Trip to Mt. Elgon

Mount Elgon. Those words send shivers up the spines of many people living around here. Because of Mount Elgon there is a curfew on the town of Kitale (7pm to 7am), because it is suspected that some of the rebel militia have taken refuger here. The key rebel leaders have all been killed, and most accomplices arrested or fled to Uganda, others are suspected to be 'hiding' in this town. (don't worry... everyone feels quite safe, and I personally would never be in danger because of this...)

For me, Mount Elgon is a place where I spent a very enjoyable five weeks two years ago (see previous posts). I found the people generally friendly, and loved visiting schools and community groups doing various kinds of education (mainly health related).

Shortly after I left two years ago, a fellow by the name of Wycliffe Matwake together with a band of other men decided that they would take matters into their own hands and start forcefully evicting people from their houses and land, which they believed were rightfully theirs. This is the same story that has happened all over Kenya following the general election of December last year, but the chaos started much earlier up the mountain. Even when I was there I recalled seeing for the whole month line ups of men outside a government office waiting to hear what land they had been assigned. Basically it seems like the government had botched up a lot of things in terms of land ownership decades ago, resulting in a lot of confusion, bad feelings, and ultimately the break up of communities from here to Nairobi. In this case, though, it was a matter of people fighting within themselves, not some neighbouring tribe.

The problems in the mountain started close to the forest in August 2006, and by March of 2007 had reached Kopsiro, where I had stayed. By problems, I mean this local militia forcing familes to give one of their sons to them as a recruit or else be chased/ burned etc from their home, or killed. I also mean them demanding protection taxes from people that had an income (ie teachers, officials), so as to not burn them out so quickly. I also mean them stealing cattle and other belongings,and killing people that would not comply.

The government army folks sent in were not any better. They killed cattle, people, stole, tortured suspected accomplices and burned buildings as well. People from that area fled to lower down the mountain for safety.

Taking refuge in Kapsokwony, the district headquarters town where I visited them this weekend, was not even a permanent fix for many of them. They told me stories of moving to Kitale, Eldoret, Webuye... further than many of them had been in their lives, to find solace at other places. These are the first internally displaced peoples that I can call friends.

Once the election results came out, it was no longer safe, or no longer felt safe (in the case of Kitale, which actually remained peaceful, although filled with tension while everywhere around them saw chaos) to stay where they were, so they returned to Kapsokwony where I found them now. Peace is coming back to the mountain, so most are now making plans to return to Kopsiro and its environs to try to rebuild houses, farms, lives, and community.

The people I know from this place are all pastors and their families. They have a different perspective, I'm sure, than others. From the mouths of people who have had all their belongings stolen, been kept awake by gunshots throughout the night for the past year, and need to face the reality of returning to a community that has recently added dozens and dozens of widows and other grieving people, come the words "This all happens for a reason. God is good. He must have a plan for us all." Mungu ni mwema. God is good. All the time. These are words that are tossed around glibly by most church-going Kenyans. How many have been put in a position to test their faith in those beliefs? Have I? Never!

I am humbled, saddened, and yet somehow hopeful. These pastors and their wives talk about the great role the church has had already and will have for a long time into the future in restoring peace and reconciliation in the community.

For now I can do little except stand beside them, pray with them, and give some money to different organisations working there to help ease the physical hunger felt by people in this farming community who are now facing a horrendous food shortage. They have been unable to plant this year, and last years crops were destroyed.

"We are now in dire straights" one man told me "for the first time in our lives we are forced to purchase everything we need to live".

p.s.- I forgot my camera! So sorry, no pics!