Stanford

In 2007 Kenya experienced its darkest hour. Tribal tension erupted after apparent rigged elections with violence and chaos consuming the country. Over 1,600 people were killed and over 660,000 forced from their homes and made to live in IDP camps (Internally displaced people) or else suffer the same brutal fate. Stanford and his family lived in the fertile land of Narok and in the middle of the night they were given five minutes to leave their home and barely packed their bags before their house and everything they owned was burnt to the ground. When they arrived at the camp Stanford had already been diagnosed with a rare skin condition that made him highly sensitive to the sun but was healthy with some minor skin irritation. Stanford was forced to live in a small clear tent in a barren field without many trees for shade, and his condition quickly deteriorated. Five years later there is a new president but for many life in the camp remains the same struggle. Stanford now has no sight and struggles to breathe out of his nose. Surgery is way beyond and his mother’s reach. www.empoweringblindyouth.org