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Chronic violence has characterized Somalia for over two decades, forcing nearly two million people to flee. A significant number have settled in camps in neighboring countries, where children were born and raised. Based on in-depth fieldwork, this book explores the experience of Somalis who grew up in Kakuma refugee camp, in Kenya, and are now young adults. This original study carefully considers how young people perceive their living environment and how growing up in exile structures their view of the past and their country of origin, and the future and its possibilities.
“The book does a fantastic job of providing a realistic view of the camp and exploring its habitants’ complex relationship with it… Through writing the book, Grayson gave a voice to a group of people who have for almost all of their lives been voiceless. I highly recommend Children of the Camp.” • AmeriQuests
“Children of the Camp is an ambitious and timely ethnographic approach to understanding the experiences of Somali youth who have lived all or most of their lives in a refugee camp in Kenya… [It] will be an important read for anyone interested in youth in protracted refugee status.” • Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees
“This is an outstanding and original contribution to scholarship in both refugee studies and anthropology. Rarely does one get such candid portraits of refugee youth, their rich yet truncated lives in extended exile, and the hopes they hold on to.” • Jennifer Hyndman, York University, Canada
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Maps
Chapter 1. The Past is a Foreign Country
Chapter 2. Kakuma is Another Planet
Chapter 3. Growing Up in Kakuma: This is Home
Chapter 4. The Somali Way: Ethnocultural Diversity and Cultural Preservation
Chapter 5. A World in Movement: The Camp as a Connected Place
Chapter 6. They Promised Us America: A Story of Deception and Mistrust
Chapter 7. Through Their Eyes: Representation and Self-Representation
Chapter 8. In Memory of the Future
Chapter 9. A Note on Life after the Camp
Chapter 10. Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendix: A Short Overview of Key Informants
Index