Dr. Richard Allen is frustrated. “Canadians have the means and opportunity to learn and keep current about the situations of various countries and peoples in the world, but unfortunately they often remain uninformed,” says the Sarnia, Ont., native who has been working with the Presbyterian Church in East Africa since 1994. “One would hope that the fairly wide reporting in the media of the present Kenyan crisis will encourage Canadians and others in the future to follow similar world problems more closely.”
A medical doctor, Allen is responsible for the HIV/AIDS program outside of Nairobi, in the Kikuyu district. “I am not in personal danger. Expatriates [mission personnel, diplomats and others] from western countries are usually not in direct danger during the type of violent situation now occurring in Kenya.” Of course, he stresses, common sense is a necessary weapon to carry when traveling locally or elsewhere in the country.
As little as six months ago Kenya was a seemingly peaceful nation. But tensions have been lurking for years and they exploded, often along ethnic lines, after the December 27 election, when the incumbent, Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner. The vote was very close and the chief opposition leader, Raila Odinga, declared foul. He said a “clique of people around Kibaki” had rigged the results, but that democracy was as unstoppable as the “flow of the Nile.”
“A few years prior to my arrival in Kenya,” says Allen, “the government abandoned its one-party state and allowed multi-party elections. Since that time and during my stay in the country there has been increasing freedom of speech and political diversity. In 2002, the party in power since independence in the early 1960s was defeated in a national election and replaced by the opposition. In this present election … it looked again that the government in power was going to be defeated through the ballot box, but that did not occur and has resulted in the present political crisis.”
But it is the world's silence that frustrates Allen. “One wishes that church leaders and members would see that they have a role to play in facilitating and supporting social action that addresses the many injustices and human rights violations in different parts of the world.”
He holds up the Presbyterian Church in Canada as an example of faith in action. “The PCC collects funds through Presbyterian World Service and Development. These funds are then made available to a division of the World Council of Churches which facilitates relief activities in Kenya in cooperation with several Kenyan national churches.”
Currently these funds are going towards providing food, water and clothing for the 300,000 displaced Kenyans running for their lives.
Despite Kenya's current chaos, Allen, along with the majority of Kenyans, believes this too shall pass. “After this crisis has greatly lessened or come to an end, God will help Kenyans to reflect on what happened and why it happened, with the hope that such horrific events will be avoided from being repeated in the future.”
He is hopeful for the future, and believes that through the prayers of churches worldwide and continued financial support, God's vision for Kenya will come to pass. “It's like His vision for all places: His people will strive to live peacefully and will learn to tolerate other ideas, traditions and religions.”
