heartbreak.

it all started here. at my bedroom window.

.

judging by the marks on the doors I figure that they used a crowbar, or something to that extent, to pry open my bedroom window. Looking back on it I really shouldn't be suprised... wooden shutters kept closed by a small shift lock... I suppose I figured the guard dog and my landlord whose house was four feet away from mine would be enough security for when I decided to leave for a weekend. But, I was wrong.

.

.
after they got in, they created a path of destruction... they shoved the furniture and destroyed my mosquito net by tearing it down for easy access to the rest of the room. (again, no one around seemed to notice).

.

they then proceeded to shove everything they could find in my own bags and lug it all away... my own bags. including but not limited to: my 2 year supply of contacts, my spare pair of glasses, all of my anti-malarial prophylaxis, every pair of shoes i had (hiking boots, nike running shoes, showering flip-flops), clothes (my host mama had a given me a kenyan style custom made dress)... yeah, that was taken... my computer - which had pictures and videos of the tiriki traditions saved on it, guitar, ipod, my oakley sunglasses that i had had for five years, everything that i had stored under my bed to start the Orphan Support program (including toys, pens, pencils, crayola markers and crayons, jump ropes, candy)... the dumbies even opened up a box that was wrapped in christmas paper (an external dvd drive) and took it out of the box and then left it behind.

.

they dumped out my night side drawers, which contained letters from home, my journal, books, and took the things that were on top, like my alarm clock, and my family photo album.... yeah. Now, why on earth would they leave an external dvd drive, but take pictures of my white family in America?

after the goldmine that was my bedroom, they then proceeded to the rest of the house... the list continues: my mattresses, my bicycle, my enormous 12 kilogram gas cylinder and stove top (and let me tell you, that thing was heavy.) ... now, what i don't understand is how they took, literlly, a truck load of things, without ANYBODY noticing?? they even took the light bulb for crying out loud. (i had to borrow the one in the picture below so that i could pack the remaining of my stuff)

it was truly, truly, heartbreaking.

.

when the police came they looked at the mess that was left behind and then had me come down to the station to record a statement... what this means is that they wrote down in a carbon copy notebook the date that i returned to discover this mess and then list the things that were stolen. Because it was already dark Peace Corps had me stay the night with the nearest volunteer and then travel the next day to the offices in Nairobi to evaluate the next step. But, before i could file insurance paperwork I had to get a legitimate police report. So the next morning I spent 20 minutes explaining to the Cheptulu police that i needed this statement to prove the incident. I can comfortably conclude two things. One, they have never been asked for one before and Two, they are lazy "non-do's" that refuse to do the job that they receive a salary to do.

.

After finally getting my point accross (i'm not leaving without a police report) they took out a piece of notebook paper, wrote down the list of things that were stolen, stamped it, and then handed it to me.

what a joke.

..

On the brighter side... Peace Corps Safety and Security department has done a great job attempting to get a proper investigation accomplished, my international insurance came through by fulling covering my insured items, and Peace Corps also will be giving me another "move-in" allowance to start over and also some extra for my losses.

.

afterthoughts....

.

to be completely honest, it really sucks to come home to a place you don't recognize and to experience this internal seed of mistrust that will probably never go away, but I have to be really thankful that i wasn't there when they decided to break in. I don't want to think about what could have happened. But, I have come to accept that they were just things that were stolen and that was all. My health is fantastic, my family's health is fantastic, and I am so grateful for all of the support that i have received because of this incident.