THE TWO FACES OF KENYA...

The irony that is Kenya is that there are literally two faces of Kenya in this crisis. It is like the sunrise and sunset.

This is a story that most of our international community will not be told by the international press. So here it is.

KENYA HAS TWO FACES.

LITERALLY.

The first face is that which the external publics of Kenya have witnessed through the international media. They have seen police killings,stone throwing youth who are shouting endlessly at the police, weary women with babies on their backs with no where to go or crowded in a displaced people's camp, children wailing because of the confusion that surrounds them and yet with no one to comfort them...These are the images the international commmunity is getting.

But there is a side that the international community is not aware of.This face of Kenya is the one that watches the news in a very detached manner.Their children are going to school.Their wives are going for shopping.Their teens are catching late night movies.They watch the news and wonder what human could do that to another?It is like it is happening in another time, in another place like someone put it.And it is true.That is the face the international community is not seeing.

Kenya has issues.But guess what?Not all of Kenya is in flames.Parts of Kenya are.But not all of it.No.Don't read between the lines here.Just read what you see that indeed Kenya has two faces.There are parts of this city that have never experienced the looting and the deathtoll.

There are estates right now in Nairobi you can't go past a certain hour because of the insecurity.So when 5pm gets here, people just up and leave their offices.Yet there are other people who just keep working like nothing happened.

The Rift Valley, Nyanza, Coast and Nairobi provinces are the most affected regions in Kenya. Of course there are varying degrees.Nairobi is mostly affected when protestors are trying to get to the main park,Uhuru park, and they are blocked.As a result there is a lot of vandalism and lives getting lost.Obviously that cannot be said in isolation to the fact that some of the protestors are not out to express their dissatisfaction with the government.But are there waiting to pounce on innocent people.Even the protestors have two faces. Yes, that is the irony that is Kenya.And that irony is what the international community should remember as they watch their television screens.