In Cambridge, Kenyan Violence Hits Home

As Kenya continues to boil with unrest, students at Harvard have begun to change summer plans and to collect donations for humanitarian relief.

For others, the violence has hit closer to home.

Kenyan student Kipyegon A. Kitur ’09 remembers the first day of the new year. That day 50 people were burned alive in a church in Eldoret as they fleed from a mob incensed over the results of the election two days earlier. Kitur, who was spending winter break on campus, called his brother in another Kenyan town.

“He said people were screaming,” Kitur recalled.

The death toll currently exceeds 700, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday.

At a gathering of Kenyan undergraduates on campus last week led by Joseph K. Mwaura, a visiting fellow in the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, about 10 students met to discuss the situation and possible ways to help.

So far, the group has set up a bank account and has began gathering donations for humanitarian relief.

Earlier, on Oct. 18, the State Department issued a warning about the country’s security.

For Harvard students, the U.S. warning could spell a change in travel plans.

Elizabeth S. Nowak ’10, who had planned to travel to Kenya over the summer, was forced to cancel her trip because she could not obtain funding through the Office of Career Services (OCS). According to OCS policy, travel in countries on the State Department’s list is not eligible for Harvard funding.

“I understand the OCS’s motives, but at the same time it is disheartening,” said Nowak, who added she would have traveled to Kenya if she could have obtained funding.

The violence has sparked concern among colleges with study abroad programs in the country, including three Harvard-approved programs. But according to Giorgio G. DiMauro, associate director for the Office of International Programs, no Harvard students are currently in Kenya or planning to travel there for credit next semester.

The St. Lawrence University Summer Program in Nairobi announced on Wednesday that its program will proceed, but reserved the right to cancel the program if conditions worsen before Jan. 24. The School for Field Studies, an environmental study abroad program, is considering delaying or curtailing its program, while the School for International Training, which has two programs in Kenya, is carefully monitoring the unrest.

Kenyan student Elvis K. Terigin ’10, however, said he believes the schools’ fears are largely unnecessary.

“The violence only occurred in the slums, and only one slum in particular,” said Terigin, adding that college study abroad programs, which are not located in these hot spots, should be safe.

In addition, Terigin said that his family in Eldoret has informed him that the violence has nearly completely subsided.

“Politicians recognize the unrest and plan to settle it politically in Parliament,” he said.

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, backed by a panel of African leaders, has stepped in to lead negotiations between the opposing parties.

“If the negotiation succeeds, then everything should go back to normal,” Kitur said.

“I would say that it is not dangerous,” Terigin said. “I would go back if I got the chance.”