I did not go looking for a sunset. Last Sunday, my special friend and guide, Kate Selempo, suggested, “Let’s just drive.” I am always ready for an adventure, especially when it involves a road trip. We took the new Ngong-Suswa road, not for a story, but for a breath of fresh air beyond Nairobi’s noise. The 66-kilometre highway, a Sh4 billion project launched in 2018, stalled in 2020 and was eventually declared complete and open in December last year, has transformed a once-promised route into a reality. The smooth tarmac cuts through Kajiado into Narok, offering an alternative corridor to…
Author: Jayne Rose Gacheri
There is a particular urgency that comes with being a parent. A child is struggling with a task, taking too long to complete something or making a decision the parent believes could be better, because the parent knows what to do and can do it faster. So, the parent steps in. The outcome? The problem is solved by the parent, and in the shortest time, the immediate problem disappears, and the parent (family) and child can all move on. But what happens when our children begin to expect parents to solve every problem before they have had the chance to…
Halima Shariff Abdulkadir during a recent engagement [Jayne Rose Gacheri, Standard] For Halima Shariff Abdulkadir, climate action has a simple test: are women with disabilities in the room where decisions are made? If they are not, she believes, then climate action is neither inclusive nor complete. At 53, Halima has experienced firsthand how emergencies can affect people with disabilities differently. “For a woman who cannot hear a river bursting its banks, a flood carries a different kind of danger,” she says. For someone using a mobility device, a washed-out road or a gully carved overnight can make a familiar journey…
Ten-year-old Alex Mutuma calls on his mother to fix his shoelaces as she prepares breakfast. Like many parents, she is quick to help, as are the parents of his two siblings. But while she solves the immediate problem in seconds, she may be missing an opportunity for her son to learn to do it himself. Catherine Mugendi, a Counsellor and family coach, says there are many moments in a child’s day when an adult can make life easier: fastening a button, finding a missing pencil, opening a stubborn bottle, settling an argument with a sibling, completing a difficult school task…
women with disabilities from across Kajiado County are seeking a greater role in decisions on climate change [Photo /Courtesy] Twenty-five women with disabilities from across Kajiado County are seeking a greater role in decisions on climate change, arguing that people living with disabilities must be involved in planning for disasters that…
There is a particular kind of satisfaction that comes from finding a travel bargain. You spot a flight for less than you expected, a hotel room at an unbelievable rate or a rental car that seems to offer everything you need without denting your wallet. You click “book”, feeling rather pleased with yourself. Then the trip begins. Suddenly, that bargain flight means waking before dawn. The cheap accommodation is miles from where you actually want to be. The rental car exists, but collecting it becomes an adventure of its own. And the money you thought you had saved begins disappearing…
What happens when a child is given the chance to imagine a life beyond what she knows? For a child growing up with very little, the first limitation may not be money. It may be imagination. Not because she lacks dreams, but because she has never seen enough of the world to know what might be possible for her. That is one of the quiet lessons emerging from She Is Rising from The North – Education Works, photographer and documentary filmmaker Hildah Kathure’s new book about girls from Northern Kenya whose journeys have taken them from grazing fields to classrooms,…
Caption What does a girl see when she looks beyond the grazing fields? For girls growing up in Northern Kenya, the answer is not always easy to imagine. Livestock, drought, household responsibilities, water scarcity and long distances to school can make education feel like a distant possibility. Then a door opens. A uniform is found, fees are paid and a girl leaves home for boarding school. She enters a classroom and encounters a world of teachers, friends, knowledge and possibilities. This journey is at the heart of photographer and documentary filmmaker Hildah Kathure’s She Is Rising from the North –…
As El Niño and extreme weather once again dominate the headlines, heavy rains, floods and prolonged power cuts can leave children with questions that adults may struggle to answer: Will the water reach our house? Where will we go if we have to leave? Will my school be safe? For children, a sudden change in weather can quickly turn an ordinary rainy day into a frightening experience. But protecting them does not mean keeping them in the dark. Parents can prepare children by explaining risks in simple terms, teaching them what to do in an emergency and involving them in…