The blast from a bus horn disturbs the calm of dawn in the city of Kisumu, western Kenya, signalling the arrival of another cargo of traumatised passengers.

At a makeshift transit centre near the shores of Lake Victoria, where local church groups are providing food, medical care and onward passage to victims of violence further east, the vehicle pulls in. Its passengers step down to recount the terrifying ordeal that has forced them back to a region many left generations ago in search of better livelihoods. Some were witness to forced circumcisions and beheadings. Others were warned to leave or expect the same.