  Internally Displaced Person's in Kenya congregate in camps like the one above. The camps are often dense collections of tarp tents with dirt floors and have little or no accessible drinking water. The acronym "IDP" stands for "internally displaced person". In other words, an IDP is a person who has fled or has been forcefully removed from their hometown because of violence towards them; they often leave behind land, family, and possessions they cannot personally carry. In Kenya, there are thousands of IDPs as a result of cross tribal violence following the last presedetial election in 2007. The Kenyans living in these camps originate from a number of tribes and religious backgrounds. Tumaini B and Amani are the names of two such camps, and they will be the focus of the Tumaini Water Project and several other sustainable projects that are being planned. These camps have had some minimal help in the past from the Kenyan government and the UNHCR as you can see from the emblems on some of the tents in the photos. Some of the help has included clothing donations, medicines, and food. The Kenyan government has offered to sell the land (which the IDPs are living on) to the IDPs if they can pay. Some have ben able to purchase the land title and Habitat For Humanity has built them stone houses. Yet the majority of IDPs in Tumaini and Amani have been unable to pay for th titles. These people are beginning to rebuild their lives in these small communities of diverse people. It has been beautiful to see so many traditions and cultures coexist.  | ||
John Njane and Henry purchased and delivered new tarps to cover the weathered ones that the IDPs were using for shelter.
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