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| The Young Hopes of Kenya, Laid in the Grave | The Young Hopes of Kenya, Laid in the Grave |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| GATUNDU, Kenya — The cars swung out onto Thika Road, one by one. | |
| They moved together, in a line on Friday morning, past miles of apartment buildings, up into the hills, deeper and deeper into rich green farmland. In front, a hearse carried the body of Angela Nyokabi Githakwa, 21, one of the 142 students massacred last week at a Kenyan university. | They moved together, in a line on Friday morning, past miles of apartment buildings, up into the hills, deeper and deeper into rich green farmland. In front, a hearse carried the body of Angela Nyokabi Githakwa, 21, one of the 142 students massacred last week at a Kenyan university. |
| As one of the first in her family to go to a national university, Ms. Githakwa’s prospects had been swiftly rising — just like Kenya’s. | As one of the first in her family to go to a national university, Ms. Githakwa’s prospects had been swiftly rising — just like Kenya’s. |
| Her generation witnessed the end of dictatorship, the growth of democracy, an incredible economic expansion, Kenya’s netting gold medals at the Olympics and a recent Oscar. The country even played a hand in producing the first African-American president of the United States. | Her generation witnessed the end of dictatorship, the growth of democracy, an incredible economic expansion, Kenya’s netting gold medals at the Olympics and a recent Oscar. The country even played a hand in producing the first African-American president of the United States. |
| But her short life also tracked the disaster next door. Just as Ms. Githakwa was taking baby steps, Somalia was imploding. Its government had collapsed. Its economy flatlined. Militant groups flooded the streets. Many children born in Somalia at this time did not get to go to school; they picked up guns. | |
| As the years passed, and Ms. Githakwa was preparing for her high school exams and General Electric and Google were investing millions in operations in Kenya, the Shabab Islamist militant group was bullwhipping women next door, trying to establish a seventh-century caliphate. | |
| Kenya and Somalia — two nations that achieved independence around the same time and share a border — could not have been headed in more opposite directions. | Kenya and Somalia — two nations that achieved independence around the same time and share a border — could not have been headed in more opposite directions. |
| “We had no idea what was happening over there,” said Dennis Mwaura, one of Ms. Githakwa’s friends. “Somalia wasn’t something we studied in school. We didn’t think about it much — until this.” | “We had no idea what was happening over there,” said Dennis Mwaura, one of Ms. Githakwa’s friends. “Somalia wasn’t something we studied in school. We didn’t think about it much — until this.” |
| Last week, Kenya’s promise generation collided with Somalia’s generation chaos. Four young militants on a suicide mission claimed by the Shabab burst into Garissa University College and shot to death scores of students, sparing the Muslims and telling the Christians to lie down, eyes closed. | Last week, Kenya’s promise generation collided with Somalia’s generation chaos. Four young militants on a suicide mission claimed by the Shabab burst into Garissa University College and shot to death scores of students, sparing the Muslims and telling the Christians to lie down, eyes closed. |
| The Shabab are Kenya’s new plague. One of the most murderous offshoots of Al Qaeda, they have claimed responsibility for slaughtering hundreds of Kenyans in recent years, striking street markets, country buses, rural police posts, a rock quarry and the country’s fanciest mall. | The Shabab are Kenya’s new plague. One of the most murderous offshoots of Al Qaeda, they have claimed responsibility for slaughtering hundreds of Kenyans in recent years, striking street markets, country buses, rural police posts, a rock quarry and the country’s fanciest mall. |
| But this was the first time they specifically went after students. The gunmen were about the same age as their victims, officials said. | But this was the first time they specifically went after students. The gunmen were about the same age as their victims, officials said. |
| On Friday, Kenya began to bury its dead. This weekend will be a long one. Slow processions of freshly washed vehicles will chug into just about every corner of this country, coming to rest in front of country churches. | On Friday, Kenya began to bury its dead. This weekend will be a long one. Slow processions of freshly washed vehicles will chug into just about every corner of this country, coming to rest in front of country churches. |
| So many of the students represented a life their parents never dared dreaming of. | So many of the students represented a life their parents never dared dreaming of. |
| “My son, he was going to run a factory,” said Rex Chagwi, the father of a young man named Newton, who was killed in the massacre. “Me,” he said, laughing, “I didn’t even get past seventh grade.” | “My son, he was going to run a factory,” said Rex Chagwi, the father of a young man named Newton, who was killed in the massacre. “Me,” he said, laughing, “I didn’t even get past seventh grade.” |
| Many of the slain students were the first ones from their villages to make it to university. On Friday, hundreds of people drifted up the muddy road into the church that was holding the funeral for Ms. Githakwa (pronounced gee-THA-kwa). It was as if the entire village were there, sitting quietly in white plastic chairs. | |
| Education is prized in Kenya. Few take it lightly. It represents a ticket to a new life. Families literally mortgage the farm to pay for tutors and boarding schools to give their children a leg up on the high school exams that can determine the future. | Education is prized in Kenya. Few take it lightly. It represents a ticket to a new life. Families literally mortgage the farm to pay for tutors and boarding schools to give their children a leg up on the high school exams that can determine the future. |
| “I sold sugar cane. I sold our cows,” said Rosina Wanda, whose daughter Selpha was killed at the school. “Now,” she started to say and looked down at a picture of her girl in her hands. | |
| She could not finish her words. Ms. Wanda’s face went blank; she was standing at a funeral home in Nairobi, the capital, about to set off for her town of Kakamega, with a long wooden box holding her daughter’s body. | She could not finish her words. Ms. Wanda’s face went blank; she was standing at a funeral home in Nairobi, the capital, about to set off for her town of Kakamega, with a long wooden box holding her daughter’s body. |
| Garissa University College, in a thorny frontier town near the Somali border, drew students from the entire country. The 800 or so studying at the university were assigned there by a national board. | |
| Ms. Githakwa’s family revealed at her funeral on Friday that she had actually tried to transfer to a different school because of security fears. But in the words of an uncle, the national board’s decision was “very difficult to unlock.” | |
| She had abruptly come home at least once, not during a vacation, to her farm in central Kenya because of terrorism warnings. The town of Garissa had been hit several times before this attack. | She had abruptly come home at least once, not during a vacation, to her farm in central Kenya because of terrorism warnings. The town of Garissa had been hit several times before this attack. |
| “But that’s what you have to know about Jojo,” Mr. Mwaura said, using her nickname, which means the loved one. “Jojo was determined. She wasn’t going to let anyone scare her away.” | “But that’s what you have to know about Jojo,” Mr. Mwaura said, using her nickname, which means the loved one. “Jojo was determined. She wasn’t going to let anyone scare her away.” |
| Standing barely five feet tall, thin, with caramel colored skin, she wore a silver rosary necklace that never came off. Many of her friends think the Shabab might have seen that. | Standing barely five feet tall, thin, with caramel colored skin, she wore a silver rosary necklace that never came off. Many of her friends think the Shabab might have seen that. |
| “She was executed because of her strong Catholic faith,” her funeral program said. | “She was executed because of her strong Catholic faith,” her funeral program said. |
| According to Kenyan officials, the four Shabab gunmen burst into the university at dawn on April 2 and split into teams of two. They moved dorm to dorm, room to room, selecting Christians to kill. | According to Kenyan officials, the four Shabab gunmen burst into the university at dawn on April 2 and split into teams of two. They moved dorm to dorm, room to room, selecting Christians to kill. |
| Though police officers and infantry soldiers quickly had the university surrounded, many Kenyans are outraged that it took a team of specially trained commandos more than eight hours to arrive because they had to wait for an aircraft in Nairobi. The authorities said the commandos ended the siege in about 15 minutes, killing all four gunmen, raising questions of whether more lives could have been easily saved. | Though police officers and infantry soldiers quickly had the university surrounded, many Kenyans are outraged that it took a team of specially trained commandos more than eight hours to arrive because they had to wait for an aircraft in Nairobi. The authorities said the commandos ended the siege in about 15 minutes, killing all four gunmen, raising questions of whether more lives could have been easily saved. |
| One gunman has been identified as a Somali-Kenyan former student at the University of Nairobi law school and the son of a chief, rekindling fears that Kenya’s Shabab threat is homegrown — and no longer the province of the poor. The identities of the other three killers remain unknown. | One gunman has been identified as a Somali-Kenyan former student at the University of Nairobi law school and the son of a chief, rekindling fears that Kenya’s Shabab threat is homegrown — and no longer the province of the poor. The identities of the other three killers remain unknown. |
| Ms. Githakwa was shot while still in bed, her family said. She was hit three times, once in the neck and twice in the chest. Her friends and family shuffled past her coffin for one last look. Her head rested on a lace pillow, a thin scarf around her neck. Her makeup was thick. Her sister leaned over the coffin and wailed. | Ms. Githakwa was shot while still in bed, her family said. She was hit three times, once in the neck and twice in the chest. Her friends and family shuffled past her coffin for one last look. Her head rested on a lace pillow, a thin scarf around her neck. Her makeup was thick. Her sister leaned over the coffin and wailed. |
| The anger seemed to grow as the funeral went on. | The anger seemed to grow as the funeral went on. |
| “It’s time to call a spade a spade,” said Moses Kuria, a member of Parliament. | “It’s time to call a spade a spade,” said Moses Kuria, a member of Parliament. |
| Mr. Kuria, who has already been charged with hate speech for insulting another ethnic group, accused people in northeastern Kenya, who are predominantly Somali, of helping terrorists and said: “If I go to jail for saying this, so be it. At least I’ll be alive.” | Mr. Kuria, who has already been charged with hate speech for insulting another ethnic group, accused people in northeastern Kenya, who are predominantly Somali, of helping terrorists and said: “If I go to jail for saying this, so be it. At least I’ll be alive.” |
| The Kenyan government is clearly struggling with how to respond to the massacre, the gravest terrorist attack since the 1998 bombing of the American Embassy in Nairobi, which killed more than 200 people, the vast majority of them Kenyans. | The Kenyan government is clearly struggling with how to respond to the massacre, the gravest terrorist attack since the 1998 bombing of the American Embassy in Nairobi, which killed more than 200 people, the vast majority of them Kenyans. |
| On Thursday, in of front of a crowd of grieving relatives, a police commander said that Kenyan civilians, if they ever fall into the hands of armed militants, should fight back so they are not killed “like cockroaches.” | On Thursday, in of front of a crowd of grieving relatives, a police commander said that Kenyan civilians, if they ever fall into the hands of armed militants, should fight back so they are not killed “like cockroaches.” |
| Opposition leaders are demanding that Kenya pull its troops out of Somalia, where they are part of an international stabilization mission. The Kenyans first stormed across the border in 2011 to oust the Shabab from their southern strongholds. | Opposition leaders are demanding that Kenya pull its troops out of Somalia, where they are part of an international stabilization mission. The Kenyans first stormed across the border in 2011 to oust the Shabab from their southern strongholds. |
| The Shabab, which means youth in Arabic, have used this as an excuse to kill Kenyans, and it fits perfectly with their new ideology. | |
| They started out as resistance fighters, fighting Ethiopian troops and winning some genuine support inside Somalia. They went on to take over much of the country, backing Somalia’s transitional government into a small corner of the capital and imposing their harsh brand of Islam on Somali civilians at will. | |
| But they have lost much of their territory, many of their fighters and most of their money. And after being scolded by Osama bin Laden for killing too many Muslims in Somalia with indiscriminate suicide bombs, the Shabab shifted to targeting Christians. Kenya is majority Christian, and its border is notoriously porous. | But they have lost much of their territory, many of their fighters and most of their money. And after being scolded by Osama bin Laden for killing too many Muslims in Somalia with indiscriminate suicide bombs, the Shabab shifted to targeting Christians. Kenya is majority Christian, and its border is notoriously porous. |
| On Friday afternoon, Ms. Githakwa was laid to rest. Her grave sits under a banana tree, the hillsides all around steep and quilted with rows of crops — pineapples, beans, coffee and tea. | On Friday afternoon, Ms. Githakwa was laid to rest. Her grave sits under a banana tree, the hillsides all around steep and quilted with rows of crops — pineapples, beans, coffee and tea. |
| “This is the way, this is the way to heaven,” people sang. | “This is the way, this is the way to heaven,” people sang. |
| A light drizzle began to fall and people praised the rain. It was the beginning of the rainy season. The clumps of earth shoveled onto the coffin fell quietly, damp and soft. | A light drizzle began to fall and people praised the rain. It was the beginning of the rainy season. The clumps of earth shoveled onto the coffin fell quietly, damp and soft. |