Kenneth Chelimo +254 722 809 690

I share your story how you lost your home in the countryside near Eldoret.

I am glad that even so you have the great spirit to engage others for
peace. Yes, let's take steps to involve you and please keep writing. I
ask Kennedy Owino +254 723 568 251 to share some air time with you, a
little bit at first as we get to know you, and you report and then
hopefully more as we gain resources. Please contact him if he has not
yet reached you. We very much need your help to engage the Kalenjins.

I note that you are the national coordinator of Kenya Network of
Telecentres. I invite you to join our working group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/backtotheroot/ led by Jeff Buderer of One
Village Foundation, they are organizing a "unity center" (a holistic
telecenter) in Kisumu. Send a blank message to
backtotheroot-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Also, other groups you might
join are http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fightingpeacefully/ Fighting
Peacefully where Wesley Chirchir of Eldoret is,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mendenyo/ Mendenyo ("Men without food")
led by Samwel Kongere with a special interest in wireless Internet and
Internet access centers, and
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/holistichelping/ led by Janet Feldman.

I am sad for your old life but I have hope for your new life. You have
many gifts and I am sure they can shine in this time of troubles. Thank
you to Rising Voices for bringing us together. I have also put up a page
for you at our wiki: http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?KennethChelimo and
posted your phone number here:
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?HelpKenyans under Eldoret.

Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas, http://www.ms.lt, ms@...

------------------------------------------------------------------


To All Bikabkutit of Goodwill,

Greetings to all of you in the good name of the Lord. Iam glad to write
to you today having survived the recent post-election political clashes
in Kenya. However, Iam currently displaced from my home and I am putting
up with my younger brother who lives in a safer location away from
clash-torn areas near Eldoret town. My house, cow shed, food store and
other structures were razed down by fire set up by arsonists from the
Kikuyu community who were on a revenge mission after being evicted from
their homes three kilometers away.

Having lost property worth thousands of Kenyan shillings, I was lucky to
have managed to move my family to a safer destination. My home is
located about 13 kilometres east of Eldoret town (Ilula area) where it
was hard hit by the political skirmishes and tension is still high in
the area. I personally witnessed the full blown mayhem pitting the
Kalenjin and the Kikuyu community living in the area which happened
immediately after the disputed presidential poll results were announced
by the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK).

What actually triggered the tribal clashes was discontentment among the
supporters of presidential candidate Raila after ECK announced that his
rival Kibaki was the winner. Immediately after Kibaki was announced the
winner at around 5pm on 30th December, a group of Kikuyu youth were
heard cheering, celebrating and singing praises for Kibaki in their
homes. This irked the Kalenjin community living in the area as they had
been informed through the media that the elections had been rigged in
favour of Kibaki. They immediately vented their anger on the homes which
were celebrating Kibaki win. The Kalenjin youth set on fire the kikuyu
houses, drove away their cows and chased families towards Eldoret town.
Most of them took refuge in churches and at the police station. Others
fled to stay with relatives and friends in other areas which they
considered safe.

On that day (30th Dec.) I was in my house watching TV with my family and
two friends anxiously waiting for presidential results to be announced
which had been delayed for 2 days. One hour after the results were
announced, hell broke loose – there were screams, yelling and war cries
in the all place. I saw people carrying machetes, spears, bows and
arrows and all other forms of crude weapons. Since the area is mainly
dominated by the Kalenjin (pro-Raila) and Kikuyu (pro-Kibaki)
communities, each was going for each other’s jugular as if war had been
declared. That night saw confusion, children and women wailing as men
ran up and down either burning each others houses, harming and chasing
away perceived opponents. Several people lost their lives in the whole
melee. I personally counted bodies of five men who had been killed by
the morning of the next day. I thank God I was lucky with my family to
tell this story today.

What saved us that night was that we hurriedly locked ourselves in the
house and followed the proceedings of what was happening outside through
the windows of our safe haven. All this time my two daughters (aged 7
and 5) and my wife were so frightened and were trembling the whole
night. I am afraid upto now they are still affected and traumatized from
what they heard and saw during the confusion. Fortunately for us and my
neighbours, that night the kalenjin youth managed to outwit and
overpowered the kikuyu aggressors in the area managing to drive them
away albeit their property mainly houses, stores, cow sheds, farm
machinery, and crops having been burnt down. I managed with my two
friends and family to hold together until the following day in the
morning. It was the longest night I have ever lived in my life!

Now the following day 31st December is a day I will never forget in my
life. On that fateful day some Kikuyu families living three kilometers
away from us were being evicted by another Kalenjin youth group also
aggrieved by the flawed presidential results. The group too had
information on what had happened to kikuyu families living in
surrounding areas the previous night. It is like they wanted to emulate
their kalenjin peers in the surrounding areas by waging war on their
kikuyu neighbours. In the course of their eviction the enraged kikuyu
youth while fleeing through Ilula area where we live struck on Kalenjin
families. It was a wild mob composed of men, women and children strapped
on the back of their mothers running towards Eldoret town. They were
setting on fire any property believed to be that of a Kalenjin family.
They were mainly targeting prime properties like houses, food stores,
farm machinery, cow sheds etc and slashing livestock using swords.

As a kalenin, I was not lucky this time. They first started with my
neighbour Mutai who is an athlete currently on a track scholarship in
the US. His family was first evicted before his house and other property
were set ablaze. Consequently on the same day another marauding mob
killed a Kenyan renowned athlete Lucas Sang who lived about four
kilometers away. His three cows were also inhumanly slashed using
machetes (pangas) consequently causing gravious harm, injuring and
maiming the helpless animals. On seeing what was happening at Ilula, I
hurriedly ordered my family members into the car and speedily drove to
Hospice facility near Eldoret town which I believed was save for my two
daughters and wife. My two friends offered to remain behind to safeguard
my property from the marauding kikuyu arsonists who were imminently
about to attack.

After leaving my family at hospice, I drove back to my farm to join my
two friends in protecting my property. I was unlucky to reach home to
find my house, cow shed and food store (with 54 sacks of maize, cow feed
and other cereals) in flames. The whole place was in smoke as raging
fire consumed what I and my wife had put in place for the last 9 years.
I later came to realize that my two friends had been overwhelmed by the
number of attackers and they had to flee for their dear lives. Their
pleas to the attackers not to torch my property went unheeded and
instead were threatened with death if they continued persisting and
hovering around. Wielding machetes, knives and broken soda bottles they
chased them from my home before setting it ablaze. On realizing that my
life was also in danger after finding my friends missing, I hastily
drove back to Hospice to tell my family of what had befell our property.
I remember my wife uncontrollably wailing after hearing the sad news
while my daughters remained bewildered of what was happening.

Today my house and property is a debris- a pale shadow of what it was
before the heinous act by the arsonists. My four cows and two calves are
missing from my farm. I suspect somebody stole them when there was
nobody to look after them. The approximate loss I incurred is estimated
at about Kenya shillings 2.8 million (about US $ 40,000). As of now my
family has no place they call a home and afraid of going back to Ilula.
They say they are haunted with what happened. This means their lives
have to be reconstructed again. I also fear showing them the debris of
what we used to own. I do not know where to start from now. All items in
the house like furniture, electronics, utensils, my children’s clothes,
books and toys including school uniforms were all reduced to ashes.
Family food and maize which I intended to sell to supplement my family
income all went up in flames. Iam afraid my children can no longer sleep
in the comfort of their bedroom which they so much cherished. They are
also yet to report to school. Everybody looks confused here.

As some of you may be aware I am the national coordinator of Kenya
Network of Telecentres (Ken-Tel) which I serve as a volunteer with an
aim of promoting use of ICTs in rural and slum areas of Kenya. The
objective is to have poor people living in this areas utilize ICTs as a
tool for development and to create opportunities in their socio-economic
lives. My income has therefore been limited as I depend on upcoming
donor-funded projects which come up once in a while. My other source of
income has been small scale farming (maize growing and cattle rearing)
which my wife has been managing. For now I am so much devastated,
down-trodden and have nothing to be proud of. A few thousand shillings
for my family food, school fees and upkeep which I had kept in the house
also went up in flames. I do not know where to start as of now. We do
not know whether the Kenyan government will ever compensate us but I
doubt given the political dispensation in the country.

I am therefore kindly sending my passionate appeal to anyone who can
assist me and my family come out of this nightmare. My family would
appreciate any form of help from anyone of you at this point of time to
bring life back to normal especially for my two innocent daughters.
Remember that for us to lead a normal life again like there before, we
really rely on your virture of goodwill. If you are touched by my
predicament and wish to make cash donations, kindly use the western
Union Money Transfer facility or family bank account below which we
jointly operate with my wife.

Bank Details

ACCOUNT NAME: Kenneth Chelimo and Peris Jelagat

BANK NAME: National Bank of Kenya

BRANCH NAME: Eldoret Branch

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 0124528960900


My postal address and Telephone Numbers:

P.O. Box 6170,

Eldoret,

KENYA


Telephone Number: +254 722 809 690


Any form of assistance will highly be appreciated and we will
acknowledge all donations received. Please continue praying for us and
for peace to be restored in our beloved country Kenya. Thanks and God
bless you.


Yours faithfully,

Ken Chelimo



Dear all Rising Voices Members,
I hope all of you are Ok.Iam writing from Eldoret Kenya, where we were
recently hit by political cum tribal clashes after the general election.
I was indeed a victim with my family and I have attached here a story I
wrote after the incident. Tension is still high in the area since the
presidential poll results are still in doubt. Kindly download my story
and let me have a feedback from you. You can also circulate the article
to other people of goodwill. Thank you and God bless you all.
Ken Chelimo
Eldoret, Kenya

chelimo kenneth wrote:
> Dear Andrius,
> I also come from Eldoret and Iam a Kalenjin who was affected by the
> political clashes (read my earlier report to rising voices). I wish to
> be enroled in the pyramidofpeace project to help kikuyus and Kalenjins
> live in peace and harmony. I will be ready to link up with Dennis,
> Wesley etc on this initiative.This tribal war is really ravaging our
> country. Please advice. my telephone number is +254 722 809 690. Thanks
> Ken Chelimo
> Eldoret
> Kenya
>
>
> Andrius Kulikauskas <ms@...> wrote:
>
>
> I share our call for urgent help for Kenyan peacemakers to seize the
> moment and engage fighters of all persuasions. I have sent 760 USD to
> Dennis Kimambo (of REPACTED), and as airtime almost 300 USD to
> Kennedy
> Owino, 50 USD to Lawrence Achami and 50 USD to Wesley Chirchir. Thank
> you to Jerry Michalski (200 USD) and to Algis Cibulskis (40 USD) for
> your very timely donations. I have also started an audit report
> http://www.pyramidofpeace.net/timebanks/report.php to track our money
> and news as it flows through our Pyramid of Peace. The report is
> based
> on spreadsheets we upload, one for each leader who we audit. I'm
> actually using software we developed earlier for the Wales
> Institute of
> Community Currencies.
>
> I made many calls to our Pyramid of Peace leaders in Kenya
> tonight. Now
> is another day for decisive action. I share my understanding and the
> plan which we have agreed to pursue. Thank you for all donations by
> PayPal to ms@... or through our link at http://www.ms.lt
>
> Nakuru has been a haven for refugees but now is the focus of the
> violence in Kenya. My understanding is that the Kalenjin fighters are
> actually weakening because the situation is improving in much of the
> area. Meanwhile, they have been organizing themselves and are looking
> to stir a fight in Nakuru. Nakuru has attracted many Kikuyu refugees
> and now they have outnumbered the Kalenjin there and so many Kikuyus
> with the complicity of the Kikuyu police are burning down Kalenjin
> houses in Nakuru. There is also the sound of gunfire and there's
> reason
> to believe that the government has started supplying guns to the
> Kikuyus, which otherwise have been rare, the fighting so far being
> mostly with machetes and bows and arrows. The result is that there is
> an increasing conflict looming in Nakuru between Kalenjin fighters
> and
> Kikuyu fighters.
>
> I perceive an underlying weakening in the Kalenjin fighters. Now
> is the
> time to engage them further and chase them down through our
> Pyramid of
> Peace network http://www.pyramidofpeace.net , including the towns of
> Nesuit and Mauche from where the Kalenjin fighter are coming to
> Nakuru.
> We want to help them retreat to their own "camps". These Kalenjin
> areas
> don't have police security and they lack food thus they are
> brutalizing
> farmers and taking their food. We will encourage them to organize
> their
> own security volunteers with white arm bands and no weapons who might
> help keep order and assist any police who might protect them. We will
> encourage Kikuyu refugees to retreat to their camps in Nakuru and
> likewise organize weaponless security volunteers with white armbands.
> We will encourage bringing in police from other ethnic tribes, not
> Kikuyus or Kalenjins, but rather the Lous, Kurkanas, Wakambas and
> others.
>
> Rono Richards +254 723 732 617 asked for a vehicle so that he and
> Lawrence Achami +254 720 613 379 might travel around and spread
> the word
> in the Kalenjin areas near Molo. Lawrence is a Kikuyu in a camp of
> six
> hundred with some police protecting them against three thousand
> Kalenjin
> fighters. Rono is a Kalenjin who is now safe in Kuresoi which is
> calming down. They have been working together in the Pyramid of
> Peace.
> Wesley Chirchir +254 722 992 107 has agreed to come from Eldoret,
> which
> is also improving, and help them, as he is also Kalenjin. I have sent
> Dennis money and he will administer that and send some to Rono and
> some
> to Wesley.
> We are asking for funds for cell phone airtime (which the Kenyans are
> able to send each other by sending text commands) so that we can
> reach
> out further to the fighters on all side who let us publicly post
> their
> telephones, are open to dialogue, share news and help us reach out
> further. This has been extremely effective has saved lives, provided
> food, safe transport, emboldened peacemakers and set up peace
> meetings.
> We take seriously Rachel's concern regarding the police. They come
> from
> many tribes, they are often deployed in counterproductive ways,
> they are
> in many places very constructive and in other places destructive, and
> overall for our purposes they are one more set of fighters to
> reach out
> to and embrace as individuals, whether to turn them away from
> violence
> or to build on their concern, for those in their own tribe and in
> other
> tribes.
>
> We are inviting all of Kenya, especially the parts which are grown
> safe
> or have grown safer, such as Mombasa, Nairobi, Eldoret, to seize the
> moment and help with phone calls and text messages to the
> participants
> in our Pyramid of Peace so that they share news, are held accountable
> and are emboldened. (See telephones at:
> http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?HelpKenyans especially Charles Kilel
> (phone?), Collins Odour +254 721 637 457, Emmanuel Were +254 721
> 938 340
> ) In particular, we urge those who have succeeded in making peace
> between Kalenjins and Kukuyus to build on this further by getting
> their
> help to reach out to those in the Nakuru area. We will also need
> online
> help as we build to our all day online work session on January 31
> when
> we train volunteers how to circulate news from Kenya through the
> online
> world, visit us at: http://www.worknets.org/chat/
>
> Kennedy Owino +254 723 568 251 has agreed to coordinate the
> Pyramid of
> Peace across Kenya. (Note: he will send airtime to Jackton Arija +254
> 724 167 280.) Dennis Kimambo +254 722 388 275 has been through a lot,
> is caring for many people locally, and will focus on Nakuru for now.
> (Note: I gave him Charity Wanjamah's number: +254 710 615 702).
> Samwel
> Kongere is eating, talking and improving.
>
> Rachel Kungu +254 721 626 389 has helped us think through the
> details.
> She will participate tomorrow in a meeting with former UN Secretary
> General Kofi Annan. I encouraged her to ask him to promote some key
> ideas of immediate significance:
> - that Kenyans publicly post their telephone numbers as in our
> Pyramid
> of Peace to reach out to each other for dialogue and support amongst
> different people, for example, through large advertisements in the
> newspapers
> - that the displaced refugees and fighters organize security
> volunteers
> without weapons but with white armbands so as to keep order and
> assist
> the police
> - that as many organizers as possible in the Pyramid of Peace receive
> sizable monthly stipends so they could dedicate themselves to raising
> and distributing funds as we have been doing, growing our network and
> adapting to the ever changing situation
> - that organizers in remote areas be provided with vehicles so
> that they
> can spread the word.
>
> We hope the situation improves this coming week so that we can
> build on
> this work with Rachel Kungu and the Peace Caravan and organize
> meetings
> amongst the different peoples as she envisages and as we are also
> familiar with in Dennis Kimambo's community theater work
> http://www.repacted.org Thank you to Janet Feldman, Pamela McLean,
> Asif
> Daya, Ricardo, Fred Kayiwa, Sasha Mrkailo, Kiyavilo Msekwa, Benoit
> Couture, Markus Petz, Meadowlea and all who have been helping online!
> Andrius
>
> Andrius Kulikauskas
> Minciu Sodas
> http://www.ms.lt
> ms@...
> +370 699 30003
> Vilnius, Lithuania
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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