This has to be the love story of the year!!!!! Alissa is from Minnesota while Sam is born & bred from Kibera. So how did these two lovebirds come to meet?
Alissa had come to Kenya and for several months she had been working with the people living in Kibera. For several months as she took the Matatu (Public transport) home she would spot Sam, a young talented man who ran his own Africanised jewellery store just by the road side. One fine day, as Sam was having a banana next to his shop, he spotted a beautiful white lady seated on the right hand side of the Matatu. He was mesmerised by what he saw and with the last remaining 5 shillings that he had in his pocket, he decided to buy her a banana too. So he asked the nice lady at the shop for another banana and went to give it to the beautiful lady that he had just spotted. Luck was not on his side, since as soon as he got to the window next to where she sat, the matatu sped off. He ran after it but it was too late, the matatu had left and so had the girl of his dreams.
A week later Sam had taken his merchandise to sell off at a nearby mall, Prestige Mall. Incidentally, Alissa had also gone for shopping at the mall and she spotted Sam. She approached Sam & asked him if he remembered her, to which Sam happily replied to “Yes, I remember you, you are my mandizi (Banana) girl”!!! and the rest as they say, is history.
That was a few years back, today their fairy tale romance has blossomed to an amazing love. Sam & Alissa are getting married soon & they asked Faith & I to document their dating life in form of some fun engagement photos. When Alissa 1st emailed me, she told me that she wanted the shoot to be done in Kibera. I was so intrigued and this is what Alissa told me why she thought Kibera was the ideal location for the shoot…
We feel that Kibera has such a bad reputation, but we are living proof that beautiful things come out of difficult circumstances – so it would be a joy to show the other side of the slum : )
And with that we were hooked. So, a few days ago Faith & I travelled down to Kibera and we had a blast shooting Alissa & Sam….they have to be one of the most loveliest, down-to-earth & in love couples we have come across…I am sure you will enjoy these images…
Cinematography :: Jazanda Wedding Films
Slum Tour-guide :: Diddy (0728167336) who runs the blog Diddy’s Kibera Tours
Our canvas for the day, the sprawling Kibera slum
We had 3 locations in mind for the shoot. Location 1 was a location that served like a social centre where the young people in Kibera gathered for sports & socialising too.
The graffiti on the walls had been done by one of Kenya’s finest graffiti’s artists Bankslave
Diddy who was our tour-guide informed us that the place had been renovated after the 2007/8 post election violence
Loved the view from the top of their shoes… they do have good taste in footwear
Close-up of her engagement ring
Hahahahah funny people they be 
They are so very in love
You can never go wrong with a kiss on the forehead
I absolutely loved the graffiti on this wall, absolutely incredible
Loved Sam’s dreads much…really wonder how long it took him to grow them this long
Alissa requested us to do a shot by this wall with the words Upendo (Love) inscribed on it
Loved this ones
Then we stepped outside for some portraits for Sam
One of my favourite shots of the day
And when I asked them to whip their hair…we got this shot!!!
And this wall had my fav graffiti
And we got the two cutest rabbits that were being sold at the Social centre & they made some pretty cool subjects
And then we got some boxing gloves too…too cool
Hahahaha spot that young protege at the back
After the tough match the reward was well worth it
Caught this shot as Faith was checking out Alissa’s engagement ring
Hahahaha loved this shot too much
Sam here with our slum guide Diddy
They had a change of outfits and we also discovered a super cool railway. And since the train was away we decided to play about
And Alissa made an amazing model
Absolutely loved her earrings…they made a statement all by themselves
We loved the little kids much and we were glad they were able to stay and be part of the shoot
Hahahaha
Despite the many number of people moving about the railway…Alissa & Sam rocked it
Hahahaha Alissa making a face at the ogling boys
With the kids….wonderful company they were
Hahahaha the faces on those kids made my day
Loved this shot much….especially the old TVs at the bottom
And we decided to recreate how they met….so that when it gets to the part where Sam has to explain to their babies how he met their mother, he will have photographic evidence
And he spots Alissa, this is Sam offering to buy for Alissa a banana
And Alissa tasted the banana & saw that it was good!
And when he asked her, will you be my wife….
She said yes
At this point in time it was getting crazy all up in the places, with crowds gathering all about…we had to call it a night…just that Kibera would go back to life once again
We had to take a shot with the entire team. From L-R : Alissa, Sam, Ben, Faith, Jess & Josh from Jazanda
Us with Alissa & Sam, wonderful people they were….& it was a real pleasure getting to shoot their beautiful engagement.
Here’s their video as shown in AM Live
Thank you guys for dropping by…we really appreciate it much.
God bless y’all
The Kiruthis