Don’t you just hate captchas? And yet sometimes they just say so much. 
I’m not feeling particularly insightful this morning and I thought the foregoing might be the extent of what I had to say. I’m behind in blog reading again, but I see this morning that Sonja has an excellent primer on Kenya… very thorough. I’ve said nothing about Kenya because to be honest, I just don’t know anything. I know that Bill (who has direct connections in Kenya) has expressed some — not sure the right word — disappointment? at the lack of blogosphere response to Kenya. Hmmm. I guess most of us haven’t finished not responding to Darfur yet. When we’re finished not responding there, perhaps we’ll have more time and understanding to not respond to Kenya with. Trouble is, I’m still not entirely sure how to respond… an attempt to understand will probably be a good start, so I’ll be back to Sonja’s post to read further; Bill has some other practical suggestions.
Last week I watched the movie The Quiet American, based on the book by Graham Greene. The DVD includes a timeline of the history of Vietnam, and like the movie (or book), illustrates how early the United States through the predecessor to the CIA was involved in Vietnam politics, fueled by the Domino Theory which suggested that if Vietnam fell to communism, so too would Japan and all of Asia. Their meddling in Asian affairs during the 1950s did not set the stage well for the two decades that followed, both in terms of their own involvement and in beneficial terms to the locals. A few days after watching it, I remarked to a friend concerning America’s track record of meddling in the affairs of foreign governments and the aftereffects thereof. None of that history is all too favorable, right up to the present.
Oddly enough though, we noted a lack of involvement in Africa. Asia, the Middle East, sure. But Africa? There’s enough instability there to cry for help — we all thought Kenya was one of the more stable governments in the region. But alas, unlike the nations with extensive military potential or vast natural reserves (read:oil), turmoil in Africa generally seems not to be much of a great military or financial threat to anyone but the Africans. Is that the true determining factor for action? To use the newly-coined Latin term, that’s “crapus.” Time to generate a new code of conduct.
It seems that the “wait-and-see” approach is not a good one for Africa. 100 Days can come and go so quickly, and be forgotten about… leaving us once again forgetting the meaning of two little words. Or perhaps we do know what they mean — we’re just deaf to them.
Another angle to consider with the African countries is that they have learned what to expect from the developed, white, countries. Kenya is a key in the overall scheme in Africa. She has a Christian majority (particularly Kikuyu), especially in the central regions (The bulk of the violence is in the west.), and is working not just to raise the literacy rate but to promote higher education at an impressive rate. Before we write off African “tribalism” as somehow “backward,” remember that it is just the African way of favoring the familiar, in the same way that, in the States, people defend their home schools, neighborhoods, or ethnic comfort zones.
All that to say this: If you love Jesus, pray for your brothers and sisters, and others, who have lost their homes, livelihoods, even family members. And pray for the stability of that beautiful country that the Lord may continue to use her as a beacon of His peace. For those who do not yet know the Savior, consider that the turmoil in Africa is no different from the unrest in every heart which is still trying to find its own way. Let Christ be your light!