The Street Boys of Nairobi

A few years ago we started a project in Nairobi, Kenya on the "Street Boys" as they are known. These young boys/men are found all over the city, and not only in Nairobi but in most countries all over the continent. They make a living by selling everything from bootleg DVD's to second hand clothing to fruits and vegetables. Basically whatever they can find to turn a meager profit. They work the parking lots of "ducas", or shops, helping people find a parking spot or offering to carry their bags to their vehicles. In Nairobi they are lucky to make a few hundred shillings a day, equivalent to a few american dollars. Many of them are educated, having gone through the primary (7 years) and secondary (4 years) education system in Kenya. The problem is with it's huge population getting even bigger, there just simply aren't jobs for them when they do complete schooling. Sending them to the streets to survive any way they can. This "informal economy" is what most people rely on to survive. When we lived in Nairobi we became friends with several of these young men. We often helped them by giving money for food or medicine for their families, or even tools so they could build furniture to sell or become a handyman. We decided to tell their story and started shooting before we moved back to Wyoming. It's a project that has been on the back burner for 4 years now, but we think it's an important one so we're now going to pick up where we left off.

Stay tuned....