Tucsonans prepare return trip to Kenya despite political unrest

Now these Tucsonans are waiting and watching, hoping peace will be restored in their beloved Kenya.

What is certain is that their commitment to helping the Kenyan people has not wavered due to recent turmoil.

Carol West and Tina Springer postponed winter trips there because of the country’s political unrest, but both women will return before the year is out.

Springer, 62, plans to go in May, her suitcases once again full of pharmaceuticals to help children, women and AIDS patients as well as a close Kenyan friend recovering from cancer.

West will return in December to travel and also to visit several women who visited Tucson in the last two years to learn more about democracy, grass-roots politics and women’s rights.

And Fred Roberts, dean of students at St. Gregory College Preparatory School, is still planning to bring some students to Kenya for their senior internships, as he has for years now.

His students teach at local schools there and help with community projects.

This year, if fundraising goes well, they will put in more concrete floors at the schools, Roberts said, and will start planning some school libraries.

Each person, along with Sally Davenport, who has worked with West to help Kenyan women, has been watching Kenya closely since its Dec. 27 elections.

At that time, President Mwai Kibaki returned to power in what has been called a stolen election. The aftermath: weeks of violence that left about 1,000 dead and more than 300,000 displaced, according to reports.

Now there is hope of a peace deal between the political parties.

Roberts lived in Kenya for 13 years and owns an outdoor leadership program near Naro Moru called Batians’ View Experiential Education Program, which provides outdoor education for Kenyans and visitors, as well as a bed-and-breakfast. (To learn more, go online to www.batiansview.com.)

Roberts said he has grown tired of the negative publicity about Kenya. He said his wife returns every January and was there again this year without any problem.

“I feel in my heart of hearts that Kenyans as a whole are so against this kind of thing,” said Roberts, 47.