February 9, 2008
On our last night with everyone we had a party to say thank you to all those amazing friends, both old and new without whom this project would not have gotten off to such a successful start. We enjoyed a delicious Kenyan meal that drew on the traditions of a number of tribes and also featured Indian recipes. We showed the film to all those gathered and had a very productive discussion about how it might be perceived by a Kenyan audience. It was evident that everyone was very moved by the piece which we had cobbled out of footage gathered in the preceding three weeks. The younger generation (in their 20s and early 30s) were particularly supportive of the film's discussion of violence against women which they clearly consider to be one of the most topical and significant issues in Kenya today.

The discussion of the video was followed by a very intense conversation about tribal identity. our guests were from various different tribes, Luo, Kikuyu, Kamba, Kalenjin, Nubian and Muzungu (all whites are grouped in this category) and they all shared sterotypes about their own tribe and various other tribes. We spoke about the inherant contradictions in many of the steretotypes, for example Luos are said to be lazy but are also known to be stonecutters, one of the hardest manual labor jobs around. Kikuyus are said to be thieves but also of entrepreneurial spirit. And the list goes on, with some quite funny stereotypes that we all couldn't help laughing about.

February 5, 2008
After seeing his work everywhere in Kibera for weeks, we finally got a chance to meet Solo. He explained that he began painting the peace messages even as the army was pouring into Kibera around him. It was his gut response and has since enlivened feelings of hope in many of the slum's residents. Since the violence he has not been able to bring himself to paint anything except the messages. His friends have tried to get him to work on other pieces but he explains he simply can't, he wouldn't know where to begin.

February 8, 2008

We had the opportunity to interview the Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai for a documentary that our New Day friends are making and we took that opportunity to ask her some questions about the topics we are dealing with in our film. She spoke about violence against women and how war is played out on women's bodies even as they carry the society on their backs through the conflict, picking up the pieces of shattered lives, feeding and clothing the communities. We came away from the interview feeling that Wangari is a true civic leader and her Green Belt Movement is an important organization, not just for Kenya but for the entire world (www.greenbeltmovement.org)

Later that day, Mumbi, our "hot shot producer," as we like to call her, got us permission to shoot a time-lapse of the sunset from the top of the Serena, one of the most luxurious hotels in Nairobi, and coincidentally the place where Kofi Annan stays. The day was overcast but the dying light on the high-rise buildings of downtown Nairobi was beautiful and melancholic in its effect.

February 1, 2008
When we heard that the violence had died down in Nakuru we decided to return so that we could spend more time with Stella. We arrived at Stella's school and jumped right into Eastmore's daily routine. The girls were as welcoming the second time as they had been the first and we followed them to meals and entertainment and even shot as they prepared for bed and said their prayers.

February 2, 2008

On Sunday morning we were invited to film Eastmore's Pentecostal Service. The service was beautiful; many of the girls sang moving songs and lead the congregation in prayers. They seemed truly joyous singing in their simple room with no trappings of a church. It is evident that their faith is deep and plays a central role in their lives.

After church we went with Stella to the Nakuru Show-grounds where Red Cross has set up a camp for displaced Kikuyus. Stella was eager to speak with everyone we came across and learn their story. It was here at the camp that the depth of Stella's compassion and tenderness because apparent. Children gathered around her upon arrival and she related to each of them with undivided attention and tenderness that they responded to immediately.

Stella interviewed the young and old and anyone who would share their story or opinion. Sometimes what the people said shocked us, many of the men called for war and voiced their willingness to send their children into battle for land. The women we spoke to were of a different mind and expressed a desire to end the cycle of revenge, life was struggle enough they said, sending their children to school and feeding their families had always been their single-minded purpose.

Stella also spoke to a girl of about 9 who, with her mother, had narrowly escaped the church burning in Eldoret several weeks earlier. She explained that she and her mother had jumped out the window as the church caught flame leaving behind her elderly grandmother who was to frail to escape. We were all very effected by what we saw and heard there, it was unlike anything any of us had ever seen.

February 4, 2008

After filming the weekly assembly, it was time for Stella to go to class and thus time for us to say goodbye. We left Stella with a small camera so that she can continue shooting video diaries about her daily experiences. We were very sad to go but our plans to return in April made the farewell easier for all of us. Evans, our driver, has also formed a friendship with Stella and he promised to try and bring her mother and his own family to visit her on visiting day.

Kibera Women

January 31, 2008

Today we went to Kibera to meet with an amazing woman named Amina who runs an organization for women and girls. She had gathered together a group of women from a variety of backgrounds to speak about their experiences since the election. The women spoke in kiswahili but their strength and determination to speak their truth transcended language.

Next, Amina gave us a tour of the "toy market" which used to be filled with stalls selling fruits, clothing and everything the residents of Kibera could need. Now the market is a burnt out shell filled with the charred remains of a once thriving community center. There were several vegetable vendors with a few collard greens set out at their feet. They told us they were simply to hungry to not come out to sell their offerings. One elderly woman hid from the sun under a piece of cardboard, we learned that she was the oldest woman in the market and had been selling there since 1948.

We also encountered a man selling tin travel trunks who had a clear message for anyone who would listen "we don't want peace, we want war... because you can see that peace has not worked for us." As he stood among the deserted stalls under the hot sun it seemed to us that he was speaking the truth.

We then got word that another opposition MP had been shot and tension was building. We were told that we had to leave before "the boys" took to the streets to loot and burn again. What was amazing to us was how these women were at the mercy of their (male) children who they could no longer control. One young boy who we hired for security told us that the election should never have happened: "If our votes don't mean anything, why don't you just admit you are a dictator and just let us get on with our lives."

Then news came that the killing of the MP was reported as a "crime of passion" because the shooter suspected his girlfriend was having an affair with the MP--they were together in a car and both shot dead. Seems infidelity and love affairs still continue in the midst of the turbulence--in fact, personal stories of love and lost love and affairs, etc are swirling all around us with friends who are trying to save their marriages as well as their faith in the country. Crazy.

The way in which things go from calm to bad in an instant (what we experienced today in Kibera) is increasingly a common experience for all Kenyans. One moment it is life as usual with traffic jams and hawkers in the street, children running to school and the next moment people retreat into their homes sensing that something terrible is about to happen. This instability is emotionally exhausting, particularly to people who need to be out on the street to earn their next meal. It is invariably the poor who suffer the most in this climate of fear, though Kenyans try their hardest to continue with their everyday existence it is obvious that this conflict is not going to end until the deep-rooted causes come to the surface. Unfortunately the politicians seem totally disconnected to the reality on the ground.

One more thing: the gangs in the slums do seem now to be controlled by some higher force, and outsider "Mungiki" or Kikuyu-militias have been seen in government uniforms. There are also rumors on the other side that ODM youth gangs continue to terrorize their own neighborhoods and people out of some twisted notion that the "change" they had voted for will be had at all costs...

Then there's the slum artist Solo 7, who has painted signs of peace all over Kibera--"Kenyans for peace" in crude white paint on the curbs and metal sides of shacks...we hope to meet and interview him...