps winding down they have gone up to three camps being run from their centre and another in Naivasha opened after the trouble there today.
Lydia and Wilco got through to Nairobi and dropped off the children with relatives there. They have gone on with the adopted children to Garissa which is south of Nairobi and is more stable at the moment.

I ask you all to think of her and those of you who can , to pray for her continued safety. It may be some time before she gets on to the web so please be patient for news.

good news

SIPORA IS OUT OF NAKURU NURSING HOME! I am so pleased; this is the patient that I am sure I have mentioned who has been on the ward for 8 months purely because she cannot pay the bill. I did not ask too carefully who backed down, the matron, or did she produce cash as I thought it was irrelevant, she is out!

malaria...

Right now I am just recovering from a rather bad bout of malaria, something I NEVER want to have to experience again. On Sunday I felt that I had a stomachache, but left for Egerton (at long last I am actually going back to YASHA!). In the night it still hurt and I had very bad diarrhea so in the morning told Lydia that I didn’t think that I was well enough to go to school for the first day, in the process I blacked out on the floor, something that I have never done before, it felt bizarre, one minute I was feeling dizzy leaning against the wall willing the pain to go away, the next I woke up with Lydia worriedly saying “Bee! Bee!” so I stayed on timothy’s bed, suitably near the bathroom, while the others went to school. Lying still pretending to be asleep seemed to be ok but as soon as I stood up I felt dizzy and the headache started again.
Wilco came back to check at 10, I did not want to move at all, then he came back at 2, I had not eaten anything and still did not want to move but Wilco insisted that we should go to the clinic as he suspected that I had food poisoning like last time and some simple drugs would sort it out in a couple of hours (this had been true on the 27th when I was ill). So off we went bumping along in the Landover me in my pajamas still feeling sicker with every pothole, to the clinic in Egerton, I explained the case and some drugs were prescribed but as they were handing them over and I was complaining that I really just wanted to lie down, I found myself being carried to a bed. AGAIN I had blacked out. I was lying closing my eyes ignoring everything even the drugs that were thrust at me hoping that the whole thing would go away. But it didn’t. The doctor made me have the drugs and said it would be best if I went to a hospital where I could have a test for malaria. Personally I just wanted to go back to the Venter’s (Lydias and Wilco’s) and sleep, or pretend to at least. But he insisted so we went back to the house and, held by Wilco who was pretty worried I might collapse again, grabbed a few clothes and my phone. Off we went to Egerton hospital, poor excuse for a hospital as after making me WALK to the reception, THEN to the doctor’s surgery, not close places, he told me that they do not have the appropriate testing equipment or strong enough drugs! So off we go again, this time to town, me feeling sicker and sicker, not talking just wanting to lie down. Eventually we get to Nakuru Nursing Home (where I used to work for anyone who has forgotten) and I ask Wilco to get then to bring out a stretcher as I do not want to walk in then be made to sit and wait etc. I know that if you are on a stretcher they are much quicker at attending to you. Jane and Susan, two of my friends who work on the reception came out with a wheel chair looking suitably distressed. I have come in sick before (urine infection once, bicycle accident the other) but not this pale and ill.
They took me to the sisters’ office where I plonked myself on the bed, then, as Wilco revealed quite comically later, refused to move insisting that they move me on that, bear in mind this bed had wheels but it was not a stretcher bed but a normal one! There was no way that it was going to get through the door and around the corridors! So the wheelchair again, heading upstairs to a private room (ie has own toilet- kinda a must when one is nauseous and has diarrhea) and got straight in. immediately they put me on a drip to get back some of the fluids that I had been loosing rapidly and gave me the first anti malarials.
I had three strong doses of quinine through my hand into the blood, dripping painfully slowly into my blood over three days and periodical injections in my ass, both cheeks so that both sides hurt, great, then also a grand concoction of tablets. I was seen almost straight away by Dr Miner, the matrons son, not the one who’s wedding I attended but one that I have worked alongside in NNH and also at PGH which was pretty comforting.
The pain was horrible, for the first day, Tuesday, I was very weak, only walking as far as the toilet, the quinine gave me a very bad headache and loud ringing in my ears so that it was hard to hear plus also rather dizzy.
My friends were great, of course the ones from NNH came, but also almost straight away the Red cross friends also came, ones I knew well and those that I didn’t, I also received calls from friends from church. So I felt very lucky! Also not to be in PGH where I am sure that I would have come oput more ill than before. I also appreciate the fact that I can just go back to my bank account and know that there is something there to pay with.
So after two nights admitted I am out and on medication under strict instructions to REST! As the doctors know me well and know that unless instructed not to I would have the tendency to get straight back to work. Am feeling much better just tired.

Bronwen safe - message from Cambridge

Bronwen has asked us to post a short message to say that she is safe and well. At the moment it is difficult for her to go to the internet cafe to update her blog herself.
The post election unrest did not affect Nakuru as badly as some other areas and things are now much more normal. She has continued to work for the Red Cross and is staying with some of the volunteers. She has been doing first aid work at the hospital and also helping distribute food to displaced people (Kikuyu) from Eldoret and Kisumu who are at the sports arenas. Road traffic is very chaotic at times with lorries full of people and there are many accidents. She may return to Yasha School next week when schools open and hopefully the crisis will have lessened.
Today is her birthday - she enjoyed cake this morning at Yasha and then had a good day at the Red Cross.