Monday, 5 September 2011

Lokomarinyang mobile clinic, Turkana, Kenya

The Red Cross mobile clinic visits each village every two weeks and provides medical care to thousands of Turkana people. Pharmacist Robert Esekon advises and distributes medicine to Turkana women at Lokomarinyang mobile clinic.



Nakuwa, 22 years old, 1 child




Turkana woman

The best word to describe Turkana people is pastoralist. They have their own language and culture, similar only to Karamoja in Uganda. Life for a Turkana woman is tough. They are the ones who build houses, cook, fetch water (some of them need to walk 10km per day), look after children, while the men are out herding the livestock or, as I heard from many of them, ‘sleeping under a tree all day’. Even though our interaction was limited due to language barrier and I often talked to them using sign language, I totally sensed their strong dignity and the fact that they know what they want and can express it very vividly.

Mooru Ngitera, 28 years old, 2 children

Awdo Lokeny, 39 years old, 7 children



Nabalangti and Liwan

Food distribution, Lokomarinyang village, Turkana, Kenya



After being assessed children and women receive Unimix (corn, soy, sugar) and food supplements.

School feeding, Tyia nursery school, Turkana, Kenya

Given the severity of this year’s draught, Kenya Red Cross has agreed with the Ministry of Education to leave the schools open during the August holiday for school feeding. Red Cross is targeting 275 schools (77,000 children) and so far it has delivered 170 metric tonnes of Unimix. For most children, this enriched porridge is the only meal they eat all day and school feeding has proven to reduce dropout rates.

Suzanne Ekarang prepares Unimix porridge at Tiya nursery school.














The Red Cross Turkana field mission team, Kenya

The ladies: Maude (Sweden), Kat (Britain) and Nancy (Kenya)


With John, the amazing driver, and Jacob, Kenya multimedia. Team Leader James is the photographer on this one.


Saturday, 6 August 2011

United States of America: ANOTHER way of living

A lot of concrete, many cars, almost inexistent pedestrians. Empty sidewalks, streets full of vans and gigantic pick-ups and SUVs. High petrol consumption, very low environmental awareness.

First World country with the highest inequality amongst developed countries. Latent poverty and violence. Laws and more laws, rules and more rules, enforcement and more enforcement to try to contain the social tension and inequality. A country where it must be much harder to be poor: have to constantly see others buying and buying and buying and not even have free public healthcare. Mass consumption on each corner, be it of gas, food or clothes. Freedom taken to its limits, which brings individualism and does not give space for the social, the other. There is a lack of social bonding, of social welfare. And I shall say: a society which puts corn into every single food – even rice, ice-cream, chocolate and bread have it. Unbelievable!

It is a country with an incredible beautiful nature and I will definitely come back to enjoy the nature, travel with my parents (who btw love travelling there) and spend time with my American friends, who I absolutely love. It is actually interesting that my friends are almost the antithesis of all I have written above: they are not part of the consumerism culture, they try to live as local and organic as possible, they speak Spanish, they care about the other and two of them truly believe in the welfare state, which for Americans I guess it is not that common.

In any case there is New York, where there is a bit of everything and everyone. Cosmopolitan city with the hugest diversity in the world. The presence of the other brings that energy so necessary to the American society.









USA: a country of incredibly beautiful nature


Grand Canyon NP




Petrified Forest NP




Bryce Canyon NP


Monument Valley


Canyon de Chelly NM


Mesa Verde NP