Show For Va teacher Kenya's troubles are far from distant Annie Gowen Goven The Washington Post Kenneth worried al all through December about th the close presidential election ii in his homeland of Kenya Things Thing could get tense the high school history teacher told friends anc and neighbors Pray for our country But the violence that erupted in Kenya after the contested contester Dec 27 presidential election was wa worse than had imagined The streets teemed with thugs Members of ethnic groups that tha had lived together in relative peace for decades turned against one another looting and burning homes and stores I Then heard that called caller members of a gang were roving the streets raping mutilating and killing He knew he had to get his family out In 1997 had left Nairobi for a scholarship to St. St Lawrence University in Upstate New York going on to earn a masters master's degree teacher Now and marry a fellow 30 teaches at the Potomac School in suburban McLean Va But strong ties to his home remain Not only does support his mother and severa several relatives he has been for the past several months the de do facto head of a school in his Kis old ok neighborhood that serves orphans orphan and other impoverished children from the slums that ring Nairobi So in the wake of the unrest worked feverishly b by telephone and mail e-mail to get seven sever relatives to safety in Tanzania d Members of opposition leader leade Raila Luo tribe rioted rioter and burned stores after their candidate narrowly lost the presidential election which they President say was rigged to favor a member of of f the prominent tribe The two tribes and other ethnic ethni communities clashed repeatedly Uy in Nairobi and the countryside as the election crisis ground ground on n Nearly people have been en killed and displaced i a a Luo said he has hasa a a measure of peace knowing his big family is safe for now The school school is another story J The modest building Ws y was s shuttered amid the violence and only half of the 90 students h have v trickled back since it reopened in hi January Dozens remain in hiding or in refugee camps or else their fate is unknown remains in high gear semester of exams exam giving fielding at the Potomac School night late-night calls from family in Tanzania and fundraising sing throughout the mid-Atlantic mid t to td garner gamer support for the school iri in Kenya He has also become somewhat somewhat of a spokesman on Kel Kenyan an conflict explaining his position x in various media outlets outlet Th The The politicians and their entrenched special interests are what is trul truly hurting the country the real reat victims of the conflict are th the residents of the slums regardless of ethnic affiliation i Im not convinced that either eithe side is interested in genuinely helping the people said recently as he waited to speak on on National Public Radios Radio's Talk of the Nation Id rather spend time talking about the kids whose lives have been affected and whose stories you might never have heard Ken Kenya a Teacher Continued on rn ti x-t x I. I r T Kenya Kenya Teacher Continued from A Al 1 about was once one of those children He grew up in in a room one-room dwelling in Nairobi's slum one of six children of a single mother who worked as asa a school typist Food was often scarce Half went without lunch or got by on a tin of UNICEF glucose powder A Christmas present might be a school uniform for the next year His mother nevertheless instilled a love of learning in her fifth son He strained his eyes reading by kerosene lamp and candlelight often studying late into the night at the home of a neighbor who had electricity schoolteacher Gertrude I was fascinated by the world of ideas said recalling how long it used to take him to replace the discarded newspaper used to line a shelf that held pots and pans at home He would read every article I let my mind fly to any place in the world in the newspaper He won a scholarship to an exclusive boys' boys boarding bording school but despite graduating at the top of his class he was forced to return to and his mat on the floor for two years working as a security guard and delivering newspapers But he never felt discouraged he saidI saidI saidI said I felt I 1 had to be patient he said If I learned that a door is not going to open I 1 just had to catch my breath never give up and find something else One place where he delivered the daily newspaper was the Nairobi campus for St. St Lawrence University's exchange program He asked several times if the theU theiA U iA II r university had a scholarship program and persuaded college officials to allow him to apply In 2001 I he graduated magna cum laude from St. St Lawrence He earned a masters master's degree from I Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in 2005 Its It's an extraordinary story said Dan Sullivan St. St Lawrences Lawrence's president Right from the go get-go he involved himself in literally everything at St. St Lawrence He came carne to my attention right aw away y yas as a very visible leader is isnow isnow isnow now a school trustee In 2001 I the former neighbor founded a small community school Red Rose Ros Nursery and Childrens Children's Centre in old neighborhood began traveling to Kenya regularly to help her Last year he founded the nonprofit Children of Foundation to raise money and in the summer took some Potomac School students parents and colleagues with him to fix up the school and deliver books and laptops Since 2005 has taught African history and global studies at the exclusive private school and is known for his high expectations He requires students to wear business attire before all class presentations He has a really wonderful way of connecting with kids and a real sense of mission from where he has come from and an ongoing commitment to those who dont don't have the privilege our students do said Daniel Paradis head of Potomac's Upper School He shares that commitment with his students Kenya's viol violence nce still takes a atoll atoll atoll toll even from miles away Trying to manage it by phone trying to show up for my classes and be there for them percent its it's been very very stressful said whose family returned to Nairobi on Jan 22 Ive lost my appetite Its It's very hard to sleep l r 1 p 1 i i s 4 i I MI 4 rL I A c p and I feel anxious about things I cant can't control Many Red Rose students remain in hiding or in displacement camps run by the Red Cross Some of the children have not come back yet because their houses were looted or burnt teacher Emily wrote in a letter posted on the Red Rose blog Anyway we are happy because we are all alive and arid nobody was shot by the police or died in the fighting I am really doing a alot alot alot lot of counseling for the children Because their minds are not settled they are remembering what happened and how their houses were burnt It is really bad fears the country is in rudderless free Its very volatile saidI saidI saidI said I will feel better when we have a completed solution on the political front but the politicians haven't reached that point Were We're basing it all on prayer 0 w wi t t i i f fi i I a f r J f fi i f I o. o i Washington Post photo by Richard A. A Lipski Merrell Cherouny Above Kenneth who teaches here in the Potomac School in McLean l Va has also been s serving as de facto head of a school that serves orphans and other impoverished children in the Nairobi slum where he grew up Below during a summer 2007 visit to the Red Rose Nursery and Childrens Children's Centre in his childhood home in a Nairobi slum made his way to St. St Lawrence University to a teaching position in an exclusive private school in suburban suburb n Washington but remains committed to helping the children in Tr u- art 0 w 1 L r R |