Update: 5:45 pm Nairobi Time.
The Mamamikes crew are working to catch up with the orders placed, some of them were stuck in various parts of the country and just made it back yesterday. Most of the orders to Eldoret and various parts of the country are being processed now. Thanks.
I left Eldoret yesterday, with a heavy and broken heart. As much as i wanted to stay and write about what was going on there, i needed to get back to Nairobi and get back to work on my Global Voices gig.
First, this is the link to Kenya Red Cross and you can donate here.
I kept snapping pictures on my way out. This is of a Red Cross Truck heading into town, as we were leaving towards the airport. This was a good sign and a ray of hope.
The Kobil on the right only had diesel available, no petrol, same case with National Oil, just a few miles ahead.

The airport is operational. Saw remnants of a roadblock on the way.

From a chat with the former Councilor of Eldoret: There were attempts by religious leaders to convene a peace meeting yesterday, but this did not happen. The hurt and divide inflicted by events of the past several days may be too great to bridge over. It will take time and a concerted effort.
On what can be done: Donate to the Red Cross, which has a Uasin Gishu office. Happened to take a picture of the signpost…

I had ordered some credit using mamamikes on the 1st of January, but still haven’t received it as of today. Like KP said, Safaricom and Celltel need to enable online recharge of airtime so that the diaspora and even Kenyans in Nairobi can purchase airtime for others. My aunt who uses MPESA said it was a godsend and will always keep money for emergencies. This is because MPESA can be used to send airtime/money to yourself and others.
Because of the hurdles encountered using either MPESA (their offices were closed) and Mamamikes, i would suggest that if you would like to Sambaza credit and have an immediate impact, you can send it to The Chairman of Kenya Red Cross Eldoret - Advocate Birech 0722 82 8484, who will distribute it to those affected and aid in the Kenya Red Cross effort in Eldoret. For international readers and diaspora, the link for donations to Red Cross should work, though will update you with more information as it becomes available.
Airlines operating out of Eldoret are
Aero Kenya
Jetlink - cant find website, but these are the numbers i have for Jetlink - 020827531, 020244285 and 0720 608 608
Fly540
Anyone with other avenues of assisting is welcome to comment. Thank you.
I managed to capture a few short video clips of Kenyans talking to the GSU during the confrontation at Hurlingham. This clip shows Charity Ngilu asking the officer in charge why the rally is not allowed to continue. It is a bit shaky and ends mid sentence but at least it shows some sort of dialogue.
For those who have asked, the pictures on the original post and this clip were all taken by me at around the same time. Feel free to use them on your blogs and websites under the terms of the Creative Commons license.
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Blogged with Flock
I’d like to share two stories of grass root initiatives that Kenyans are taking to build bridges.
.. . it was a very fired meeting as both side tried to prove that they are right in what is happening at the end of the day we all agreed that the leadership should help with the problem nationally but as locals staying here in Nakuru as neighbours they agreed to refrain from violence and they will hold the same meetings every 3 days just to help one another with the tension and console those who have lost there family in other parts of the country, this was possible with the help of the chief of the area, as we continue to push for peace we are asking you to pray for this country.
Even though tensions and accusations are high they agreed to meet every 3 days! Fantastic.
My pride in my country, Kenya, is building up again!
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Let me start by coming clean, I am an ODM supporter, a Raila man, who believes that that a serious injustice has taken place and this has set Kenya’s electoral process back to the stone age. I believe that the current administration is at best improperly constituted and at its worst illegitimate, and what has happened is unforgivable and the responsible individuals must stand and account for their actions. Having said this I am appalled at the lack of leadership, wisdom, and sincerity displayed by our so called leaders, where is our Mandela, Mahatma or Martin Luther King Jr.? Who will stand and be counted amongst the greater men/women in society for a time as such as this?
The Aggrieved
I have heard PNU members shout in their characteristic arrogance that they won the elections, advising the 'aggrieved' to go to court for resolution. My anger burns against this group for the aggrieved are not Raila, Mudavadi or Ruto for they will be fine with or without the presidency. The true aggrieved are the Kenyan people who have lost their brotherhood, their innocence and their lives. We will never be the same again. Ms. Karua, Uhuru, Nyamweya - please note I have left out the honorable because there is nothing honorable about these individuals - tell me, which court of law will restore brotherhood, what judge will confer trust back to us, and can even chief Gicheru in his highest court resurrect our fallen? So let us be clear, what is at stake here is more than your little egos, this puny competition or your war of words. Remember humility is hard and arrogance is easy.
The Prime Movers
For Kibaki and Raila I reserve my highest disdain - one is like a hyena on a stolen carcass he sits on his throne unaware of the stench and filth around him. He is like a pillar of salt cursed by God. You are the alleged president so act like one, even if it is just a performance, the EU, the US, the UK, the LSK, the AG, the ECK and even that ECK chairman who announced you king, all say something is amiss. Observers both foreign and local all say all is not well, but like the proverbial ostrich you bury your head thinking, "if I close my eyes long and hard enough, I will truly live in my dream." Wake up, put a plan on the table, negotiate, have mediators foreign, local, rural anything to stop the madness. Didn't you just swear on the good book protect the citizens? I say again, humility is hard and arrogance is easy.
And to Raila please follow your own words. Where is the 'Mandela like figure' you so often mentioned? Were these just words? Did you just want to charm us? Remember Nelson was "aggrieved" for 27 years yet he sat and negotiated with his foes, for the good of the masses. How can you be the people’s president if you cannot look beyond your own pain and see the people are suffering, the people are scared, and the people are lost in a wilderness? You are like a man walking backwards, a Paul turning into Saul. Shake off the scales from your eyes, before we find you hurling rocks at Stephen. Wake up and lead your people to safety and the 'Voice of God' will call you forward. Remember, anyone can claim their rights and be brave about it, but one who lays down his rights for his fellow man and is humble in doing so, shall be exalted for humility is hard and arrogance is easy.
The Father Figure
One other 'leader' who has squandered his inheritance on worldly pleasure is Moi. They say wisdom comes with age, but this is not always the case. Like him or not, President Moi is the one man in Kenya uniquely placed to act as a father figure at this time, when the nation desperately needed a father to give kind words of advice and counsel, but fearing irrelevance and like an alcoholic who just cannot have enough Moi had to involve himself in partisan politics in this election. "Just one more drink, this will be the last" you said, but now you have lost it all. Remember to whom much has been given much will be required. What will you say when you are before the Judge, when he asks " I raised you for such a time as this" Woe unto to you, for you set out to build a lasting legacy, but now that you look back all you see are ruins, with both you and yours rejected and irrelevant.
The Cheerleaders
Uhuru, Kombo, Mudavadi, Kalonzo, Saitoti, Kaura, Ruto the list is endless, - a group of non-leaders sitting on the sideline, and like the proverbial hyena following and watching as the arm swings hoping it will fall off, so that they can have a bone to gnaw on. Like cheerleaders in their little skirts they jump up and down and all their words just say "look at me, look at me". Be careful! You will go in the way of Gideon and Nyachae, leaders who refused to read the times and be relevant. Here is my advise, you have less to lose in comparison to Kibaki and your pain is not as great as Raila's, you have an opportunity to whisper a third way into their ears. "Let us consider the people, let us think of those in the cold, the grieving, the hungry," you should say. Pull them down from their hard-lines, help to make a way where there is no way. And maybe you may raise and be counted in their stead.
(The ideas proposed herein are not necessarily those of Kumekucha nor the publisher)