From Brussels to Baba

 

A Tale of Two Cities

Brussels continues to delight with the twinkling of bright lights and the tempting aroma of chocolate and waffles. It's a city to wander and wonder  -- a city of beauty and brilliance beyond compare!!! The Grand Square is a treat at any time of day but particularly when all the lights are blazing and hundreds of cameras compete to get that perfect image capturing the uncapturable. You see - the magic is in the air.. not the old buildings and fancy restaurants that make up the square. But ahhh - wander through in the early morning hours or after the pubs are closed and you can feel it in your bones.....



My training came to an end after two weeks but not without many wonderful moments and a fair bit of learning as well. The advanced security training course is as dense as it is complicated often requiring long days to convey the vital parts of this messy business. Paradoxically,  we were fortunate to use case studies from real MSF situations and at the same time saddened by those same the MSF case studies so full of misery and tragedy. As an example we used the Kunduz Afghanistan hospital case study where 42 innocent people lost their lives (including MSF Doctors and other staff) as the basis for improving defensive preparations for a facility that may come under fire. To be sure, the Kunduz bombing  by the Americans was from an AC130U gunship and there's not much that can be done to protect against that. Other than those with the weapons of war being held accountable for their use perhaps......
That said, how do you design bunkers -- safe rooms -- and hibernation/evacuation strategies if you do come under fire,.Tricky stuff indeed! While my colleagues and I may look a bit goofy here, it is a serious business taken very seriously by the organization.

The 12 members of the team and an instructor at the Belgium fire prevention training center. Yup - slid down the pole!

Coming back into Nairobi couldn't be a more starkly contrasted experience. While the cities are similar in boasting fancy-assed architecture and all the trappings of a modern city, they are indeed very different places. Where you wander and wonder in Brussels.. you hurry and hide in Nairobi. Where you enjoy beauty and brilliance in Brussels, Nairobi is more about teargas and terror lately.

Beautiful Nairobi at sunset. A modern and beautiful city in so many ways

The Kenya election - or should we say the second election (the first was annulled by the supreme court) is now complete with the votes and body count duly tallied. Many died as this election unfolded with assassinations, intimidation and collateral casualties seeming to be electioneering tactics rather than the cowardly acts of unconscionable men and women. How is it - I wonder, that a city full of well meaning kind-hearted souls can and do resort to such deadly tactics to ensure the process of selecting a government is complete. Just above, newly re-elected President Kenyatta is jubilant in victory with his jubilee party supporters while below, the opposition leader affectionately known as Baba (father in Kiswahili) looks dutifully sad as has been the case since taking on the role of "leader of the opposition" in 2013.

Raila Odinga speaks to the assembled in a somber and dignified manner befitting the funeral-like atmosphere of elections.

Tomorrow, Monday November 6th will be last day for officially filing a legal challenge to the political outcome of this Kenyan election. Many have died and many more were wounded. That is not to mention the psychological trauma and economic damage that also was a massive part of this troubled time. While it may seem that economic damage is a small consideration, the burning of businesses and the loss of income means that people can't eat - or seek treatment for themselves or a sick relative. Then they die too. The "costs" of this election have been steep and one wonders if it could have been different.







The Violence in the streets of Nairobi and Kisumu was horrific without doubt. The embedded link proceeding offers an excellent description of the events on those terrible days. Some say that the people who protested with Pangas (machetes) were in fact armed by the opposition. And that those who fought for the winning side were a group know as the Mungiki. The Mungiki sect are a much feared gang who have the reputation of cutting off one's head or inviting them to Sunday dinner with equal amounts of interest or concern. It was often repeated that if the opposition (NASA) continued to protest in the streets, the Mungiki would be unleashed and all manner of mayhem would result. It may or may not be true, but what is a fact is that the push and pull of power lies well outside meeting rooms and boardrooms in East Africa. The stakes are high, and the outcome more determined by the depths to which one is prepared to sink rather than the strength of the party and candidates. I'm quite sure that the founders of democracy never quite saw it this way.

I have high hopes for Kenya - that being that recent elections characterized by the absence of  honorable conduct, will be a thing of the past. As they say in Kenya; Tembo waki gombana, nyasi ndizo huumia -- when the elephants fight, it's the grass that suffers.















Thanks for reading.....Layno!!!