The brightest room in Kenya

You may have gathered from our other blogs that the coast is very different from the rest of Kenya. The coast still has significant Swahili and Muslim influences whereas the rest of the country is heavily influenced by Europe and the US.

In most of the country, Kenyans wear clothes indistinguishable from those worn in the U.S. Some years ago, second-hand clothing was introduced in Kenya and it has since become a massive industry. Supporters say that the second-hand clothes provides low-cost clothing to people who otherwise couldn’t afford clothing while detractors argue that it hurts the local textile industries and reduces them to creating novelty fabrics for tourists. Additionally, we’ve heard multiple rumors that much of this clothing as been donated in clothing drives in the U.S. and Europe only to be sold to Africans so that middle-men become rich. The introduction of “western-style” clothes means that most people in Kenya wear jeans, t-shirts, business suits, sneakers, and high heels instead of traditional clothing except on rare occasions.

The coastal people deviate from the U.S. influenced dress. Men wear the bright color kikoi as skirts and women usually wrap themselves in 2-3 different kangas. The women here adhere to traditional modesty so they are completely covered except for their faces and hands. While such attire seems oppressive when they wear the black bui buis, most coastal women favor head to toe kangas in many beautiful colors. This gives them a lot more choice of colors and patterns and somehow seems much more expressive than the U.S.-inspired dress or traditional Muslim clothing.

The kangas are truly beautiful on their own but when many women are together, it’s an unbelievable riot of color. Since M’s study focuses on children ages 0-3, each morning the waiting area next to the lab is filled with mother’s and young children wearing these gorgeous kangas. As part of documenting the study, I was permitted to take a few photos and I snapped some of my favorite photos in Kenya. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Heshora weighing a pregnant mama: (notice her belly covered in kanga)


The outer waiting area:


The inner waiting area:




That is one seriously cute bum: