Lodwar

“Thank you for your generosity.  Tonight there will be smoke coming from every household!”  When Rose told me this was what one of the Turkana tribe members said to her I didn’t understand what it meant.  After spending a little more time with them I realized they were saying every family would be building a fire to cook with that night. This is not a daily guarantee for the people of the Kakwanyang village.

Before the plane touched down in Lodwar you could feel the temperature rising in this desert like region. Rose and I were traveling with her friend, Pastor George who has already done some mission work in this area and had friends who could show us around the different villages.  Driving from the airport (landing strip with a tent) I was already left speechless from the living conditions- or lack thereof.  We drove about 20 kilometers out of the city to visit one of the many communities that has no food and not many options of how to acquire any.  Once outside of the city there were no roads or really any sign of life besides the women walking their goats.  After a few random turns in the sand path we came upon a cluster of grass huts belonging to the community we were going to visit.  We were greeted by a young mother breast feeding an infant followed by several more half-dressed children. Many of these grass homes don’t even have roofs because it keeps them cooler at night.  If by chance it does rain they seek shelter in one with a roof.  They don’t have to worry about their belonging because they don’t have any.

In this particular village there is one primary school.  When Rose inquired more about their educational goals we found out there aren’t many.  For the entire school (1^st through 8^th grade) there are two teachers.  But, they rarely have to worry about teaching because the children only come to school when food can be provided. Due to obvious circumstances, this hasn’t been much recently.  Rose and I had originally planned to supply food in 3 different villages, but the large population of the first one made us realize the supplies were not going to make it anywhere else. These people are helped by larger NGOs, but can only rely on them to bring food every one to three months.  When this runs out the women make a few brooms and baskets (the only items exported from the region)  then travel the entire day to town in hopes of selling a few for 10-50 shillings, equivalent to less than a dollar.  If they are unable to sell their baskets then they are forced to slaughter whatever livestock they have to feed their families. 

There are so many things that need to develop in the Turkana area, with the biggest problem being lack of education.  But how are you supposed to teach starving children?  When young girls are given the opportunity to go to school many of them will drop out between the ages of 12 and 14 because their parents force them to get married so they can receive the dowry.  The only option for dowry is livestock so in famine stricken areas this seems to be well worth trading your daughter for.

What bothers me the most is Northern Kenya did not become this way overnight.  And yes, the drought has increased the starvation severely, but these people were short on food before.  I think this famine might be a blessing in disguise for the long term wellbeing of the Turkana people.  The international attention it has received will hopefully mean some investments will be made in sustainability for the area.  No human being should have to live under these circumstances.  As my eyes are opened to more and more layers of poverty I wonder how there can be such contrast in the world. 

While we do not have the resources for development in the area, Rose is hoping to at least help keep these children from going to bed hungry at night.  If anyone has any questions about how to help with the Lodwar Feeding Project, please, please, contact me.  These people need all the help they can get.