Angela analyses the world around her deeply and is preoccupied with big themes such as representation, the role of culture and the use of media to portray Africa. As a school girl it was the “cosmopolitan…melting pot” of Braeburn that influenced her to study anthropology and law at the London School of Economics because “I was really interested in not just how cultures are shaped and formed but also how they are governed.”     Joining the Africa branch of the BBC […]

Categories: Skyline, Uncategorized • Tags: Africa, Change, City, Kenya, Nairobi, women

Wambui’s “moment of radicalisation” occurred when she was only 21 and on an internship at Kenyatta National Hospital. She says the memory is “crystal clear”. One night she was in the paediatric ward and she was resuscitating a baby, suddenly three mothers ran into the ward, they were all holding out their babies who also needed oxygen. Wambui, turning to the nurse for assistance, was told there was only one oxygen tank in the ward that night. It left her […]

Categories: Skyline, Uncategorized • Tags: Africa, Change, City, Kenya, Nairobi, women

Susan says she has always “gone where the wind has taken me, trusting in the direction it is blowing”. It has blown her into a myriad of different paths and she always had the support of her partner. “The decisions were mine, apart from my dear late husband. I would ask him “what do you think, is this a crazy idea?” and he would always say “but that’s you, you’re crazy, but that’s you””. With both their parents working in Europe […]

Categories: Skyline, Uncategorized • Tags: Africa, Change, City, Kenya, Nairobi, women

If you want a living, breathing definition of a “media personality” look no further than the bubbly Kalekye Mumo. She’s conquering every media platform one by one but it hasn’t always been a sure thing. She says she’s guided by her faith in God but there have been shaky times “he’s come through for me when I thought …we could have gone hungry tonight!”     She paid her dues on her “quest” to make it on radio, it took […]

Categories: Skyline, Uncategorized • Tags: Africa, Change, City, Kenya, Nairobi, women

Margery belongs to the generation “that were going to change the world”. Back in the 60’s, as the first students of an independent Kenya they felt that they had a responsibility to those that followed. “We were not having political leaders coming to tell us who to elect… we were looking at what the government needed to be told.” As the first of 10 girls from her district to attend university Margery led the way for women, and she has […]

Categories: Skyline, Uncategorized • Tags: Africa, Change, City, Kenya, Nairobi, women

Judy attributes many of her opportunities as a filmmaker to being based in Nairobi. She says that there has been a history of Kenyan women creating films since the ’80s. It is such a significant phenomenon that people have written their PHD’s on the  subject. Judy’s theory is that in other film markets where films offer more money and prestige “it’s much more male… I think the women get squashed out of stuff.” In Kenya filmmaking is literally a labour […]

Categories: Skyline, Uncategorized • Tags: Africa, Change, City, Kenya, Nairobi, women

Josephine has always loved storytelling. Since she can remember, she has jotted stories down and shared them with her friends. Now she uses stories to empower women across the country. Working with Independent Television Service ITVS, she runs the #WomenInRed campaign in Kenya, screening powerful stories of “ordinary” women from across the world. The aim is to inspire Kenyans and enable them to identify with the characters they watch. Josephine says “maybe they can’t relate to a towering figure in […]

Categories: Skyline, Uncategorized • Tags: Africa, Change, City, Kenya, Nairobi, women

Akisa’s mother says that her daughter has a “precarious history with this country”. Though Akisa grew up in New York, during a short stay in Nairobi her family was caught in the coup of 1982. Fast forward to 2008 she traveled to Eldoret to bury her father and they were caught up in a mob. “Someone’s on the roof of the car, on the side, on the bonnet, trying to drag us out of the car…They were trying to bring […]

Categories: Skyline, Uncategorized • Tags: Africa, Change, City, Kenya, Nairobi, women