Time marches on (Collin)

A side note about the  political turmoil here.

When we bought our tickets to come here, we chose a route through Tanzania and then overland through the countryside to get here. One of reasons for this round about itinerary was to avoid passing through Nairobi and Mombassa. During the post election crisis, those were 2 of the main hotspots for violence here. With roads being blocked off, busses being flipped over and burned, and people being hacked up with machetes, we didn't think that traveling through those areas would be a wise idea if we could avoid that.

Since arriving, I have been keeping an eye out for signs of the disturbance. I have been asking people about what it was like and what the current situation is. Invariably, people laugh a little bit as you would when someone reminds you of something embarrassing you said when you were a child. The response is always something along the lines of "The fighting is over. Kibaki and Odinga work together now. They share power and everything is good now. There is peace." It is a blemish of the past that is being covered as quickly as possible.

The quick dismissal almost borders on denial. The cottage we are staying is is about 200 yards down a dirt road that is just off of the main (paved) road through town. At the junction of these 2 streets there are piles of burned rubble. A hotel, a restaurant, and several businesses were burned down in the riots following the election. These riots were global news. I read about this specific incident on the BBC website, yet when I ask people about it here, the answer is "those buildings burned, but now they are rebuilt." No mention of riots, unrest, violence, or even intentionality. One man I talked to said that they were burned as a protest, but he was quick to add "but it is OK now."

I know that we are in the south of the country where there was relatively little conflict, so it is probably easier for people to sweep it under the rug here, but the fact is, it DID happen and there are still hundreds of thousands of refugees who were made homeless just a few months ago as well as thousands of people mourning the loss of loved ones.

It seems to be part of people's identity here that Kenya is the peaceful African country and very few are willing to let that go. A comment that one man in Kwale made seemed to sum it all up. "At least we are not like Somalia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Congo. There is always fighting and killing there. What happened here was a small matter and it is over now."