Many countries are gradually relaxing their COVID19 measures as vaccins are rolled out. But even as the first Kenyans are receiving ‘the jab’, president Kenyatta announced tighter corona measures to control a third wave. What’s going on in Kenya? I talked about this with NPO Radio 1 host Stephan Komduur in BNNVARA’s foreign news programme ‘De Wereld van BNNVARA’. You can check out the 18 minute conversation by clicking on this link.
COVID19
New work for The Guardian: Will Samburu's children go back to school?
I’m very happy to share that The Guardian published twelve pictures I took in Samburu, in the photo essay section of their website. The story that goes with all photographs, about worries over Samburu’s children who might not return to school as they are once again living a traditional way of life, was written by Saskia Houttuin.
See the whole photo essay here, on the website of The Guardian.
Click here to read more about our frontpage coverage about Samburu for NRC Handelsblad.
Tills (14) fell pregnant after her school closed: a reportage for RTL Nieuws
Kenya’s schools have been closed for over six months. And so Tills, who is fourteen years old and lives with her mother in Nairobi’s informal settlement Korogocho, has had a lot of time on her hands. She frequently met up with friends when her mother was working, and had sex with a boy who was a bit older than her. He told her that she wouldn’t get pregnant from sleeping with him once, but he turned out to be wrong. When neighbors saw her body changing, they were afraid that Tills would abort the unborn child, and so they brought her to the police station. That’s how Tills’ mother found out her daughter had fallen pregnant. Even though her mom will be the one who will take care of the baby, Tills will not go back to school, as teenage pregnancies are stigmatized.
See Saskia Houttuin’s report I filmed for RTL Nieuws below:
'Pandemic': see some of my Covid-19 photos in Museum Hilversum
Below, you can see a selection of photographs I took in the coastal municipality of Bergen, when I had just arrived in The Netherlands a few months ago. Some of the images have been picked up by regional and national news media and are exhibited as part of the ‘Pandemic’ group exhibition in Museum Hilversum.
I’m also happy to share that the Regional Archive of Alkmaar has purchased twelve photographs, which will be a part of their 'corona collection'. On the photos above, you can how Covid-19 impacted daily life in the municipality. To read more about the photographs, check out my recent posts on Instagram.
Interview about my photo series on Covid19 in Bergen, The Netherlands
Local newspaper Contact met de Egmonden interviewed me about one of my most recent photography series on the impact on in Bergen. In the Dutch coastal municipality that consists of Schoorl, Egmond-Binnen, Egmond aan den Hoef, Egmond aan Zee and Bergen and Bergen aan Zee, I tried to visually capture the impact of the pandemic on daily life. Parts of the series has previously been published by local, regional and national news media.
Read more: Care 4 Corona photo awards: my photo is a week finalist
Read more: New Liberation Day work for newspaper De Telegraaf
New work for RTL Nieuws: France is preparing for (Dutch) tourists
For Dutch news broadcaster RTL Nieuws, Saskia Houttuin and I made two reports from closed-off France. How were the French preparing for the arrival of tourists from Europe? Watch the web-only versions of the reports on the RTL Nieuws website or click on the videos below:
Care 4 Corona photo awards: my photo is a week finalist
Dutch photojournalist and C4C jury member Ilvy Njiokiktjien has picked one of my photographs as her weekly favourites, making my image shot in supermarket Albert Heijn one of the jury’s weekly picks of the Care 4 Corona photo awards. To see more of my most recent photographs, take a look at my Instagram profile.
African musicians help with corona prevention: an interview with NPO 3FM
Sander Hoogendoorn, NPO 3FM’s morning show DJ, interviewed me about the COVID19 situation in countries in Sub Saharan Africa. In the live radio interview, I told him that as many African governments are trying to take as much measures as possible to prevent the spreading of COVID19, musicians support them with releasing songs with practical tips.
Artists all over the African continent have made coronavirus songs, mainly focusing on personal hygiene and social distancing. I mentioned songs made by Bobi Wine & Nubian Li, Liberian president Weah and South African popstar Sho Madjozi. To see the whole visual radio fragment, click play below.
Podcast De Dag: a talk about COVID19 in Kenya
Riding Kenya's matatus amid new coronavirus measures - New work for The Guardian and Al Jazeera
New work for The Guardian & Al Jazeera: With limited resources and limited Intensive Care Unit beds, African governments are looking to prevent the spread of the corona virus as much as possible. In Kenya, all international flights are suspended, and a curfew from 9pm to 7am is in place. The country is known for its ‘matatus’, minibuses that often transport more people than they have seats. In the wake of the coronavirus, Kenyan authorities have issued measures to be taken by matatu companies - fears are that Kenya's informal public transportation buses that carry millions of Kenyans on a daily basis is the weak link in the fight against corona.
To prevent contamination, Kenyan officials have said that 14-seater matatus will carry only 8 passengers, and vehicles that carry more than 30 passengers will carry not more than 60% of their capacity. But people have to get to work, as Kenya is not yet ‘in lockdown’, and many Kenyans have work that cannot be done from home. For some, a day without work even means a day without food.
And so, among many drivers and matatu touts who are not yet taking precautions, some matatu staffers in Nairobi’s Westlands matatu terminal are wearing face masks as they disinfect their buses and clean hands of passengers. “Many people will not be able to afford to go to the hospital. And if you can’t seek medical attention, you will die. We are taking every measure seriously.”
Click here to see my photos on the website of The Guardian: ‘Minibuses keep Kenya’s wheels turning amid Covid-19 fears – in pictures’
Click here to see my photos and words for Al Jazeera: ‘In Pictures: Riding Kenya's matatus amid new coronavirus measures’
