This coming Sunday – the 7th of
December will be a very hard day for me. The day will start for me at 4.00 am
in the morning and only end at mid-night. But it will also be one of the few
days where “I will put my money where my mouth is.”
You see in Kenya we have been going through
painful episodes of terrorist attacks. Tens of people have been killed, and
thousands of others have had their lives and livelihoods disrupted. The need
for change cannot be overstated – and the mere resignation of the chief of
police and the minister in-charge of security cannot be enough.
Our country is bitterly divided on the
basis of competing identities. These include geographical – where some regions
in the country are perceived to be more favored than others, but it is tribal and religious
identities where we see these division the most. The terrorists however are
introducing the dimension of religion to our bitterly divided society; Christians versus Muslims. This of course also plays into the
geographical division because in areas such as the coastal and north eastern
regions where Muslims are a majority, Christians are perceived as targets.
But on Sunday, I will be in Mombasa, the
very heartland of Islamic faith in Kenya. Together with other people we shall
be giving thanks for the reinstatement of Pastor Kambo at an AIPCA Church. In attendance also will be well known
Christian leaders as well leaders in Islamic faith.
Pastor Kambo was suspended from his Church
because of working for people of a particular identity – not tribal or
religious identities (which are still grounds of social conflict as we have
seen above), but in this case sexual minorities. Pastor Kambo felt, that he
needed to know how to engage with gay and lesbian people better so he attended a training on how to do this. He was suspended immediately after attending this training. Fortunately for him, after 2 years in the cold,
his Arch-deacon, also attended the course, and found it quite informative, and
spearheaded the efforts to have Kambo re-instated.
I will be one of the “guests of honor” for
this function – which will also lead to a fundraiser to enable Pastor Kambo complete
his theological studies. He dropped from theology school upon suspension, but
now he is ready to go back.
For me, this function is a
demonstration of what we can do as grass-root communities – we can bring healing and unity between our different and often conflicting social
identities. As a gay person, it would have been easy to say I cannot attend,
let alone be a guest in a religious function. After all, the church has caused
so much pain and suffering to people with my kind of “identity.”
But this function is an important symbol of bringing unity across our different and conflicting identities. Tribe,
religion, sexuality, political and cultural identities should not be reason why
our country breaks apart. Let us all do our bit to unite this very divided
country.
But I have a request for you - and no it is not money, even though we would be happy with contributions to this fundraiser.
This event also provides opportunity to "Give The Speech." I am therefore requesting your advise on the speaking points for this event. Kenya is going through a rough time and it would be easy to criticize the political class, but that may not bring the kind of healing that we need. What do you think, I should say at this event - I am told there will be media at the event so, your idea may end up getting an even broader audience - please advise....
