Strong relentless winds blow over the bare land while clouds of sand fill the air. Here, 5 kilometers from Maai Mahiu live 335 displaced families. They have been living here since 31st October 2008, after leaving the Eldoret Showground; where they had been driven by violence that broke out after general elections of 2007. After nine months characterized by deplorable living conditions in the showground, they decided to leave for Maai Mahiu.
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| Muhinga, who died the next day |
According to Francis Kasinge; the camp chairman, “the local people were still very hostile and therefore nobody wanted to go back home; particularly not when the issues that caused the violence were not resolved. Besides, many people lost their homes and all their belongings, so they had nothing to go back to anyway."
235 families agreed to contribute whatever they had and move to Maai Mahiu. 35 busses were hired to ferry the 1,340 people to their new home. “We bought 2 ½ acres of land at 100.000 shillings per acre."
Later, they got 25,000 shillings from the government in which they agreed to contribute KSH 13,000 per family to buy yet another 27 acres. “With the help of the DO and DC, the land was marketed and surveyed. Then each family had to pick a number to get its own plot” Kasinge adds.
Now they had land, but no house. They were living in tents, provided by the UNHCR, under poor conditions to say the least. “Then we started looking for well wishers to assist us to built houses. We found Habitat that gave us building materials for permanent houses” he states.
Each house costs 200.000 shillings and has three rooms, with a pit latrine. From the 335 planned houses, 200 are complete and are occupied. More money from donors is needed to build the remaining 109 houses. Kasinge appeals “We pray that more well wishers will come forward to help."
Interestingly, the ever cheerful chairman himself still lives in a tent. In Kenya you would expect him to be the first one to occupy a stone house. He adds “I sacrifice for my people; I want them to be helped first. So that they get hope and believe again in the future. They see that I am not running away. It's hard sometimes, especially when the rain destroys my documents. But the good thing is that we feel safe here. We have our own piece of land, the local population is very friendly and slowly we manage to restore our lives."
The government provides them every month mainly with food stuffs specifically maize, beans, and cooking oil. According to the chairman, the food is not really enough, but Despite Kasinge’s optimism, it's clear that the conditions, under which people are still living in tents, are critically appalling. The strong winds that pound continuously on the tents tear the ropes and frames. When it rains people get wet. They sleep on old, worn out mattresses. Water is fetched from a well two kilometers down the road.
Esther Waithera Ndungu (65) saw her own tent completely torn by winds that get stronger later in the day. So she and her two grandchildren moved in with a neighbor, widower Joseph Karuri. She fled in 2008 from the election violence near Eldoret that saw her daughter, the mother of the children, killed.
It was the second time that Esther was victimized by election violence. The first time was during the Moi-era in 1992 on the onset of the multiparty system. She was then evicted from Londiani, where her house was set on fire. ‘The violence after the 2007 elections was worse", says Esther.
The misery has really traumatized her. She doesn't really like to talk about it and every time she is asked to narrate what happened to her, she cries and is upset for days. ‘It has been a horrible experience. I want to forgive, but I can't forget” she adds.
She doesn't expect a lot from life anymore “I am old now” she says. But she is still looking forward to a new stone house. She is sure it will make her happy. “As soon as my friend got her house, you could immediately see the difference, she had a happy face."
Tabitha is 37 and mother of nine children. She lived in Nandi Hills when one day in the beginning of 2008 she was warned that people were after her and her family. She fled with the children - the youngest one was just one day old. She ran to a neighbor’s house; hers was torched. She escaped later to the police station, and ended up at the Eldoret Showground.
She doesn't want to go back; it was all too traumatizing. Afraid that people want to harm her again, “When we left that area in 2008 we saw the attackers on the hills, approaching with bows and arrows, and when they saw us being carried away by a truck they started shouting, kill them, kill them” she laments.
The food she gets from the government is never enough for her family. “The just give a certain amount per family but they don't consider the size of the family."
Habitat representative Samuel Gathana tells of the many problems the youth is facing in the camp. “They look for jobs, which are difficult to find. Many girls end up as prostitutes in nearby Maai Mahiu. Consequently, HIV and Aids is on the rise."
Small children hang around the tents all day. They don't look very healthy, many seem to be malnourished. The older ones go to the primary school that has been constructed here. This is until the long rains start when the deep trenches along the camp will be filled with water streaming down Mt.Longonot and Mt. Kijabe, which will them cut off from the school. “The government has promised us time and again that they will build a bridge, but still nothing has been done and the rains are near yet again."
Samuel Muhinga, 90 was until recently, the oldest occupant in the camp. He lost his wife and son in the election violence. He talks about how he fought as a Mau Mau warrior against the British colonialists, how he brought freedom to Kenya and how sad it is he ends up leaving in a leaking tent. “That's not the freedom we fought for." Muhinga will sadly never enjoy the comfort of a new stone house; he died a day later.
