Contrast

I have started my photography project. Trying to photograph each kid at school is definitely not an easy thing to do, but I think I managed. Around 300 rascals of all ages. Went to get some quotes from labs and printing places around here and will hopefully get this done by the time easter break is over. The pastor and headmaster of the school are very excited about this, so I’m happy to be able to contribute a little bit and put some smiles on people’s faces. I’ll be giving all children a photograph of themselves. It’s unlikely they’ll get a “luxury item” like this again any time soon.

The school uniforms they wear, though torn and dirty, somehow still really deceived me on how bad the living conditions of their homes really are. A few days ago, I finally made my way deeper into the slums of Kibera (the school is a bit more on the outskirts), where I joined a volunteer on a donation run. Until that day, I just had no real concept of poverty. We spent some time in some of these homes, shacks built from metal corrugated sheets or wooden tablets. Each one must be maybe 50 square feet in size, plus or minus, depending on the size of the family. And somehow furniture are crammed in there. Every once in a while, an old TV is running in the background, if this particular part of the settlement has electricity. Not sure where it comes from. No running water. Everything is so tight and crowded, you can barely squeeze through the alley ways sometimes. And the one thing that stuck with me the most: Garbage everywhere you look. Plastic bags (some probably with human fecal matter) litter the ground wherever you look. And the amount of children of all ages playing there is astonishing. I think that’s when my heart hurts the most: When I realize that many of these kids will never actually go to school. When these young bright eyed little angels never even get a chance to fully explore their true potential simply because they will never get the same opportunities as other individuals in this world.

You can’t come to Kibera and not have it change your life.

Any documentary film on Kibera, no matter how badly done, would still be so fascinating for the viewer. There’s something very cinematic about the colors and the amount of detail you get there. I’m excited to be going back again this week with my team.

I’ve done some regular touristy stuff since then, to acclimate my mind to this daily exposure of poverty. Went to play with some elephants and giraffes and also spent some time nerding out at museums just learning about the general history of Kenya. How little we know about this part of the world. How much there really is to learn about humanity. Last night, while exploring the nightlife with some folks, I met two United Nations financial officers from Kosovo, a country I got to visit back in 2009. It’s funny how the minorities here are still the well to do ones. There really isn’t an equivalent here to the immigrant working class back in the states.

Here are just a few pics. I’ll have to wait to edit all the nice ones until I get back to the states, as I didn’t bring my fancy old laptop with me. Can’t backpack through Africa with so much weight!