There are no cars on Lamu, a small island on the archipelago at the northernmost tip of Kenya’s coastline. To get around you go on foot, by motorbike, or by donkey – the latter can be found in their hundreds amid the dunes that define this untouched landscape. It is here that Umra Omar, a mother of two and woman with a mission, has made her home.
She is the founder of Safari Doctors, a non-profit organisation that provides medical care for people living in the most remote parts of the country.
As a young girl, Umra was raised by her grandmother and other family members on an island close to Lamu. Since then, she has lived in Nairobi, a boarding school in Wales, and the US, where she met Ziggy, an artist of Ethiopian heritage and the father of her children. It was during a rare trip back to Lamu, eight years ago, that Umra first discussed her wish to return, permanently.
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One of her friends took her on a late afternoon stroll to a piece of land he knew was for sale. ‘We headed out of the village, across the sand dunes, and there was this beautiful place,’ she recalls. ‘I was mesmerised. I could already see my children running around there, and myself enjoying a cup of tea in a hammock. Not long after, I bought the land. Back then it was a blank canvas, just sand.’
It took two years to dig a well on the newly purchased plot, and Umra hired a gardener to plant mango, apple and olive trees, as well as palms. Once the land was ready, she and a number of friends built a neighbourhood school and hired a teacher. Only after that was completed did the construction of her own house begin. Placed on wooden stilts atop one of the highest dunes in the area, it’s magical, especially at sunset.
‘We wanted an intimate yet open space; the idea of a New York loft, but with local architecture,’ explains Umra.
‘When I was pregnant with my daughter, Azza, now five, we added a treehouse for guests. I didn’t want them to suffer from broken sleep because of the baby.’ Those days are over now, and the structure serves mainly as a playground for Azza and her brother, Bwana, who explore the beaches as Umra once did, followed by a pack of pets – dogs, cats and a donkey named Che. ‘It is very relaxed here and there is a strong sense of community,’ adds Umra. ‘When I want to chill with a friend after work, my niece takes care of the children. Everyone looks out for each other; doors are rarely locked.’
This idyll will take effort to maintain, but Umra is prepared to put in the hard work. ‘There is a lot to be done,’ she admits, ‘tackling environmental pollution, fishing could be more sustainable, the infrastructure better, and rapid population growth is also something that needs to be handled wisely. But I’m ready.’ You’d be foolish to doubt her. safaridoctors.org
