The Korr region is rich with opportunities to photograph the lives of the Rendille people. In our travels from village to village, we come upon scenes of daily life – a woman skinning a goat that has just died, women carrying water and firewood, donkeys loaded with goods as they make the return trip fromRead More
You See Us, Mama Rungu
After our stop in Lengima village, we drive the two vehicles out into the vastness of the Kaisut Desert. Low trees and scrub bushes dot the terrain, broken only by cone-shaped volcanic hills and dry river beds. The huts of the nomadic villages, dark in color and low to the ground, are barely visible untilRead More
Please Teacher, Give Us More Instruction
Visitors to northern Kenya, including Kenyans, are always astonished to see a part of Kenya so neglected and poor. For the few tourists who come to the north, there is the inevitable comparison to the other pastoralists in the south and central parts of Kenya, the Maasai. Kura and I once spent three days lookingRead More
Amina Rage Bakes a Cake
After lunch, we drive outside of town to a local campsite with thatched huts, a long drop latrine and real showers that come down from a large water container perched above a small surround of reeds. The dramatic mountains provide a stunning backdrop to the setting. We rest in the afternoon, moving our bodies toRead More
Lunch at Ishmaels
The road from Ndikir to Ngurunit is one of the worst in the district. Last November I drove this road in the dark, plowing through sand that was at times three feet deep. The sand was so deep that it would come over the hood of the truck, necessitating the use of windshield wipers. ThisRead More
May I Take From You Your Shadow
David duChemin and his assistant, Corwin Herbert, are traveling with us in order to document our work, and the conditions of the pastoralists in northern Kenya. Our journey begins at 6 am with a transfer from Nairobi, a quick stop in Nanyuki to pick up the Gumpsmobile, Semeji (BOMA’s security man) and Maina (our mechanic). Read More
Humbled Revelations
Kura and I spent yesterday mapping out our schedule for the north. Since our focus on this trip is to capture as much of our work through the lens of David duChemin, we have decided to concentrate on two villages – Korr and Loiyangalani. We will make stops in Laisamis village to photograph some ofRead More
Consortiums, Mechanisms and Acronym Soup
First day in Nairobi and it is an interesting mix of meetings with two large organizations – CARE Canada and the Canadian Embassy. Kura and Sarah meet me at the Fairview for breakfast and once we have my bags packed into the Gumpsmobile we take the short drive to CARE. Wrong office. CARE USA handlesRead More
Ancestors, Clouds and Rabies
For a couple of years I have enjoyed receiving Facebook posts from Tom Lolosoli, the Secretary of the Samburu East Development Forum. Tom is a prolific writer and each post includes valuable information on community issues in the Samburu East area around Archer’s Post, about 200 kilometers south of Laisamis District. Tom does an outstandingRead More
See You Thursday
Yesterday was Haley Feickert’s last day as our January intern in the BOMA office. A senior at St. Lawrence University, Haley has helped us with many projects and her presence has made it easier for me to be away from the office for the next month. One of her most important projects was to updateRead More