wfn.org | Madeleine Albright Meets ADRA Staff and Bomb Survivors

["Christian B. Schäffler" <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

November 2, 1999
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

U.S. Secretary Of State Meets With ADRA Staff And Bomb 
Survivors

Nairobi, Kenya. (APD)   U.S. Secretary of State 
Madeleine Albright met with Adventist Development and 
Relief Agency (ADRA) workers and survivors of the 1998 
U.S. embassy bombing in Nairobi, Kenya, on October 22. 
ADRA is one of three agencies funded by the U.S. 
government through the United States Agency for 
International Development (USAID) providing services 
to those affected by the blast.

"Madam Albright was very impressed with ADRA's 
activities in the assistance of the bomb survivors," 
says Zipporah Wanjohi, ADRA coordinator for the 
Nairobi bomb blast project. ADRA was given an umbrella 
grant to work with four collaborating organizations to 
assist those who sustained physical disabilities, 
according to Wanjohi. ADRA is working with Kenya 
Society for the Blind (KSB), Association for the 
Physically Disabled of Kenya (APDK), Kenya National 
Association of the Deaf (KNAD), and the United 
Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK).

Samuel Nyaga, one of the survivors who met with 
Secretary of State Albright, says, "The hardest part 
is accepting the things I can't do anymore. "Nyaga, 
who was in the neighboring Co-operative House when the 
bomb was detonated, was in a coma for nearly two 
months and he can no longer bend his knees or his 
right elbow. His joints have fused. ADRA provided him 
with a wheelchair and walking frame before he was 
discharged from the hospital last year, and with a 
tripod stand and parallel bars for rehabilitation at 
home.

ADRA through UPDK provides crutches, wheelchairs, 
special footwear, orthopedic mattresses, and other 
walking aids to bomb survivors whose injuries make 
these necessary. Other services to the survivors 
through UPDK include home adjustments, such as special 
bathroom facilities, and physical and occupational 
therapy.

Another survivor Francis Gitu was riding next to the 
window of the 126 Kenya bus when it stopped for a 
traffic light near the embassy. He remembers seeing a 
bright light like a photographer's flash, he felt it 
in his eyes, then heard a loud bang. The blast 
fractured his leg and he lost one eye. He is losing 
sight in the other eye as well and doctors are giving 
him little hope of keeping it. ADRA staff transported 
him home from the hospital and are taking him to his 
appointments. Francis is also undergoing physiotherapy 
at home.

Pius Maina was also stopped at the traffic light at 
the time of the blast. "I never knew what happened," 
he says. Pius was rushed to Kenyatta Hospital for 
surgery. It was three days before he learned that it 
was a bomb and a week before he learned that he had 
lost his sight. ADRA and KSB have taught him 
orientation and mobility skills and independent living 
skills. Those whose vision was impaired by the blast 
may also receive health aids such as eyeglasses, 
special watches and computer training with a voice 
synthesizer.

Because many of the survivors are no longer able to 
work at their previous jobs, ADRA and the UPDK are 
providing economic rehabilitation training for 
survivors, which includes business training, basic 
accounting, opening bank accounts, drawing up a 
business plan and providing small business loans.
KNAD is teaching survivors and their families sign 
language and providing hearing aids and counseling to 
those who lost their hearing due to the bombing.

In addition to the Bomb Survivors project, other 
ADRA projects in Kenya include integrated agricultural 
programs, an AIDS awareness program, and education and 
school equipment projects.