September 12th, 2012 
Emily 
In the heart of downtown Nairobi, you’ll find a quiet, green oasis in the middle of all the hustle and bustle. It’s not free, but for 20 Ksh (about 25 cents US) you can push through a turnstile and enter the park. People lounge on the grass, sip coffee at the cafe tables, and read the names engraved on the memorial wall.
The park and its accompanying exhibit are a memorial of a terrorist bombing that took place here on August 7, 1998.
A photo of the area before the bombing.
After the bomb.
The August 7 Memorial Park.
Unsurprisingly, the August 7, 1998 and September 11, 2001 attacks had much in common. Both attacks were organized by al-Qaeda and linked to Osama bin Laden. Both targeted Americans. Both involved simultaneous attacks on major outposts (the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania was also bombed on August 7, 1998, just as the Pentagon, the World Trade Center, and the Capitol Building were targets on September 11, 2001).
While the August 7th Embassy bombing was directed at Americans, Kenyans suffered the brunt of the pain. Unlike the U.S. Embassy, the Ufundi office building next door was unfortified. Many Kenyans working inside were killed by the blast or crushed under crumbling rubble. Twelve Americans and more than 200 Kenyans died. More than 4,000 people were injured.
Heartbreaking.
The park offers a tribute to their lives, a quiet place to reflect in the chaos of Nairobi, and a small museum to retell the story of that day.
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We watched the History Channel for about 3 hours last night, a series of archival amateur films of the events of 9/11. These collected films brought it all back through the eyes of ordinary folks who were there and happened to have their cameras. Mesmerizing, terrifying, and heartbreaking. It made me think that as horrible as the original accounts were, they seem sanitized compared to these first-hand accounts. Sobering to think what the memorials represent in terms of mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends.
Yeah, watching films or seeing exhibits that really humanize the event make it easier, but also more painful, to understand.
Thank you for this reminder that terrorism strikes all over the world, most often NOT in America. I agree with Gerry- it’s hard to imagine how many have suffered.
Yeah, the part that’s most awful to me is that Americans were targeted, but Kenyans bore the vast majority of the consequences. It feels like such a stereotypically American attitude– I’ll look out for myself, and too bad for the innocent bystanders.
Thanks for sharing this! I had not heard about the memorial park.
And: Great title you chose for this post.
Thanks Kirstin! If you’re ever in the CBD, check out the park, it’s worth it.
I have vague memories of those embassy bombings, but I’m around your same age and was still a preteen when it happened. At this point I just remember the picture on the front page of my local paper and my dad struggling to answer why someone would want to bomb an embassy. “The embassy is a symbol of the country abroad and bombing them sends a political message”–that much of the response I remember and I remember that the conversation lasted the entirety of dinner, but beyond that it’s a blur.
Also, I had no idea there was a memorial park. When I make it to Kenya I’ll definitely have to check it out.
The park is really moving, and I like that it’s a place where people visit just to chill out and escape the city.
Thank you so much Emily for acknowledging the Kenyans that died. When the blast occurred CNN, only reported that 12 Americans had died, they didn’t mention the over 200Kenyans that died or the 1000 or more Kenyans injured. It felt like Kenyan lives meant nothing to the world. Osama bin Laden said that the Kenyan lives lost was collateral damage. It was a horrid day, I still remember it.
It’s just awful that CNN didn’t acknowledge all the Kenyans who were killed or injured. I would have expected more from them.