In July, 2008, I, Princess Rachella, Intrepid African American Girl International Journalism Consultant, pulled up stakes once again and headed to Nairobi, Kenya. Through my various adventures, I've concluded that if I get any MORE explosively fabulous in these prequel years to "THE BIG 5-0," I will have to register myself with the Pentagon as a thermonuclear incendiary device.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Friday the 13th...The Sequel

When I agreed to accompany a reporter to a crisis counseling session for rape survivors at an Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Mai Mahiu this morning, I didn't really take note of the date.

It's Friday the 13th, and I'm reminded of my first journey to similar camps in Northern Uganda--on July 7, 2007, or "Lucky 7/7/07."

I'm not as tense and anxious as I was before that trip, because in some ways, I know what to expect. And I remember how hopeful and buoyed I was that day, observing the beautiful little children "get on with it" in a way only children can.

But this time, considering the fate of tens of thousands of men, women and children who are still living in makeshift tents more than a year after Kenya exploded in post-election violence makes me think more of a horror movie than anything else. Freddy Krueger ain't got NUTHIN' on the reality of living in a squalid refugee camp in your own country.

Looking forward to sharing the journey with you later, knowing that what I will witness has the power to either leave me totally shaken or incredibly privileged to once again observe the strongest element on the face of the Earth-the human spirit.

No comments: