“I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” These words of Ralph Nader aptly summarize what our political leaders have perfected over the years with the results being
With the wanton destruction and plunder of property that was witnessed in the weeks following the announcement of the disputed presidential elections results in Kenya, innocent lives have been lost, families broken and children, who are the most innocent of the lot, brought into a fight they know nothing about. Learning has been disrupted despite schools having opened for first term studies. Sick parents cannot access their drugs and life can just not go on as usual for a majority of citizens.
The slums have borne the brunt of this fighting- Kibera, Mathare, Huruma, Dandora, just to mention a few. Recently, Ogilvy East Africa staffers took time off to witness and to help alleviate the pain and anguish that has befallen Kenyans in their own country.
One weekend in January, staff from Ogilvy who included Irene Wahome, June Wambui, Margaret Wachira, Irene Andia, Peninah Muchiri, Patrick Mutuku and Alfred Ng’ang’a braved a chilly morning, ignored all the “travel advisories from their embassies” that Mathare and Huruma are dangerous places to visit at this time and joined HWWK to distribute food, blankets, cooking oil and other stuff donated by their colleagues to displaced families.
Seeing the results of the violence first hand was also a wake up call for all of us to really fight for peace, that we have for a long time been proud of. At the site, Gathura stressed the need to support the children with counseling as they have been deeply affected.
Though tiring, the exercise was an eye opener to the team who for some were in Mathare for the first time. The donations by Ogilvy East Africa will go a long way in alleviating the plight of an estimated 460 adults (camping at John Saga Police station compound in Huruma-58 adults and Star of HOPE school compound, Mathare North-400 adults), an estimate of 371 children( 121 in Huruma and 371 in Mathare North).
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