Daring Words

It is three weeks since the last conflict related death in Isiolo. If you were to visit Isiolo town today you are likely to be told that the troubles are over, “Isiolo is peaceful now”. For some, and for the moment, this is true. However the residents of the worst hit areas, just a few …

On the last day of term, before breaking up for the Easter holidays, the children of Olng’arua Primary School held an important football match. This was no ordinary match. The school divided into two teams, loosely translated as the ‘Goats’ and the ‘Cows’. There were few rules (and those few were quickly discounted). The game …

At Christmas time Liberty raised money for DARE by making and selling ‘paper logs’. The paper logs are made by compressing old news papers with a paper log maker. Liberty told us that the logs burn for hours and that they were very easy to make. But Liberty’s entrepreneurial spirit didn’t end with simply making …

Isiolo town and the immediately surrounding areas have been suffering repeated bouts of conflict and general insecurity since late last year. More than 40 people have been killed in the last 2 months and while the families of those who have died are devastated the conflict has much wider reaching consequences. Isiolo is often referred …

The drought had not yet broken when the latest cycle of violence hit the areas surrounding Isiolo town in Kenya. This was back in October last year and at first the violence seemed to be about the scarce resources. However, in November and December, the area received good rainfall and the land flourished. There is …

The Olng’arua School is one of the most photogenic schools I have ever been to. I have put together a set of images from this lovely school on flicker. You can see the photographs, even if you are not a flicker user, at Olng’arua School on Flicker The Olng’arua community also now has it’s own …

There has been heavy rain over much of northern Kenya for the last three weeks. The land is slowly transforming from desert to pasture. First come the weeds but then the grass takes over. If the rains continue then, in a few more weeks, there will be swathes of white, yellow and blue flowers with …

On Friday a car carrying two tourists was shot at near Shaba national park, just north of Isiolo. The Kenyan driver was killed and the two tourists injured. This is an appalling incident that will do a lot of damage to the tourism industry in Kenya. One friend of mine expressed the feelings of many …

On Friday Kitonga distributed food to the community near the Olng’arua School. The food was bought with the support of Katrin and Jochen Heeskens and their friends in Germany and elsewhere who had raised money to help with the food crisis. The community themselves decided how the money should be spent, who needed help and …

Last Thursday a young girl arrived at Kipsing Primary School just as it was getting dark. She was alone and she had walked a long way to get here. Her serious expression made her look older, world weary, but her height and skinny build fitted exactly with her age. She was ten years old and …