Following the closest, most controversial election in Kenyan history on Dec. 27, 2007, protests and riots broke out in the East African nation. Now that they are back at Stanford, a number of students from Kenya are trying to make sense of the violence plaguing their home country.

I’ve lost some of my friends already in the violence,” said Sylviah Wanjiku Nyamu ‘09, who was raised in Nairobi, Kenya. “And others, sometimes they don’t pick up their phones when I call, and I have no idea if they’re ok.”

Hundreds have died and 250,000 have been forced to flee their homes in a combination of politically incited ethnic killings and efforts of police to quell protests. Rioting and looting now occur on a daily basis. Despite UN-led peace talks, President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga remain opposed to cooperation, and attacks continue in the streets, leaving innocent civilians dead.

Nyamu has not been back to Kenya since coming to Stanford in 2005, but the majority of her extended family still lives in Nairobi. She has tried to call her family and friends there every day, but has a sense that they hide the worst of the conflict from her.

They try to protect me, because they know I’m a student here,” she said, “but I don’t like that.”

Nyamu felt surprised when she first heard that riots broke out following the election.

“I didn’t see it coming,” she said. “When you look at Kenya, we’ve been really stable until now — but come Dec. 27, things changed.”

Peter Chadri ‘09, who spent most of his life in Nairobi, he has not been back to the country since 2003. However, he has an older sister still living in Kenya.

“I was disgusted and ashamed of the violence that erupted after the elections,” Chadri said. “I was not taken by complete and utter surprise. I was just hoping that people wouldn’t arrive at such desperation or foolishness.”

Both Chadri and Nyamu were critical of the government’s role in inciting the violence and its apparent disregard for the innocent lives lost in the conflict.

“The majority of the violence was [instigated by] Luos [a tribe in Kenya] who are mostly Raila supporters,” Chadri said. “They’ve been killing and displacing Kikuyus —> mainly Kibaki supporters — and barely vice versa.”

“I am a Kikuyu, which is the tribe most affected by this conflict,” Nyamu said. “The president right now is Kikuyu, but he won’t meet with the Luos opposition leader. No one will come together and talk about what’s going on. I’m really upset that the government leaders can’t communicate.”

The students remained most concerned about the civilians caught in the crossfire of the riots rather than the political outcome.

“I hope we get tired of thinking by our tribes,” Chadri said. “Some people protested peacefully, both Kikuyus and Luos, saying that they’ve always lived together peacefully — why now the violence?”

“I hope there is emotional support for the women after the violence is over,” Nyamu added. “So many have lost husbands and brothers, and still have children to provide for. Who will help them when the fighting is over?”

As they experience the conflict from afar, Nyamu and Chadri only hope Kenya returns to the place of stability it has been for so many years.

“[I hope] for the displaced people to be able to get back to their homes, and for people from different tribes to treat others as human beings, for things to go back to the way they were,” Nyamu said. “I’m scared that we won’t be able to get back to the way we were.”