Perous Secret Diary - Keep Out

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judge dredd

back in blighty after 1hr's sleep on the red-eye back from nairobi.

was sad to leave kenya after a twitter dingdong with a kenyan (who doesn't live in the slums) who took offence at my diary pictures which pictured the harsh reality of life in mukuru and felt i should be concentrating on a more positive side to kenyan life.

to be honest, as i did say to her (foolishly) the campaign images we were shooting ARE more positive: kids enjoying clean water.

but i think it's important for people in the western world to appreciate how bad things are, as many people in england (at least) think of kenya and think of going on a safari.

i photograph what i see (always)

if the slums weren't there i wouldn't be able to photograph them.

i wish they weren't there to photograph.

i know kenyans that are doing ok, don't want to concentrate on the negative side of life

but that side of life DOES exist and those are the people we were there to focus on and those are the people that need our help.

interestingly, her comments revolved around her not wanting us to SHOW the slums: her comments were not about not wanting the slums to exist at all.

some people jumping in, on twatter, were commenting that oxfam and other NGO's wouldn't exist without 'the poor': like anyone who works for a charity isn't there wanting to fix the problems: that they/we need poor people to create a revenue stream.

if the slums weren't so bad, we would need to raise money to help the people there.

i was feeling very emotional yesterday, and trying to justify myself when i was upset, and subsequently angry,was not the right time to write succinctly in 140 characters or less.

and i was being mis-quoted which was driving me mad.

hopefully the people that we were working with and meeting did not think i was rude, arrogant and threatening.

certainly we were made very welcome and we were welcomed to come back again.

the people we met in the slums were amazing, strong, generous, inspiring people.

i feel privileged to have met them

and i feel i/we have a responsibility to do what we can for them, the world over.

here's a video from fred from oxfam, of us behind the scenery

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i am SO glad to be home: england never tasted so sweet

had things to do in town, but had my diary cleared so i could RTF (return to farm) to be with the family.

i feel exhausted: emotionally and mentally: more than i had ever anticipated, or expected at the beginning of the trip.

word from nairobi is that amy, from the oxfam team has gastroenteritis: thankfully not typhoid, as expected.

we think my spanish lady friend may have the same: she is en-route to a check up at hospital, with worsening stomach cramps, as i write this.

we were only in the slums for a week and every time we left there, we all anti-bacterial cleansed our hands and kit.

the slums are toxic

get better soon amy, and maria

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maximum's friend emma came over to play for the day.

and her dad geoff came over with his buell.

i think it's going to be hard to keep z off motorbikes when he's older.

i think emma's going to be a model with a brain when she's older.

Perous Secret Diary - Keep Out: August 14, 2013