The Holidays, The ICC and other goings on

I have anxiety.. couldn't figure it out till I realized it's the Christmas season and I'm in the heat. That always gets me. I love the snowy postcard holidays but I'm sure not missing the shivering. I'm pleased, as well, as I've managed to get some good interviews in while in Nairobi and ... I'm healthy! There's a lot to be said for cleanliness and good food. No malaria, no colds, no nada. It's all good though I will miss my dear friends at home this year, but I know you're all warm and safe so that's good enough for me. 


Interesting developments with the post '07 election violence and indictments by the ICC of six alleged instigators of the upheaval. It's calm here though, no violence or uprising over this. For the most part the incitement from the top-down was fuel for the fire of ethnic clashes. The general sentiment is that the actual causes aren't addressed on the international level, it's the tribal pain, the displaced people, the bottom-up people who are suffering and nothing an international court does will serve to remedy that pain.  It is an important step in the process though, as impunity must be addressed at some level. Ocampo decries that it's an insurance policy against 2012 election violence, though from the information I've garnered, it's the enormous military presence that ensured a peaceful referendum and will likely be a factor in the forthcoming elections. The root causes have yet to be addressed and at this writing, there are still many living in IDP camps while their property and animals are co-opted by those who drove them out. It's not the politics, it's the age old land grab that drove that conflict.  There's little justice for them on the political scene; the ICC has no mechanisms for compensation and/ or substantial remedy for the victims. As a matter of right they deserve more realistic justice and equitable compensation but there is no legislation in place for this. Perhaps in time.


I am reading sadly of the upheaval in Cote d'Ivoire, and hoping against hope that situation is rectified soon or the implications for spillover conflict could be hugely detrimental to peace in the ECOWAS region. Further,  as the Sudan referendum approaches, unrest and rejection of the peace accord is in the news. Perhaps all this news is causing my anxiety. It's one thing to be sitting in your living room watching this stuff on TV, another to be in the region and arena of all this strife. 


Tomorrow I am heading to Kakamega to visit Susan Thompson, a  fish and wildlife biologist from Whitehorse and her project Fish 4Kenya. I'm really excited to get to visit a rural area in Kenya and to see her project. I've heard about it for a long time and am grateful for the opportunity to go and see the work for myself though I dread the 4a.m. wake up call. 


I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season, it hardly feels like Christmas here, but it is warm and pretty and I'm not stuck in a crowded, snowed-in airport anywhere so I'm thankful for that, and I anticipate no matter what the day brings, it will be a blessing. I actually think I'm writing this to myself most days but that's ok - if you are reading - Happy Holidays and love and peace to all.