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Mum on being Kenyan Diaspora

"Kenya is much more natural the countryside isn't manicured it's wild and wonderful and hilly and dry school was a ten minute walk through rough grass in the middle there was a stream and in the rainy season the ground was clay soil and it would become really slippery you carved out a path and put a plank across the stream tricky to cross over I'm sure I fell in a few times your socks would be full of mud the stream would fill up with tadpoles all the kids used to collect them in jars frogs prancing around the place I think I've been defined by Kenya more than anything else I think the most important thing in our lives is to be free I hate being constrained we want to give freedom to our children life was very strict and there wasn't always money or a plentiful supply of food you didn't have many clothes but at the same time it was an idyllic existence which was less materialistic but sheer luxury I think the older you get the more you feel nostalgic but I've always loved Kenya even when I was young it took me years to get used to this country I hated this country all the houses looked the same you just thought God is this supposed to be one of the most progressive places on this Earth people were living a decrepit life in hovels everything was very grey but gradually you get used to the ideals of a country "

Darbar Festival 2010

Darbar is a south-Asian music festival taking place in April every year at King's Place, London. The setting for the festival is very befitting; the word Darbar refers to a king's court. I see it more as a journey than a festival, as the many talented artists take their listeners to often very different worlds. It is commonplace for listeners to, often in spite of themselves, utter words of praise and awe during each performance.

These photos were taken 5 months ago, and the fact that I feel I have grown so much as a photographer since then, and could do so much better now, is so refreshing. Recently I've learnt a couple of tips just from looking at my friends' photography; I hope to always be learning from the things and people that surround me, and growing as a photographer and person.

s k y d i v e

Jumpsuit: check.

Harness: check.

Ridiculous looking hat: check.

Goggles: check.

Gloves: check.

Insides: left in the cafeteria (along with my coffee).


We scrambled into the aircraft. It was just big enough for the five of us. The fact that the inside of the aircraft looked rickety and deteriorated somehow felt unpretentious and welcoming. I observed the flapping duct tape on the side of the aircraft evidently not executing its function, and the slightly rusty screws on the bottom of the aircraft where we were sat, and struggled to comprehend my situation. The gleaming red sign bearing the words ‘Skydive Southcoast’ reprimanded me for wasting precious time and I attempted to fix in my mind my exact feelings and thoughts. I remember of this moment the wind a polite force, causing the red sheet above my head to flutter into my eye line (evidently more bad duct taping). I was numb to all of this.

Take off. We soared through the sky in our modest aircraft, the charming sound of the engine loud enough that we were forced to shout over it. The photographer was doing his thing and I posed for a shot, but this was just part of the surroundings to me. I was staring out of the window at the sunlight breaking through the layer of clouds and all I could see was Nick. It was beginning to get colder and colder. We looked high enough to jump, so I peered at the altitude gauge on my instructor’s wrist; we were only 5000 feet up. The higher we got, the more spritual the air felt. We cut through the sacred stillness; reckless, metaphysical.

There was a growing wildness in the air; the excitement was almost unbearable. The moment came. We shuffled forward. I clutched the sides of the aircraft as I was hung face-first out, terrified that if I let go I would plummet to the ground alone. A hand tapped my arm and I crossed it against my chest. I was surveying the world, musing over how absurd an idea it would be to abandon the faithful contraption that had brought me to enchantment in favour, for some unknown reason, of falling back down to earth. Another tap on my shoulder…“Let’s go”.

Freefall.

120 miles an hour for 30 seconds. Those 30 seconds were the shortest and most incredible 30 seconds of my life. They passed in a blur of shock and amazement. All too soon the parachute opened and we were jerked forcefully upwards.

Pure stillness. We were suspended in time. I savoured the humbling view as my senses began to return.

The three of us floated through the silence for eternity.

An amazing experience, befitting for the memory of an amazing man. :)

Wrapping up our month in Uganda

It's been difficult to update for the last couple of weeks as we've had a lot of work to do.

We've been helping with a lot of community projects. One of these is the 'One Laptop Per Child' scheme. We've been working with Kasiisi school, which has had the privelege of being part of this scheme; Kasiisi has been given hundreds of laptops for use by the children. We've been working with Kasiisi to put software onto these laptops, such as simple games with the theme of conservation. From talking to the kids, I noted that the laptops have had a huge impact on their knowledge and learning style. We feel it's a good investment of our time to work with schools as children are keen to learn about conservation and can hopefully make a difference in the years to come.

The kids are so technologically minded, just from the introduction of the XO laptops.

The kids using my Canon EOS 5D

Exhilaration and elation

Our lifestyle revolves around the outdoors and that's very refreshing. We eat on camping stools scattered around the truck, work on laptops in covered areas, watch films projected onto fabric under the stars, sleep in tents.

One of the highlights of the trip so far has been chimpanzee trekking. We were a metre away from chimps at times, and it's so interesting studying our closest ancestors and noting the similarities and differences between us and them.

Our first real encounter with the children of Uganda

Silver, who works for CSWCT (Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust), was giving a talk to young children on the imporance of conserving chimpanzees. The education team helped Silver with this, teaching them about sanctuaries and the problems associated with keeping chimpanzees as pets.

England vs Uganda

Uganda 2 England 1

 

Ngamba Island

The chimps here have been affected by humans in some way, and have been 'rescued' from humans. Some have been involved in the various recent Ugandan wars where they have been injured. These chimps can't be let back into the wild because their families would not welcome them back. Other chimps have been rescued from circuses or been orphaned and have struggled to survive in the wild. I'm struggling a little with the concept of them being in sanctuaries, and I believe that it's selfish to try to conserve animals or protect them from extinction, because people do it only for the benefit of humankind. Also struggling, physically and mentally, with the fences around the chimps, which I'll be photographing through. I think the fact that I see them as such a big thing ethically is making them stand out more in my photos.

Dance Together Uganda

Spent the evening in the back streets of Uganda in a large hall where 250 young Ugandans were learning to breakdance. The leader explained to us that everyone is a teacher and everyone is a learner. He, along with a few other guys, are in high school and have set up this dance group in order to get young kids off the streets. They plan to expand the project to include classes for reading and writing to teach kids who don't have the money to go to school. 

Day 1