No Longer Praying for Rain in Kakuma – November 27, 2012

Until recently, heavy downpours were rare in this arid Turkana region of Kenya. Now too much water is becoming a problem

The way people tell it, life in the Kakuma refugee camp was once like living in fields of dust. It was hot, they tell me, and ruthlessly spare. No trees, little water, nothing to do but stay inside and wait. The camp, currently home to over 98,000 refugees from all over East Africa, was initially set up in 1992. It is situated in Kakuma town in the vast Turkana region of Northwestern Kenya.  “Kakuma,” rather appropriately, is the Swahili word for “nowhere.”

All photos by Lauren MarkhamKakuma traffic. The road is still muddy from recent rain.

Until a few years ago, the dry season's dust… more

by: Lauren Markham

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