Picture: Kerio Lorot. Traditional dancers from Pokot dance together with Tegla Loroupe - President of The Tegla Loroupe peace foundation.
Last week I met up with Kerio Lorot in Nairobi. In 2007 I held a fundraiser to provide Kerio a camera which succeeded due to the generous help of a number of people. How is he doing? Well I visited Kerio’s place, he is married and has twins (7 month old girls). He did recieve his diploma in communication at the Kenya Institue of Mass Communication and he is following evening classes at St. Paul’s university to earn a degree. He volunteers for the Tegla Loroupe peace foundation. Although Kerio still struggles to make ends meet in order to support his family and follow university classes which aren’t cheap, he understands the key to the future is education and therefore I have good hope for his future. What can make us all very happy is that 70% of his present income is generated through the camera we made available to him. During the tribal riots he made money selling photographs to newspapers but mostly he works at weddings. With 3 to 4 weddings a month he can support his family and save what is left for the university tuition. Unfortunatley his lens broke so I took it back with me to have it fixed. Great to see how photography really makes a diference in Kerio’s life.
I am very proud to announce to I was able to handover a new DSLR camera to Kerio Lorot on behalf of all people who supported the fundraiser! We will hear but especially see more of Kerio in the future because now he is able to send me pictures made with his new camera! I personally like to thank the following people for making this into a succes:
Eva (emk), Rachael Jane, Christian Hang, Stefan Rohner, Andreas Hering, Ex Dance-Floor members, Paul Shelasky, Per Nittel, Giacomo Bongrani, Edwin Franken and kamera express for making the camera purchase into a complete package!
Last saturday I was shooting some street portraits in Nairobi on my 22 hour layover, when I was approached by a young man who saw me work and said to me; ‘you know photography is a passion’. Since I am usually the one approaching people there I was quit surprised. His name is Kerio Lorot, 27 years old and from the Turkana district in the north of Kenya. Kerio is a broadcast and photojournalism graduate from the Kenya institute of mass communication. Kerio and I spend a good part of the afternoon, we discussed pictures and visited the university. Since Kerio graduated he has not found a job yet. Corruption in Kenya is a major problem and it is more important who you know then what you know. It is very difficult for him to find a job as a photographer so he also tries to get in as a public relation officer or other media job. The problem is Kerio has no money to afford a camera. He lives with a friend in the city, who gave him a small room. His wife and two children live with his parents in the north. Kerio has a cv but no portfolio.
Well, I ended up teaching him for 4 hours about photography, but told him you must get a camera so you can practise every day. I have taken it upon me to help him so I want to start an initiative with my friends at Ball-Saal to start a fundraiser to get Kerio a DSLR camera! I made this picture of Kerio in his old classroom at the university with a small point and shoot cam;))
