"I'm Just Sayin, Dawg," Part 11

You know, I was gonna use a photo of a Western Kenya slum to illustrate this posting, but then I caught myself. After all, I've actually been to Eldoret, near the Ugandan border, and I know firsthand that there's a whole lot more to it than the typical stereotype of an African rural village or slum. So I went with this aerial shot of downtown Eldoret.

Indeed, the town has (mostly) paved roads, and a (relatively) major hotel, and many shops and restaurants (again, relatively speaking). In fact, I bought a pair of my favorite eyeglass frames in Eldoret. And I had a GREAT grilled tilapia dinner while I was there. But one thing I didn't get to do was tour some of the locations that were hardest hit by the rioting after the December 2007 elections.

I suspect part of the reason was subconscious, like when I was in Rwanda. Even after my harrowing trip through the genocide memorial, I still wanted to visit one of the Kigali churches where the most egregious atrocities occurred. You see, I've developed this theory that if I witness enough of the effects of the worst humanity can unleash, it will somehow inoculate me. Maybe one day it won't depress me so much if I can just accept that these events are a unfortunate yet non-negotiable part of being human. But other than my Golden Monkey trip, I spent most of my time at the US Embassy in Kigali, and probably preferred it that way.

Anyway, back to Eldoret. I'm mentioning it today because of an item I read in one of the local papers. It was newsbrief, only a few sentences long, but I could actually feel my blood pressure rise while reading it. Apparently, a group of Eldoret City councillors are taking a trip to Rwanda, to observe how the country has grappled with the impact of the genocide, and the strategies being used to keep moving forward. Because Eldoret was the setting for one of the worst post-election atrocitites in Kenya, the Kiambaa Church massacre, that kind of official junket seemed not only appropriate but logical.

But then I saw that 35 Eldoret city councillors would head to Rwanda on a 10-day trip. I felt myself going numb. I wanted to turn to somebody and ask, "Is this a misprint?? They can't be serious."

First of all, I gotta say I'm impressed that there are 35 city councillors in Eldoret! The town itself ain't big enough to swing a cat in comfortably, but hey, maybe there's more to it than what I saw, and maybe it needs that much administratin'. But can Eldoret really afford to have 35 publicly-financed employees spend 10 days away on a "fact-finding mission"?

Okay, let's say they went by road. One goodly sized tourbus would probably cost a lot less than 35 plane fares. And maybe they doubled, even tripled up on accomodations, instead of billing 35 hotel rooms for 10 days.

But as a lone foreigner who's spent the past few months trying to help fund a school feeding program for some of the children displaced by the post-election destruction and mayhem caused by Kenyan public officials, am I out of order to be thinking those Eldoret bureaucrats should have rented a freakin' DVD to learn about Rwanda's peace and reconciliation process??? Am I qualified to consider how much bottled water that money could have purchased for some of the thousands of Kenyans who are literally dying of thirst throughout this country at this very moment? Is it any of my bloody business to suggest that money might have replaced some of the school book funds that have allegedly been stolen by Ministry of Education staff, or pave a few of the deathtrap roadways in Western Kenya?

After all, just yesterday, I read that some members of Parliament were refusing to trade in their huge fuel-guzzling SUVs for smaller, more fuel friendly Volkswagen Passats because the VW's couldn't withstand the difficult terrain in their constituencies.

"I'm just sayin', dawg....."