There are no words that will express the horror of what's happened at Westgate, and so I feel helpless. I cannot make a condemnation strong enough for this nightmare. Nothing conveys the anger. The pain. The utter unjustified horror of what an attack on hundreds of civilians feels like for a nation -- particularly one as new to democracy as Kenya.
I don't know what this will mean for Kenya. I don't know if this, combined with the Nairobi airport fire of just six weeks ago, will put a major dent in Kenya's tourism for any period of time. I don't know if this will worsen the already-difficult lives of Somalis in Kenya, or if it will alter the way we think about security in public spaces, or if it will burn a mark into the Kenyan character that is never erased.
I don't know what's going to happen to this city that I've fallen in love with (quietly, without realizing it), or these people who have settled deeply into my heart. I don't know tomorrow.
I do know three things:
I know that Kenyans are some of the most generous, most resourceful, and most unerringly kind people I've ever had the privilege of meeting. Kenya will come through this tragedy a stronger nation. She has to.
I know that the war on extremism and indiscriminate killings is not over.
I know that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. I know that the good guys outnumber the bad, and the good guys always win. The battle may be long, and the fight may be fierce, but the good guys always win.
My heart is with Kenya tonight.
Good morning how are you?
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because trough them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately it’s impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this I would ask you one small favor:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Kenya? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Kenya in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Avenida Juan de la Cierva, 44
28902 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely
Emilio Fernandez