Kenyan school escapes violence

By DANIELLE RUSH
Tribune staff writer

January 20, 2008 11:24 pm

— The school founded in a Kenyan slum by a retired Kokomo teacher has not been touched by violence that has swept the African nation since the Dec. 27 elections.
The Associated Press reported that more than 500 people have died in protests and ethnic violence since the elections and ensuing vote tally that foreign observers say was rigged. Another 255,000 Kenyans have been driven from their homes by the violence in the east African country, which has been known as one of the most stable in the region.
The election returned President Mwai Kibaki to power for another five-year term.
Jan Hinkle, who founded Bright Star School in November 2003, said her school is in a different slum in Nairobi, the Kenyan capitol, than the slum where the violence has taken place.
She spoke to the Rev. John Andirah, the Kenyan pastor who leads her school, last Friday, and “we’re all safe and sound ... He says things are at peace now.”
Hinkle said food costs have skyrocketed, because truckers are afraid to be on the road. Those who are working are charging much higher prices.
For example, she said, potatoes have gone up from 150 shillings to 550 shillings. In American dollars, that represents an increase from about $2.50 to $9.15.
Despite the increased costs, “our children at Bright Star do have food,” she said.
The pastor has hired a second night watchman and the electricity and water is back on.
According to the AP, economic inequality has been a major factor in the unrest, in addition to the election. Many of the poorest Kenyans supported Kibaki’s opponent, Raila Odinga.
“These unemployed young men are hungry and desperate. This gives them a great reason to loot. Not all the violence is at the government because of the election,” she said.
Hinkle said she did not hear from the pastor for three days after the violence began. She usually receives regular e-mail bulletins, but the government shut down e-mail.
One of her friends finally called his cell phone to see how the school had fared, and then he called her Friday.
Hinkle said protests are not unusual in Nairobi, and she once had to run from police shooting tear gas into a crowd during a political revolt. What has been unusual this time is the level of violence, including the burning of a church that killed at least 50 people.
Despite the recent violence, Hinkle plans to return to her school in March, taking a group of volunteers from Indiana. Another group, including volunteers from two Kokomo churches, will go in May, and she’ll take another group that includes nurses and teachers in June.
Hinkle said she’s not worried, because the violence is not aimed at tourists, just members of the tribes involved in the protests. She does not believe any of those involved want to hurt children.
“I know God is a merciful God. You have to have faith when you’re 8,000 miles away that God is going to protect them,” she said. “They might try to steal from the school, and that’s happened before, but they aren’t going to hurt children. If anyone were to hurt a child at Bright Star, I’m sure the residents of the slum would come to their defense. It’s not like the kids are out there on their own.”

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