Where Am I Giving: A Global Adventure Exploring How to Use Your Gifts and Talents to Make a Difference

13No Justice, No Peace (Kenya, 2017): Election chaos / Freedom versus aid / Legacy of colonialism / Human rights / Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

MOM THOUGHT WE WERE BEING ABDUCTED. But it was worse than that.

Her flight had landed in Nairobi at the absolute worst time of the past 10 years. After days of contention in the presidential race, the election commission had declared incumbent Joseph Kenyatta the winner. Nairobi had essentially been closed since the election – stores were boarded up, and the streets of the city of 3 million people were empty. The few times I had ventured out, it felt like the excitement and anticipation of Christmas met the hesitation and fear of a zombie apocalypse.

For Mom's sake, I tried to pretend like I wasn't afraid and made small talk about in-flight movies and how seriously London airport security took liquids left in your luggage. I looked at the crappy car's fuel gauge buried on E as the driver pulled into another gas station.

Mom thought that the driver was looking for someone to meet up with at the gas station to pass us on into some tourist trafficking ring. But I sensed his fear, and Mom sensed mine. All the stations were closed. There were no other cabs, no cars, no one.

Residents of the slums supported the challenger, Raila Odinga, and any news about the results led to violence spilling out onto the streets. Reports of gunshots and roadblocks were already filling up social media channels. There were protesters on the street, legitimately ...