DAVID WALEGA Photography

Africa

When I visited in 2002, the world was a much different place. The land line-based communication systems of sub-Saharan Africa were abysmal with little to no expectation of repair. Cell phone adoption had only just begun to emerge. No one, including the army, owned a cell phone.  People received most of their information through the radio and word of mouth. Cell phones were for the workers of the non-government organizations, SUVs crisscrossing the countryside, going from one relocation camp to the next. Each one filled with internally-displaced people, regular civilians moved around like chess pieces manipulated between the government and the rebel factions.