From: David Zarembka

Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 3:39 AM

Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya #53--June 13.

 

Dear All,

 

Last Sunday was the day for the Kikuyu from the Turbo IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp to come to Lumakanda Friends Church. About 60 people came from the camp including 13 pastors of various denominations. With about the equivalent number of local people the church was quite full and the energy level was much higher than usual.

 

After the service some of the pastors wanted to meet with the people from the church. After the usual "thank-yous," they indicated that they wanted Friends' help in returning to their communities. The Government is planning on disbanding the Turbo camp and returning people to their homes. This may be done by setting up mini-camps in the various communities as the people rebuild their houses. The pastors stated that they didn't want to return with the guns of the police and army, but would prefer that the Friends escort them back without weapons and uniforms. As a pacifist I was very encouraged by this realization and request. Since the Friends Church Peace Team was already planning on doing this, I told them that I would bring it forward in the next meeting (which was scheduled for the next day).

 

On Monday five members of the Friends Church Peace Team (FCPT), who had been asked by the local District Officer in Mili Nne (near Eldoret) to accompany the returnees back to their homes, went to Eldoret for that purpose. Alas, this did not take place because the Red Cross said that a month's supply of food would be distributed to the IDP's on Wednesday and that they should wait to receive the distribution first and then return to Eldoret on Thursday. We appointed a team to return on Thursday, but I have not heard any report of what happened.

 

Success leads to new issues. At the church service in Lumakanda Church, one of the IDP pastors announced that five people from the IDP camp had applied to Friends Theological College as students for the next school year and that they would be interviewed in the coming week. Friends Theological College now has course work on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution. We also just did an AVP Training for Facilitators workshop for fifteen students from the College and hope that they will soon be conducting AVP workshops in Friends Churches. But the more difficult issue was the offer of two acres in Sugoi to build a Friends Church. We discussed this at length at the FCPT's counselors training at Lubao on Monday and Tuesday. The Peace Team is supposed to be neutral and if we planted the church in Sugoi, it would look like we were evangelizing instead of doing reconciliation. Note that at Takatifu Gardens, where we have been doing a lot of AVP workshops, the local Catholic priest was bri  nging 20 people for an AVP workshop but cancelled it instead because he thought that we were trying to convert their people to Quakerism. If people feel this way then the Peace Team would lose its credibility. After much discussion it was determined that Lugari Yearly Meeting (which included the area of Sugoi) would work on the development of this church, while the FCPT would continue with its reconciliation work.

 

Alas tomorrow Gladys and I will be leaving Lumakanda on our way to the United States. Our first speaking engagement will be in Nairobi where we will speak at Friends International Centre, Ngong Road, about the reconciliation work here in western Kenya.

 

We will return via Burundi, Rwanda, and North Kivu (Congo) where we will see the AGLI programs and the results of this summer's AGLI workcamps. I'll send you reports from these countries when I get a chance, but I can only send you reports about Kenya if I receive information from Kenya while I am away. In one sense I am sorry that I am leaving since there are likely to be many developments in reconciliation while we are away. We will also continue holding many AVP workshops with youth, including a number in the Lugari area connected with the people returning from the IDP camp, and we will start the first practice Healing and Rebuilding Our Community (HROC) workshops with two lead facilitators from Rwanda.

 

 

 

Peace,

 

Dave

 

 

 

Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:56:01 +0300

Subject: AGLI--Report from Kenya--June 18

From: David Zarembka <davidzarembka@juno.com>

 

 

Dear All,

 

I am in the United States, but I received this update from John Muhanji, Director of  African Ministries for Friends United Meeting (FUM). He is based in Kisumu, in western Kenya. I have edited and shortened his report a little, but as usual without changing the content and message.

 

Peace,

Dave

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

 

Dear Friends,

 

After have a very successful mission to Uganda [for Friends United Meeting--FUM], I received a telephone call from the [Turbo] District Commissioner (DC) at mid-night on Sunday asking me to join them get the IDPs from the Eldoret show ground to their  homes. The DC told me that he had been to the camp and the IDPs were hostile to him because he has not been with them at all. The IDPs told the DC the only people they know who have been very helpful in ensuring that they resettle to their homes are the District Officer (DO) and the Friends Church. He was given my number by the DO and the IDPs would like to meet me from the Friends church and the DO on Monday morning. I was very tired and I needed a rest after a long week full of activities. I tried to give excuses not to go or sent someone else, but the DC said, "You have done a lot for these people and I believe you are the only person who could make this day a success. I accepted reluctantly but at the same time I asked God to give me energy and wisdom on how to deal with the situation.

 

I left very early in the morning on Monday 16th for Eldoret show grounds. I met the DO and DC waiting for me. We went to the camp and met with the people and when I talked and prayed for them, they willingly went and started pulling down their tents ready to leave to their new station closer to their houses which had been destroyed. Lorries (trucks) were provided which carried them to the place. As they were pulling down their tents, we went to see the place where they were relocating. We found that there were no rest rooms and water nearby for the people as they move there. At this time the DC had left us with the DO. We called the DC and asked him to provide funds for the toilets and water, but he never came to us again. Time was moving and nothing was taking place, I felt frustrated and I called Eden [Eden Grace from FUM's Kisumu office] and asked her to send me Kshs.40,000 [$667] to use for the process. Eden responded very fast, and I started rolling things in action. The toilets were put in place, water was also connected after buying pipes that pulled water which was 200 meters from the location. I also provided food to those people who worked on it. I also enable the connection of electricity from a nearby hospital which provided light for security. I got a wire that was also 200 metres and its accessories. It was as if I had calculated the exact amount that was required for the work available. I left the camp at 8.45 PM when the camp was having water, rest rooms and lights in a very short time. The IDPs and the DO felt encouraged and supported and the people felt that indeed the Friends Church is a true peace church that cares for the people. They commented that we have been very helpful in the process and they have seen that we are the only church that has not taken the process for granted but as a duty. They saw integrity in us and wished this church could stay with them all the time. I also used the same money to buy fuel for a government vehicle the DO was using when it ran out of fuel and were using it to carry logs and other things. They could not get the money from the DC to do anything. I felt encouraged and energised to see that we could offer a new life of hope to people who have been feeling hopeless.

 

I slept in Eldoret unexpected because I came knowing that I will be going back to Kisumu. The following day we went to the show ground to see those IDPs from the same place who had remained. As I arrived in the camp and went round the makeshift tents, all those who had remained came out and started pulling down their tents in readiness to join their counterparts who had left the previous day. Since everything was already in place I blessed them and asked them to move in peace to the new place. At this time I was needed for another meeting in Kisumu at 2.00pm. I left Eldoret at 11.45am and I was in Kisumu for the other meeting.

 

The program which the Friends Church Peace team has been doing has caused a big impact to both the communities of the Kalenjin and Kikuyus. These communities had no clue before that the Friends Church had such values in peace and reconciliation. The DO continued to say, If it was not the Friends Church which I have hidden in their wings, I would not have penetrated or made any progress in resettlement of the IDPs."

 

Friends, your prayers and support has been seen and heard and we encourage that we continue with the same spirit of support. There is a lot of responsibilities remaining to ensure that we continue with bonding relationship activities between the communities. The resettlement continues this week and next week.

 

God bless you friends.

John Muhanji

Director, Africa Ministries Office

P. O. Box 478, Kisumu. Kenya

 

 

 

Dear All,

Here is another wonderful report from Adrien. I had to delete the pictures since they were too big for the FPT listserve.

Peace,

Dave

 

*RYARUNYINYA HROC WORKSHOP*

 

Ryarunyinya community, locality of Ruhororo Commune in Ngozi Province (northern Burundi), has been selected to host the next HROC workshops in Rohororo. It is still apparent that Ryarunyina has been affected by the civil war that occurred in Burundi for more than 10 years since 1993 as many other numerous places in Burundi; the Mubanga Internal Displaced People Camp , which is still holding the Tutsi for they do not feel safe enough to go back home, is one of the indicators. Despite that, life seems to have started to become enjoyable though the last agricultural season has not given good harvest to folks, who most of them do depend on it for their daily life.

 

 

On our way to Nyarunyinya, the team has to pass by the other sites, which were going to hold workshops in parallel, so that we deliver them needed materials. At this time of the year, we would not expect to have much rain. But, it did heavily rain the day of our travel. Trying to connect with Rurengera (located in Mutaho Commune: central Burundi), our small car slide and we got stuck in the mud for more than 2 hours. No injury, no damage! Hopeless while looking at the shape of the road we had taken, we felt miserable! I have never been in that part and could not expect any body that would know me. Thirty minutes under the rain, trying to get the car out of the mud, it is then that two men passed by.

They asked us if we would pay them to come and give a help. That was too ‘gloomy’ to hear from a Burundian. Normally, when a person is in a situation of need, the one who sees him or her just comes in and helps.

At the end the helped person has to thank the helper. I remember several times, on my way from school, I helped elderly mums to carry their fire wood, water buckets, for long distance. I still value the special thanks I got from them; hugs, blessings, best wishes for future life, and time to time a piece of cassava (manioc) probably from the provision for their evening meal. Well, I know that “GOODNESS IS NOT A DEBT”, so I should not expect to be given similar treatment as a return back!

However, our time was going to come. Two guys on bicycles recognized me though I was so wet and covered with mud. They stopped, greeted me warmly. They then parked their bikes and asked what they could do to help. We told them that they should try to lift the car from the mud.

They then convinced the other guys who had been asking for pay. What a group! The school children who were coming from school by that time joined in pulling up the car and in few minutes, we were out of the mud, happy and very excited. So, who were the two men? No else than two extraordinary men who attended one of our first HROC workshops in Mutaho. Once they saw me, they shouted ‘oh, it is Adrian, it is Adrian from HROC!’ They told the other guys that they should not ask us for money in order to help pulling out the car. Rather, they should thank us for having brought HROC to Mutaho. It flashed in my head that one of the two had had serious PTSD and was struggling to overcome it at the time of that HROC workshop. Now, he was so much healthy, energetic, smiling… He had totally changed. What a wonderful time for me to see him again?

Well, before we backed up and get on road again, I hugged some of the folks there and thanked them for the help, gave “a five” to some of the school children. We were able to deliver the materials for the other workshop though it was too late in the night. We reached Ryarunyinya around 8h00 pm. During our night driving, though shivering in my wet cloths, my heart was so warm for, after 5 years, people are stilling valuing what HROC did to them and would wish others to go through the same experience. Let’s hope that we will have time to go back to Mutaho and meet with some of those people so that they may tell more about what they gained from HROC. It would be great to meet again with my friend!

 

 

Any way, the workshop in Ryarunyinya was not going to be less important.

I was astonished by how people found HROC as an appropriate way to get to real reconciliation.

 

    *

 

      There is nothing to hide. I lost many of my relatives in this war.

      Slowly, looking at how our community was in trouble I felt that I

      would need to get involved in bringing back good understanding

      between Hutu and Tutsi. I attended many reconciliation seminars

      and so on. It did help me a lot as I reached a point I could meet

      with the killer and give forgiveness. Still, I could not get out

      the bitterness in me. It is now that I understand. There are many

      of the trauma symptoms that I have been experiencing. As I learned

      what to do in times of grief, it will help me to complete my

      healing and better serve my community.

 

    *

 

      I am a local leader in the community. I had never though that bad

      listening would worsen the situation. You know, as leaders we use

      our power to fix things. I will tell my colleagues that listening

      is very important. It is a tremendous tool in helping people.

 

    *

 

      I was still young when the war occurred in my community. From what

      happened to me and my relatives, I had made one decision: to

      revenge. It is now that I have discovered I would be planting the

      tree of mistrust. I have been so much helped by this workshop that

      I need you to come back so that I can share what will be my life

      after the workshop. I want to give thanks to God for the time

      spent here.

 

 

It is incredible to find how time has been helping reconciliation and healing among people. This woman’s story is a good example. Many of these people in the workshop know how my child was grabbed by force from my arms and got chopped in front of me; to say that I know who did kill him that badly, she stated. Frankly, it was so painful and very difficult to deal with in the first years. The man who killed my child fled to Tanzania for years and came back with his family some years ago.

Since he is back, I would meet him on the way to my fields. The first days, he would then return back and take another path. Days went on and, neither his wife, neither his children nor he could greet me. I started wondering if that man had told his family not to talk to me or some thing of the like. The more I crossed the man, the more I felt pitiful for him. I noticed that I had got time to heal the wound from my child’s death but his wound from killing my child was still bleeding. I then told him one day: “How do you get away from me that way? Greet me; I am still your neighbor”. Frankly, I do not plan to take him to court as I let him know; I would love to see us living back together. I see HROC being the appropriate way to undergo. I am glad now that his family says back hello to me when I go to my fields. Still, I would want to be with that man. He needs healing too!

 

 

Hope that we will be able to accompany such folks in their healing journeys.

 

 

Adrien.

 

 

 

 

 

 

-- John Muhanji