A civil war has raged in Somalia since 1991 and the country is faced with an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
Thomas Kern
Three million Somalis have left their homeland; 308,000 of them live in the refugeee camps in Dadaab on the Somali-Kenyan border under precarious circumstances.
Thomas Kern
Diary: "The flight to the Dadaab refugee camps lasts just over an hour. We land on a dusty airstrip where vehicles belonging to different aid agencies are waiting ..."
Thomas Kern
"Have we presented the refugeee camp as it really is? We actually expected it to be worse."
Thomas Kern
"There are no screaming masses rushing the aid vehicles in the desperate quest for food."
Thomas Kern
"They do not want to share more than two or three sentences about their escape, as if it were part of a distant past they do not want to be reminded of."
"Irritated by the fact that we are not doctors, they ask about the sense and goal of our work - what use is it to them that we stand around in the middle of nowhere scribbling in our notebooks?"
Thomas Kern
"I am grateful for the artist's colourful work, it draws people's attention, especially when he sketches the bystanders with quick strokes, which always causes great amusement."
Thomas Kern
"To get an overview of the camp, Julien, our untiring guide, organised the climbing of a water tower."
Thomas Kern
The Doctors Without Borders workshop is an open accessible working space. Visitors can follow the development of the reportage ...
Thomas Kern
... and learn about the living conditions of the Somalian refugees in the camp.
Thomas Kern
Overcrowding in the camp is one of the main problems for refugees. Originally planned for 90,000 people, the camp caters for three times that number today.
Thomas Kern
"Those who have made it here first had to endure the hardship of life in Somalia for a long time ..."
Thomas Kern
" ... living in more or less damaged houses in places where the rights of the strong, the better armed, held sway."
Thomas Kern
"Andrea sketches the faces of those present with a few quick strokes; I try to note down the conversations, of which I understand little, because they are peppered with so many medical terms."
Thomas Kern
"Far away you can make out the huts and tents of the newly-arrived refugees, whom we are about to visit ..."
Thomas Kern
"Refugees who arrived a few days ago have already received a new UNHCR tent ..."
Thomas Kern
" ... and built a round hut as a kitchen for themselves and potentially a stall for their two or three goats."
Thomas Kern
"The stream of refugees continues, with more families every day finding themselves on the quest for water, food and some peace."
Thomas Kern
"Dagahaley refugee camp, first planned as provisional accommodation, is fast becoming a sprawling city."
Thomas Kern
"There is so much that we want to see but our time is running out ..."
Thomas Kern
"We take our leave of the Doctors Without Borders workers in the compound, with whom we spent so much time in the 10 days here ..."
Thomas Kern
One of the world's largest refugee camps comes to Lucerne.
This content was published on
Thomas Kern was born in Switzerland in 1965. Trained as a photographer in Zürich, he started working as a photojournalist in 1989. He was a founder of the Swiss photographers agency Lookat Photos in 1990. Thomas Kern has won twice a World Press Award and has been awarded several Swiss national scholarships. His work has been widely exhibited and it is represented in various collections.
Artist Andrea Caprez and author Christoph Schuler visited Dagahaley in Kenya in February 2011. The duo process their visual and written impressions in a workshop open to the public at Fumetto Comix Festival, highlighting the work of Doctors Without Borders and the plight of Somalian refugees. Pictures by Thomas Kern / swissinfo.ch
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.