When an angry mob torched the Kenya Assemblies of God church in Kiambaa, burning more than 30 people alive, all Margaret Muthoni could think to do was save herself — and fast.
She tried jumping over burning mattresses and, despite all the chaos of the horrific tragedy, managed to flee the machete-wielding men who committed the atrocity and save herself from impending death.
But she was separated from her three-year-old niece, Myriam Ng’endo, who was lost in the fracas. Children were being helped out of a window and, as Muthoni ran away, she hoped Ng’endo was one of the lucky few.
”I don’t know if she burnt to death. I don’t know what has become of her,” said Muthoni (52), wiping away tears.
Three weeks after the savage incident, Muthoni is living at a camp for displaced people in Eldoret, western Kenya, the epicentre of the violence triggered by disputed election results. And like hundreds of others displaced by the conflict in Kenya, she is unable to find her relative.
But with a tracing programme managed by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Kenya Red Cross Society, Muthoni’s hopes and those of the rest of Kenya’s displaced who are missing a relative are not lost.
”There has been mayhem and a lot of movement of population. People lost loved ones; some of them were killed. But if they were separated it is crucial they be reunited,” said Abdi Noor Mohamud, Red Cross team leader for the Eldoret camp.
The system is often as simple as lending lost relatives a cellphone to call family. Red Cross volunteers look out for children who seem to be lost and the organisation has set up hotlines in seven cities and towns in the affected areas for separated families.
Posted on a board on a central building in the Eldoret camp, the Red Cross has hung photos of lost children from the area, in the hope that their relatives might check them regularly.
And indeed, the displaced people flock to the board, pointing and verifying, getting as close as they can to the photos to find a familiar nose, birthmark or smile.
The programme has managed to reunite more than 200 families across the country.
But there is a particular focus on Kenya’s Rift Valley province, which has been hardest hit by the violence that erupted following the declaration of Mwai Kibaki as President last month.
At least 685 people have been killed countrywide and 250 000 displaced. About 12 000 people now call the Show Grounds camp in Eldoret home, with more and more people trickling in everyday.
And with more displaced Kenyans arriving, more families have the chance to be reunited.
Ben Karemi (17) was separated from his parents and five brothers when he was chased away by gangs armed with crude weapons earlier this month.
Five of the brothers remained together, jumping from one neighbour’s house to the next, until they finally made their way to the camp thanks to the tracing system. His mother and father, reunited only days earlier, were waiting there with open arms.
”We didn’t know where our parents were, so we were very afraid,” said Karemi, hugging his father, Philip. ”I am very happy. I feel freed to have found them.” — Sapa-dpa