Va. Peace Corps Worker Details Perils in Kenya

"Overall, it was boredom maybe punctuated by a few moments of 'Oh my God,' " Kehoe said. "It was a lot of uncertainty. It was not knowing how much food we could eat today. We didn't know how long we would be stuck."

On New Year's, the group went to an area occupied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where they stayed until leaving the country yesterday. Kehoe's mother, Ann Kehoe, who admittedly was more worried than her daughter, said she called her from their home in Warrenton.

"She said, 'We're here.' I couldn't hear her after that, but that was okay," Ann Kehoe said. "I'm a happy mom."

She said she has gotten through the week with a lot of prayer. She would not allow herself to think of worst-case scenarios for her daughter, who attended Virginia Tech for three years before transferring to George Mason University to get a nursing degree.

"I just wouldn't go there; that's just a dangerous place for my mind to go," she said.

Gillie Kehoe is not sure how she feels about returning to Kenya. There were good, if small, moments that etched themselves into her mind before the violence: being greeted by 20 people as she walked to the market and practicing language skills with a 4-year-old who knew as much English as Kehoe knew Swahili.

"It's sad. They have completely demolished probably 10 years of progress," Kehoe said. "I hope Kenya can sort this out without more unnecessary violence. I know they have it in them to be peaceful and diplomatic and follow the rules."