Two children dressed in orange and white tracksuits sitting indoors on a patterned orange and white checkered floor with a matching backdrop. One child is wearing sunglasses and a sunhat, holding a green soccer ball. The other child is holding a toy
Two young boys without shirts, each holding inner tubes, standing outdoors on a grassy area with trees, a blue building, and stones in the background.
Two young boys standing in a classroom, holding blue mugs with the initials 'CK' on them. They appear to be students, with a colorful educational poster of classroom objects visible in the background.
Close-up of a young boy with serious expression, dark skin, short hair, and large dark eyes, wearing a checkered shirt.
Three young children in navy blue dresses and shirts standing in front of a floral backdrop. One boy has his arm around a girl with short hair and expressive eyes, another girl stands beside them with a serious expression.
Young girl in graduation cap and gown, standing in front of a floral background, smiling with hands clasped.
Two children in graduation caps and gowns stand in front of a blackboard. The older girl holds a rolled diploma, and both wear yellow sashes with blue accents.
Three women standing in front of a floral backdrop, holding handbags, with serious expressions.
Two young girls with serious and happy expressions, one in a light blue dress with floral details and the other in a patterned dress, standing indoors with a floral backdrop. The girl in front holds a pink beaded handbag.
Two young boys in a classroom: one sitting in a wheelbarrow, the other standing behind it with one foot on the wheelbarrow. They are in front of an educational poster and blackboards.
A young boy seated in a green plastic chair gets a haircut by a woman standing behind him. The boy is wearing a patterned cape and blue Crocs, and the woman is cutting his hair with an electric clipper. The background features a collage of various ha
A woman is sitting in a barber chair, getting a haircut from a barber standing behind her. Another woman is seated and getting her hair cut by a barber, with a mirror reflecting her haircut. The room has posters of different hairstyles on the wall.

KOMOTHAI SCHOOL. 2020

So what does a school for the mentally challenged have to do with Kenyan identity? When I was a kid I remember being asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I must have had several answers to that question through the years. When I met these “kids” some of whom are of adult age, I asked them the same question and I realized they had pretty normal answers. They would like to graduate, and run a farm or a business, some would also like to marry and to have children. The ambitions for their lives were the same as most poeple. The photographs, through graduation gowns and Sunday dresses, were my attempt at bringing back some form of identity reframes the conversation. What are the societal norms for the mentally challenged in Kenya? Why the exclusion? Is it because of fear or shame or perhaps resentment. I chose to photograph these children outside of this lens. Outside of the mentally challenged stereotype.