"Top Marks for Orphaned and Displaced Boy"

Among the articles about the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education 2008 results released this week, there were other articles that reflect last year’s problems in Kenya. Thursday’s Daily Nation includes “Top marks for orphaned and displaced boy” which shares: “Talk of achieving against all odds. An orphan displaced from a children’s home due to post-election violence emerged the top candidate among chaos victims in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education.” This young man scored well enough to move on to a government high school, but he said, “I would have performed better were it not for the challenging life at the camp.” The challenges and odds he and others faced which were listed in the article includes: “213 pupils at Eldoret IDP (Internally Displaced People) School lacked clocks, clipboards (needed during the testing) and sanitary towels (many girls miss school one week per month and often miss exams due to the lack of these items)… (worries) about the plight of the parents and siblings in the camps … lacked text books” and no classes until second term. (Italicized words are added for clarification.)

It is hard to determine how many of those who sat for the KCPE exams were affected by last year’s post-election chaos as government leaders are seeking to downplay these facts, but page three of Wednesday’s Daily Nation also carried an article entitled “Thousands still waiting to be resettled” (not found on the internet). Numbers that do appear in the article include: “2,460 people are still camping at the Eldoret ASK Show Ground and 52,183 others are still in transit camps in the North Rift region.” In most articles about the resettlement of the IDPs it is not noted that many are not resettling at home or settling in new permanent homes, but moving on to transit camps – which means they are still Internally Displaced People dealing with insecurity and limited food, housing, etc. The article does share that “In the North Rift, parts of Nyanza and Western provinces, 127,000 people are receiving food.” To be honest, as one reads between the lines and especially as one realizes what is omitted at times, it is likely that the numbers given are just a small account of the ongoing problem.

I have not added the personal perceptions/thoughts in this last paragraph to be negative, but to lead you to prayer. As you praise God for the kids affected by the clashes who did persevere and do well on their exams, pray for the many who have now added poor exams marks to their and their parent’s frustrations. Pray for the Kenyans who are still “internally displaced” a year after the post-election chaos began. Pray that these people will find peace in their living situation and more importantly within their hearts. Pray especially for the families that continue to be separated. Pray that Kenyan Christians will continue to strive to meet the problems and use this difficult time to share their Father’s love and salvation. Bert Yates

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“Top marks for orphaned and displaced boy” (Daily Nation, 1/1/09, p.13) – http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/509272/-/u0qkij/-/index.html
“200,000 to miss places in public secondary schools” (Daily Nation, 12/31/08, p.13) – http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/508940/-/u0q1lu/-/index.html