"Ed, I am missing you many times."

Had a good day in Nairobi. John is feeling better with his food poisoning. We wonder if it might not be from some honey John ate. He was commenting that it had three bees processed in the jar, along with the honey. Not sure . . . We worked on some emails and then took off for downtown. I wanted to buy a couple of items for Benerd, who should be leaving for boarding school soon. John was after a refund from the Mombassa to Nairobi bus people. A bus trip he was scheduled for was canceled due to violence after Christmas and they promised him a refund. They were true to the promise today. We had some lunch, walked the city streets and came home for a nap. We went out for chicken and chips at a local haunt and now are finishing up emails etc. and off to bed. Tomorrow we should headback to the Village. George comes into Nairobi for a meeting and we can travel safely back with him to Kitui.

All in all it seems as though the violence has calmed in many areas of the city. Kibera Slum remains tense. We went with Sister Little to the Fairgrounds adjacent Kibera today. This is the location many slum dwellers have run to after being displaced by violence. They were of the "wrong tribe" and got burned out or threatened. The Kibera program, Lea Toto,run by Nyumbani has had to suspend working in some areas. Some of the drivers are "the wrong tribe" and could be killed entering Kibera. Sister allowed us to go to the Fairgrounds but not to the slums. We also saw large buses of refugees from Sudan being sent back home after being run out of their homes. Sister dropped us off on a main road and she and the driver headed into the Kibera Slum to load up food and medication (ARVs) to take to the Fairgrounds. We spoke with her later in the day and know she arrived home safely. Many of the "businesses" and kiosks were burned and "homes" destroyed. I was grateful to be able to be with some of the displaced people and see them before some heavy rains and cold weather moved in.I can't imagine living out in the elements on a night like tonight, especially with young children and infants.

Also displaced are the parents of a good friend on staff at Nyumbani. They received a letter threatening their lives if they did not move out in 4 days. To reinforce the threat, a kiosk was burned in front of their house on day three. They took everything they could carry and moved to an aunts house. I can't imagine.

There was violence in Kisii. Another staff member lost a good friend in the fighting there earlier in the week. The death was a gruesome one.

So . . .as I said, the violence in many areas seems to be subsiding, but remains in pockets around here and in the western province. Kitui and the Village go on unaffected by the fighting. No one really knows what is going on in the outside world. Amazingly, our young student from the Village,John (20 years) called us today from the Village. "I am missing you many times." John left for secondary school but returned late in the night on Tuesday because of a strike. He is afraid he will miss us if we don't return to the village this weekend. "I wish you sweet nightmares" he tells us. Ya gotta love that.

John, dressed for boarding school. He left and returned after a strike was called.