Welcome to LIA-Kenya!

The name “Kenya” means “place with ostriches.” And among more adventurous tourists, Kenya is in fact renowned for its safaris – the trailing of lions and herds of elephants and giraffes, straining to see all you can with binoculars while riding atop a roving vehicle and dodging thorned umbrella trees.

Others know Kenya as a major producer and consumer of tea, a legacy of British colonialism. In the south, the Maasai, in their colorfully patterned clothes and beads and pierced earlobes, guide cattle from one arid hillside to the next.

Compared to many of its neighbors, Kenya is enjoying fairly healthy economic development. Nairobi, the capital, serves as a major regional hub for finance, communications, shipping, and others services. Many companies – both Kenyan and international – have offices in this city of about 3 million.

Still, recent years have seen political unrest, and economic challenges remain formidable. National leaders have regularly imprisoned political opponents. In 2007, disputed presidential elections led to widespread violence along ethnic lines. Meanwhile, more than one-half of the population still lives below the poverty line.

Uhuru Park is the main public recreation area in the Nairobi city-center, and “uhuru” is Swahili for “freedom.” Recent reforms to this country’s educational and economic systems, as well as its constitution, may provide some Kenyans with glimmers of hope that they may increasingly enjoy real  “freedom” to flourish. Yet the challenges of inadequate foreign investment, poor infrastructure, and poverty remain.

Click on the image below to learn more about the work of LIA in this area.