Police Fire Tear Gas On Kenyan Kids Protecting A Soccer Field

[kiva]

Source: NPR

Hundreds of elementary schools were protesting the illegal seizure of their playground by a private developer in Nairobi, Kenya, when police fired tear gas into the crowd. The incident sparked outrage across the city — and on social media, where Kenyans tweeted with the hashtag #OccupyPlayGround.

But the shocking images and videos of the ordeal provoked a surprisingly proactive response. In the end, these Kenyan kids did what ordinary Kenyans are rarely able to do: defend disappearing public space.

The process is known as "land-grabbing." A fence suddenly appears overnight around a parcel of government property. Those who protest are warded off — sometimes violently — by police. In time, a new high-rise or hotel or parking lot appears, owned by a politically connected magnate.

--snip--

That's not how these stories usually end. Land grabs are such a divisive issue in Kenya that the most controversial ones have sparked deadly ethnic riots and even acts of terrorism.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2015/01/22/378873364/police-fire-tear-gas-on-kenyan-kids-protecting-a-soccer-field

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A win for the kids, and for all ordinary Kenyans.

[jwirr]

1. That is terrible - for many of those kids that is all they have. My family helps to support a young

man in Tanzania and that is one of the things he writes to us about the most.