My first meeting in Nairobi was with two young Sudanese men who had both been in Kakuma as refugees. It is a real pity we are unable to visit Kakuma at this time, however, I have more information regarding the situation there than I’d bargained for.
The most important outcome of this meeting is the realisation that we may not be able to run Home Lands, in its present form, in Kakuma at all. The situation there is much more dire than what we had been told.
It appears that pressure is being brought to bare on people to return to their Home Lands. Services to the people in the camp are being reduced. The Tarkuna (traditional land owners of the site where Kakuma is built upon) raid and loot the camp regularly. Food rations, beans and yellow maize is provided in meager amounts, barely enough for one meal a day, is dished out once every 15 days. Hygiene is very poor. There is no sewerage treatment. Life for those who make it to Nairobi is an ongoing struggle…
Will it be possible to take a camera in and train camp residents to document their lives there?
Why is it that such information isn’t readily available? I’ve read many reports from various NGOs and I’ve seen nothing that even vaguely points to the conditions I had described to me… what I’ve written here is only a snapshot drawn from my notes. There’s much more to come…
In my last post I’d published a schedule that would have seen me pulling out of Kakuma today. However, due to revisions in the project and budget caps, that schedule was further revised. As such, Grant and I prepared a status report and research options for the Cultural Development Network and the City of Melbourne.
In this report you can read what has been achieved to date. Grant and I were both impressed with the information thus far gathered and the networks established. For instance, I’m writing from the office of the Kenyan based Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN), an APC member, who have been terribly generous in providing space for me to work from whilst I’m in Nairobi.
Yes, I’m in Nairobi, having left Cape Town on Sunday and arriving via Johannesburg 6am, Monday morning. I’m staying in the Sarova Stanley, built in 1902, a most august establishment where Ernest Hemingway is said to have often stayed.
My schedule is now as follows:
- Sun 6 Apr: Cape Town to Nairobi via Johannesburg
- Mon 7 Apr: Jo’burg to Nairobi
- Mon 7 – Thu 10 Apr: Nairobi
- Thu 10 Apr: Nairobi to Istanbul via Johannesburg
As you can see, there’s no Kakuma Refugee Camp listed. Due to budgetary constraints we’ve had to pull back from arrangements made with UNHCR to visit the camp. Although regretful, what I hope to achieve in Nairobi ought to pave the way for a dedicated site visit when resources are available.
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