Daraja Photography Project 2019

Preface, March 2019: In 2009 my wife, Joanne, and son, Jono, came home from an after-school meeting and announced that “Jono may go to Kenya next summer.” My infamous response was, “the hell he will.” What follows here is the story of Daraja Academy and the project that my friend Pat Garvey and I set out to do for three weeks in February 2019.... ... My reaction to the news of Jono's proposed trip was based on what I’d heard about the recent election violence and subsequent relocation of a million people, which was about the extent of my knowledge of east Africa. But they insisted that I meet Jason and Jenni Doherty, the founders of the newly established Daraja Academy and, after meeting Jenni a few nights later, I was immediately interested. Daraja’s core belief in educating women resonated with me. And Jono’s belief that we could introduce computers to this remote school was a tangible need that we could fill. So with Joanne leading the way, we raised enoug