Kenya had experienced a tragedy back in 2007, where politically incited post-election violence caused approximately 1500 deaths and created about 250,000 internally displaced persons, or IDPs, for short. IDPs is a UN term meaning people who are forcefully kicked out of their homes and moved to another location within the country’s borders, like Cyprus, only here we are used to be called refugees.
Having seen and heard all about 1974′s displacement of about 250,000 Cypriots, I set off to Nakuru to meet these refugees and experience first hand the sight of UNHCR tents occupying the plains.
I hadn’t really planned my visit, I had expressed my wish to visit the IDP grounds to our local fixer, Nicholas Ochieng, who was also afflicted by the events of 2007 and he told me the story of how this woman, Martha Kimani helped him and many others through their transitional pains, so we arranged a two day trip to the wider area of Nakuru to pay her a visit.
Martha Kimani turned out to be everything Nicholas described and more. She was very happy to show us around and the experience was amazing. She had a contagious glow of positivity in the harshest of living standards and that was her biggest tool in assisting the group of refugees she introduced me to.
