Ann Njeri

“Between truth, mercy, forgiveness and justice, what would you go for when you try to reach reconciliation?” This was the challenging question which raised a heated dialogue in one of the retreat's sessions held May 30 - June 2, 2008 in Nakuru.

The participants consisted of 30 from around Kenya, plus two Ugandans and one Tanzanian. Also present in the meeting was the Reverend Stephen Mburu, whose church was burnt to ashes during the post election violence, killing more than 35 children and women.

Minds and souls were mostly focused on reconciliation, a tool that is so vital at this hour in Kenya. Personal experiences and learning, especially related to the post election violence, were shared in an atmosphere of trust and respect. You could feel, almost touch, the pain, anger and the hatred within the hearts of some of the participants who were direct victims of the violence. The fear of a contaminated generation and the vast decontamination needed due to the hate which was manifested in January was expressed: “My son has been carrying imaginative guns and says 'Let’s go and kill the Kikuyus'”, uttered one woman with a lot of pain in her heart.

The fact that the meeting had a good representation of Kikuyus and Kalenjins, the two protagonists in the tribal clashes, was a good reason for some to feel uncomfortable in the beginning. “When I was invited for this meeting, I had some reservations and was wondering if I will be able to stay and interact with people I regard as my enemies”, said one young woman.

After long hours of listening and sharing with empathy to people’s stories and understanding the “other side”, the whole occasion turned out to be one of healing and reconciliation. One Kalenjin man, who was among three who had to pay cows to their community people so that he could be cleansed and spared death for helping and protecting Kikuyus in his area during the violence, could not resist the need he felt to apologize on behalf of his community. “I would like to apologize to the Kikuyus on behalf of the Kalenjins. They did something very unhuman to an extent of burning a church full of innocent children and women. I am very sorry”, he said

One man who had so much bitterness, and who still has a massive wound in his ankle after he was shot with a poisonous arrow, left the place a different man. He had this to say: “My heart has been healed. If I am now given a bow and an arrow, I will shoot it in a different direction as opposed to where I would have shot when I came to this meeting. I am now a soldier, a soldier of a different type; I am a soldier of Peace!” You could tell that it was coming from the deepest part of his heart.

Reverend Mburu, whose church was full of children and women when it was torched, had been badly beaten and had lost eight teeth in his lower jaw. He was taken to the nearest hospital after the incident where the doctor, a Kalenjin, felt no pity for him and stitched his head with the wrong strands and without anaesthetic. As a consequence he is still suffering and needs an operation to his head. This same Reverend, who only came to know that it was new year after three weeks, is now back at the same place preaching forgiveness: “Since 1st January, this is the first time my heart, my soul and body have been so happy. I have felt that though I had forgiven those who brought so much pain in me and others, I still held issues and blames. I have felt the great need of completely letting those feelings off my heart and to forgive completely”, he shared.

To many the meeting was a moment of healing and the ripple is expected to run wider. One young man made a decision not to keep that message just to himself, “After I leave here I will directly go and spend two nights at some of my friends' home. I know how bitter they are of a certain tribe. I want to go and be an instrument of Peace. I will encourage them to think of forgiveness. I feel so inspired”, he said during the concluding session.