My Dear and Rev. Fr. McAffee - the Venerable Pastor of St. John Catholic Church, Mclean,
My Dear Friends of Kenyan Kids,
All My Dear Friends at St. John Catholic Church, McLean,

RE: AN ARDENT APPEAL TO YOU ALL

I do not know where to begin!
It is with a very heavy heart that I write this letter in order to give all of you first hand up-date regarding the events in Kenya.
Having seen disturbing images from the comfort of your living rooms coming from Kenya as a result of the flawed Presidential election, most of you have been very concerned about the safety of the kids, the safety of the Director and the Staff, the safety of the members of the Board and the safety of our pemises housing the Good Samaritan Orphanage Centres in both Kisumu and Nairobi.

Today, I want to thank you sincerely for all your prayers, the concern, the phone-calls, and the e-mails that you have sent inquiring about our situation and our whereabout and about the general situation of our country. I am most grateful to each and everyone of you.
Today, I am here to request you to go an extra mile. I am here to request you to do a little bit more. I am begging you to swing into action as a Parish or as my dear friend who care to make a difference by a simple donation or a simple gesture. Whatever it is, it will be more than welcome because of the humanitarian crisis in which the country is.

As I write this letter, I flew back to Nairobi yesterday having been away since 3rd.Jan.2008 having visited first hand parts of the country which have been hard hit as a result of the political violence. I have been to see the five kids whom we are supporting and their relatives in the North Rift Valley where many atrocities were committed. Their situation is heart-rending. These orphans who had lost their parents earlier on to HIV/AIDS have now lost every means of livelihood. The situation is pathetic. Indeed one wonders what sense of humour God must have!

Therefore, my first appeal to you all as individuals and as St. John Catholic Church for financial assistance to help give these internally displaced persons a meaning in life and a reason to go on. On behalf of my good friend and class-mate the Bishop of Eldoret - the Most Rev. Cornelius Korir, who has over 10,000 displaced persons on the compound of the Sacred Heart Cathedral - Eldoret, kindly assist. The Bishop is asking for donations of used clothes to be given to the hundreds of orphans whose parents were killed and their homes torched with everything in them and if possible send some $25,000 or whatever money you can afford. I am making this appeal on his behalf because the humanitarian crisis there is immense. If you can do something, please help.
May you therefore kindly organise some fund-raising and donation of used clothes to be given to the hundreds of orphans and adults who had to flee from their homes with only what they were putting on. With over 10,000 displaced person on the Cathedral compound, can you imagine the situation of sanitation in the place!

After Eldoret I came to Kisumu by road with so many road blocks manned by the youth carrying machetes and baying for blood. We had to travel in a convoy. It is 120 kilometres fro Eldoret to Kisumu. Ordinarily it is a short trip that takes barely one hour. However, with so many road blocks, it took us seven hours and we had to have police escort.
Kisumu is the city on the shores of Lake Victoria. It is here that we have the second orphanage and therefore our center in Nyanza province. I was shocked to see many buildings burned down by arsonists and property worth billions of Kenyan shillings looted. The city center was badly burnt and so was Kondele our neighbourhood. Our Orphanage in Kisumu was spared because it belongs to the Catholic Church under the auspices of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kisumu. Were it not for this reason, this orphanage would have been burnt and razed to the ground.
Because of the volatility of the situation, the Archbishop of Kisumu advised us to employ a bigger firm to man the prtemises until the situation normalises God knows when. The cost of the employment of the security firm is $230 per month. We shall need your assistance in this area since it is better to pay that amount than to have the property vandalised and burnt down.
While still in Kisumu, The Archbishop and I together with others visited the Morgue to praye over the victims who killed by security forces. To our horror and pain we counted 63 bodies riddled with bullets - young children in their teens shot at close range by security personnel because they were demanding Justice after the announcement of the flawed Presidential election results. This was their only crime.
After the Morgue and the pain we exprienced there, we left the city to visit the environs of Kisumu because the Archbishop was told that there were internally displaced persons in Muhoroni, Miwani, Songor and Kopere who urgently needed food, clothes, and medicine.
On behalf of this Archbishop - the Most Rev. Zacchaeus Okoth, I am appealing for financial assistance to the tune of $20,000 and used clothes for children and adults. He is my former teacher, a good friend and a great supporter of the course of the Good Samaritan Orphanage Center.
Last week the Archbishop of Kisumu met in Kisumu Dr. Jendayi Frazer - the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs who came to Kenya with a message from President George Bush to mediate between the two parties. She was flanked by the US ambassador to Kenya- His Excellency Michael Ranneburger. The Archbishop gave them alot of information regarding what was happening on the ground.

I know that among the parishioners of St. John Catholic Church, McLean, there are many people working for the Government. With tears in my eyes, I am begging all of you who are working for the US Government, for the sake of so many innocent children who have been murdered or who have been made orphans, though no fault of their own in Eldoret, Burnt Forest, Kisumu, Bungoma, Kakamega, Molo Kitale, Mombasa, Kuresoi and many other places…I am appealing to you today to do something. Please lobby your Congressman/Woman about the volatile situation in Kenya. Please do not be quiet. Kenya is burning please help to put the fire out.
In the same breath, I am appealing to you to be cautious with the official position of the Kenyan Government in this grave matter. The government is hidding the truth from the International Community and pretending that life is getting back to normal. The truth is Kenya is still burning and the fire in our opinion can be put out at once by the intervention of the Superpower. As members of St. John Catholic Church in McLean you are in a better position to assist in this matter before it degenerates any further.

Our greatest headache at the moment is the fact that no student can report to any primary, secondary and teachers’ colleges in Western Kenya despite the assurance given by the government that security shall be provided. As I write this mail, there are still 15 kids at the Orphanage in Nairobi because they cannot report to school owing to insecurity. Because of this undue delay that only God knows when it will come to an end, and in order to assist the kids whose relatives have been displaced in the Rift valley, in Kisumu and in the slums of Nairobi, together with the expenses of having to feed the kids in Nairobi Orphanage Centre until they leave for their respective schools, we are appealing for more $10,000 if this is possible.

Threat are emanating from Western kenya and Rift Valley provinces that unless justice is done in correcting the flawed presidential election results which were announced on 30th December, there will be no peace in western and Rift Valley provinces.
Please, I am begging you all to pray for Kenya and the Kenyan People to embrace Justice, truth and peace. As Kenyans we have no other place to call home except Kenya. Pray with us and for us that our beautiful country does not go to the dogs.

Today, it is difficult if not impossible to travel by road from Nairobi to Western Region through Narok or even through Nakuru owing to the many road blocks mounted by rowdy youth. A simple journey of six hours today takes over 12 hours by road and one has to travel in a convoy with a police escort at that!

Finally, may I request you to pass this letter to ALL parishioners of St. John. In anticipation, I wish to thank you for taking time to read this long letter of appeal and to thank you for whatever donation or contribution you shall give, may God reward you with Peace and good health. Thank you for standing with the Kenyan People at this hour of our great need eventhough we are half the globe away.
Thank you so much and looking forward to hearing from you. Take care and God bless.

Your Kenyan Friend,
Fr. Cosmas.

I would like to commend you on your writings and coverage of some of the world’s most important stories. Sometimes the most important stories all the least desirable by the mainstream but you are doing an excellent job at giving a voice to these people in Africa. My thanks and continued grattitude.

Sincerely,

Roy D. Mercer
Letisha A. Mercer