The Burnin' and the Lootin'

TRIBAL WAR

In December 2007 I was standing in the middle of a rural Kenyan village, watching a band of savage men burn down houses with people inside. This is a fucked up tale about a white-Canadian-middleclass-suburbanite stuck in the middle of an East African tribal war. Your everyday Gord, surrounded by burning, looting and murder. This is my personal account of the 2007/2008 Kenyan civil war, and if you don't know, now you know.

Let me take you back. Kenya was THE model state in sub-Saharan Africa for decades. They had better (not good by any means, but 'better') infrastructure, resources and an almost democratic government. When the Federal election approached in the winter of 2007, the existing president felt big heat coming from his main challenger and decided to shut down the nation's media so he could quietly rig the election. As you can imagine, the good people of the country, 60% of which did not support said President, were fucking pissed and reeked havoc. Note to the reader; angering people already living in desperate conditions is a recipe for chaos.

I was 24 years old and had been living in Kenya for 8 months. I moved there to work with a non-governmental organization (NGO) that focussed on community development for impoverished communities. In Kenya specifically, this NGO serviced rural villages living in absolute poverty and their people getting by on less than $2 a day. Do the math, that's $730/year which is an impossible way of life anywhere-anytime. My role was to take westerners into these communities and connect them with the people and social issues that were prevalent. At the time of the 2007 election I was leading a very important trip. The Dean from one of Canada's biggest universities and his family were under my wing, which for the NGO, was an opportunity to develop a fruitful partnership. The family was comprised of Dad, Mom and teenage daughter; The Dean, The Doctor and The Chief Executive. A really nice family with a great sense of curiosity, but they were the mad professor type... super intelligent but super aloof and you will soon understand what I mean.