Migrant stories: three testimonials about working in Qatar

For de Volkskrant, El País and RTL Nieuws, I interviewed three migrant workers. Two who have come back to Kenya, and one Kenyan who is still stuck in Qatar (who is working there illegally). Their painful stories shine a light on how poorly many (black) migrant workers are treated in the small Gulf state. To read more, tap on one of the links below:

• El relato de tres inmigrantes africanos: “En Qatar la gente literalmente trabaja hasta la muerte” [El País]

• Het WK ging beginnen, dus arbeidsmigrant Maina moest plaatsmaken voor de voetbalfans [de Volkskrant]

• Gastarbeider Malcolm werd opgepakt in Qatar: 'Ik had kritiek' [RTL Nieuws]

• ‘Ik moest doen alsof ik gek was om terug naar huis te kunnen vluchten’ [de Volkskrant]

• Activist Malcolm Bidali werkte als beveiliger in Qatar: ‘Er kleeft bloed aan de stadions die je op tv ziet’ [de Volkskrant]

• Nepalezen zien hun arbeiders met veel geld terugkeren, slachtoffers zijn dan even vergeten [de Volkskrant podcast ‘Elke Dag’]

New work for RTL Nieuws: vaccines in Kenya

For Dutch news broadcaster RTL Nieuws, I worked on a reportage by their Africa correspondent Saskia Houttuin. While The Netherlands is vaccinating millions of its citizens, Kenya has so far only vaccinated 1.8 percent of its population. Community Health Volunteers Joyce and Anne, who are working in Nairobi’s Kariobangi informal settlement, say that they can’t get a jab because they have to pay for it. A vaccine would cost them 3500 Kenyan Shillings, they told us – even though getting a vaccine in Kenya should be free.

You can watch the whole reportage by clicking on the picture above, or by following this link.

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:

RTL Nieuws: a YouTube playlist with all our reports

As a visual journalist in Africa, I have worked on multiple reports for Dutch news platform RTL Nieuws. To see all of the reports that I have worked on with Africa correspondent Saskia Houttuin (who also has a YouTube channel, by the way), you can click here.

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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:

Cyclone Idai: our reports for RTL & Al Jazeera.

Cyclone Idai, which hit Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe on 14 March, caused massive flooding and killed more than 840 people. Together with Africa correspondent Saskia Houttuin, I traveled to the town of Beira, which was hit severely by both the cyclone and the floods.

During our stay in Mozambique, we reported on the Idai aftermath, when thousands of people still needed to be rescued from nearby, flooded areas. You can find some of our reports on Saskia’s YouTube channel, read this Dutch story (with one of my images) or you can check out the video below. I also created a visual story in words and pictures for Al Jazeera.

If you’d like to help: the International Red Cross and NGO’s like Caritas (that used some of my images for funding and blog updates) are still on the ground in Mozambique, to deliver aid for those in need.

RTL Nieuws report about sand mining in Kenya

In some Kenyan states, sand mining by organized crime mobsters is a big problem. In Makueni County, however, the local government has found a way to reduce people from removing the sand from dry river beds. Kenya is building more and more, and sand is indispensable for the creation of glass and concrete. One can make quite some money by mining and selling the thick grains of Makueni sand.

For Dutch TV broadcaster RTL Nieuws, Africa correspondent Saskia and I created a report on why illegal sand mining is such a big issue, and how some county’s are putting it to a stop.

RTL Nieuws report on avocado farmers in Kenya

On toast, in a salad or just as a healthy snack: the Dutch love avocados. My colleagues at MENDO even created an avocado cookbook for the avo only restaurant The Avocado Show! Our love for avocados has a clear effect on countries where the fruit can grow: in Kenya, farmers even uproot their coffee plants to make money off this ‘avocado boom’.

With Africa correspondent Saskia, I traveled to Machakos, a region where more and more farmers are growing avocados to cash in on the global avo trend. You can watch our TV report above, or you can check it out on the RTL Nieuws website.

New photography work: Nigeria elections

During our recent trip to Nigeria, where Saskia and I were on assignment for RTL Nieuws and VPRO Bureau Buitenland, we coincidentally were in Lagos when the delayed presidential elections took place. Saskia and I worked on a story about the dangerous impact of fake news on Nigeria’s elections. If you can read Dutch, you can check out the whole story (and see some of my pictures) here.

#RiversideAttack coverage of al-Shabaab attack in Nairobi

Yesterday and the day before yesterday, terrorist organization al-Shabaab carried out a large-scale terror attack on the DusitD2 hotel and business complex in Nairobi, Kenya. At least 21 people were killed when Somali militants stormed the compound.

RTL correspondent Saskia Houttuin and I could hear the explosions from where we were, about two kilometers away from the Dusit complex. While the attack was still ongoing further down the road, we reported from behind the security cordon.

The following day, security forces and terrorists were still fighting. Saskia and I visited the August 7th Memorial Park in Nairobi’s CBD, where the Kenyan Red Cross collected donated blood for the victims of the attack. Later on, we also visited the city’s mortuarium and talked to Moureen, who had been inside the complex during the attack for over 13 hours.

Above, you can see some of the pictures I took over the last two days. Below, you can find publications of Saskia and me.

• Saskia reported for BNR Nieuwsradio on the second day of the attack;

• On Twitter, Saskia and I reported over the course of the last few days, tweeting updates in a thread about the attack;

• De Telegraaf newspaper interviewed me on the evening of the attack. The article also features 8 of my pictures and videos;

• Here, you can watch our Facebook Live report on the RTL Nieuws page, about the blood transfusions for the victims of the attack;

• In the broadcast of RTL Nieuws on the evening of the attack, we made a small report from behind the police cordon, filmed with an iPhone;

• For the 7.30pm RTL Nieuws broadcast of the next day, we filmed a reportage about the aftermath of the attack. You can watch the whole broadcast here, or see the video below.

New pictures published in NRC, Trouw and NPO Radio 1

I couldn’t be more proud of Saskia, who has won a prestigious Dutch award for talented journalists, the ‘Philip Bloemendal Prijs’! The jurors praised her ability to convey difficult stories through “clear texts and powerful imagery”. Saskia works as an Africa correspondent for Dutch media, like TV broadcaster RTL Nieuws, radio program Bureau Buitenland and newspaper Trouw. To read the whole jury report, click here! To check out her great appearance in TV show RTL Late Night, click here.

Last month, my pictures of my girlfriend Saskia and another Dutch Saskia, writer Saskia Noort, were published in several online / print media. Radio station NPO Radio 1 and newspapers NRC Handelsblad and Trouw published my portrait of Saskia Houttuin, which was also included in several press statements. Some of my photographs of Saskia Noort’s trip to Tanzania were shown in this NPO Radio 1 video segment and were used by De Nieuws BV and NPO online.