Why Torvenis exists

Torvenis started as an informal habit among a few reporters in Nairobi who kept asking each other the same question before starting anything new: is this actually worth the time it will take? Over several years that habit turned into a structured practice, first for a handful of colleagues and then for anyone who found it useful.

What holds the work together is a plain conviction: a story is only as strong as the thinking that went into deciding it was worth pursuing, and the honesty with which its evidence is described once gathered. We're not editors and we don't shape the final piece. We help with the decisions that come before and around it.

The name comes from a mapmaker's habit of marking a fixed point before setting out — something to return to when the terrain gets confusing. That's the role we try to play across a project.