International Save the Children Alliance
Life in the Camps
by Jon Bugge, Save the Children
31 January 2008
The rain clouds darken over the surrounding hills and Nakuru show ground. The oval enclosure, normally used for showcasing the produce of the fertile Rift Valley province, is now housing approximately 6,800 children and adults. They have fled the violence that erupted followed the disputed national elections in Kenya on 27 December 2008.
In the middle of the show ground a family sit astride their possessions bundled into old maize sacks. They have a shocked, faraway look in their eyes. "We left our home in Burnt Forest three days ago - we travelled here by getting lifts along the road," said Jane, 28, as she comforted her crying eight-month-old daughter. "There is still violence in Burnt Forest and many people I know are still there."
Many towns in the Rift Valley province and other parts of Kenya have experienced inter-ethnic fighting. Talk of atrocities and massacres is on everyone's lips. The stories are often similar: mobs armed with machetes, bows and arrows or clubs have torched someone's house, sometimes looting and raping the occupants. If they fail to leave their house they are sometimes killed. 
"They burnt everything when they looted and torched my house three weeks ago," Jane said. "I have been staying in a church with so many other people. We were all frightened, especially the children. Then I decided we should leave and go to a safer place."
This had been a common response: to shelter in churches for safety. However this all changed once word of the church burning in Eldoret, a town in western Kenya, spread.
Even in the show ground people do not feel safe. "My children are not completely safe here in the camp", Jane said. She has two other children with her in the camp - another daughter aged ten and a four year-old son. "They need food and clothing, they do not even have shoes and we need somewhere we can shelter from the weather."
"I do not want to return home," Jane continued. "I would rather stay here - we have to start again. All I want is a house and some money so I can start to make a living again. I don't know who burnt my house. I am worried for the people who remain in Burnt Forest." Her young daughter starts to cry again and Jane turns to comfort her once more.
Many of the children in the show ground are with their families, but some of them are orphans or separated from their families - alone and vulnerable. Some of these orphaned children lost their parents during the recent violence. Others became separated from their parents as they fled their homes. Save the Children is helping to register these children who will either live with relatives, or will be sent to live in children's homes and orphanages until their family members can be located.
We are also carrying out trainings with staff working with the Kenyan government Children's department staff, local non-governmental organisations and volunteers who are working in the Nakuru Showground so that they can help protect these children from harm.
During times of upheaval, giving children the chance to play with friends and get a schooling are important for returning some sense of normality to their lives. We're working with local partners to establish ‘safe spaces' for children living in camps for people displaced by the conflict to play in. We're also distributing quality materials to teachers and learning materials to children affected by the current crisis in camps and in communities surrounding the camps.
Estimates of people displaced by the conflict vary. The Kenyan Red Cross estimates that around 250,000 people have been displaced while UNICEF puts the figure at 100,000.
Some people have chosen to flee west into Uganda. But life is no easier there and they find little safety along the way. "Children are bearing the brunt of this political violence," John Reinstein, Save the Children's Director of Operations in Uganda, said. "Some have been forced to walk for days to escape across the border to Uganda, and are now living with no access to food, water, schooling or even proper shelter. Save the Children is supporting girls and women who have been raped and beaten as they travelled, and who have seen their loved ones killed by the mobs. Even when the fighting has calmed down in Kenya, the trauma of these events will overshadow their whole lives. We need to work fast to protect these children and create some sense of normality and structure for them."
The rain starts to fall and the sound of families moving into tents and tarpaulins echoes around the stadium. Although their situation is bleak, those people living in larger camps have a feeling of being safe because of their numbers.
We drove up country, travelling with armed escort. The deserted countryside was scarred with the burnt remnants of houses and shops. Across the valley we could see houses that were burning; the fires only just lit.