Tag Archives: Kenya
Oasis in Marsabit
Posted on February 24, 2009 by Barak in Africa | No Comments
Its hard to describe what it’s like to stand in a wasteland, surrounded on all sides by scorched earth as far as the eye can see. Even more so, its hard to describe what water means to a place like this. Camels numbering in the thousands surround this place and men wade knee deep in the green water lifting bucket after bucket to the watering trough. It is a place that is at once both treacherous and beautiful.
Relic
Posted on February 23, 2009 by Barak in Africa | No Comments
Stumbling across an antique Ford tractor would be fairly blasé in Tennessee. But in northern Kenya it’s rather novel. And apparently functional as well…
Jijue One Million
Posted on February 22, 2009 by Barak in Africa | No Comments
One of several concerts Jars of Clay gave in Nairobi along with other amazing local artists performed as part of the Jijue One Million Campaign – a campaign whose goal is to see 1 million Kenyans tested. Jijue is swahili and is a slang term that embodies the idea of confidence through self-knowledge. In a country where 1 out of 12 are HIV positive and only 3 in 5 know their status, this self knowledge is critical in halting infection rates in Kenya. The week Jars performed in Nairobi, nearly 4,000 people were tested. An amazing start to the campaign.
Nairobi Baptist Church
Posted on February 22, 2009 by Barak in Africa | No Comments
For Jijue One Million, Jars of Clay sang at Nairobi Baptist Church which is a giant circus-looking tent erected in a large field. It was a fantastic place filled with photographic opportunities. Amusingly enough, my photo-taking caused a certain amount of consternation among some of the church administrators who couldn’t understand why I was photographing the “architecture” – I wasn’t sure if they were worried that I was from the Ministry of Planning making sure they met building codes or if I was a terrorist looking for a way to sabotage their gathering. Regardless I spent a good 5 minutes trying to prove that I was with the famous “Jars of Clay” band and was merely photographing the event.
-1.jpg&h=&w=200&zc=1&q=90)
Staying “in Africa”
Posted on September 05, 2008 by Barak in Africa | No Comments
In northern Kenya we ate breakfast at a fantastic little hole-in-the-wall guesthouse in Torbi where the rooms were named after places. So I posed beside one of the doors that was most apropos for my work.
Homemade Toys
Posted on September 04, 2008 by Barak in Africa | No Comments
Saw these sitting on the tank pad at a school in Marsabit. Children had made them from plastic bottles and sticks and were racing them around the tank during recess.
Desert Dusk
Posted on September 04, 2008 by Barak in Africa | 1 Comment
Spent an incredibly memorable night in a small rural town in northern Kenya called Torbi. Part of Marsabit district, the area is the traditional lands of several nomadic tribes, or pastoralists as they are technically referred to. The desert here is both harsh and beautiful and I caught a few shots of dusk. The dome in the photo is one of the houses which bares an uncanny resemblance to homes built by nomadic races in both central Asia as well as North America – cloth and skins draped over a wooden frame.
Desert Sunset
Posted on September 04, 2008 by Barak in Africa | No Comments
Sunset in Torbi, Kenya. At 9,000 feet of elevation, several hundred miles from the nearest major town, the stars were incredible. I spent most of the night sleeping on top of the Land Rover 4×4 looking at the Milky Way. Some friends there killed and roasted a goat for our group and cooked up rice and cabbage for us. Amazing experience.
Marsabit
Posted on September 04, 2008 by Barak in Africa | No Comments
Marsabit… it’s as close to Mars as you will ever come without leaving planet earth. Home to 158,000 people in a barren wasteland. We drove for nearly 9 hours and in places that appeared entirely inhospitable, entire families would materialize from nowhere and be marching steadily towards some unknown destination. It was both amazing and eery.
Sharing…
Posted on September 04, 2008 by Barak in Africa | No Comments
The spring at this oasis supplies water for several thousand livestock a day; camels, donkeys, goats, and sheep. It also supplies people. Though it looks like dirt, most of the soil surrounding this spring is layers of dung built up over generations. In the coming year Blood:Water will fund the rehabilitation of this spring. It will be excavated by the local people, backfilled, and then capped with an outlet that will run “down stream” so livestock can drink without contaminating the water. A separate tap will be made so that people can obtain water without fighting for space from the animals.
Recent Comments