Corinne Hofmann

Corinne Hofmann, daughter of a French mother and a German father, was born on 4th June 1960 in Frauenfeld, Switzerland. At the age of 21, she opened a boutique where she sold bridal gown and second hand-clothes. During a trip to Kenya in 1986 with her then-boyfriend she met Lketinga Leparmorijo, a Samburu-warrior, who she was instantly fascinated from. Half a year later and back in Switzerland, she decided to find the stranger, which was not that easy since she only had photos and he lived in the bush near Barsaloi, a small village in northern Kenya, hundreds of miles away from Mombasa, where she had met him first. After three months and an adventurous travel through Nairobi and Maralal, she finally found him. Things worked out the way she had wished with all her heart; they lived together in a cow dung and mud hut and married in 1988. At that time, Corinne opened a shop to ensure the tribe's supply with nourishments, which improved the people's situation enormously. Corinne got pregnant soon, but also became seriously ill and was forced to stay at the hospital in Wamba for several weeks. Fortunately, she recovered and gave birth to their daughter Napirai. Everything seemed to be alright, when Lketinga started to become more and more jealous. He accused his wife of having relationships to other men, which was just disgracing since the only thing Corinne wanted was stay with her beloved man and their little girl. The situation exacerbated, also because Corinne became ill again and could not run her shop anymore. The couple decided to move to Mombasa, where they opened a new shop for tourists. Even though their financial situation became better, the relationship between Corinne and Lketinga did not recover. In 1990, Corinne finally left her husband and went back to Switzerland. She had several successful jobs and, around 1997, started to write the first novel about her life in Kenya; a second one about the time back in Europe ("Back From Africa"). After more than 14 years, she visited Barsaloi for the first time since her flight. Her Kenyan family welcomed her warmly and Corinne was especially happy to see her former mother-in-law again. She also visited the shootings to the movie "The White Massai" and got to know Nina Hoss, who portrayed her. The novel about her travel to Kenya is called "Reunion in Barsaloi".