Miraa

Miraa is an extremely popular drug used throughout North Eastern Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Most is sold like this along roadsides by Somali women late into the night. While it is banned in North America, it is legal in the United Kingdom and most of Africa.

For decades, khat, or miraa as it is popularly known across East Africa, has been the lifeline for farmers in eastern Kenya (particularly in Meru), but pressure to convince them to abandon the trade has been mounting. Just last year the Kenyan government drug watchdog, the National Campaign Against Drugs Abuse, reported an alarming rise in the use of the drug in Nairobi and throughout the rural villages and towns of Northern Kenya. Their research pointed to many harmful social affects of the drug, as well as the impact on the individuals who become addicted to chewing the twigs. The Kenyan government was challenged to address the problem. Yet, the consumption of miraa has continued to rise with over 3000 kgs of the plant being delivered to Somali each day (Kenya's largest export market), and a booming domestic demand for the drug.

While we taught English classes in Eastleigh, many of our students wrote scathing essays on the abused substance, sharing the personal heartache of family members and friends who waste their days and nights chewing the bitter twigs of the mild narcotic. Over the past months, churches and Muslim leaders in North Eastern Kenya have been speaking out against the miraa trade. The Garissa Supreme Council of Kenyan Muslims (Supkem) leader, Sheik Husein Mahat, recently said "Miraa business has been used to aid trafficking and peddling of hardcore drugs like cocaine, heroin, and bhang." (The Standard, May 5, 2008). These religious leaders are blaming miraa for many of the social problems within their communities and are calling for an end to its legal trafficing in their streets. A recent news report even links miraa with "fueling the spread of HIV/AIDS". Desperate for a better high, many miraa chewers have been found to be grinding mosquito coils and sniffing the powdered pesticide while chewing the khat. Talk of banning it has stirred anger and threats from the users who defend their chewing.

Miraa chewing is deeply entrenched in most families. Commonly, a father will share his surba (bunch of miraa) with his sons, and parents readily admit that their children chew miraa. Every afternoon, Garissa and towns like it in Kenyas Northeast, become quiet as residents retreat from the intense sun to sit in tight circles of shade in homes and under canvas shelters to chew, sip tea, and engage in the animated talk that is one of the effects of the drug.

Please pray for both Christian and Muslim leaders who are taking a stand against miraa, while seeking to love and care for the people ensnared by it. We are especially concerned for the youngest members of these communities that suffer from the addiction of their parents.