DOL-DOL, 5 October 2009 (IRIN) - Traditionally, life for women in pastoralist communities in the central Kenya region of Laikipia revolves around taking care of their children, leaving the men to provide for the family. However, a prolonged drought in the area, which has resulted in significant livestock deaths, has seen these roles reversed, with more women venturing into small-scale business to feed their families. Government officials estimate that at least 600,000 livestock (cattle, sheep and goats) have died in the past three months in the area. Dorcas Piroris, 50, from Olkinyei in Laikipia North District, is selling tourist trinkets to supplement her family’s income. She spoke to IRIN in the town of Dol-Dol on 5 October:
"This is the worst year that I have witnessed in my life; everything seems to be going against tradition and we do not know when things will improve.
"As you can see, there are no animals around this place. When the livestock started dying due to drought, our men took them far away to Mt Kenya in search of pasture. Some people had lost more than half of their herds by the time they left for the mountain.
"After a very long journey, some of our men, including my husband Solomon Lelongo, came back empty-handed; all the animals had died in the forest due to the cold, harsh weather there.
“As a result, an [NGO] mobilized women to seek alternative ways of feeding their families as we wait for the rains. I started selling these wares [walking sticks, leather belts and other items, all decorated with colourful beads] to get cash to buy essentials for my husband and our seven children because the relief supplies of maize, beans and oil that we get from the government and other donor agencies are not enough.
“I am finding it difficult since all along, since my childhood when I was married off by my parents, I have been relying on my husband to provide for me and these wares were the preserve for people with curio shops.
“I and some of my friends have yet to get used to the new role and we are hoping it will rain soon so that things can go back to the way they were.
"Life is difficult since most people do not have money to buy our wares. We usually send some of our colleagues and young men to Nairobi or Nakuru to buy the materials we use to make these wares. Some of us have yet to recoup what we initially spent when we started this job, nearly two months ago.
“The major problem is getting customers because we do not have a selling point like those in curio shops. We rely on people to come to our homes. The few who do, buy our wares cheaply, thereby giving me a very small profit margin.
“Today, I came to Dol-Dol following an invitation by a group [an NGO] that came up with this idea and assisted us in starting this business.
“Although it is dry at times, I have never witnessed a situation where we are forced to buy milk for our children as is the case now. How I hope it will rain soon."
wm/js/mw
1. novembra 2009
 Photo: Wilfred Muchire/IRIN  |
| Dorcas Pirosis (centre) with the trinkets she is selling in order to feed her family |
"This is the worst year that I have witnessed in my life; everything seems to be going against tradition and we do not know when things will improve.
"As you can see, there are no animals around this place. When the livestock started dying due to drought, our men took them far away to Mt Kenya in search of pasture. Some people had lost more than half of their herds by the time they left for the mountain.
"After a very long journey, some of our men, including my husband Solomon Lelongo, came back empty-handed; all the animals had died in the forest due to the cold, harsh weather there.
“As a result, an [NGO] mobilized women to seek alternative ways of feeding their families as we wait for the rains. I started selling these wares [walking sticks, leather belts and other items, all decorated with colourful beads] to get cash to buy essentials for my husband and our seven children because the relief supplies of maize, beans and oil that we get from the government and other donor agencies are not enough.
“I am finding it difficult since all along, since my childhood when I was married off by my parents, I have been relying on my husband to provide for me and these wares were the preserve for people with curio shops.
“I and some of my friends have yet to get used to the new role and we are hoping it will rain soon so that things can go back to the way they were.
"Life is difficult since most people do not have money to buy our wares. We usually send some of our colleagues and young men to Nairobi or Nakuru to buy the materials we use to make these wares. Some of us have yet to recoup what we initially spent when we started this job, nearly two months ago.
“The major problem is getting customers because we do not have a selling point like those in curio shops. We rely on people to come to our homes. The few who do, buy our wares cheaply, thereby giving me a very small profit margin.
“Today, I came to Dol-Dol following an invitation by a group [an NGO] that came up with this idea and assisted us in starting this business.
“Although it is dry at times, I have never witnessed a situation where we are forced to buy milk for our children as is the case now. How I hope it will rain soon."
wm/js/mw
Maasajovia nutení rozpredávať dobytok
KISERIAN, 21 August 2009 (IRIN) - A few months ago, cattle traders in Kiserian livestock market in Kajiado District, southwest of Nairobi, could sell a cow for up to KSh15,000 [US$200], but that has drastically changed.
"There is a lot of hunger; most pastoralists are selling their cattle at the market to buy other foodstuffs," Jane Sayena from Magadi, another town in Kajiado, said.
Four years of consecutive poor rains, experts say, have pushed communities in Kenya's eastern, northern and southern pastoral zones to the limit, finally forcing them to hurriedly sell off their herds for a pittance.
"It hurts to see the pastoralists selling their cows for as little at KSh500 [$6.50]," Sayena told IRIN. "Sometimes [they] cry... but it is better than seeing animals dying at home."
Livestock accounts for 80 percent of household income in some pastoral areas. Since the drought, the pastoralists have tried to cope by feeding their goats wet paper and slaughtering new-born calves to save lactating animals, but most animals have ended up in poor health.
Others tried to migrate to other areas, but the situation has grown worse. In northern Marsabit and Samburu, up to 20 percent of cattle and sheep have died - and the figure could rise to 50 percent if the drought continues, according to the Kenya Food Security Steering Group (KFSSG).
"If I sell even one cow, the children can at least get food," said John Ole Kopito, a pastoralist from Kajiado, which borders Tanzania to the southwest.
For a month, Ole Kopito has visited the livestock market every morning to try to sell a cow. None of the six cows he kept at a stall inside the market had sold during the month.
"It is costly keeping the cows here but I cannot take them back home as there is no grass," the father of six said. At the market, he pays to keep the cows fed and watered.
Most affected
Kenya's pastoral regions have experienced rainfall deficits of up to 50 percent, the KFSSG said in a 20 August assessment. Even where some rains have fallen, environmental degradation due to charcoal burning, for example, has reduced the rate at which surface water sources recharge and pastures regenerate.
Overall, food security had been affected by poor pasture, deteriorating terms of trade, near total crop failure in agro-pastoral zones and acute water shortages.
In West Pokot along the Ugandan border, for example, six goats will buy only a 90kg bag of dry maize. Nationally, maize prices have doubled due to poor yields.
Pastoralists source more than half their food from the market, so they are very susceptible to market and climatic shocks. "The most likely scenario before the onset of the next season is worsening food insecurity in the pastoral areas," KFSSG warned.
Milk availability had also fallen and as a result, malnutrition levels have risen. Traditionally, production by the hardier camels would remain the main source, but even that has declined by up to 70 percent per day.
"We are being forced to skip lunch to have supper," said Joseph Ole Ntiyoine, a resident of Magadi. "We are also substituting ugali [a maize meal] for uji [maize porridge] to make ends meet... milk is now history in my house."
Ole Ntiyoine's herd has been reduced to 60 from 118. On a typical day, his family of four has black tea for breakfast and ugali mixed with cooking fat for lunch or supper.
Vouchers
According to Louise Finan, regional communications officer for Concern Worldwide, most people in drought-affected regions have to rely on food aid.
Concern is providing Plumpy’nut to severely malnourished children and supporting feeding sites for severely malnourished children and pregnant and lactating mothers, Finan told IRIN.
Working with local partners, it is also providing food vouchers in Kajiado, Marsabit and Moyale. Some 1,350 households will benefit in Moyale until December, along with 500 in Marsabit. Another 1,200 in Kajiado are waiting for a second round of vouchers.
The pastoralists are also being supported by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Projects under the Emergency Response Fund have received funding for destocking and meat distribution in Isiolo and Marsabit.
According to KFSSG, sustained poor rains could undermine the very viability of pastoralist livelihoods, which have been hit by drought, migration, conflict and disease.
"People are stressed. Every time you go home, the cows have died, there's no food," Ole Ntiyoine said. "The cows are our [source of livelihood]... if the cows die, that is it."
Deti na pokraji smrti
Pôrod bol rovnako bolestivý ako obriezka
KENYA: Selling the cows to feed the children
 Photo: Mike Pflanz/IRIN |
| Up to 50 percent of cows in some parts of northern kenya could die if the drought persists (file photo) |
"There is a lot of hunger; most pastoralists are selling their cattle at the market to buy other foodstuffs," Jane Sayena from Magadi, another town in Kajiado, said.
Four years of consecutive poor rains, experts say, have pushed communities in Kenya's eastern, northern and southern pastoral zones to the limit, finally forcing them to hurriedly sell off their herds for a pittance.
"It hurts to see the pastoralists selling their cows for as little at KSh500 [$6.50]," Sayena told IRIN. "Sometimes [they] cry... but it is better than seeing animals dying at home."
Livestock accounts for 80 percent of household income in some pastoral areas. Since the drought, the pastoralists have tried to cope by feeding their goats wet paper and slaughtering new-born calves to save lactating animals, but most animals have ended up in poor health.
Others tried to migrate to other areas, but the situation has grown worse. In northern Marsabit and Samburu, up to 20 percent of cattle and sheep have died - and the figure could rise to 50 percent if the drought continues, according to the Kenya Food Security Steering Group (KFSSG).
"If I sell even one cow, the children can at least get food," said John Ole Kopito, a pastoralist from Kajiado, which borders Tanzania to the southwest.
For a month, Ole Kopito has visited the livestock market every morning to try to sell a cow. None of the six cows he kept at a stall inside the market had sold during the month.
"It is costly keeping the cows here but I cannot take them back home as there is no grass," the father of six said. At the market, he pays to keep the cows fed and watered.
 Photo: Anthony Morland/IRIN  |
| A Turkana girl waters camels from a hole dug in a dry river bed near Kenya’s border with Uganda (file photo): Even camel milk production has gone down as the drought intensifies |
Kenya's pastoral regions have experienced rainfall deficits of up to 50 percent, the KFSSG said in a 20 August assessment. Even where some rains have fallen, environmental degradation due to charcoal burning, for example, has reduced the rate at which surface water sources recharge and pastures regenerate.
Overall, food security had been affected by poor pasture, deteriorating terms of trade, near total crop failure in agro-pastoral zones and acute water shortages.
In West Pokot along the Ugandan border, for example, six goats will buy only a 90kg bag of dry maize. Nationally, maize prices have doubled due to poor yields.
Pastoralists source more than half their food from the market, so they are very susceptible to market and climatic shocks. "The most likely scenario before the onset of the next season is worsening food insecurity in the pastoral areas," KFSSG warned.
Milk availability had also fallen and as a result, malnutrition levels have risen. Traditionally, production by the hardier camels would remain the main source, but even that has declined by up to 70 percent per day.
"We are being forced to skip lunch to have supper," said Joseph Ole Ntiyoine, a resident of Magadi. "We are also substituting ugali [a maize meal] for uji [maize porridge] to make ends meet... milk is now history in my house."
Ole Ntiyoine's herd has been reduced to 60 from 118. On a typical day, his family of four has black tea for breakfast and ugali mixed with cooking fat for lunch or supper.
Vouchers
According to Louise Finan, regional communications officer for Concern Worldwide, most people in drought-affected regions have to rely on food aid.
Concern is providing Plumpy’nut to severely malnourished children and supporting feeding sites for severely malnourished children and pregnant and lactating mothers, Finan told IRIN.
Working with local partners, it is also providing food vouchers in Kajiado, Marsabit and Moyale. Some 1,350 households will benefit in Moyale until December, along with 500 in Marsabit. Another 1,200 in Kajiado are waiting for a second round of vouchers.
The pastoralists are also being supported by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Projects under the Emergency Response Fund have received funding for destocking and meat distribution in Isiolo and Marsabit.
According to KFSSG, sustained poor rains could undermine the very viability of pastoralist livelihoods, which have been hit by drought, migration, conflict and disease.
"People are stressed. Every time you go home, the cows have died, there's no food," Ole Ntiyoine said. "The cows are our [source of livelihood]... if the cows die, that is it."
Deti na pokraji smrti
KENYA: "Children are on the brink of death" in northeast
"I decided to migrate from Losuk [in Samburu District] to save the remaining livestock and my family, but they almost perished along the way," Joseph Lemanyan, a livestock keeper, said. "Most [of my livestock] died as we migrated. My youngest child, a girl, became ill and died on the way." Lemanyan's family is among hundreds to have moved south to the foothills of Mount Kenya, but there they lost more cattle because of the cold weather. "I arrived here [in August] with 42 [heads of] cattle... half of them have died due to cold here," said the father of five, who left Losuk after losing 64 heads of cattle within three months. The death of so many cattle has reduced the supply of milk, which should form a large part of the daily diet of children. "Children are on the brink of death... The numbers of malnourished children coming to our feeding centres is going up and up and we expect it to get worse," Catherine Fitzgibbon, Save the Children’s deputy director in Kenya, said on 22 September. "If we cannot get more food or cash to the region urgently to help families buy food, more children will die."
Most of the rural population in the areas where Save the Children is working is heavily dependent on relief food and many children are eating only one meal a day, of corn porridge. "This poor diet means they are missing out on vital nutrients, which can mean they grow up stunted and their brains and bodies can suffer permanent damage," the organization said. Since July, the number of severely malnourished children seeking treatment at its northeastern emergency feeding centres has increased by 25 percent. Molu Sora, the programme manager in the Marsabit Arid Lands Resource Management office, said livestock had also died across the rangelands stretching between Kenya and Ethiopia. "Animal carcasses are all over the place," he said. As a result, many families, mostly comprising women and children, are trekking long distances to save remaining livestock herds, said Francis Merinyi, a child rights activist with the ILAMAIYO community group in Laikipia. School attendance Merinyi said a survey conducted in Laikipia West District in August found that about 900 children had left school to join the migrating herds. More children had also been forced to work. Increased conflicts among pastoralists have also been reported. On 15 September, at least 400 Pokot raiders attacked Samburu manyattas (homesteads), killing 21 residents. Eleven raiders were also killed, according to the Kenya Red Cross. Observers say El Niño-related short rains, expected from mid-September to December, could either help or aggravate the situation. "The government and donors need to be aware of the changing climate now and in future, and shape their policies accordingly," Philippa Crosland-Taylor, head of Oxfam GB in Kenya, said in August. "Emergency aid is urgently needed now, but in the long term we need to rethink policies to focus on mitigating the risks of droughts before they occur, rather than rushing in food aid when it is too late." na-aw/mw | ||||
Theme(s): (IRIN) Children, (IRIN) Environment, (IRIN) Health & Nutrition, (IRIN) Natural Disasters [ENDS] | ||||
Faith Mukwanyaga, "Giving birth was like being circumcised all over again" | ||
| August 2009 (IRIN) | ||
"Circumcision was something I looked forward to, knowing it would mean I had become a woman at last. I knew that women who were not circumcised never got married and never earned the respect of the community - I saw them discriminated against by their peers, and I didn't want to be like them. "One day when I was nine years old, my family prepared a large amount of traditional brew and lots of women came to my house to cook a feast. I knew my circumcision was soon because my female relatives had been preparing me for the pain of the cut by pinching me in the days before. I and several other girls were then stripped naked and wrapped in blankets before being washed; the ladies sang for us as the circumciser cut the girls one by one - she used the same tool. "The pain was indescribable - my whole body hurt, I almost fainted. I bled so much that I had to have special herbs put on the wound to stop the bleeding. I then spent several days alone at home healing. One lady was assigned to me to wash me and feed me and ensure I healed properly. During the healing period, I was taught other things; I was prepared for sex and marriage. "When I got married, I found it difficult to enjoy sex; although I had a healthy sex drive, my husband found it very difficult to please me sexually, and I have always felt that something was missing from my sex life. "Giving birth was terrible. Each time I gave birth, the scarring from my circumcision meant I had severe vaginal tearing and bleeding, and I had to stay in the hospital for about a week after birth, when other women went home the same day they delivered. Giving birth was like being circumcised all over again. "I would never allow my girls to go through circumcision - the physical effects alone are a terrible and painful burden, but even the counselling I received after the cut [only] prepared me for marriage. My peers who were never circumcised all went on to complete school and have successful careers, but I had been told the most important thing in life is to be married and respected in the community; many of these women never married, but because of their careers they are respected. "Today I tell young girls about my own experience so that they can aspire to greater things than just marriage; they should seek education, not the pain and suffering of female circumcision." |
Problémy, ktoré nútia maasajov opúsťať domovy a tradície
3 najzávažnejšie problémy, ktorým musia masajovia v dnešnej dobe čeliť:
1. akútny nedostatok vody v oblasti kde žijú
Masajci od dávna žijú v imimoriadne suchých oblastiach, bez vodných zdrojov. Donedávna boli schopní sa s touto situáciou vysporiadať. V obodobí dažďov pestovali základne a odolné plodiny, ako kukurica, fazuľa, kasava. Tieto plodiny využívali práve v ťažšom období sucha. V období sucha muži tradične opúšťajú domovy a presúvajú sa aj s dobytkom za pastvinami, najčastejšie niekoľko desitok až stoviek kilometrov do susednej Tanzánie.
V období dažďov sa masajovia delia o vodu s dobytkom a divokými zvieratami. Takáto voda samozrejme nie je bezpečná a ohrozuje zdravie a životy ľudí, hlavne malých detí a tehotných žien. V tomto období sa často šíri cholera, a obyvateľov sužujú úporné hnačky, na ktoré najčastejšie doplácajú opäť deti.
Rodičia detí musia zabezpečiť cca 10 l vody na týždeň pre každé dieťa, napríklad na prípravu stravy atď. Vačšina masajov žujúcich v buši musí denne prejsť cca 10 km po vodu.
2. nedostupná zdravotná starostlivosť
Njačastejšími zdravotnými problémami masajov, su infekcie dýchacích ciest, malária, tuberkulóza, HIV/AIDS, zápal očných spojiviek, hnačky. Masajovia majú minimálny prístup k informáciám ako sa chrániť, nemajú možnosť poznať svoj status. Veľké množstvo detí do 5 rokov zomiera práve na maláriu, či hnačky, kotré su veľmi jednoducho liečiteľné.
Kliniky sa väššonou nachádzajú príliš ďaleko od obydlí, a navyše zdravotná starostlivosť ako aj lieky si musia ľudia plne hradiť. z tohto dôvodu siahajú po tradičných metódach, navštevujú miestnych šamanov a varia odvary byliniek, ktoré samozrejme nemajú ani zďaľeka takú účinnosť ako moderné lieky.
3. Vzdelávanie
vzdeávanie masajských detí je problémom hlavne kvôli nedostatku finančných prostriedkov potrebných na pokrytie výdavkov spojených so vzdelávaním, veľké vzdialenosti ako aj maly počet škôl. Školy sú v nevyhovujúcom stave, a deti začínajú navštevovať školy príliš neskoro práve kvoli veľkej vzdialenosti. Deti musia denne kráčať do školy aj niekoľko kilometrov a nezriedka sa stane, že dieťa je zo školy vylúčené kvoli tomu, že nemá učebnice, či uniformu. Vzdelávanie je jedno z troch najkritckejších problémov v masajlande,popri nedostatku vody a dostupnosti zdravotnej starostlivosti.
4. Vznik prírodných rezervácií a parkov
vytláča masajov z ich prirodzeného prostredia, ktorého po stáročia boli súčasťou. Vznikom parkov a rezervácií, ktoré sú strážené a nepovoľujú pasenie dobytka prichádzajú masajovia o možnosť pásť svoje stáda na miestach ich predkov.
5. Konflikt medzi divokou prírodou ľuďmi
konflikt medzi masajmi a divokou prírodou rastie zo dňa a pre masajov je čoraz ťažie žiť v harmónii s prírodou, tak ako tomu bolo v minulosti. Umelo vytvárané hranice parkov, zákaz lovenia zvery, slony, ktoré ničia obydlia a napádajú ľudí, zemnšovanie pastvín tým, že sa stávajú vlastníctvom súkromných osôb, či sa menia na rezervácie.
6. Turizmus
nech to znie akokoľvek zvláštne, napriek tomu, že masajovia vítajú turistov, turisti vážne poškodzujú tradičný spôsob a kultúru masajov. Masajovia žijú v komunite, ako nomádi,uctievajú staré tradície a zvyky. Cítia sa nesvoji, a zahanbene keď sa turisti snažia získať obrázky, ktoré neskôr môžu vyznieť inak ako by si ch majitelia priali. Masajovia žijú v súlade s prírodou, udržiavajú staré zvyklosti, ale v žiadnom prípade to nie sú primitívni ľudia, ako sú bohužiaľ častokrát označovaní práve na základe fotgrafií a necitlivých a záberov. Masajovia sú hrdí, ale aj veľmi hanblivý ľudia. Neradi sa fotia, sú v rozpakoch ak bez sa pozvania snažíte navštíviť ich domovy. Na druhej strane pokiaľ Vás pozvú, sú mimoriadne príjemní a pozorní hostitelia, ktorí sa radi podelia o svoje skúsenosti, spôsob života či kultúrne zvláštnosti. A sú úžasnymi rozprávačmi príbehov.
Tradičná výroba šperkov
Ručná výroba tradičných masajských šperkov
VIAC NEŽ ŠPERK , komunitný projekt, vznikol za účelom vytvorenia pracovnej príležitosti pre ženy žijúce na samotách v keňskom buši v Rift Valley. Našou víziou je prostredníctvom tohto micro projektu vytvoriť pracovn príležitosti pre ženy žijúce mimo infraštruktúry a bez možnosti inej zárobkovej činnosti.
- vytvorením projektu vznikli pracovné príležitosti, ktoré dali možnosť ženám získť finančnú hotovosť na pokrytie nevyhnutných životných potrieb, akou je zdravotná starostlivosť, či nákup základných potravín a školské poplatky pre deti.
- projekt využíva stáročné šperkárske schopnosti a zručnosti masajských žien, pri ktorých sú používané vylúčne tradičné a prírodné matriály a pracovné postupy.
- šperky vznikajú na priedomiach hlinených masajských obydlí, či pod stromami akácií.
- fair traide - sú ocenené umelecké zručnosti žien, ako aj náročné pracovné a klimatické podmienky.
- pri výrobe šeprkov sa používajú výlučne prírodné materialy, a stáročné umelecké schopnosti masajských žien a dievčat.
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