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| Henry Wanyoike and his running partner Joseph |
My husband ran the 10km at the Standard Chartered marathon with quite a few of his work colleagues and our gardener, and managed not to get bombed by Al Shabaab. Phew. So glad that the incredible charity event went off without a hitch (they even dodged the rain that has been pouring down intermittently all weekend) and people turned out in record numbers as usual.
I felt a bit shifty and guilty for not running once again on Sunday morning once again when my husband's alarm clock went off - not least because the spokesperson for the charity 'seeing is believing', Henry Wanyoike, paralympic and gold medal winning marathon champion - came to our kids school on a sports day recently with his running partner Joseph and gave us all an inspiring motivational talk. He lost his sight when he was 19. Read more about the marathon here. When it came close to the time, as usual I had excuses aplenty - next year we'll do the family fun run at least, ... promise.
Shopping centres that were quiet(ish) on Friday following security warnings, were heaving once again (and chaotic) by Sunday. There certainly is general fear of terror attacks - a taxi driver I met on Saturday said,
"Have you seen these Somalis, carrying two guns each? They are not afraid to die. That is why we Kenyans fear them."
While people are certainly behind Kenya's move into Somalia to fight Al Shabaab and are continuing life as usual, last week, hotlines were reportedly jammed with calls by Kenyans reporting sightings of anyone vaguely resembling a Somali in the city. A friend's work colleague said that it has been common for passengers to refuse to board a bus/matatu if there is someone who looks like a Somali already inside. And yet, the person arrested and found guilty for the two grenade attacks of last Sunday/Monday on a nightclub/bus stage - was Kenyan. I wonder what will happen next. Nothing hopefully.
For the latest Economist article on Kenya's war on Al Shabaab - click here
i also hope! my two friends ran the whole 42km on sunday...i felt like I did too after a 4.30am get up and cheering session. next year...perhaps!
ReplyDeleteRefusing to board a bus/matatu because someone inside resembles a Somali- thats hard to believe because Kenya has the most Somalis outside of Somalia. Also Kenya has Kenyan Somalis, who are born in North Eastern Province within Kenyan. It will be hard to avoid them, and also Kenyans should take into account that not all Somalis are Al Shabaab. The fear level in Kenya is not that bad actually............life is still the same for majority of the people really.
ReplyDeleteI didn't make it up! And I am aware of the existence of Kenyan Somalis etc ... but you are right, life is continuing the same.
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