The nomadic lifestyle of inhabitants of the region was radically disrupted in 1925 when the British colonialists curved out a chunk of the land in deal with the Italians who then governed southern Somalia. Families were torn apart and a brutal regime of curfews and concentration camps were instituted by the Kenyan government after independence.

Mansur Cali is a Somali translator and cultural mediator who lives and works in Zürich. He specializes in Kiswahili literature and politics.

© Olaf Brachem