Boniface Mwangi (born July 10, 1983) is an award-winning Kenyan
photojournalist involved in social-political activism through his initiative
Team Courage. Team Courage is a movement that aims to instill a sense of hope
and self-belief in a generation of young change makers by enabling patriotic
citizens to take bold and effective actions in building a new Kenya. He is
known for his images of the post-election violence that hit Kenya in 2007–2008.
He is also the founder of Picha Mtaani, a youth-led peace initiative that
primarily seeks to create space for young people to reconcile and become agents
of reconciliation to their respective communities.
Born in Taveta, on the Kenya-Tanzania border, His mother was
a business woman who traded across the border. Mwangi was moved to live with
his grandparents' home in Nyeri, Central Kenya, when he was six years old. He
would encounter linguistic challenges, having learned Kiswahili from birth –
the country's national language that is widely spoken across East and Central
Africa – although Gikuyu is the language most spoken in Central Kenya.
Mwangi later moved with his mother to live in Nairobi’s
low-income suburb of Ngara, then a highrise in Majengo, Githurai 45, before
finally settling in Pangani. Mwangi dropped in and out of school during this
period and helped his mother vend books.
He is married to Hellen Njeri Mwangi, who works with him on
his initiatives and is the mother of their three children (Simphiwe, Sifa, and
Mboya).
He can be reached through his website www.bonifacemwangi.com
