Reporters on the Job

• Early Introductions: When he was in Kenya ahead of the presidential elections, staff writer Scott Baldauf visited Nairobi's Kibera slum. He wanted to meet people trying to improve conditions there, including a group who started a radio station there (see story). "I wanted to see what Kibera was like, as it's the main slum in Nairobi, with 1.2 million people," he says. Scott, who is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, notes that the black township of Soweto there is larger, but Kibera is much poorer.

As it turned out, his visit before violence broke out after the polls proved very helpful. "When the results came out, Kibera became something of a war zone and the place to pay attention to as there is a mix of ethnicities there," says Scott. "Armed gangs took over. Because I had visited before, when I went in later, I had good contacts whom I'd met in better times – people who could guide me through. In fact, one of the men at the radio station worked with me as a driver, and he was particularly helpful."

– Amelia Newcomb

Deputy World editor