Despite recent crisis, Humber plans to join Free the Children in May
For Revlon Stoddart, the recent violence in Kenya has not deterred her from going to build a school there this May.
Stoddart, fourth year early childhood education student, is one of 16 Guelph-Humber and Humber students going on the trip with Free the Children, a non-profit organization helping youth around the world. The organization was founded in Toronto by Craig Kielburger when he was 12 years old.
“I’m not scared,” said Stoddart, the co-founder of the Humber chapter of Free the Children. “I’m driven by my passion and love for children. I know what I want and I made up my mind at the end of August that for sure, this is what I want to do, to travel to Kenya.”
The violence is the result of the hotly contested Dec. 27 election that was won by President Mwai Kibaki by only 232,000 votes over opposition leader Raila Odinga. Both sides have exchanged accusations of electoral fraud and the turmoil has left about 500 people dead and approximately 250,000 displaced.
Kielburger’s brother Marc, chief executive director of Free the Children, said he doesn’t expect there to be any problems.
“I personally would be shocked if the situation weren’t fully resolved or extremely close to being resolved by May,” he said.
Internet management student Kendi Muchungi is concerned about developments and has been keeping in close touch with her friends and family in Kenya.
“I miss home. Especially now because I feel like I should be in Nairobi.”
However, she said she believes the violence will subside in her home country as most Kenyans focus their attention on the struggles of daily life.
Despite the optimism, Humber is still monitoring the situation carefully and will not put any students at risk.
“Humber will always err on the side of caution and if need be we will cancel the trip,” said Michael Kopinak, manager of residence life and international student services. “The hope right now is that we don’t have to do that.”
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