Customer Reviews

Shootback: Photos by Kids from the Nairobi Slums

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Having myself written academically on Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA), the organization out of which this initiative originated, I am thrilled that Shootback: Photos by Kids from the Nairobi Slums has appeared on the North American website of amazon.com. This is an absorbing and thought-provoking book that challenges the way we (North Americans) view the world. A lot of hard work has gone into this labor of love by Lana Wong and her brave band of photographers, and it shows.

MYSA, by anyone's standards, is a remarkable organization, and this is a remarkable book. Seldom is the dictum: "A picture is worth a thousand words" more appropriate. Shootback provides a candid window into hard places and hard times, but never loses hope, because it is framed through the eyes and described in the words of young people. The book is far more than the sum total of its photographs. Rarely do slum dwellers -- even less the children of the slum -- get to tell us the story of their lives and communities. Shootback therefore provides an insider's view of a slum community with all its energy and resilience. I heartily recommend a wonderful book. Prepare to be both troubled and inspired!

Shootback is an awesome book. I spent the last 5 months in Kenya going to school and it is the only way that one can truely understand the horrors of the slums of a third world country. These kids who live there are being given an oppertunity that they never would have gotten otherwise. They get the chance to share with the world and reach people who might be able to make a difference for them. This is no ordinary touristy book about the incredible country of Kenya, this shows the way that many of it's people live. Shootback shares the inside of the slums like nothing else. A normal tourist couldn't go there, let alone bring a camera there. I want to say thanks to the author and creator of the Shootback ministry. You help people see the real side of Kenya.

I first saw this book while I lived in Kenya and I thought it was a great pictorial of life in the slums of Narobi, as I witnessed first-hand.

Intense, graphic, artistic, authentic and shocking, this photo book captures life in a Kenyan slum through the eyes of the kids who live there. Having visited a slum in Kenya, this is a very realistic glimpse of everyday life there amidst the debris, daily tragedy, sickness, crime, and poverty. BUT, it also tells the story of children and families who are unbelievably resilient and manage to find some hope and happiness despite where they are. Having dear friends who grew up in a slum there and who got lucky one way or another to find a way out to receive a solid education and now good jobs, I know that the kids in this book who may seem to have no futures, could rise and shine if given the chance. A must read for all of us if we want to know how millions of people around the world live, and how we might make healthier and brighter futures possible for them.

I purchased this book because I was going to the Mathare Valley as a missionary and wanted to share with others what the experience was like. The book does a great job of depicting life as it is in the Mathare Valley in Nariboi, Kenya.

Lana Wong has done a great job of putting together a remarkable collection of some of the best adolescent photography the world has seen. Not only are the photos an accurate portrayal of the desperate lives thesechildren and thier families lead, but they are full of expression. The MYSA Shootback project has helped these children find talemts they never expected they had, or never had the opportuniy to nurture. Lana Wong has done a beautiful thing for so many people, if you are interested in africa and photography, this book is a must.

Lana Wong has done a great job of putting together a remarkable collection of some of the best adolescent photography the world has seen. Not only are the photos an accurate portrayal of the desperate lives thesechildren and thier families lead, but they are full of expression. The MYSA Shootback project has helped these children find talemts they never expected they had, or never had the opportuniy to nurture. Lana Wong has done a beautiful thing for so many people, if you are interested in africa and photography, this book is a must.

This book is a great collection of pictures from Mathare, but it is no replacement for going there. I just returned from spending the last five weeks in Mathare and neighboring Eastleigh, where some of the worst poverty in the world exists. The book portrays graphic images and does a wonderful job of trying to capture the stark reality of the plight of these kids.

As someone who has sat with the street children in their bases, the book does as good of a job as you can get with pictures alone, but it is simply no substitute for being there.