Garissa Terrorist Attack

Garissa, Kenya ~ April 1, 2015It’s 5 AM. Still pitch dark in Kenya. The sun will begin its bold surge upward in one hour. It is always that way on the equator. But this is not an ordinary day. Four highly trained, heavily armed gunmen arrive at the Garissa campus in Northern Kenya, not far from the Somali border.I’m in Utah with my four grandchildren. We are dying Easter eggs. There is some disagreement about what child will get to manage which color. In their world, at the moment, that seems all important.My phone rings. It’s my husband, Brent. Since we started an educational program in Kenya almost ten years ago, he’s become a constant purveyor of Kenya news, especially minding the increasing terrorist activity of al-Shabaab. What happens there matters to us greatly. We live strangely divided lives, with one foot in each world.“It’s bad,” he says. “They got lots of students. Targeted the Christians. Well over a hundred dead.”Breath stops. Stomach pitches. Heart, a flailing fish. My mind suddenly flooded with names, faces, expressions, gestures; the living essence of the 73 students our sponsors have helped go off to college. First generation learners, most of them. The embodiment of not just their own hopes and dreams, but those of their families and extended families. Nothing happens solo in their world, where tribes, clans, communities and families share every breath. Every sorrow. Every hope.And hopes are hard to come by, in that parched piece of earth, where education is the golden dream. I pictured Gloria, Rajab, Asha, Salim – face after face. Were any of “our” students lying stricken? Or traumatized by what a human should never have to witness?My ashen face quelled the argument over the Easter eggs. Four little faces were staring at me asking, “What’s wrong, Mumzy?” I try to explain. “You know the kids in Kenya that we work with? You know how we’ve shown you how they walk all those miles to go to school? Sit on dirt floors all day? Try to study without lights or books? How their families will skip meals, do anything to help pull together school fees so they can go to high school? Many of them were killed today. My heart is weeping.”“Who did it?” asks Noah, age five. “WHY?” asks Mia, age 3. The other two, ages 8 and 1, just stare at me.Time will tell the WHO, but my mind can only reel over the WHY. Umazi, Juma, Khadija, Daniel – face after face. There is so much contained in every young person! Life stretching before them, rich with wonder, possibility and promise -- Noahs and Mias grown big, curiosity and questions abounding. In Noah and Mia’s world, going to college will someday be the expected next step. In the world of our Kenyan friends, it is an uncommon miracle.The miracle that ended in the horror of that dark morning. The emails start coming. Sponsors wondering if their students are okay. Everyone stunned by the nightmare of it. How do I comfort them, when I can’t seem to find the ground beneath me?I remind them that the only thing we can do to fight the darkness is to keep lighting candles. A candle is lit each time a young mind is ignited; each time a dream comes to fruition. We must all continue to be part of the lighting.Humbled. Shaken. Stunned. I am reminded that as I play with grandchildren, breathe in spring, anticipate summer, there are many in the world whose hearts stammer, clutched with fear; whose tomorrows are even more uncertain then African rain.To Abubakar, Agnes, Peter, Halima – Miriam, Stephen and Fatuma, I can only say, “Keep lighting your candles. Follow the path before you. Keep illuminating the way for others. As your supporters and fellow travelers on this reeling globe, we send our love, with hearts wide open. We follow your example in refusing to let the darkness diminish our resolve. We will NOT let terror snuff out our will, our friendship, or our determination."And Noah, I’m glad you settled on the orange.Note: Education truly is the key to freedom from terrorism in Kenya. Kenya Keys has set up a special fund to support students in the rural villages who are in need of financial support to continue their education. Visit Global Giving to learn more.