Gallery: Kenya by night: Combating drought in the Horn of Africa

John lives near the village of Lomekui by Lake turkana with his 2 wives and 10 children. He is traditionally a pastoralist but has found things difficult during the drought. Most of his animals have died, leaving him struggling to feed his family.

John recieved 4 camels and 20 goats as part of Oxfam's camel restocking programme.

"It is challenging living here with this drought, the livestock don't produce anything anymore and I have very few options. I remember laughing when Oxfam gave me my camels - it was the happiest day of my life. I feel really proud of having them. In the future I want to expand and grow my camels and goats."
Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

Rebecca was born in the hills but moved to Natoo village when all of her family were killed during a raid.

During the drought, rebecca and her husband lost all of their livestock and were struggling to survive. Now Rebecca is part of Oxfam's kitchen gardening project and is hoping to one day own a farm.

"When the gardening project came it changed my life. I am now able to give the children vegetables to eat and can even send them to school. If it wasn't for this project we could not have survived. If only we could expand it to a big farm then I could give more to my children." says Rebecca.
Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

Selina Napetet, 59, lives in the village of Natoo with her family. They used to be pastoralists but lost all of their animals during the drought. Now Selina is working in Oxfam's kitchen garden.

"When it doesn't rain all the water points dry up, the fruits don't ripen and the animals die. There isn't much you can do to survive. We used to eat one meal a day and my children used to cry because they were hungry. When i started working in the vegetable garden I could use the vegetables to feed my children. I can use the money from seelling vegetables to send them to school and buy them books."

"In the future I want to be trained so that I can have the power to change myself. I want to be able to do things that I can't do now." says Selina.
Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

Women pose for a photograph by Alejandro Chaskielberg in their gardens.
Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

Lokesiro Natelem Eseron, 55 has nine children. She lives with her family in the village of Natoo and is part of Oxfam's kitchen garden project.

"We thought that pastoralism was the only life but now we lost all the livestock, we are taking our children to school. Oxfam’s gardening project has given us work to do. Small projects like this bring us some money so we can support our children through school. We really pray to God to bring us more people who are willing to teach us and change our mindset so that we can adapt to other ways of living. Otherwise our future will be very dark.” says Lokesiro
Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

Fishing in Lake Turkana.
Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

Elisabeth and her eight children live in the village of Natoo in Northern Turkana near Lokitaung. Elisabeth's husband died from sickness, leaving her solely responsible for bringing up her children.

"I appreciate pastoralism but animals are not sustainable anymore. When there is drought your animals die and you are left with nothing. If I could make one thing happen it would be to have my own business and earn money." says Elisabeth
Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

Mary Atabo. Two daughters (standing) Pauline, 13 and Imana Nancy, 15. Son, Lopili, 7.

Mary Atabo's family used to own over 100 goats but now have only 10 due to the drought. Their family also used to have a shop but it was destroyed in recent flash flooding, now they survive solely on relief food and by selling charchoal. Oxfam carried out food distributions in Kaalatum village for 6 months and will start again next month.
Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

Mary Atabo's family used to own more than 100 goats but now have only 10 because of the drought. Their family also used to have a shop but it was destroyed in recent flash flooding, now they survive solely on releif food and by selling charchoal. Oxfam carried out food distributions in Kaalatum village for six months and will start again next month.
Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

Children in Katiko village, Kenya.
Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

Napva Kaanyang, 22 (left) and Losike Kangirwa, 21 pump water from the local pump in Natoo village for the women to use on the gardens.
Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

Elisabeth Ekatapan and her eight children live in the village of Natoo in Northern Turkana near Lokitaung. Elisabeth's husband died from sickness, leaving her solely responsible for bringing up her children.

"I appreciate pastoralism but animals are not sustainable anymore. When there is drought your animals die and you are left with nothing. If I could make one thing happen it would be to have my own business and earn money." says Elisabeth.
Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam