Elections....over or not??

On March 4, 2013, Kenya held its first elections since 2007 when the results caused massive post-election violence for months, killing over 1,000 people and displacing more than 600,000. A large majority of those that were displaced still live in IDP (internally displaced people) camps and some of the people in those camps still live in tents from 5 years ago. Many families living in those camps are without running water or a relatively close water source, a consistent food source, and jobs. The violence that brought all of this poverty into fruition was caused by the politicians who used tribalism for their personal agendas. Kibaki, the president leaving office, rigged the elections in 2007 by buying votes. Once his opponent Odinga (who also lost this year) found out, he was enraged and went public and basically rallied those followers of his political party (mostly those from the same tribe as him) to fight for him. Odinga belongs the Luo tribe and his followers made this loss a personal attack against all Kikuyu, assuming that everyone from the Kikuyu tribe (the same tribe Kibaki is from) should be punished for Odinga's loss and Kibaki's corruption. Uhuru Kenyatta, the new President Elect, is being indicted by the ICC for supposedly paying Kikuyu men to retaliate against their persecutors. His running mate, a Luo named Ruto, did the same thing with the Luo men. (They have since made amends are now running mates in this election to set an example, I guess). Due to this huuuuuuge problem of tribalism in this country, violence broke out and now elections have to be more about a personal vendetta against all other tribes to get the candidate from your tribe into office. It's sad.

Kenya held its first presidential debate in its history this year in hopes that it would spur Kenyans to vote based on platforms and factual information rather than ethnicity. The problem with this method while though a good idea in theory, is that the majority population do speak English or understand well enough to understand the debate and if they do, most do not have access to a television to watch it. I believe that Kenya took some necessary steps in the right direction to help Kenyans think for themselves and not based on their tribal affiliation and having a debate in general is a good thing! Also, Kenya tried to prevent any vote stealing this year by using computers at every polling station instead of written ballots. Again, while the sentiment was honourable, of course, the computer systems crashed during voting and votes were forced to be taken by hand, allowing for a whole day where votes were not streaming into the public, and paper vote delivers to go missing for hours. The only time during the elections we ever felt like violence was going to happen was during this time period because that's when rumors started to go around saying that someone had hacked the computer system and the government was withholding information about the tallying of the votes for over 24 hours and people were getting restless because of it. Luckily, the next day before Kenyans could actively assume the worst, votes began streaming in again and all was well.
Then the results were officially announced Saturday at 11 am although many Kenyans (mainly Kikuyu) began celebrating Uhuru Kenyatta's victory (also Kikuyu) days before it was officially announced. WE WERE SO THANKFUL IT WAS FINALLY OVER.....not so fast though......

Odinga, not willing to take his defeat by 0.07% percent gracefully, has decided to go to court for God knows what. We assume he is asking for a recount or for some justice using the argument that someone hacked the computer system and that some of the vote tallying process was compromised. We don't know much information about it right now other than he is not conceding defeat yet even though Uhuru Kenyatta has been pronounced the President Elect. (Whether we like him or not)
All in all, the elections were very peaceful, especially where we lived and even though Odinga is protesting, he asked that his followers remain calm and let the courts handle his "injustice" and not to take it to streets (very big of him considering he has blood on his hands from last elections, right?). Whatever the outcome of his court appearances, neither candidate's hands are clean and we will be praying in the future for a God fearing, responsible, honest leader to rise up for Kenya and defeat these corrupt leaders. In the meantime, we will be praying for Kenyatta to follow through with the promises he has made to this country and that Kenyans would be unified as Kenyans and not divided as many different tribes. We also pray that the girls at our school would be the next leaders of Kenya, having been taught critical thinking skills and problem solving so that Kenya can be restored to its stable environment it was once so highly praised for.

Also, here are some pictures of the compound Christine and I live on. Compounds are basically plots of land that are gated with high walls covered in shrubs, sometimes barb wire and metal spikes to ensure no impregnation of the property. All compounds look different just like all yards are not the same in America. I enjoy our compound and the amount of sun it gets, not to mention the view we have from our back yard!

 This is our humble abode! Its a little burnt red wooden cottage and very cozy but we love it!

This is our landlord's house. He lives right next two us and is the only other house in the compound. He obviously has money haha

This is our compound's front gate and driveway. This is the view from our doorstep. 

The side of our house so you can see our little screened in back porch!

Where the geese live. Our landlord has guard geese instead of guard dogs because geese are territorial. They are not used to us yet and still try to chase us when we go outside!

This is our little shaded, outdoor relaxation area. We do not get to enjoy it though because it doesn't have chairs and the geese chase us. Also, you can see the huge wall or shrubs that encompasses our compound for safety and privacy.

This is the little backyard behind our house from where you can see the beautiful view of the fields and hills!

The driveway and view from the side of our house.

It's our home away from home and apart from the geese we really enjoy where we live! It's right on the main road and close to our frequently travelled to destinations so we are very fortunate! And our landlord is such a sweet Kenyan man! 

Now, all we are missing is a car! Our plan for this year as part of the discipleship team is to expand our discipleship program of life skills club, bible study, youth group, and discussion groups to other all girls secondary schools in this area. The only thing holding us back at the moment is our lack of funds for a car. By God's grace we have currently raised $1500 in donations are looking to raise $4000 total. We are really excited about what God is doing here in Kenya at Uhuru Academy with these girls and believe that discipleship should not be limited to just Uhuru girls! We want to change the way women are thought about and think in Kenya starting at their most impressionable ages! So please, if you believe in what God is doing here and want to see His mission go forward donate to Christine and I's car fund!! The website is http://www.youcaring.com/help-a-neighbor/Help-Christine-and-Jordan-buy-a-car-for-ministry-in-Kenya-/41234 and every donation helps! SERIOUSLY! We appreciate anything and are praying to raise all of the money by the end of March! We believe God can do this and ask that you would pray and consider what impact this could have on the rest of Kenya!!