| From the Desk of Michael Schneiders |
A Tense Peace in Kenya
May 20, 2009
Welcome! This is my first blog at khopeinterational.org I would encourage you to
check out our website and contact us if you have any questions.
It’s been about a year now that the tribal members of the Luo and Kikuyu have put
down their machetes and that the Kenya government modified their constitution to
essentially declare co-presidents. Ralia Odinga and Mwai Kibaki. This was in
response to wide spread cheating by both sides in Kenya’s national elections in
2007.
Father Pat Stephenson and I arrived in Nairobi in January of 2008 in the middle of a
military lock down and violence throughout the country. When it was all said and
done 1000 Kenyans were killed and another 600,000 were left homeless. Although
peace has been restored to the country, Kenya is far from stable. What was a
country that was building its economy and rebuilding its infrastructure has
experienced an increase in poverty, crime and unemployment.
The biggest challenge facing Kenya’s poor is the cost of food. Since the violence
last year, food prices have doubled creating widespread hunger and malnutrition.
This was a problem throughout the country before the bloodshed but it has become
an even larger problem as families who were just able to purchase enough food for
their children are now going hungry.
Sister Christine Munguti, who is the headmaster of our school in Karen, Kenya, has
estimated that the food costs at the school have more than doubled. She says
“There were government programs where once a month we could get free food, but
because of the election violence, there are still so many homeless that the free food
is no longer available to schools like ours.”
This could have devastating effects on our ability to keep the school open. If we
cannot nourish the girls then we cannot educate them.
If you would like to donate to the school or to any of KHOPE’s programs, please
click here.
If you would like to respond to this blog please click here.
Thank you and check back in a couple of weeks.
Michael
May 20, 2009
Welcome! This is my first blog at khopeinterational.org I would encourage you to
check out our website and contact us if you have any questions.
It’s been about a year now that the tribal members of the Luo and Kikuyu have put
down their machetes and that the Kenya government modified their constitution to
essentially declare co-presidents. Ralia Odinga and Mwai Kibaki. This was in
response to wide spread cheating by both sides in Kenya’s national elections in
2007.
Father Pat Stephenson and I arrived in Nairobi in January of 2008 in the middle of a
military lock down and violence throughout the country. When it was all said and
done 1000 Kenyans were killed and another 600,000 were left homeless. Although
peace has been restored to the country, Kenya is far from stable. What was a
country that was building its economy and rebuilding its infrastructure has
experienced an increase in poverty, crime and unemployment.
The biggest challenge facing Kenya’s poor is the cost of food. Since the violence
last year, food prices have doubled creating widespread hunger and malnutrition.
This was a problem throughout the country before the bloodshed but it has become
an even larger problem as families who were just able to purchase enough food for
their children are now going hungry.
Sister Christine Munguti, who is the headmaster of our school in Karen, Kenya, has
estimated that the food costs at the school have more than doubled. She says
“There were government programs where once a month we could get free food, but
because of the election violence, there are still so many homeless that the free food
is no longer available to schools like ours.”
This could have devastating effects on our ability to keep the school open. If we
cannot nourish the girls then we cannot educate them.
If you would like to donate to the school or to any of KHOPE’s programs, please
click here.
If you would like to respond to this blog please click here.
Thank you and check back in a couple of weeks.
Michael
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