INSIDE KENYA’S REFUGEE CAMPS 2009
In 2009, I travelled to Kenya's Rift Valley to film a documentary and photograph families living in refugee camps following the post-election violence. As a documentary photographer and cinematographer, I spent time in camps around Eldoret, documenting the humanitarian response and the resilience of displaced communities. These photographs were taken while I was filming veterinary surgeon Luke Gamble and his charity, Worldwide Veterinary Service, as they treated livestock belonging to displaced families throughout the camps and whose work highlighted the close relationship between human and animal welfare.
Human and Animal welfare
Luke's role was to treat and vaccinate the animals belonging to families living in those settlements. At first, it seemed an unusual focus. Around us were doctors and humanitarian workers from organisations including the UN, USAID and Médecins Sans Frontières, responding to the immediate needs of people who had lost almost everything.
It didn't take long to understand that animal welfare and human welfare were inseparable. Families had brought with them the few possessions they had left, including their cows, donkeys, dogs and cats. Those animals represented food, income, transport, security and, for many, companionship. Caring for them was another way of caring for the people themselves.
Photographing life inside Kenya’s Refugee Camps
Many of the stories we heard were deeply distressing, yet what has stayed with me most isn't simply the hardship. It is the resilience of the people we met. Despite everything they had lost, there was still dignity, generosity and a determination to carry on.
Travelling for work has taken me to more than ninety countries, but experiences like this have a way of putting your own life into perspective. Standing in those camps, camera in hand, it was impossible not to reflect on how fortunate I'd been, and how quickly life can change.
More than fifteen years later, I still think about the people we met in those camps. It gave me a deeper understanding of both human suffering and resilience. It reminded how remarkable people's capacity is to endure despite unimaginable circumstances. Those lessons have stayed with me and continue to shape the way I approach documentary photography today.