LOIYANGALANI PROJECTS

WHERE IS LOIYANGALANI?

The Northern Frontier District covers half of Kenya in parched vegetation and sparse rainfall most of the year, yet the 1600 KM track from Kalacha Dida to Loiyangalani has been reinforced in places against raging flashfloods by chunks of concrete, rocks, old gas cans, tree trunks and tires. Although the average rainfall here in the arid NFD is usually less than a couple mm’s a year, it sometimes comes down in violent storms. Eventhough much of our travel is over terrain resembling a dry riverbed sometimes lava lined ruts crunch beneath our tires and run silently into fields of brilliant golden sand. Rising through interesting lava mounds that eminate from no visible volcanic source, the few people we pass walk over lava rock for miles herding their camels and goats to the next waterhole. The occasional donkey, the dwarfed, parched plants, the leafless acacias and whirling dervishes all bear witness to a way of life that centers around water and winds quietly through desert ecosystems following the ancient landmarks, seasonal storms, hidden wells and aquafors. Circling around dwindling natural resources that are directly affected by western pressures to bring destination tourism to an area with hardly any infrastructure, a weak economy, and environmental desertification.

Loiyangalani, means a place of many trees in the native Samburu tongue, and for the nomads and other travelers that follow these ancient trade routes "trees" means that there is water there also. The village of Loiyangalani not only provides an oasis stopover after traveling hundreds of miles through the blood black lava hills, but is located at the edge of the largest body of water in Kenya, Lake Turkana. There is a little more infrastructure in this area as compared to other NFD areas, primarily because of the Oasis Hotel that has been the center of the town for many years. Affording travelers a western atmosphere, swimming pool, campground and restaurant, it dominates the tiny town with its presence but affords employment to just a few of the local people and sequesters visitors behind its entrance gates while traditional life takes place around its borders.
Lake Turkana, formerly Lake Rudolf runs from Loiyangalani near the southern tip to the northernmost tip in southwestern Ethiopia and is a jade landscape amidst black volcanic sand shores. Located in the Great Rift Valley, the shallow, narrow lake is 250 km (160 mi) long and covers an area of 7,100 sq km (2,700 sq mi ). The lakeshores were the site of extremely important discoveries of hominid fossils by British paleo-anthropologist Richard Leakey, beginning in 1967. Included in the finds, which altered previously held views on human evolution, was "Turkana Boy," a nearly complete skeleton dating back 1.6 million years. From times when territory separated tribes living alongside one another, the village is now comprised of Rendille, Turkana, and Samburu tribes living together in close community while the ElMolo village sits serenely on the nearby rim of the veridian lake.

The River Omo feeds the lake from the north, but there is no outlet and the waters have become brackish green adding to the alkaline content. Eventhough the lake supports fish like the Nile Perch, Tigerfish, and Talapia and is known to have crocodile and hippo population it is useless as a water source to the Elmolo Community. Along with these human inhabitants comes water transporation and further pollution by boats. Yearly Cholera outbreaks are the one of the biggest threats to the lakeside populations, having decimated the El Molo tribe to a mere 250, making it the smallest tribe in Kenya, perhaps Africa. An important cultural group is now is deteriorating. People that live there fight to preserve their traditional lifestyle despite their dwindling numbers and the influx of western customs and goods that fill local kiosks in an attempt to attract tourists. Tourists visit for the cultural flavor and these customs are being undermined by the demands and growth tourist trade brings to an area. Because the area is larger than others surrounding it, it also draws commercial traffic and the disease, addiction, and violence that thrives in the cities. In rapidly changing times, the small tribal communities in Loiyangalani join together in a strong effort to represent their traditional customs and dress while stressing that educating their children is a vital step in their survival. Many students finish their secondary education only to find themselves without the money to attend the university, and if they do manage to complete a degree, they find a country that is unable to employ them.

Loiyangalani represents another settlement of nomadic tribespeople that have learned to live synergistically in an area with all the environmental odds stacked against them.
With assistance of clean water and funds for the network of groups there, the community can in turn thrive, and survive in their traditional ways. These ways are sustainable and taught for ages. Wildize is able to assist in finding the projects that will help the women of this tribal land and in turn their community.


"There is an immediate need to build stable bridges to Africa, across which new scholarship can be shared – and created jointly," said Nate Therien, director for academic programs at Five Colleges, Inc.