Members of Kenya tribes work toward reconciliation

These traumatized victims of Kenya's post-election clashes meet to talk, pray, sing and -- they hope -- heal. More than half a dozen tribes are represented, including some that attacked one another in the weeks after the disputed December 2007 presidential voting ignited long-simmering ethnic tensions. More than 1,000 Kenyans died in the clashes.

At most sessions, group members still segregate themselves by tribe. But singing, dancing and a touch of pragmatism have helped break the ice.

Paskwaloena Wanjiru, 70, was leery at first of joining the group. Her son and grandson were killed by a mob from a rival tribe and she didn't think she could she bring herself to greet members of that tribe.

But she was also struggling with her own secret shame: Two other sons took part in killing and house-burning that targeted another local tribe.

Eventually she said she became comfortable with joining the reconciliation group because "we are all here for the right reasons: to forgive and to be forgiven."

Gathering under a village's biggest tree to sort out conflict is an ancient African tradition, one that has even been used to promote healing in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. But such scenes have been surprisingly rare in Kenya, which historically liked to boast that it had avoided the sort of ethnic war that gripped its neighbors. Rather than confront the roots of the violence, many in Kenya now seem willing to paper over their differences and pretend nothing happened.

In November, legislation was approved to create a commission for tackling the nation's underlying tribal tensions, but commission members have yet to be named and work has not begun. Many officials refuse to even acknowledge the need for reconciliation.

Although the violence began Dec. 27, 2007, as a political power struggle, it quickly morphed into disputes over land and natural resources. Neighbors attacked neighbors; friends betrayed friends.

A power-sharing agreement between incumbent Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga quelled the violence, but since then only a few perpetrators have been punished. Promised $140 compensation payments for victims have been distributed sporadically, at best. Most displaced families say they are too afraid to return home.