The history of Kipsongo starts with the tribes who have made it their home: the Turkana and Pokot people. These nomadic tribes have warred over livestock in Northwestern Kenya for centuries. Fourty years ago, severe drought and famine made survival extremely difficult for the two tribes. The ongoing conflict over resources forced them to look for a new home. The Turkana and Pokot people made their way to Kitale. It's as if they blinked their eyes and they were thrown into the developing city. Unwelcome and desperate to survive, they found refuge in Kitale’s dumping sites. At first they were offered menial jobs at a slaughterhouse, but had to move because of the unsanitary conditions and disease. Since then they have lived in a dumpsite nicknamed “Kipsongo”—meaning, “Place of the Dogs” or “Place of Hopelessness”—by the people of Kitale.

Currently, the slum is home to more than 13k people on only 6.5 acres of land. The levels of poverty in Kitale are extreme, but nothing compares to how the people of Kipsongo live. Mostly forgotten, the people are associated with horrible crimes, drugs and underage prostitution. Homes are made from sticks and trash and are in constant danger of accidental fires during the dry season and washing away in Kenya’s rainy season. In 1984, a massive cholera outbreak killed incredible numbers of people in Kipsongo. Hundreds of children were orphaned and turned to the streets to survive. An entire generation of people were forced to fend for themselves—living with less hope than they already had. Kipsongo continues to be the dumping ground for anything and everything in Kitale. The stories of abuse to children, violence toward their women and absolute desperation is horrifying.