Thanks to a generous gift from the Segal Family Foundation, BOMA has been able to hire and train a Village Mentor and launch businesses in the Archers Post area of Northern Kenya. The region is adjacent to Samburu National Reserve and so, for the first time, visitors and donors to BOMA are now able to seeRead More
Kibera
The Kibera slums of Nairobi are wild. It is muddy and smelly; it is vibrant and energetic. Hope lives alongside desperate poverty. It is a vestige of the flight from rural poverty to urban opportunity, where a new world awaits those who are willing to live amidst squalor in the hope of a better life. It is also aRead More
On the Road with Dining for Women
I will have a week of meetings with The BOMA Project staff on this trip but I am also leading a safari for a group of BOMA donors through the national organization Dining for Women. In 2010, I led the first safari for this unique nonprofit, whose mission is “to empower women and girls living inRead More
Elephants!
It was the sound of flapping that woke me. I assumed it was a large bird, an owl perhaps, flying up with its prey to the branches above my tent. But the noise got louder and it was close – grunting, breaking, tearing, ripping and munching sounds on all sides. And then I heard it,Read More
Mombasa’s Dad
John Ahalei Lomurut, known as Mombasa here in Kenya, is one of The BOMA Project’s five Agents of Change students attending EARTH University in Costa Rica. In December, John will be the first Kenyan to graduate from EARTH and he represents one of our best investments in the future of northern Kenya. EARTH recruits studentsRead More
The Hermetic Cocoon of the Isolated Tourist
There is a lot of death and suffering here. People die openly and everyone is more connected to the circumstances of a human life – fluids, dead bodies and sickness. In the west we lead lives of isolation that keep the symptoms of poverty removed from our daily lives. And so it is not hardRead More
Flying across the Kaisut
It was hard to leave Korr. Despite the suffocating heat, the wind blew, the food and accommodations were great and the friends were many. Maina and Omar made numerous trips to town, trying to find anyone with some diesel that we could buy – the arduous driving in the sand used up more fuel thanRead More
Finding Solutions; Respecting Heritage and Dignity
On the edge of the town of Korr, Amina and Shalom rent out the most amazing huts – tall domed one-room structures made with sticks and branches. On the outside the roof is covered with burlap and on the inside the hut is lined with beautiful fabrics, sheets and towels. The grommets that hold theRead More
Development is Within Us
Semeji set aside his machine gun to babysit Jessica. This gave Brown, her mother, the opportunity to fully participate in the morning’s Mentor training session. Semeji is clearly Jessica’s favorite among everyone in our group. Her dainty feet rarely touch the ground as she is in physical contact with an adult every minute of theRead More
Swimming with Crocodiles
It is hard not to think about crocodiles when you are swimming in Lake Turkana, supposedly the body of water with the highest concentration of crocodiles in the world. Everyone assures us that the mamba’s (crocodile in Swahili) avoid areas where there are people, especially anywhere near the Elmolo, who hunt the crocodile and incorporateRead More