What's up with Kenya, redux

While every fan of sports and competition is looking forward to the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games, Kenyan fans will watch the opening ceremonies knowing that one of their country’s most renowned and respected athletes is no longer there to enjoy the event.

The man is Lucas Sang. He gained notoriety running for the Kenyan national team in the 1988 Seoul Games and continued after that for a number of years as a professional. Eight months ago he was spending his time teaching Kenyan youth the sport that had provided him so much, not knowing that his heritage would lead to gruesome death.

Life was changing rapidly for Kenyans as the calendar turned to 2008. Days earlier—by all accounts—the ruling Kikuyu tribe rigged the election and kept their leader, Mwai Kibaki, in power. The ensuing clashes and riots between the ruling Kikuyu and a group of tribes led by the Kalenjin burned and destroyed neighborhoods.

In the midst of all this, a man that had always been a Kenyan decided instead to be Kalenjin. This led him to the streets with his fellow tribesman and ultimately his death at the hands of a Kikuyu mob wielding machetes.

No country expects to see their Olympic athletes hacked to death in the middle of a field. But it really makes one wonder, what’s up with Kenya?

What's up with Kenya

Kenyans are surrounded by violence; Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda are some of the violence stricken neighboring countries. Residents in Nairobi (Kenya) have lived relatively peaceful lives until the election of President Mwai Kibaki in 2008. The election was close, Kibaki won with 51.3 percent of the votes, his opponent Odinga with 48.7.
Violence broke out and gangs of young men armed with machetes were seen roaming the streets of Kenya. Kenyans sought refuge from the violence in a church. The church was burned with 200 people insides. Its estimated that 50 people were burned alive, although it is difficult to count ashes. Burning people alive and hacking them to death seems to be a common trend in Africa. Kenya’s violence is very similar to what occurred in Rwanda.

After an estimated 1,500 deaths both Kibaki and Odinga came together to help end the violence and let Kenyans return to their peaceful lives.

That's what is up with Kenya.

Peacekeepers killed

While investigating the murders of civilians, seven peacekeepers were killed in the Sudan on Wednesday. Also murdered five Rwandan soliders and two police officers from Ghana and Uganda. Outnumbered three-to-one 200 gunmen ambushed a joint U.N.- African Union force in Darfur. The gunmen were believe to belong to the janjaweed militia who are "pro-government Arab nomads".

US efforts with Africa

In Rwanda in 1994, 800,000 Tutsi were murdered by the Hutu government and its extremist allies. Using the most violet methods possible to purge the region of undesirables, the Hutu and their allies burned, dismembered, and shot Tutsi’s. Bill Clinton, president at the time, claimed he had no idea of the events taking place in Africa. He lied.
Bill Clinton and the government knew of the events taking place in Rwanda. They knew enough information early on to where they could have save lives, yet he, and his administration, neglected to act. In documents found through The National Security Archive, an organization that uses the Freedom of Information Act to release information that is otherwise classified, paperwork has been uncovered that indicates that Bill Clinton and the government knew more than they led people to believe at the time. I
In March of 1998, after the death of 800,000 Tutsi’s, Clinton went to Rwanda and offered his apologies. In his speech Clinton apologized for not sending troops, saying "We come here today partly in recognition of the fact that we, in the United States and the world community, did not do as much as we could have and should have done to try to limit what occurred" in Rwanda. Many people think that if the people in Rwanda were white, Clinton, and others, would have paid attention sooner and prevented some of the deaths.
(http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200109/power-genocide)
The new area of problem arising in Africa is in Darfur. Many people claim that if there was oil in Darfur, Bush would be there with troops. In the days of Rwanda, the government was hesitant to label the mass killings as “genocide.” After pressure from congress and citizen from across the U.S., the crisis in Darfur was finally labeled as genocide as well. President Bush is now, however, making the same mistake that Clinton made in 1994. Bush is so wrapped up in the “war on terror,” he has also neglected his moral responsibilities as president to put an end to the genocide and atrocities inflicted on a segment of society that is unable to defend themselves. Since 2003, the U.S. Humanitarian Assistance for Darfur has been an estimate $710,000,000 and the U.S. spending on Iraq War & Occupation is at a staggering $192,000,000,000. (http://www.africaaction.org/newsroom/index.phpop=read&documentid=1359&type=15&issues=1024).
. In Darfur, it is estimated that 400,000 people have died from disease, murder and mal-nutrition. In the past few months, many presidential candidates have touched on the issue of the genocide in Darfur. None have offered ways to fix the problem and they only acknowledge that they know that there is genocide taking place there. In an interview for the Save Darfur Collation, Hilary Clinton presses the issue that if she is elected she will stop the genocide in Darfur, yet it is obvious she is well rehearsed and reading from a prompter (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyEYtHIOGhI).
Quite frankly, nothing can be done about the past. However, now that evidence is clear that Africa needs outside help to bring stability to the region, the United States has a moral obligation to assist. Foreign policy should include diplomacy aimed at bringing peace to the region, healthcare to the people, and the creation of a sustainable and viable economic environment. It would include tougher sanction for those countries or regions that are not interested in peaceful solutions support for international peacekeeping, and support for negotiations between rival groups, as well as humanitarian aide. Incentives must be created that bring and keep health care workers and industry to the region. Often, doctors and health care workers who are trained in Africa leave for countries that offer better opportunities. Africans need to be educated so that they understand the severity of the situation and the benefits that change will bring to them as well as to their country.

AIDS

The AIDS epidemic is Africa is out of control, plain and simple. Over 15 million Africans, close to the combined populations of the cities of New York and London, have died from AIDS. Over 42 million, worldwide, are living with HIV/AIDS, and 74 percent of these infected people live in sub-Saharan Africa where the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is located. See the attached map showing the countries located in this region.

The presence of AIDS has caused the life expectancy of Africans to drop from 60 years old to 40 years old. An estimated 15 million children worldwide have been orphaned from AIDS. 12 million of these children live in Sub-Saharan Africa. In a country where survival is already a struggle for the healthy, orphans lead an especially difficult life. In addition, another 9% of the children in this region have already lost at least one parent to AIDS. In a family where one parent has died from this disease, the possibility of the other parent being infected is generally high since it is transmitted by sex. Children who are infected are usually infected at birth. This often means the child’s mother will not survive long enough to take care of the child without proper medication. In the DRC, 2.6 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and in 2005, an estimated 680,000 children were orphaned due to AIDS.

Anti Retro Viral drugs, often referred to as ARVs, can actually increase life expectancy anywhere from 6-24 years. However, the drugs are not available due to high cost. It is estimated by UNICEF that only 20% of people who need ARVs get them, with only 5% of those being children and 10% females. It’s now up to pharmaceutical companies to make the ARVs in generic form so people and children in Africa may have a chance at life until something can be done to prevent or cure AIDS.