A Calgary family working on missionary projects in Kenya has arrived safe on Canadian soil after being forced to flee the country amid escalating post-election violence.
Daniel Howard, along with his wife and two young children, travelled to Kenya nine months ago to help establish a new church and create a teacher-training program.
The family had settled into its new home and was careful to follow safety rules recommended by other foreigners in the country.
"It's perfectly safe -- as the missionaries would say -- as long as you're home before dark and you don't go here and you don't go there," Howard told CTV Calgary.
After building a life in the East African nation, the family was forced to leave most of its possessions behind and escape to Tanzania when the usually calm nation spiralled into chaos.
Last month, disputed presidential election results triggered a wave of violence that saw more than 500 people killed in protests and ethnic attacks while hundreds of thousands were displaced from their homes.
"Vehicles were being turned upside down and burnt in the street and people were being robbed and looted and beaten and most of the people were just running," Howard said.
The family was advised to start running as well, as the violence escalated and food supplies dwindled.
Howard arranged for a helicopter to transport his family from their farm to Tanzania, but the helicopter never showed up. The family, along with a handful of other missionaries, was forced to flee with whatever possessions they could carry.
"You're in danger the whole time because of the unknown," Howard said.
They bribed guards along the way to ensure safe passage through road blocks until they reached Tanzania. A friend sent their passports, enabling them to fly back home to Calgary.
"It's been a long month living out a suitcase and living in one room with all of us together and not knowing what's going to happen from day to day," Howard's wife Lindsay told CTV Calgary.
"It's just nice to be back with family and friends."
While the Howard family was lucky enough to escape, many foreigners and Kenyans remain in the country's slums or refugee camps in neighbouring countries.
CARE, an international humanitarian organization, says internationally displaced persons living in western Kenya are seeking refuge in churches, police stations and schools because their homes have been destroyed.
"The needs of the people who have fled their homes remain great as many camps are overstretched, crowded and in poor sanitary conditions," Bud Crandall, CARE country director for Kenya, said in a statement released Tuesday.
The UN's World Food Programme distributed food to nearly 2,000 Kenyans who fled to Uganda on Tuesday. The post-election crisis has forced nearly 6,000 Kenyans to cross over into Uganda and seek refugee status.
The Howard family hopes to return to the ravaged country some day, to finish their missionary work and contribute to reconstruction.
"We're looking forward to going back hopefully, if there is anything there; if what we've started is still standing and we can continue with the work," Howard said.
With a report from CTV Calgary's Chris Epp
