Douglas Sidialo was driving by the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya on August 7, 1998. He worked in sales and marketing for a motorcycle company and was just on a routine errand when he noticed a truck taking a wrong turn into the embassy.

"I got curious and went to the embassy gates; there was some commotion going on between the occupants of the car and the gate officials, and then I heard what I thought were some gunshots (actually grenades). I thought gangsters were robbing the embassy,” Douglas recalls.

Al Qaida operatives, it was later proved, drove the truck that caught Douglas’ eye on to the embassy compound.

One of the last things Douglas saw was a man dressed in blue with a walkie-talkie running away from the sound of the grenades. He started to come towards Douglas’ car. Then the truck exploded. Two hundred Kenyans and 12 Americans were killed, with an additional 5,000 injured. The blast was so powerful that Douglas doesn’t remember hearing anything go off.

When he woke up three days later in the Kenyetta Hospital in Nairobi, “I heard people wailing and crying around me. I asked doctors what had happened. They told me there had been a terrible bomb blast.”

Douglas Sidialo, blinded in the attack on the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya in 1998, speaks out for peace.

Douglas is a man of deep Christian commitment, so much so that when he was growing up Catholic, he really wanted to be a priest. His parents did not want him to be a priest however, since there were only two boys in the family. Today he considers himself to be ecumenical, reaching out to all denominations with a message of peace, and amazingly, forgiveness even for bin Laden and the Al Qaida terrorist network. Four members were convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the Kenya bombing and a nearly simultaneous vehicular assault of the embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Douglas’ eyes were severely injured and the Kenyan doctors were unable to save them.  He is legally blind and as a consequence, lost his job. His wife, Teresa, is a high school teacher, and they have two small children, Sharon, 6 and Lavine, age 2 ˝.

The first months and years were difficult: “It was a terrible experience realizing I would never see again,” Douglas said in an interview for Daily Nation on the Web, (Nation Newspapers Limited). “I was very bitter at the beginning. Losing one’s sight is not an easy thing.”

You can’t reverse what happened. Bitterness only retards the recovery.

Despite the initial trauma, Douglas was thankful that he was still alive. The other man in his car was killed. Douglas attributes his persistent road to recovery to his deep faith. “I continuously prayed and asked God for strength and patience, which he gave me,” Douglas said.

As he got on his feet, he enrolled in the Kenya Society of the Blind to learn Braille. It was very difficult. “To continue surviving as a visually impaired person, one must have a very strong will to face the life ahead,” he says. “I realized that I had no choice and had to keep on going. My faith helped me accept the situation as it was and gave me the strength to move on.” (From www.nationaudio.com).

Douglas spent last fall in occupational training at a Center for Blind and Vision Impaired. He was learning to use an adapted computer, how to cook again (he enjoys sharing cooking duties with his wife). He was also making speaking appearances to bring attention to the plight of the thousands of injured Kenyans whose aid is running out at this time. “There are orphans, widows, people in wheelchairs, pregnant women who gave birth to mentally retarded children as a result of the blast.” Douglas leads a survivors’ organization called Visual Seventh August. Much of the aid from the U.S. was limited to the rehabilitation of buildings and businesses; not much went to victims and families.

Because of his experiences, he has special empathy for other victims, such as the Oklahoma City bombing victims and September 11 survivors. “I know it is difficult to accept the situation when something like this happen. But that is the only way to deal with it. You can’t reverse what happened. [Bitterness] only retards the recovery. I like to emphasize a positive attitude toward life. People tell me my life is an inspiration for anyone struggling with a hardship.”

Douglas has reached out to survivors of the September 11 attacks, laying a wreath from Kenya’s survivors on the Pentagon steps to show solidarity with the victims. He participated in a march from the Pentagon to World Trade Center grounds this past September, and enrolled in the Summer Peacebuilding Institute at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va.  He desires to continue studies in the Conflict Transformation Program so he can increase his peacebuilding and mediation skills. EMU has granted him a partial scholarship and he is seeking additional help.

Douglas professes the true spirit and life of a peacemaker: “I have no resentment or bitterness against bin Laden or anyone,” he affirms. What about stopping terrorists? “To me killing terrorists creates more terrorists, it is not a solution. There are more peaceful alternatives, including negotiation and prayer. Both Christians and Muslims should be encouraged to pray. Show love to each other. If you are defensive, it makes someone fight back even more,” says Douglas. 

Since Douglas’ ill-fated intersection at the embassy, he’s begun another journey which helps those who hear his story reach for a higher plane of living. “The world is in disarray. People are not preaching peace. Leaders are out looking for war,” notes Douglas. “My mission it to spread peace, love and justice and create awareness.”

Another columnist wrote of Douglas, “The last thing Douglas saw were men at their worst.” Now Douglas’ vision is to “be part of a global movement of peace.” (Cary Clack, San Antonio Express News, August 4, 2002).