Report from Judi Smith

January 25, 2008

Dear Friends, Family and Watoto Volunteers,

First, I want to thank all of you for the prayers and concern that many of you have expressed for the projects and the people that I have come to love in Kenya. It is heart breaking for me to see Kenya, the peaceful, democratic center of East Africa, torn to bits by chaos. It was worse still to preserve without being able to maintain contact with anyone and know the condition of my friends for days, as the government had shut down all internet and phone communications.

I now know much more about the conditions in Kenya and can give you a little more information about how you can help.

What We Know:
We know that our Kenya based Advisory Council members have located and met with twenty-five of the thirty-five Mamas that we are working with in Kibera (a large slum in Nairobi). Five of these women and their families have had their homes burned to the ground and all 25 are currently living in a downtown Nairobi park or with friends and relatives. Their most immediate need is food, water and shelter. Our Board, in an emergency meeting last week, approved an immediate $800.00 transfer of funds to our Kenyan bank account for emergency assistance, both in Kibera and in our rural location in Kisayani. We anticipate that this expenditure will provide basic necessities for the next two weeks and then we will need to rely on new efforts to assist them. The building we had purchased in Kibera to double as our school for orphans and center for production and distribution of our micro-finance projects (making beautiful baskets, dolls and scarves) narrowly missed the arson's hand when our brave Chairlady, Mama Jemima, reasoned with the rioters to save our building. She then camped out for four days and nights in our building with rioting all around her in order to make sure our center was safe.

One of Watoto's founding members, Geoffrey Bunyoli, sustained especially devastating news of his sister, Elizabeth. She is a recent widow and had gone to town to settle some of her husband's affairs when the chaos broke out. She took refuge with other women and children in a church in the village of Eldoret. You may recall this incident from some of our news reports. This is the church that was burned to the ground with women and children inside. Elizabeth was on the grounds but not inside the building at the time, so she survived. Having sustained a serious head injury, she cannot speak and is relying on relatives to care for her children.

Our project in Kisayani appears to have weathered the unrest with no undue harm to our Mamas and children. I am so grateful to you for your prayers for them. They continue with their poultry project, the mango and banana grove maintenance and construction of the orphanage.

What Is It All About?
The current violence in Kenya is especially disturbing because for years Kenya has been the most stable model of democracy in Africa. The President of Kenya, President Kibaki, had come into power under the platform of change; specifically, that he would stay in office for only one term with the primary purpose being to re-write the Kenyan Constitution. However, once he got into power, he liked it and decided to run again. The Constitution was never changed as he had promised and Kenyans felt that they had been betrayed. So the vote in December for a new President was an opportunity for people to rectify the situation by installing a new President who would listen to the people. That candidate was Odinga who currently represents the district in which Kibera falls. Thus, when the election results were tallied and Kibaki was reported to be the winner, there were widespread accusations of fraud and abuse and that's when the rioting broke out. And it broke out initially, in Kibera where we have our Center and quickly spread across the country to the coast and Western Kenya. Attempts at talks between the two candidates have broken down. President Kibaki has rejected an offer of Koffee Annan, the former Secretary General of the United Nations, to mediate the situation. That is the situation as we know it to date.

Our Board is closely watching these events to determine if we will be able to continue to plan for our volunteer trip to Kenya in August. My heart is eager to go…as I know the need is so great right now due to the lack of nutrition, safe drinking water, medicine and already weakened immune systems. We remain vigilant in monitoring this situation on a daily basis.

What Do My Kenyan Friends Say?
I rely on e-mail messages from three of our most trusted volunteers on the ground in Kenya: Godrick Mwachofi, Benjamin Murethi and Christopher Dondo. These are their own words:

"Kenyans were yearning for change…for betterment of their lives; for change in the gap between the rich and the poor; change for more youthful leaders; change of values; and a change toward the will of the people. The realities of violence are now here with us and we ask for strength and courage to overcome the situation. I believe everything happens for a reason and maybe it was a revelation to us Kenyans that we should bury our tribal hate and live as brothers and sisters. The violence has affected everyone and no one claims victory. Our unity is our strength and our African spirit of brother and sisterhood beats the tribal enemy. The spirit of sharing has to be strengthened."

"Kibera now looks like a flat area; unbelievable! We are currently working to trace each and every child and Mama and assess their situation. Only the strong are getting food from the Red Cross and NGO's who are distributing food in the parks. Kibera is still a "no-go zone", especially for non-residents. The are cut off from the rest of the world; many have lost hope in the struggle between haves and have-nots. The impact of the violence has reduced the Mamas to live only on hand-outs. They are always running up and down looking for food. We sleep hungry tonight; everyone is scared of one another. Am afraid that Kenya is falling apart but I hope I am wrong. They have robbed me of my only right….the vote. How do we enhance democracy? By keeping quiet? By demonstrating? By violence? By sacrifice? Kenya is bleeding. I feel like I can go mad. Please pray for us, tat together we can bring a smile to life again."

What we do not know:
We don't know the status of many of the children that we sponsor in the slum and are waiting for a fuller report. We do not know the fate of 10 of our Mamas and their families.

What You Can Do Right Now:
We are not really clear how much money is needed in Kibera to repair damage to the building there because we do not have full reports of the extent of the damage. But we are asking for donations to help with immediate food, medicine and shelter needs. We are also fundraising for Elizabeth's hospital fees. If political talks continue to deteriorate and we need to assist in permanent relocation efforts for our families, we will utilize donations for that as well. That will be a major effort because the 35 Mamas all have large families.

You can help tremendously by taking the time to e-mail or snail mail this letter to any of your friends or group lists who may want to know first hand how they can help with the violence in Kenya.

I will keep you updated as I know more. If you are moved to action and want to help in this effort, you may direct your giving via a check to Watoto wa Dunia at P.O.Box 11622, Portland, Or. 97220. No gift is too small. Last week, Mrs. Ward's third grade class collected $4.60 from a penny drive and it felt like a royalty check. All of our work is done by volunteers with no paid staff, so you can be assured that 100% of your donation will go directly to our Mamas and the re-building of our projects. My contact information is:

Judi Smith
Portland, Or.
503-254-8463
Judi.A.Smith1@comcast.net

I am indebted to you for your prayers and concern.

The Portland Area Global AIDS Coalition is an alliance of local organizations and individuals, united on behalf of the millions impacted by the global AIDS pandemic. The PAGAC seeks to strengthen the work of its members through the sharing of ideas and resources, to engage the local community in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and to advocate for policies that respond to the needs of those affected, both locally and globally.

Facts:
4.3 million people were infected with HIV in 2006-the highest ever in one year.

Every 15 seconds, AIDS kills a mommy or daddy.

2.3 million children are infected with HIV/AIDS.