We all piled into Gumps, the BOMA Land Cruiser. Omar has now assumed cooking responsibilities in the field and he had organized a lunch at Joseph’s camp, a group of small bandas built at the confluence of three rivers. I explained to my friend Sarah, who traveled north to see BOMA’s work, that this wasRead More
The Raw Beauty of This Land
In a few days, I’ll be leading a safari for St. Lawrence University. My friend Sarah, who will be joining the trip, arrived a few days early to visit Northern Kenya and see BOMA’s work. Sarah was a trouper. After a long flight from Chicago to London to Nairobi, she arrived at the hotelRead More
Meeting Kura
I arrived back into Nairobi on Sunday night after a weekend inspecting properties in Nakuru and Naivasha. It was fascinating to see properties that have sprung up in this region, just two hours from Nairobi, to service the growing professional middle class. Many of the hotels were family friendly – bouncy castles and pools forRead More
Time for Some Good News From Africa
This summer’s news from Africa has been sobering. We want to bring you some good news – but first a bit of background. Since the founding of The BOMA Project in 2005, we have endured three severe droughts. Each resulted in devastating livestock mortality, and each was proclaimed “the worst drought in 50 years.” AsRead More
The Human Element of Our Work
It even rained in Loiyangalani. As we came into the desert oasis town the steam was rising from the evaporating puddles in the road. Kura pointed out the Turkana settlements on the outskirts of the village. We splashed through the overflow water from the borehole that provided plentiful water to the settlement; naked children wavedRead More
Where There Are Large Herds, There is Danger
In the morning I woke early, anxious to be back on the road and on our way to Loiyangalani. Poor Kura, Omar and Semeji had been up late, talking with Joseph. I hated to wake them up but Kura was great, as usual. “It’s okay, Mama Rungu, I agree, we should leave now.” “Okay, Kura,Read More
This Is Africa
Festus, the Front Office Manager of Sekenani Camp, provides the orientation for the guests before they head to their tents. “We have no fence that surrounds the camp, so you must not walk anywhere, particularly at night, without one of our warriors who will escort you,” he tells them. I grab a drink from Daniel, the barman,Read More
Mama Rungu, They Were Beating Me Around My Shoulders
Mountain Lodge is situated in Mt. Kenya National Park, and while we cannot see the top of the mountain because of the clouds, everyone enjoys the quiet nature of this wooden building overlooking a waterhole. We have whispered conversations over drinks on the balcony behind the bar and everyone turns in early after a deliciousRead More
BOMA Business Mentors
Semeji, BOMA’s security man, provides a traditional blessing to begin the BOMA presentation of the Rural Entrepreneur Access Project (REAP) to the DFW group. After each intonation, the group is asked to hold their palms up and as they say “aawoom,” close their palms, and then re-open them for the next blessing. Holding my runguRead More