Kenya

May 11 to 26, 2008

Everyone I talked to in Kenya said the violence took them completely by surprise. But when a Kikuyu was perceived to have stolen the December 2007 election from a Luo, friendly neighbors became enemies overnight. In the weeks that followed, more than a thousand lost their lives, and hundreds of thousands were forced out of their homes.

I arrived in Kenya five months later. I had no contacts and no assignments; frankly I had no idea what I was doing. I had a training in London the first week of May and a wedding in Ethiopia the first week of June, and it didn't make sense to go home in between. So I decided to go to Kenya.

Through dumb luck and random internet searches, I was fortunate enough to stumble across two groups of people who would help immeasurably to make my trip a success.

The first was Kennedy Owino, a professional acrobat who trains street children in Nairobi. Not only did he agree to an interview, but he invited me to come with him and a group of activists on a Peace Caravan through the Rift Valley, where some of the worst post-election violence had taken place.

When the caravan was over, I stayed with him, his brother Kenneth, and their roommate Natalie. They and their friends looked after me and helped me get around Nairobi; they are wonderful people and I am eternally grateful.

The second group was Andrew, Margaret and Simon of Andrew4Mathare, a local community-based NGO working in a Nairobi slum with a population of more than 600,000. They showed me around Mathare and introduced me to local residents and activists. They were incredibly generous with their time and also helped me navigate Kenya's bustling capital. Many thanks to all of you.

Fifteen days was not nearly enough to learn all I would have liked to, but I present here a few of my interviews, photo essays, articles and observations. With any luck, I will be able to return to Kenya some day for a much longer stay.