Africa

An interview with Peter Owang – Bombolulu Workshops, Kenya

Here’s an interview from Bombolulu Workshops on my recent visit to Kenya where they had just finished the Sam Ubhi for People Tree collection for AW08. Life is hard in Kenya and just before I arrived the Bombolulu van had been hijacked. Since the down turn of events in January things are holding up but with tourists few and far between life is tough and unemployment is at it’s highest in Mombassa and tourist resorts.

Bombolulu Workshops, Kenya

I love Mombasa. It’s really bustling and finally I am warm. Summer has come to Kenya. All around me the Bombolulu workshop artisans are rushing about and busy – some in wheelchairs, some on crutches. The atmosphere is dynamic and people stop to ask a question or two and explain how they are making things.

Visiting Meru Herbs

Meru Herbs is situated on Mount Meru, a bumpy five-hour drive from Nairobi. As we jolt about and skirt around the pot holes, the driver, James Mwaniki, tells me this is a ‘great’ place for big snakes! The anaconda can hypnotise dogs and even swallow a goat – whole. The blog photo of me half consumed by an anaconda flashes ominously through my mind…