ENI — “We are appealing to our churches to donate food, clothes and other essential supplies and gather them in their respective parishes,” Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi said in early January after violence erupted following a disputed election in Kenya.
Religious groups held national prayers for peace at Sunday services on January 6. Churches had in preceding days joined other relief agencies in drumming up aid for as many as 250,000 people, United Nations agencies said. Some of those displaced were camping in church grounds or near police stations.
“We can try as ordinary Kenyans to pray and preach peace amongst ourselves, but if there is no word from [political leaders] Kibaki and Raila, then anarchy and destruction will persist,” said Catholic Bishop Peter Kairo of the Eldoret diocese.
A convoy of 20 World Food Programme trucks arrived in Nairobi and Eldoret in early January targeting the people displaced by the violence. The Red Cross Society is appealing for aid for people living with HIV who are thought to be especially vulnerable.
