TITLE: Rugged Papers, Unrugged Dreams

Olmaroroi is one of the many Maasai villages close to Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. Despite its proximity to the capital, the village is fairly isolated and under-developed. Families are crammed into small rooms in makeshift houses made of cardboard and covered by cattle dung, without running tap water or electricity. Most children need to take care of family cattle and household chores, so they take turns to go to school. All the books are donated; the children are used to share a textbook or even a piece of newspaper they found on the ground. Whether it is a piece of newspaper or a used textbook, the children view it as a piece of precious treasure, a secret “rabbit-hole” through which they are able to explore the world together while sitting under the makeshift roofs. Their heads gathered and eyes were fixed on the printed words, as if the papers were glittering with magical power – ordinary turned into extraordinary. One day they may step in the wonderland they only dreamed of before and build their home into a place they could once only dreamed of.

AUTHOR: XIAO GU (China)

Born in Beijing and spent her childhood and teen years in various places including Tibet, Szechuan and Yunan, Xiao “Freya” Gu is a volunteer, traveler and photographer currently based in New York. Early experience of diverse cultures and exposure to different communities unleashed her fascination for human and nature. She is passionate about observing and connecting the world through travelling and volunteering. She has traveled to all 7 continents and has been a dedicated volunteer since she was 15. She takes her lenses to capture precious moments, when she sees true beauty and dignity in human as well as the wilderness in nature.