Thread by @mwarv

A couple of days ago, I hit the streets of Nairobi to find out how movement restrictions had affected fellow Nairobians. From Bus Station to Wangige, Gikomba to City Market, these are
#CovidNairobiStories

#COVID19KE #covid19kenya #Nairobi

I was joined by @BoniMuthoni on this project.

We started at Nairobi Fire Station at 0613hrs on 15th May 2020 and met John who used to work as a night shift tout, but since the curfew directive was given, feeding his wife and two children has become a struggle.

0625hrs at the Kenyatta Avenue – Kimathi Street intersection. Not sure where this gentleman was hurrying to – red mask, red bag – I hope he wasn’t red carded when he got there.

At City Market, we met Mary who sells the most beautiful flowers from Ol Kalou. The reduced demand for flowers means she hardly breaks even at the end of the day.

From there we headed to downtown Nairobi. It was definitely busier than uptown, but not in the usual energetic no-space-on-the-pavement-so-walk-alongside-cars way.

Bus Station at 0723hrs. Fewer passenger numbers have forced bus companies to ground sections of their fleet.

When she sold around 200 pineapples a day, Vanessa put aside a percentage of her profits towards school fees. But with sales as low as only 50 a day, she has been forced to dip into her savings to live, putting her dream of joining college to study food and nutrition on hold.

Washing hands is now part of the security procedure before accessing many buildings in Nairobi.

When your work is a workout, gym time isn't necessary.

With reduced access for motorised vehicles, Luthuli Avenue, the leading source of affordable consumer electronics in Nairobi, was recently turned into a pedestrian priority street.

Ambassadeur Stage, buses are fewer than usual. Hand sanitisation and face masks are mandatory before boarding.

The way many people wear their masks, you’d think covering your chin will protect you from Coronavirus.

From CBD, we headed to Gikomba Market. We found a sanitisation booth at the Meru Road entrance into the market. Citizens were encouraged to walk through the booth before accessing Gikomba.

The first entrepreneur we spoke to was Douglas who sells men’s shoes. May has always been a great month for business Douglas said, but not in 2020. With fewer people visiting the market, it is hard to take home a decent income or project when business will peak again.

Sarah’s clientele are mostly from outside Nairobi. They however cannot come to buy shoes from her because of the Nairobi metropolitan cessation of movement directive. The mother of one says her food and rent have been the most affected by the reduced sales.

Meru Road, 1037hrs. Tarmac visibility would be a challenge even on public holidays.

When your work is a workout, gym time isn't necessary.

Patrick has been carving curios since 1979! From his workshop near Gikomba Market, he has curved animals, dancers and other crafts that have made their way to homes and offices in over 100 countries.

With no tourists are coming into the country because of the closure of Kenya’s borders, the 69-year-old is now carving wooden cooking spoons because despite Covid-19, people must cook. Patrick’s is a great story of adapting with the times.

We found Abdallah selling delicious bitings outside Pumwani Riyadha Mosque at 1121hrs. These are mostly purchased by Muslims for consumption when breaking fast during Ramadan.

His sisters do the cooking while Abdallah does the selling. Ordinarily, he would be selling these bitings in the evening. But curfew restrictions mean he has to sell everything before 1900hrs.

On the way back to Eastleigh where we'd parked our car, we found police directing traffic at the General Waruinge / Muinami Streets roundabout.

From here, we crossed Nairobi and got to Waithaka to find our most inspiring story for the day.

While his age-mates are on PS and data consuming activities, Edwin is creating solutions to the world's problems and now has a life-saving invention to his name!

Bombarded with hundreds of stories about the effects of Coronavirus and being at home after schools were closed in March because of the pandemic, the 17-year-old decided not to just sit back, but act.

Edwin designed and made a face guard that protects the wearer from virus droplets from an infected person. After several hundred orders and his design being replicated by many, Edwin decided to refine his design and came up with the adjustable face shield.

Edwin’s adjustable face shield is currently in use at many health facilities around the country. Several have been donated to health centres, salons and barbershops in Waithaka. Edwin and his father have also developed body suits to be used by sanitisation personnel.

From Waithaka, we headed back to Nairobi’s CBD to catch the city emptying as the 1900hrs curfew hour approached.

Moi Avenue at 1708hrs. Friday traffic has never been so absent.

At Old Nation Matatu Terminus, matatus were few, just like the passengers. Many were hurrying in and out of the CBD on their last squad for the day.

Near the Tulaga Stage, we found Jane hawking tomatoes to pedestrians. She buys them from the Muthurwa Market to sell to customers in the CBD. Stock that would take a day to sell now takes three days, with some tomatoes rotting because of the extra time it takes to find a buyer.

Outside the Nairobi Fire Station, Brian was working hard and fast to make a sale at 1734hrs. He used to sell 15 pairs of shoes in a week. Now it’s down to four or five because fewer people are coming into town.

As people and cars departed Nairobi’s CBD, the streets became quieter. Storm clouds had sent signals that they wanted to rehydrate Nairobi so many were really rushing home to beat the rain and curfew.

As @BoniMuthoni and I reflected on the stories we’d captured for the day, we looked forward to shooting some long exposures after dark. So we set up our tripods along Kimathi Street and concluded we were ready to take our last shots for the day.

Jumping into conclusions didn’t work as we didn’t capture anything interesting. We decided to continue shooting handheld, making good use of the available light.

I noticed a good number of boda bodas hurrying on their last trips for the day, so I decided to pan away with them.

The Kenyatta Avenue / Kimathi Street junction is one of my favourites. The mix of modern and historic architecture provides a great backdrop to the busyness that characterises this intersection. But it was very quiet and didn’t have any action that was interesting to shoot.

So we moved to the Accra Road / Tom Mboya Street junction where we received a spectacular welcome, light showers providing a colourful reflective carpet on the tarmac.

At 1839hrs, the touts of this Embassava matatu were calling for their last passengers for the day.

Social distancing was being practiced on the inside, with only two and not four passengers per row.

No captions are necessary for the next couple of images.

Luthuli Avenue, 1907hrs.

At 1915hrs, I took my last shot and called it a day. The rain was beating down on us and we were tired after spending most of the day on our feet.

Five days later, we were laying our great grandmother to rest. She was blessed with 105 years. In keeping with social distancing restrictions, very few members of our family attended the funeral.

At Lang'ata Cemetery, I met Steve, a self-taught photographer who has been in the 'paparazzi' business since 2015. From shooting and selling 150 photos, sales are down to around 70 because of the government directive that no more than 15 people should attend a funeral.