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Photojournalist Felix Masi documents the post election violence in Kenya

By Brent Phelps February 12, 2008

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Felix Masi, an accomplished photojournalist and native Kenyan has been documenting the post election violence in Kenya. The haunting images images reflect the chaos that has overtaken the country after claims of rigging in the recent general elections (held on December 27, 2007) between President Kibaki of the Party of National Unity and the Orange Democratic Movement candidate Raila Odinga. “Having witnessed and recorded images of suffering, killings and poverty in Kenya, the flawed election should be a wake up call for African leaders, the cause of violence in Kenya is triggered by marginalization and lack of equal distribution” states Masi.

Most notable are images of relatives of the MP for Embakasi, Melitus Mugabe Were, mourning his brutal murder at Woodley estate in Nairobi. There are also images from Kariobangi slum in the east-lands of Nairobi taken during a relief aid by the Red Cross where over 250,000 have been displaced with more than 800 killed.

Felix Masi was born and raised in Kisumu, Western Kenya to a single mother. He and his three brothers and one sister were orphaned at an early age, and left in the care of foster parents. After discovering the terrible conditions the children were kept in, Felix was removed by his grandmother and uncle and spent his early teenage years in the care of his sister and relatives. His passion for photography began as a child. Felix’s mother was an avid photographer. She preferred the black-and-white format, and documented much of the children’s early years until her death when Felix was only eight years old.

In 1996, Felix’s brother, Dennis, passed away after contracting HIV/AIDS. This event, combined with a life of witnessing Africa’s struggle with the disease, spurred Felix to begin working as an independent journalist focused on humanitarian crises like HIV/AIDS. Felix is also the co-founder of Voiceless Children, a nonprofit charitable organization focused on restoring hope to grandmothers, orphans and widows affected and infected by the AIDS pandemic in rural areas of Western Kenya and the Nairobi slums.

Images from Felix Masi are available for licensing through the stock photo agency Africanpictures.net.

Web: www.africanpictures.net - www.voicelesschildren.org

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