Rabuor Village Project

Kenya is faced with a situation never before experienced in its 40 plus years of independence. What started as protests to a flawed electoral process on December 29, 2007 has degenerated into mass civil unrest. I want to take this opportunity to inform you that what is going on in Kenya is not ethnic cleansing but failed internal and international policies. The unrest has opened old wounds as far back as colonial days culminating in over 1000 people dead to-date.

In addition, many small, medium and large businesses have been destroyed majorly in western Kenya region, especially in Kisumu and Eldoret towns. Transport routes that deliver food and other essential products to the Lake Victorian region were not spared. Prices of basic commodities have skyrocketed by over 30% or more in some cases. This is a great challenge as we struggle to support our high school students or cater to Rabuor nursery school with over 160 AIDS orphans who are fed two meals daily. Kenya's neighbors and landlocked countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, who depended on Mombasa port, continue to suffer as well.

The negative impacts on health, economic and education sectors will be felt many years to come. Resetting of the over 500,000 displaced people will not be an easy task if Kenyan leaders do not work swiftly to bridge the ongoing political divide. The country is now faced with the emergence of new kind of orphans who are not sure whether their parents are alive or not. Kenya's Ministry of Health reported two weeks ago that in Nyanza alone, a minimum of 100 people are being infected by HIV daily. Young men and women who for years have felt most hopeless will continue to be a challenge to communities if their specific issues such as lack of tuition and joblessness are not addressed expediently.

For the immediate, the hopeful news is that rural areas have offered safer haven for people who were in harms way in the cities. The downside is that people who were hitherto employed have been left destitute, turned into dependents on relatives in rural areas who cannot adequately take care of their own needs. Children have been left without any hope, as food, clothing and education have quickly become very expensive with the rising costs of essential commodities. With the already overstretched Nyanza Province with highest rates of poverty in the country, this is of grave concern. I dare to say that micro financing for the poor in rural community will be an important avenue for introducing micro enterprises which will reduce the escalation of human suffering.

I am appreciative that my family, Rabuor village and the many surrounding neighboring villages were spared the direct violence. However, we were not completely untouched by it. Our staff is multi ethnic. Though I am proud to report that none was harmed in Rabuor, unfortunately Joyce Okiki, our nurse whose original home is about 60 miles away from Rabuor lost two brothers to the violence in her home village. Also, the many high school students we sponsor were forced to return to the village on occasions due to violence at the time. Further, Rabuor like other rural villages in the country is beginning to receive returnees from hostile cities and towns. They bring a mixture of hope because they have come back safely, and serious questions of what is next and what should be done by already struggling communities to support these newcomers and their loved ones.

Some of the immediate realities that Rabuor as a community is already facing are the increase of students in the nursery and local primary schools. With the increasingly high prices of essential goods we will need your support to cater for these vulnerable people and additional costs. I am told that there are additional six very bright students in Rabuor now who lost their parents to the violence and will need assistance to continue with their education.

I began by talking about the serenity in Rabuor village. For those who have been following the violence in Kenya know that many youth in different parts of the country were caught in the violence. To this date, none of the youth from Rabuor has been a victim of the violence or caused trouble that we know of. This has been due to your support of these young people. May I take this opportunity to thank you most sincerely for your continued support of Rabuor Village Project, which in turn has allowed us to create programs that help the youth. These youth people made positive choices during this volatile time because they have hope. It is important to continue with this important work.

We appreciate any additional support. Please feel free to send it to: Rabuor Village Project PO Box 45757 Seattle, WA 98145 or you may make a donation through our website.

Rabuor Village Project is a United States 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization based in Seattle, Washington.

U.S. Tax ID #71-0956033

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Update on the Ongoing Crisis in Kenya from Loyce Ong'udi