Lutheran Relief Efforts Continue in Kenya Following Election


CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church (KELC), Nairobi, a companion church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has made efforts to support people affected by violence since the Dec. 27 presidential election there.
George Arende, communications director, KELC, has taken part in KELC relief efforts. He said the violence erupted when people suspected the election was rigged in favor of incumbent candidate Mwai Kibaki. People were looting, stealing, burning properties and killing, Arende said. "They were agitating for justice. They were agitating for good governance and just a process that was transparent and acceptable to them," he said.
ELCA International Disaster Response sent $10,000 to the KELC for its initial emergency response in affected communities in Kenya, according to the ELCA Disaster Response Web site. It sent another $15,000 to Church World Service which, together with Norwegian Church Aid, is helping to facilitate the worldwide response of Action by Churches Together (ACT). Arende said the money "helped (the KELC) to swing into operation."
The ELCA participates in the work of Church World Service. ACT is a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergency situations worldwide. It is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Geneva. The ELCA is a member of the WCC and LWF.
The KELC helped to establish three camps for Kenyans displaced from their homes -- two in the Mathare area and one in the Kiambiyu area, Arende said. These impoverished areas were the focus of the violence in Nairobi, he said. The KELC distributed food, mosquito nets and such non-food items as soap and sanitary towels. "Our role was to fill in the gaps of other humanitarian organizations on the ground," Arende said.
Now that months have passed, Arende said the Kenyan government is urging people living in the camps to return to their homes. But the low supply of food is keeping Kenyans from returning home. "The current situation is still volatile, but it's kind of silent," Arende said. "The government is on one side urging people to return to their homes, and these people who are living in the camps moved from their homes because they lost some of their brothers and sisters and some of their neighbors who were hacked to death, their property destroyed, houses razed down."
"We have one group saying that justice has to prevail and the other group insisting that amnesty be given as a process for peace building," Arende said. "If they return, the memories will continue haunting them. They cannot leave harmoniously, whatever the case."
Arende said promises from the government to compensate people living in camps are causing residents to hold out with the hope of being paid. He said the government does not have the resources for compensation. "They (the people) are still in the camps because they perceive that, if they leave the camps, their stories will be finished, nobody will think about them," Arende said. "The government itself is focusing on other priorities and doesn't have money to give them, so it's a back-and-forth scenario."
Bringing relief efforts to these areas was often met with hostility, according to Arende. He said volunteers with the Red Cross were attacked by "marauding youth, who had crude weapons, such as machetes."
"They were not allowing police to come in. They were not allowing the Red Cross to come in," Arende said, "but I don't know what happened that they allowed us to come in."
"For me the risk level is high, but on the other side it's rewarding when you see the joy in people's eyes. That's what keeps me going," Arende said. "We cannot provide everything, but dividing the effort and multiplying the effect I think you can have an impact on people's lives."