As gang spread untold terror at Westgate Mall, scribe lived in total oblivion

Students who attended a ten-day meditation course in Karen, Nairobi and only came to know of the Westgate Mall attack one week after it happened.  [PHOTO: LYDIA LIMBE/STANDARD]

By LYDIA LIMBE

KENYA: With the massive media coverage of the terror attacks at the Westgate Mall, it would be unbelievable to hear that anyone within Nairobi could have only received the news a week after the event.

Even more amazing is that the person whose occupation is to report on such events was in the Karen area, less than ten kilometres from the mall.

Strange as it may be, 47 others and I did not know of the attack and the mass killings until Saturday September 28, a week after the incident.

On an ordinary day as a journalist, I would have been on top of things.

But on this occasion, I was in a 10-day seclusion, whose objective, ironically, was to restore peace of mind and soul by keeping away from all forms of contact and any kind of evil.

The 48 of us, mostly Kenyans and other international students, had checked in at a Catholic-run formation centre in Karen, on September 18, for a Vipassana course. That was only three-days before the heinous attacks.

Vipassana is a mode of meditation which means seeing things as they are. It was discovered and taught in India over 2,500 years ago by Gotama Buddha and has now spread worldwide.

It’s a way of self-transformation through self-observation. It is a non-sectarian, non-religious, non-cultic technique. It focuses on the deep interconnection between mind and body.

The experience is achieved though disciplined attention to the physical sensations that form the life of the body, and that continuously interconnect and condition the life of the mind.

We were 24 female and 16 male meditators, with eight servers (old Vipassana students who volunteer to help organise the course).

For ten days we were to observe absolute silence, refrain from killing, stealing, lying or any sexual activity. Men and women were separated.

There was no form of communication either among ourselves or with the outside world. A gong would be rung to signal the time to wake up; time to meditate, time for meals and time to rest.

On September 28, the last day of the mediation, an official Mark Gallardo broke the shocking news to us.

“While you were all observing the noble silence, the Westgate Mall was attacked by a group that is thought to be Al Shabab,” Gallardo told us during the briefing session.

Conceal news

“What?” “Oh my God!” “Really?” Was the expression to the devastating news.

The look on his face told me he was serious. “When did this happen?” asked one of the male meditators.

“On day three of meditation,” Gallardo replied. “I’m sure you’d like to pick up your phones and get in touch with friends and family. We informed them through the contact numbers on your forms, that you are all fine.”

We all scrambled to collect our mobile phones which we had checked in for safe keeping. We got in touch with our kin and tried to get a grip of the magnitude of the situation through phone narration and internet search.

“But why did the organiser choose to conceal news of such a tragic event from us?” I inquired.

“The first thing we did was to be in communication with people whom the meditators had indicated on their application forms as contact persons in case of an emergency,” said Gacheke Simons who was one of the servers.

“We debated every night whether to inform you or not then chose to wait for any communication from your relatives. We felt the news would cause anxiety to the students, and in turn they would not attain their intention for the meditation,” said Simons.

The rest of the programme went on as scheduled. The organisers were right. It was now extremely difficult to concentrate, the mind doing a constant dance of the what-ifs.