An overview of the place called Kakuma town, northwest Kenya.
We are in Kakuma Refugee Camp, so this short article is just to put the camp into perspective with the town, which is outside of the refugee camp.
Kakuma was once a dusty pass-through town one would hardly notice. It is in northwest Kenya, in Turkana County. The locals were mainly nomadic cattle herders, living hand-to-mouth in a semi-arid desert region.
In 1992, a refugee camp was established. Since then, the refugee camp has become one of the largest. It comprises the Kakuma Refugee Camp and an adjoining one named Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement.
Today, the original locals of Kakuma town are still around. But many Kenyan people now live in the town, taking advantage of business opportunities created by the refugee camp and the 200-plus thousand refugees and asylum seekers.
Conflict between locals (referred to as the host community) and sections of the camp community often flare up, generally caused by the locals thinking people in the camp are better off than them.
Kakuma town in northwest Kenya is a semi-arid desert, where the sand is dry and hard. Just an hour of rain can turn the grey sand into slippery clinging mud. The area is prone to wind gusts, sand storms, a flooding.
It is always hot in Kakuma and the county of Turkana. Temperature is between 30 and 40 degrees centigrade. It is 3 hours ahead of GMT.
There are no dangerous wild animals in this part of Kenya. But there are venomous snakes, centipedes, scorpions and spiders. Red and black ants can be a nuisance because they bite and, along with cockroaches, can get into our food. Rats can cause infection and disease.
You can search Kakuma on Google for more information.
