They Are One In Pain and Grief
"Today we don't come so much to mourn the departed, but to remind ourselves we built a nation that all can live in, young and old, white and black, Christian and Muslim, Hindu and Jain.A multi-faith memorial was organized to foster a "We Are One" attitude among the family members who had lost loved ones in the Westgate Mall Islamist attack that took place in September. Kenyans are just recovering from reeling in shock over newly released videos showing images of Kenyan Defence Forces soldiers upon whom the Mall hostages relied to rescue them from the Islamist attackers, failing the test of trust by looting Mall shops of valuables in the general confusion.
"We weren't coming here to let out our steam against KDF. We were here to remember this attack was an attack on the Kenyan nation. Our enemy is not KDF. It is the people who attacked us."
Karanja Njoroge, chairman, Friends of Karura Forest, Nairobi
"The whole KDF (Kenyan Defence Forces) thing is messing people up. When families hear this looting is going on even as family members are dying, it's hard to come together when that is happening."
Vaishal Shah, mourner
"They were supposed to come and save us, not to come and loot. Why go in without anything and come out with bags?"
Charles Njenga, mourner
They met on the site of the Karura Forest, an urban park where hiking trails and biking trails cross-crossed. And where the point of the memorial was to bring people together of all faiths, representing the variety of Nairobians who perished in the terrorist attack, so they could mourn together, finding strength in their common grief. And where they could celebrate new life, by planting trees in memory of their lost loved ones.
A junior high band from the Indian community performed, and a choir of black children sang in Swahili, the national language meant as a language cross-over between Kenya's 40-some-tribes. Prayers were offered in the name of Jesus and Allah. And a Sikh prayer was heard. The crowd of 400 that attended were all smouldering in anger and resentment, however, at the spectacle on video of the Kenyan Defence Forces personnel taking the opportunity to plunder and pillage the Mall.
Their common grief gave them comfort. Their anger against the very military that all relied upon to rescue their loved ones from their imminent danger, turning instead to enriching themselves at the cost of wasted time and effort for the purported urgency of the task at hand, discomforted them enormously.
Labels: Atrocities, Human Relations, Kenya, Terrorism
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, October 23, 2013
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