Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Down the road...























...came a man with a book and a megaphone.
A2 to Marsabit at Ngaramara, Isiolo District.

From the plastic forest...

















...came a man with a goat.
Sokoni (Marketplace), Isiolo.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Neighborhood kids






















This is your face on glue.
Clockwise from top left: Oscar, Isiolo. Terror, Nairobi. Sinbad, Isiolo. Bling, Mombasa. Annifer, Isiolo.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Radio Flyer























(Best movie ever filmed in Novato). This bike had a radio attached somehow to the handlebars connected by wires (tied together) to one functional speaker down somewhere by the knee. Even in Archer's Post- the end of Kenya for most Kenyans where towns give way to a simmering, hot sea of sand, thorns and scampering fantasy-animals called dik-diks- Rita Marley's "I want to get high" was on the dial and quickly became the best thing in town.

Carwin


















The only remaining Mitsubishi part on this Mr. Potato-car was the hood ornament. I had always scoffed at the sight of nails, welds, re-bar, and duct-tape holding Kenyan automobiles together. But I've come to realize that it isn't deterioration or neglect. It's adaptation to an unforgiving environment. Besides the unspoken driver-passenger "we're in this together" bond, it's tiny adjustments made over time that allow cargo trucks like this to stay on the road and go where no heap has gone before... Add the fact that nobody minds when a 12 hour journey turns into 3 days.

Why trains are cool












Early morning on the way to Mombasa.

Posers























We can't help it. Echum and Abdi go for Usher and Montell Jordan while I've just summitted Mt. Dork. Every photo. It's embarrassing.
Anyhow, we're in Thika doing a bit of research with the old "boda-boda" gang (Kenya's finest bicycle taxi crew). With these two Isiolo characters, trained as operators and team managers, we hope to bring the business to new territory and generate some income for the elder street kids.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Sponsor this Child




















...for only $1 a day...or else.
This is Echumu (or Paul), our friend and a character in the film, pictured here, resting after 2 hours of uninterrupted wood-chopping for the Fursa Children Centre kitchen. It's the first odd job we've been able to offer him. He's been off of glue for several months, in school, passing his classes. As Isiolo jobs go, chopping wood pays alright and now he's actually saving a little. Last week he asked about starting a bank account so he could save up for the soccer shoes he's demanded that we give him 487 times. Mwaaa-ha-haaa!! Our plan is working!!!!
*He doesn't normally look like a killer. He's a gifted actor with a sense of humor- which has certainly helped him make friends and survive throughout his 18 or so years.