NEWS AND EVENTS

Bringing Peace to Neighbours and Friends

For many years, our neighbours- the Kikuyu, Pokot, Samburu, Turkana, Njemps and Tugen communities, have been living alongside each other in a state of reasonable harmony. Through the 4 Generations we have come to know these communities well and have formed deep and lasting friendships. It was of great concern to us, therefore, when in April the Pokot and Samburu communities started fighting. A dispute that started far away has spread to involve every member of those communities who have been engaged ever since in a war of retaliation.

In June we were approached by elders from both communities who asked us if we could provide a safe and neutral forum through which they could communicate directly for the first time since the fighting started.

It was a great honour for us to be entrusted with this important and sensitive task. We traveled across the districts informing communities and gathering elders and held our first peace meeting on July 8th at our eco-village. Over 70 Elders attended.This gave the two communities the chance to vent their frustrations and come up with common resolutions and commitments. By the end of the day, after a hearty lunch, the tension of the morning had disappeared. Elders went their separate ways and held many meetings in their own villages and areas. There was a cease fire for 3 weeks and we had reports that even the warriors were wearing sprigs of green vegetation symbolizing peace.

Recently, however, an external decision has caused unrest again, but thankfully the other side has as yet refrained from retaliating and at the grassroots people insist they do not want to fight any more. We have our next meeting on August 8th and hopefully we will be able to map a way forward. We are fully committed to the task of bringing peace to these communities and have dedicated a team to keep abreast of all developments so that we can see how best to proceed. Ultimately we know that the long term solution will require great investment- in time, thought and resources.