#WeAreOne ... But how can we help make it last beyond these 72 Hrs?

[Ukenya]

Friends,

This last close to 72 hours have been tough for many, if not most, of us. Kenya has been affected in ways we cannot imagined. I specifically want to point at the Kenyan middle class; because most of those in this group belong to it, & frequent Westgate; ladies & gentlemen, the pain & hurt we have witnessed this last 3 days could have been any of us. As a category of Kenyans that tend to watch most things from a distance unless we are directly affected; we have.

These last 72 hours have also been amazing. We have seen 'ukenya' ... that indomitable Kenyan spirit DP Ruto referred to; in action, across class, tribe, religion, regions, etc. We have seen Kenyans speak ... & act ... as Kenyans, in ways not seen in a very long time. We even saw all our politicians do something together.

It has been an amazing moment.

My questions are; (i) How can a group like this one of ours help sustain this #WeAreOne 'feeling' beyond the period of this incident? (ii) What ideas & suggestions etc can we offer to organizations & institutions, eg government, private businesses (large & small), media, 'celebs', religious groups, political parties, civil societies etc; to not only keep this 'feeling' alive, but to also leverage it into something bigger, & more permanent?

Regards
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[Stella Kiguta - Ng'ang'a]

Not sure I have an answer to the questions raised but I thought it prudent to say that our KTN conversation last Thursday was very timely.

I couldn't help but remember the salt analogy.  Over the past few days we have been shaken. It is clear from many angles that the testing has led us to say in one voice, #WeAreOne.

Stella Kiguta - Ng'ang'a
Wife & Mom | Mover & Shaker | Corporate Storyteller | Kenyan Forever | Vision 2030 Champion| Singer | The Albinism Cause ~ Prov. 31:8a | Destined for the Stars | @stellanganga

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[lincoln ndogoni]

 

It has been great witnessing (and participating!!) in the  Ukenya response to the westgate disaster. 

 

May the souls of those who lost their lives rest peacefully and quick recovery to those wounded physically and psychologically

 

Traumatic incidents heightens people ability and capacity to respond- a humanistic way of showing solidarity to those suffering and as  a ' personal fear response'-to  the thought 'suppose it was me'

 

To keep the ukenya spirit going and sustained -in way that will help people 'adjust' their way of thinking (software?) and behaving-there is the need to generate  'events' and 'projects' that can generate 'positive trauma' for a while!!

 

Otherwise, it is common behaviour for people to regress when negative traumatic incidents like the terrible westgate  is over!

 

For instance, suppose we found a way (and budget) of engaging young people from different economic classes  in a  joint  national project?

 

Is it not sad that 20 something year olds can be so mentally damaged/ confused by adults  to the extent of mercilessly taking out babies lives with bullets???

 

 

peace+Ukenya!

 

lndogoni.

Counselling psychologist

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[Njeri Gakonyo]

Hi Ngunjiri,

Thanks for thinking about extending this uKenya. To me there is a whole effort needed to remind us that we are Kenyan. It's a major mission to remind us, in the right way (the right voices, faces, messages, media, tone, etc.), at the right time. The link between our common humanity and our common life seems easy to ignore in politics (whereas it comes into sharp relief when we're in crisis). This is a communications task and I believe people in Stella's profession can help, especially if they link with Lincoln's counselling profession. Then when you put that together with even just the folks you have on this Google group and their networks, you will have something.

The other thing is that the middle class unfortunately has a reputation for being shallow. We will consider this important for now, but when bully politicians or vested interests come around, we shift priorities. So let's discuss using the critical mass we have of uKenya types to keep inching - even striding - the unity agenda forward. And let us not forget that Kenyans in places like Tana River, Garissa, Baragoi, etc, live this kind of terror every month or year. Whatever uKenya response must effectively value all Kenyans, not just Nairobi people.

Finally, on the eve of Prof. Maathai's passing, how can we throw attention on the depth of personal courage - which she displayed so amazingly - that it will take for us to move forward? One article I read said that this attack was Al Shabab's way of trying to provoke us to retaliate against Somalis which in turn will make them sympathize with the group more. We must resist this strongly and it will take courage. I pray for the grace and strength we need to continue making real progress.

God bless Kenya,

Njeri

PS. Note that all this is on the exhortation side, which appeals to our better selves but has limits. We need equal effort on enforcement mechanisms since many people only respond to the threat of punishment.

Sent from my iPad

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[Winnie Maru]

Interesting comment I just saw on one of the dailies; "Who do we love? The terrorists who unite us, or the politicians who divide us".

While my heart and prayers go out to those affected by the attack, I am sure there will be some silver linings stemming from the will of the united people against such evil violence. Hopefully it will be one more step towards world peace. Sometimes innocent individuals have to suffer to reach the goal of the masses.
Would Israel have been created without the Holocaust?
Would Rwanda be the strong country it is today without the genocide.

Not that I am in anyway condoning the attack, all I am trying to say is the human spirit seems to be strengthened by such incidents!

Winnie

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From: Ukenya <wambugu...@gmail.com>
To: uke...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, September 23, 2013 10:11 PM
Subject: [ukenya] #WeAreOne ... But how can we help make it last beyond these 72 Hrs?

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[Ramah Nyang]

It's an interesting point you raise Winnie. 

However, in all the cases you have mentioned, neither Israel nor Rwanda wasted the opportunities or the momentum provided by their respective crises. Kenya, however, has a habit of repeatedly wasted opportunities to put post-crisis national unity to work. For example, the August 1998, and Kikambala took place over a decade ago. We're still quibbling about police reform, over a decade later. We had the PEV, and we also wasted the opportunity that presented to really reform our security apparatus from the ground up. 

Will we waste the opportunities presented by this crisis as well? I think we, GoK and KE taxpayers, will. 

RN.

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Ramah Nyang,
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CCTV Africa,

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[Wambui]

Will you Ramah? 

Kind Regards,

Dr. Wambui Waithaka 

[Ramah Nyang]

If we do not attain the end goal [a police force relatively free of graft, with well trained, well remunerated officers, and without a penchant for bribery and ethnic & tribal profiling - to list the KPIs] yes, I will have failed. 

RN.

[caren wakoli]

I think the President's speech (http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/ktn/video/watch/2000070201/-kenya-has-triumped-over-terrorists-uhuru-kenyatta-full-speech) last evening captures the Ukenya spirit in a very powerful way. We must however, sustain these conversations and continue to act in our various spaces to seize this moment and make good of it.

Winnie and Ramah, those are stark realities we must brutally confront...

Thank you.

Regards,

Caren

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From: Ramah Nyang <ramah...@gmail.com>
To: uke...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, 24 September 2013, 11:48
Subject: Re: [ukenya] #WeAreOne ... But how can we help make it last beyond these 72 Hrs?

[Wambui]

Thank you for that Ramah. For a minute there, I thought you had opted for the defeatist / escapist route. 

On strengthening and rebuilding our systems, I am in agreement. 

The health system reaction and crisis management awkwardly found a human shield in Kenya Red Cross (God Bless them) and even then, a lot was left to be desired. We should have learnt from the Sinai fire tragedy. We really should have.

But we also must make use of the momentum now to rebuild this health system. 

Playing my part; doing it with impact.

Kind Regards,

Dr. Wambui Waithaka 

[Hussein Mohammed]

 

The most important deliverable expected as an outcome of activities around Kenya@50 celebrations is UNITY. Undoubtedly the silver lining from the unfortunate Westgate tragedy is the opportunity to rally Kenyans behind a common agenda which could eventually overshadow myopic ideology we have struggled with over the years.

 

The Steering Committee Kenya@50 shall be rolling out a series of activities soon and we claim no monopoly on ideas that can help us achieve our primary objective. Please feel free to share with us whatever initiatives this forum feels can be incorporated into our programs. Bwana Ngunjiri and team, I am waiting for a formal proposal on how we can plug in on current initiative.

 

Best wishes

 

Hussein Mohammed

Head PR & Communications

Kenya@50 Steering Committee