“There really is no training that can prepare you for what you witness as a Red Cross volunteer, for there are so many things you see that you can’t unsee.”
It began at a crossroads…
25-year-old Dennis Odhiambo witnessed an accident in his home location of Kibra in February 2018 that brought him to a crossroads. The casualty was in dire need of help that he couldn’t provide, no matter how deep his empathy. The frustration led him to the doors of the Kenya Red Cross. A friend had been volunteering and Dennis felt that doing the same would, at the very least, release him from being inadequate at the scene of a disaster. He signed up as a volunteer at the Nairobi Branch near Muthurua in June 2018. His assignment was at the Operation Center at Lady Northey, near State House in Nairobi. Every day he would turn up for training, learning about emergency response, incident command systems, tracing, psychosocial support and all the various elements that make up a trained disaster response volunteer. Some of the training filled in gaps from the paramilitary drills he had received while with the NYS at Gilgil a year earlier.
Rapid response
His first assignment was as part of the disaster response team during a fire at Gikomba market. It was a heartbreaking introduction to the service he had entered. Eighteen Kenyans died in the gruesome blaze and Dennis and his team were responsible for bringing safety and closure to the scene. Two other accidents brought him closer to the reality of serving as a volunteer and then came 15 January, which took him into the heart of it. Dennis and three other volunteers were at a meeting with their Red Cross Action Team (R-CAT) Leader Hezbon Odhiambo when Hezbon received a phone call. It was a few minutes after three and the call was from the Red Cross Command Center asking whether they knew of a shooting incident at 14 Riverside. It was the first notification, but was quickly followed by another call from the Nairobi County Commander, confirming the news. Within a few minutes, the team of five were mobilized and heading to the site in their Land Cruiser, operationally known as Rescue 1.
Once in the complex, the vehicle was quickly ushered onto the scene past the barrier, close to the burning vehicles witnessed across various media outlets. Dennis was charged with getting a quick assessment of casualties and identifying those who needed to be transferred to hospital. It didn’t take him long to find the first one, a gentleman who had been shot in the back lying near a flower bed. Together with his two female colleagues and a journalist, they carried him to the back of Rescue 1. Dennis tried to talk to him, asking his name. The man quietly whispered to him “I’m getting tired” before Dennis closed the vehicle doors to allow for his evacuation. He was quickly taken to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), where he was rushed straight into surgery.
A test of mettle
Back on the scene, the police guided Dennis to another casualty. Together with another volunteer from the Parklands branch, the two tried to stem the blood from a gunshot wound to his left side. Despite their valiant efforts, the gentleman passed away, his last words being “I’m feeling so cold.” Dennis couldn’t believe someone had died in his arms. He was stunned but with little time to grieve. Gunfire was still all over the complex and more people were running out, in need of his skills.
By this time, a number of volunteers were onsite and a triage station had been set up to help the injured. Working in their assigned teams – disaster response, first aid, tracing, psychosocial support and logistics, the volunteers mobilized quickly into an organized unit. This is what their daily training was for – to enable them to be ready in the heat of the moment, to bring help and hope amidst chaos and confusion.
An officer grabbed him to accompany them on an evacuation mission. To people in a terror attack the sight of a gun, even in the hands of a rescuer is frightening and could be counterproductive; the Red Cross uniform, however, was a universal sign of hope. Together they circumvented a building and enticed more people out of hiding, helping them run in low formation back to the gate and towards safety. One lady clad in her buibui was hysterical. Sure she would not make it out, she begged Dennis to take her ID documents so he could tell her family she loved them.
Tireless sacrifice
By dusk, Dennis had to fall back to the Command Post that had been set up at the University of Nairobi hall next door. A large tent had been erected to accommodate the tracing and psychosocial support teams: each trying in their own way to assist families desperately seeking news of their loved ones, some of whom received the most heartbreaking of responses. The night was incredibly long, but there was no rest for volunteers, who continued to serve throughout the night as more evacuees were rescued.
Wednesday morning and the siege ended soon after daybreak – with the last of the explosions and gunfire. The gunshot-free silence that finally settled was almost eerie after the night of commotion and clatter. Dennis’s work was not yet finished though, a final sweep had to be done in collaboration with the St. Johns team. Using a bullhorn, the volunteers went floor to floor, building to building, hunting for survivors. They found them in cupboards, corners, stairwells and stalls. All were cramped in odd positions, unsure whether it was truly safe to emerge. By 11 am all the survivors had been evacuated and the last part of Dennis’s day began.
It was the final duty – bearing witness to those who had not survived; those whose loved ones would hear the news that would cut them to the quick. Together with the police, he and others sought to bring dignity to the fallen. They took fingerprints and searched for any identifying documentation that would help bring closure to the questions of anxious relatives. It was the worst part of his day; more difficult to navigate than the fear he had felt earlier — walking with police under the protection of nothing but his Red Cross gear. But he met his duty to the end, working all through the day. Finally, after 10 pm, he left the site exhausted.
The images of what he witnessed in that 30-hour span still haunt him– they likely will for a long time. For the first few days after the #RiversideAttack he didn’t speak to anyone, and his parents worried over him. But today he feels more stable, having had a session with counselors. Despite the trauma, Dennis thanks God for having been able to walk into the scene, do his duty towards other Kenyans, and survive the harrowing ordeal.
It’s a calling that cannot be comprehended by many, but for which we all remain profoundly grateful.
#KenyaUnbowed
Read more stories from the #KenyaUnbowed series here.