USD Magazine Summer 2008

[ w e b l o g ]

OF SCHOLARS AND SOLDIERS Daniel Akech James ’04 recounts the daily challenges of his return to Africa to “rebuild the youth, rebuild the nation”

Jan. 27, 2008 When I left Kenya in 2001, the Sudanese living there would find it difficult to travel because nearly all of them were undocumented. The Kenyan police would take advantage of the situation by charging them extra money when traveling. So if you were a Sudanese and you looked Kenyan, the police would not notice you and they would not harass you. Being among the shortest Sudanese at six feet tall, it is hard to tell whether I am a Sudanese or Kenyan. This allows me to get through security check without difficulty. Now I am an invisible Sudanese. I look Kenyan — that is not something to be proud of at this moment of killing in Kenya. I am staying in Nairobi and I want to go to Nakuru. We have some students going to high schools there; my mother, brother and sister are in Nakuru. I get out frommy room this morning to get my breakfast. It is one of those silent mornings when the country sees another moment of shame. Kenyans are standing in the cor- ners of buildings reading and discussing a news headline which reads “Nakuru erupts.“ I have to call my mother and check on the scholars we have in three different schools in Kenya, but all of the shops that sell calling cards remain closed. I get the newspaper and start reading the first few lines: “15 people are dead in Nakuru and the whole town is burning.” I go back to my hotel and dial my mother’s number. “Hallo, Daniel.” I ask how they are doing and she says they are doing okay. She adds, “Make sure you do not come to Nakuru until we tell you it is safe. The Kalenjins have attacked POINT OF VIEW

three villages that belong to Kikuyu and killed six people. The police are fighting with the attackers and the death toll is rising. We are trapped in the house. The shops are burning and there is nowhere to go and buy food.” I call Joseph who is in contact with the schools where our scholars go and he tells me that the schools are safe. The armed forces are pursuing the attackers. Jan. 31, 2008 I amgoing to Kakuma refugee camp to recruit new scholars for the Sudan Scholarship Foundation. The flight takes between 45-90 minutes, then I board a taxi, a small four- door Honda Accord. There are seven people in the car, with two passengers sharing a seat. No one is wearing a seat belt. There are three police stations on the Loki- Kakuma road. The car must stop at each station for security checks. All six passengers are Kenyans but me. Remember I look like one of them. So when the police look at our faces, we are all Kenyans. The taxi stops near the UN com- pound. I step out and ask if they have a place I can spend the night since it is not safe where the refugees stay; local tribes attack refugees at night. They ask me to go to the district manager’s office— four miles away from the UN com- pound— to get an approval letter. I’d rather go to the refugee camp and stay with refugees. I walk to the refugee camp and stay inmy for- mer group, number 46. I ask two former classmates to help and send flyers out, telling 9th, 10th and 11th graders to meet me at my former elemen- tary school in Kakuma at 8 a.m. The attendance is poor. Some kids ignore the notice. While the

UN gives the 12th graders this year to graduate, the 11th graders are kicked out from school in the camp because all of the Sudanese are going back to their country. The Sudan scholarship will help the 11th graders to finish their high school education in Kenya; perhaps we will take some 10th and 9th graders if we get more funding. The screening process begins. I pick 33 high-achieving applicants. This is the number we can afford to send to boarding schools in Kenya. Feb. 6, 2008 The recent post-election violence has made some Kenyan roads unsafe for traveling. Some gangs ambush vehicles and set them on fire when there are no police around. I am traveling to Nakuru from Nairobi. I inform the hotel manager of my traveling to Naku- ru. “You will not make it,” he says, scaring me. Despite the warning, I go to the bus station and buy a ticket because I am in Kenya to see the scholars in Nakuru. The bus takes off. We are passing through Naivasha, where more deadly violence is occurring just a mile away from the road. It is very silent on the roadside. Our eyes are rolling in terror. The bus arrives in Nakuru. The number of the internally displaced people is high in Nakuru. I rush to meet my mother and relatives. The scholars go to school 5 miles away from Nakuru town. I get a taxi and visit them, then return to Nairobi. Daniel Akech James was featured on the cover of the Fall 2005 issue of USD Magazine . To read more of his blog—which is excerpted above— or to learn more about the Sudan Scholarship Foundation, go to http://sudanscholarship.com.

ALLAN BURCH

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