I was going to post this in the other Kenyan thead, but it has gone off course.This story is so sad. We as white people don't have a chance of survival on this planet. Our do-gooders will make sure of that. Don't look down your noses at me and expect me toshed tears for these imbeciles!
[url]http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=435 83b69-3794-42c4-b0ec-72b90f91bdf2 [/url]
45 minutes of hell in Kenya: Vernon woman forgives attackers
<DIV =feed_details>
<H4>Linda Nguyen and Mike Barber , Canwest News Service</H4>Published:Saturday, July 12, 2008
Eloise Bergen was taking a hot bath Wednesday in her Kenyan home when she looked up to see five men, each clutching machetes and clubs in their hands.
"I thought, 'This must be a joke,' so I said, 'Can you please pass me my clothes?' " the 66-year-old from Vernon, B.C., said in a telephone interview Friday from a Nairobi hospital room.
"They raised their machetes and told me to get out of the tub. They wouldn't give me any clothes."
The men took Eloise's hands and tightly tied one with a black cellphone adapter cord and the other with a cord from her husband's electric shaver.
Then Eloise, naked and dripping wet, was forced to stand up so the men, all local Kenyans in their 20s, could rape her. Three of them did.
The attack lasted a horrifying 45 minutes.
The gated home she shares with her Canadian missionary husband John, a place that was supposed to be a safe haven, had been violated.
"The tall one was in charge of me. He did everything standing up. He didn't lie me down," she said, her voice composed and unwavering. "I think he thought he could get away faster if we got caught. It was quite painful. Then he handed me over to the two others."
The whole time, she said, she did not utter a single word except whisper 'Jesus' over and over under her breath.
After the men were done, they punched Eloise in her private parts, choked her three times and cut her with their machetes. Her jaw was broken. She needed 35 stitches to close the cuts on her face.
Seven people - five men and two women - have been arrested for the brutal attacks on the Bergens. Two of the men taken into custody have been identified as the Canadians' security guards, hired in the last three weeks to protect the couple at night.
Eloise and John, 70, had recently moved into their own house on a gated farm in Kenya, where they grow food for local children. They were working with the non-profit organization Hope for the Nations, based in Kelowna, B.C.
The Bergens' lives have long focused on their faith. John said he first fell in love with Eloise after watching her perform with her family band at his church as a teenager. While in college, he befriended Eloise's professor parents, and before long, asked her hand in marriage. They became ministers together in 1962, and married in 1964.
The retired couple had moved to Africa to help widows and orphans in the city of Kitale and help refugees who had fled a political crisis.
Eloise had to ram through the gates surrounding her farm to drive for help, 20 minutes away.
Ryan Schumacher, the director for the East Africa division of the Hope charity, said the couple were a horrifying sight when they pulled into the missionary camp. "It was one of the worst things I've seen in my life. They were covered in blood, head to toe."
The Bergens were rushed to Kitale's tiny and understaffed hospital, where the lone nurse on duty that night had to cope with rats the size of coke bottles while performing first aid.
Within half an hour, however, the hospital was crowded with doctors, pastors, and friends looking to help the wounded couple, said Schumacher.
It was only when they arrived at the hospital that night that she realized how seriously injured her husband was.
The assailants had struck John's skull, jaw, arm, knee and leg with clubs.
He also had been severely cut with machetes. He needed so many stitches to his face that the doctors "lost count," Eloise said.
She said John will need to undergo four major surgeries
Both will need extensive medical procedures to fix their broken jaws.
Despite this terrifying ordeal, she and John have no plans to return home to Canada. This crisis has given her more strength to help those in need, Eloise said.
"The people here are hospitable, charitable, and have shown us nothing but love," he said "It's just a few thugs that are a little different." Attacks like the Bergens' experience are common in the poorest and most remote regions of Kenya, particularly around Kitale. (snip)
"Maybe they just got tired of the Mzungu (white person) telling them what to do," he said.
He remembers standing outside in the dark, when seemingly out of nowhere, he was hit repeatedly with clubs and could feel the machetes "just gashing me, slashing me, cutting."
For the moment, John said he's glad to have survived the attack. "I was just praying, 'Jesus, help me, Jesus, Jesus,'" he said. "They left my life intact. It's amazing . . . it was an answer to my prayers."
John said he is now more determined than ever to help the impoverished children and widows of western Kenya, and he can't wait to get back to work. (snip)
Schumacher, originally an organic farmer from Arizona, is pleading with the public to help the Bergens with their hospital costs.
The couple have no medical insurance and had sold their house, vehicle and furniture before departing. Schumacher estimates that at least $150,000 will be needed to pay for their expenses. (snip)
Nonetheless, Eloise said one of the first things she and her husband want to do once they fully recover is to visit their assailants.
"When I woke up this morning, I was picturing the time will come when John and I are physically well again," she said. "It's in both of our hearts to go to the prison and tell them about our forgiveness."
[url]http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=435 83b69-3794-42c4-b0ec-72b90f91bdf2 [/url]
45 minutes of hell in Kenya: Vernon woman forgives attackers
<DIV =feed_details>
<H4>Linda Nguyen and Mike Barber , Canwest News Service</H4>Published:Saturday, July 12, 2008
Eloise Bergen was taking a hot bath Wednesday in her Kenyan home when she looked up to see five men, each clutching machetes and clubs in their hands.
"I thought, 'This must be a joke,' so I said, 'Can you please pass me my clothes?' " the 66-year-old from Vernon, B.C., said in a telephone interview Friday from a Nairobi hospital room.
"They raised their machetes and told me to get out of the tub. They wouldn't give me any clothes."
The men took Eloise's hands and tightly tied one with a black cellphone adapter cord and the other with a cord from her husband's electric shaver.
Then Eloise, naked and dripping wet, was forced to stand up so the men, all local Kenyans in their 20s, could rape her. Three of them did.
The attack lasted a horrifying 45 minutes.
The gated home she shares with her Canadian missionary husband John, a place that was supposed to be a safe haven, had been violated.
"The tall one was in charge of me. He did everything standing up. He didn't lie me down," she said, her voice composed and unwavering. "I think he thought he could get away faster if we got caught. It was quite painful. Then he handed me over to the two others."
The whole time, she said, she did not utter a single word except whisper 'Jesus' over and over under her breath.
After the men were done, they punched Eloise in her private parts, choked her three times and cut her with their machetes. Her jaw was broken. She needed 35 stitches to close the cuts on her face.
Seven people - five men and two women - have been arrested for the brutal attacks on the Bergens. Two of the men taken into custody have been identified as the Canadians' security guards, hired in the last three weeks to protect the couple at night.
Eloise and John, 70, had recently moved into their own house on a gated farm in Kenya, where they grow food for local children. They were working with the non-profit organization Hope for the Nations, based in Kelowna, B.C.
The Bergens' lives have long focused on their faith. John said he first fell in love with Eloise after watching her perform with her family band at his church as a teenager. While in college, he befriended Eloise's professor parents, and before long, asked her hand in marriage. They became ministers together in 1962, and married in 1964.
The retired couple had moved to Africa to help widows and orphans in the city of Kitale and help refugees who had fled a political crisis.
Eloise had to ram through the gates surrounding her farm to drive for help, 20 minutes away.
Ryan Schumacher, the director for the East Africa division of the Hope charity, said the couple were a horrifying sight when they pulled into the missionary camp. "It was one of the worst things I've seen in my life. They were covered in blood, head to toe."
The Bergens were rushed to Kitale's tiny and understaffed hospital, where the lone nurse on duty that night had to cope with rats the size of coke bottles while performing first aid.
Within half an hour, however, the hospital was crowded with doctors, pastors, and friends looking to help the wounded couple, said Schumacher.
It was only when they arrived at the hospital that night that she realized how seriously injured her husband was.
The assailants had struck John's skull, jaw, arm, knee and leg with clubs.
He also had been severely cut with machetes. He needed so many stitches to his face that the doctors "lost count," Eloise said.
She said John will need to undergo four major surgeries
Both will need extensive medical procedures to fix their broken jaws.
Despite this terrifying ordeal, she and John have no plans to return home to Canada. This crisis has given her more strength to help those in need, Eloise said.
"The people here are hospitable, charitable, and have shown us nothing but love," he said "It's just a few thugs that are a little different." Attacks like the Bergens' experience are common in the poorest and most remote regions of Kenya, particularly around Kitale. (snip)
"Maybe they just got tired of the Mzungu (white person) telling them what to do," he said.
He remembers standing outside in the dark, when seemingly out of nowhere, he was hit repeatedly with clubs and could feel the machetes "just gashing me, slashing me, cutting."
For the moment, John said he's glad to have survived the attack. "I was just praying, 'Jesus, help me, Jesus, Jesus,'" he said. "They left my life intact. It's amazing . . . it was an answer to my prayers."
John said he is now more determined than ever to help the impoverished children and widows of western Kenya, and he can't wait to get back to work. (snip)
Schumacher, originally an organic farmer from Arizona, is pleading with the public to help the Bergens with their hospital costs.
The couple have no medical insurance and had sold their house, vehicle and furniture before departing. Schumacher estimates that at least $150,000 will be needed to pay for their expenses. (snip)
Nonetheless, Eloise said one of the first things she and her husband want to do once they fully recover is to visit their assailants.
"When I woke up this morning, I was picturing the time will come when John and I are physically well again," she said. "It's in both of our hearts to go to the prison and tell them about our forgiveness."
