Danger

Before I left for Kenya many people said the same thing to me “be careful.”  Well there is danger no matter what country you are in and it’s something I have always been conscious of in all the countries I have visited. I guess the danger I expected is not what has presented itself.

I have been enjoying my morning 5k runs. This means I wake up around 6:30 and take a leisurely jog down the road from my house to the next town, Ringa, and back. It is the one time during the day where the temperature is perfect, there is no rain, and the sun has just risen. I wave to people working out in their fields and smile at the kids walking to school. The best part is that I don’t have to talk to anyone, I can just stay in my simple little world and get away from the clinic where I spend all the other 23 hours of my day. My neighbor Emmanuel came to my door the other night and said some people in my village had heard some of the young men in Ringa talking about me and that they had “bad intentions.” When I thought about the dangers of coming to Kenya I knew being attacked, assaulted, or mugged was something I was going to have to be cautious of. However, am I a target because I run? Because I’m a girl? Because I’m the only white person for miles around? I guess what bothers me so much is that in America I could stand a chance of being attacked after dark walking back to my apartment, but this would be a crime of opportunity. It feels different knowing someone is specifically targeting me and plotting a strategy to catch me, like prey. I’m sure these punk kids are just shooting their mouth off, but it still means I have to be extra cautious and stay closer to home or take someone with me if I walk around. My only mirror is 5x5in and hangs in the far corner of my room, so I guess I sometimes forget how conspicuous my white skin and light hair are.

For those of you who keep up with international news, you may have heard that Kenya declared war on Somalia over the weekend. To sum it all up, there is a terrorist group called Al Shabab that has been kidnapping and attacking tourists on the coast of Kenya and along the Kenya-Somalia border. In order to protect the tourism industry and safety of Kenya, the government is fighting back. In response, Al Shabab has threatened to “take down tall buildings in Nairobi.” It may not mean the same thing to the Kenyans, but all it makes me think of is 9-11. Luckily I’m tucked away in a tiny village on the far Southwestern side of Kenya. It kind of makes the kids in Ringa seem like small stuff though. You may have heard different things in the news over the past year with negative comments about Peace Corps, but I just want to say amidst all this “danger” I feel incredibly safe. We have an amazing Safety and Security team that keeps us up to date on safety issues around the country and who also personally called me and my supervisor to investigate my personal safety in my village. It’s nice to know I have an entire team at my disposal. For those of you that told me to “be careful,” I promise I will continue to do so.