[Nairobi, Kenya 27°C] Below is a selection of photos taken at Sud Academy, a primary/secondary school for Sudanese refugees in a poor neighbourhood of Nairobi, Kenya. The school has a student population of more than 200 students, some of whom were abducted during the civil war by northern militia and enslaved by them to tend the cattle stolen in the raid. Lino Madut Angok is ne of the abductees who was freed, as indicated in his letter (below) by an organization called Redemption(?). Although I recognize the benefit Lino has received by being freed from bondage, there is much debate (here, here and here) about the practice of redemption (buying the slave’s freedom) and its ability to end slavery in Sudan.
Posts Tagged ‘Nairobi’
In Nairobi preparing for Juba
[Nairobi, Kenya 28°C] The Nairobi heat rarely gathers on the brow long enough to bead. It evaporates long before it has a chance to trickle then drip. Kenya will prepare you for the heat of Sudan, everyone tells me as I reach for my water bottle, still thursty. It’s not just the heat of Southern Sudan I’m preparing for, it’s the place itself. It’s hold on a tenuous peace, as mandated by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed on Januray 9, 2005 between the Khartoum-based Government of Sudan and the, then-rebel group, Sudan People’s Liberation Army.
Jetlagged in Nairobi
[Nairobi, Kenya] My Flight to Nairobi straddles three continents, 13 hours of flying time and oceans of sea water and desert sand. The initial 6-hour flight brought me in Amsterdam to languish three hours in the busy Schiphol Airport, before continuing on to Nairobi on another 7-hour flight. North America to Europe to Africa. Three disparate continents just a plane ride or two away from each other. But if the demographics onboard flight KL0565 from Amsterdam to Nairobi are any indication, Africa is still the downtrodden, the unrepresented, the absent continent among the three.
Departure for Nairobi, Kenya is set. Juba, Sudan will follow.
[MONTRÉAL] Today, I bought my airline ticket, leaving me with two weeks, two days, 22 hours and two minutes before departure time. Actually, the accurate time is constantly changing in the Countdown columnn to the right, which will benchmark various phases of the trip. Arrivals, departures, events. Something to string you along.
