Update on Mungiki Protests

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A quick update on the Mungiki problem. Margaret said that the Mungiki protests have evolved into protests from college students who are infuriated over the police killings of innocent fellow students. It seems, though, that the situation has stayed under control for the most part, thank goodness, and Nairobi is peacefull overall. Here is a YouTube clip on the matter.

Mungiki and Violence in Kenya

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What is happening at Tenderfeet this week? As I often say, life in Kenya is very hard.

In this case, the school is being affected by events in Kenya related to a radical group called the Mungiki.

The Mungiki is an organization that strikes fear into the hearts of most Kenyan citizens. This secretive group resembles the mafia in some ways, in other ways it is like a cult. They are said to achieve their goals through violence, extortion, and death threats.

The Mungiki control all the matatus (public transportation vans) in Nairobi through intimidation. All drivers must pay protection money.

Mungiki members and supporters argue that they are misunderstood and that the government and police vilify them for political purposes.

The government is ultimately to blame for organizations like Mungiki being so strong. Because of corruption and lack of basic services, groups like the Mungiki step in to fill the void. For instance, in some of the worst slums like Mathare, there is no police presence to provide security.

When the Mungiki show that they can provide a form of security and social services (which they do), even with all their drawbacks, they gain credibility and power. This is similar to how Hamas gained power in Palestine and the Sadrists gained power in Iraq.

The best way for the Kenyan government to reduce the influence of the Mungiki would be to do a better job of bringing real security and social services to the slums.

The Mungiki is a Kikuyu group. There is no Mungiki presence in Kibera, because Kibera is dominated by the Luo and Luhya tribes, which are hostile to the Kikuyu tribe.

Recently, the police have been cracking down on the Mungiki. Unfortunately, the police operate in such a heavy-handed way, they end up causing a backlash. The brutal way the police violently hunt down the Mungiki cause even those who don't like the Mungiki to resent the police.

As a result, protests were organized throughout the city of Nairobi (see photo) and surrounding areas this past Thursday. Public transportation was paralyzed and roadblocks were set up throughout the city. Areas like Riruta (where Mama Margaret lives and Tenderfeet has a school location) were very much affected.

In fact, Margaret told me the whole area is closed down. Shopkeepers were too scared to open their businesses, and nobody could get anything done. Many of the schoolchildren didn't come to school, and life overall came to a grinding halt.

Meanwhile, it appears that some police gunned down some human-rights workers who were involved in the protests, only inflaming the situation more.

Please pray that the situation won't get out of hand like it did last year with the post-election riots. Kenyans have a saying, "when elephants fight, it is the grass that is trampled." In other words, when these political forces clash, it is the poor, the innocent, and especially the children who are the real victims.

We hope and pray that this episode will be resolved quickly and peacefully.

A Visit from Nish

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Nish Shah grew up in Kenya but now lives in London. He heard about Tenderfeet and wanted to come by the school during his visit to Kenya this February. Please see photo right with Nish standing next to Mama Margaret and Nish's brother kneeling with the kids.

Please note: I realized after I wrote this post, that Edwin also wrote a post on Nish's visit as well. You can find it here.

One of the big needs the kids have is school shoes. All kids are supposed to (according to the Ministry of Education) wear black leather shoes to school. Of course, this is is an absurd, ridiculous, and devastatingly harmful requirement on the part of the government, but that's the way things are in Kenya and it's a serious matter.

Do black leather shoes help children learn better than sandals or bare feet? Isn't that a silly question? In fact, many children wear school shoes that they have outgrown or don't fit so that they won't be kicked out of school. These kids with ill-fitting shoes are actually in pain during school, which is obviously detrimental to learning.

You can see that the government really is not looking out for the education of poor children at all and why Tenderfeet is important in filling the gap. The school shoes are not a gentle request by the Ministry of Education, but in fact the schools are expected to be very strict on the matter and most schools are strict or at least try to be. Tenderfeet is not strict about it, but gets in trouble when the Education representatives come by to check up on the school.

These school shoes usually cost around $10 for used ones (click here for a photo of Margaret buying some used shoes) and as much as $25 for new shoes. Most Tenderfeet children come from families that can't afford this -- remember many of these families make $30-$50 per month.

Before he visited Tenderfeet, Nish emailed me and said he wanted to help with some aspect of the uniforms; he said he might be able to get a good deal. With our Christmas Uniform Fund, we had started the purchase pants and sweaters for the kids (see photo here).

So when Nish arrived at Tenderfeet, he decided he wanted to help get new school shoes for all the Tenderfeet kids because that was the biggest need in terms of the school uniform.

Amazingly, he was able to purchase new school shoes for all 65 Tenderfeet children. Please see photos of Teacher Karen and Mama Margaret putting these shoes on the kids. You can't imagine what a relief it is and how proud the kids will be of these shoes.

Think back to one of your proudest days, when you got a new bike or you won a medal in a sports competition. Remember how you walked around feeling like you were on top of the world. That's how these children will feel in their new shoes. It's a big deal for them.

Nish also brought two big boxes of exercise books (see photo here of an exercise book), which puts the school in great shape with it's school supplies.

We are blessed to have friends and visitors like Nish who sacrifice their time and money to help the needy kids of Tenderfeet.

In other news, we are working to get Mercy Wanjiru into the Bensesa Primary school. It turns out she was unable to return to the public school she had been attending because she was so far behind in school fees. The school told her don't come back until you can pay, and there was no way her family could pay. So without intervention, her education would come to a dead stop after her seventh grade year.

On top of that, her father had a stroke and the family was served an eviction notice because they were far behind on their rent. Please understand the level of crisis in this family, it's unbelievable.

I'll write more about it soon, but when I say life in Kenya is very hard, think of Mercy's situation as a prime example.

Kenya Trip Slideshow, Part 3

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