c. TOPIC. Rebuilding Schools and Communities in Post-conflict Kenya
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Observation.
In post-conflict environments, getting children back into schools can be an
important component of humanitarian assistance – to help restore a degree of
normalcy to conflict-affected communities. When civil-military operations (CMO)
are conducted for this purpose, establishing close relations upfront with provincial
and community leaders, as well as with other U.S. Government and nongovernmental organizations operating in the area, is imperative to CMO success
Discussion.
In the aftermath of Kenya's December 2007 to January 2008 post-election
violence, Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) deployed U.S.
Army Reserve Civil Affairs (CA) teams to Kenya's Rift Valley to engage in a
series of school rehabilitation projects. Kenya had experienced wide-scale ethnic
clashes following its national elections, resulting in over 1,000 casualties and
300,000 displaced personnel. Most of the residents of the Rift Valley had been
displaced, countless markets and public places had been destroyed, and
numerous schools burned to the ground or severely damaged.
Over the April 2008 - July 2010 timeframe, four different U.S. Army Reserve CA
teams supported the rehabilitation/reconstruction of 14 schools in the Rift Valley.
During the early part of this timeframe, community/ethnic relations in the Rift
Valley were still tense, and most people lacked confidence in their government's
ability to provide security and restore services. The U.S. military, however, was
warmly welcomed by Rift Valley residents. They were generally receptive to all
who came to help, and they especially viewed the U.S. military as a trusted
presence in this insecure situation. The fact that the U.S. military had come to
rebuild highly visible structures for communities – namely, school buildings –
meant a great deal to a society in disarray. Interviews of Kenyans in the Rift
Valley revealed that they viewed new schools as an opportunity for peacebuilding among their communities (where multiple ethnic groups had formerly
attended the same schools), an important step toward stability, an overall public
good, and a means to positively impact the future.
The first U.S. Army Reserve CA team to arrive was instrumental in rebuilding/
repairing schools in the most heavily devastated areas of the Rift Valley. Key to
the team's success was its deliberate effort to establish relations upfront with key
stakeholders in the area: provincial administrators, village leaders, church
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