'We are divided': lake upends life for tiny Kenyan tribe

'We are divided': lake upends life for tiny Kenyan tribe

Children from the El Molo tribe have to take a fishing boat to school
Children from the El Molo tribe have to take a fishing boat to school. Photo: Simon MAINA / AFP
Source: AFP

New feature: Check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find “Recommended for you” block and enjoy!

At first light, children from one of Kenya's smallest and most isolated tribes put on life jackets and board a fishing boat for the journey across the lake to school.

Until recently, they could walk the distance. A road connected the El Molo with the world beyond their tiny village, a lifeline for a secluded community of fishers and craftspeople subsisting on the shores of Lake Turkana.

But three years ago the lake started rising dramatically, lapping at the El Molo's dome-shaped huts draped in dry fish, then pushing inland, forcing villagers to higher ground.

As the tide reached levels not seen in living memory, the El Molo watched their only freshwater pipeline slip beneath the surface, as well as the burial mounds of their ancestors.

Eventually, the road to the mainland disappeared completely, marooning the El Molo on an island in a lake so large and imposing it is sometimes called the "Jade Sea".

Read also

On Ukraine's front line, no end in sight

"There never used to be water here," said El Molo fisherman Julius Akolong as he crossed the wide channel that today separates his community from the rest of far northern Kenya.

PAY ATTENTION: Enjoy reading our stories? Join YEN.com.gh's Telegram channel for more!

"You could drive a jeep across."

Turkana, already the world's largest desert lake, stretching 250 kilometres (155 miles) tip to tip, grew 10 percent in the decade to 2020, according to a government study published last year.

Children in the village suffer side effects from drinking water from Lake Turkana
Children in the village suffer side effects from drinking water from Lake Turkana. Photo: Simon MAINA / AFP
Source: AFP

That expansion submerged nearly 800 additional square kilometres (about 300 square miles) of land including around El Molo Bay, where the tribespeople live on Turkana's eastern shores.

Extreme rainfall over catchment areas -– a climatic event linked to global warming -- greater soil runoff from deforestation and farming, and tectonic activity were all cited as contributing causes.

Blessings and curses

The phenomenon has profoundly impacted the El Molo, whose distinct Cushitic culture was already under serious threat.

Read also

Danger part of job in Mexico's coal mining heartland

People from the El Molo tribe have been forced to relocate because of the rising waters of Lake Turkana
People from the El Molo tribe have been forced to relocate because of the rising waters of Lake Turkana. Photo: Simon MAINA / AFP
Source: AFP

Barely numbering 1,100 in the last census, the El Molo are dwarfed by Kenya's larger and more prosperous ethnic groups that dominate a country of around 50 million people.

Known as "the people who eat fish" by the livestock-rearing tribes of northern Kenya, the El Molo are believed to have migrated from Ethiopia to Turkana around 1,000 BC.

But few today speak a word of their mother tongue, and ancient customs have evolved or vanished entirely through generations of intermarriage with neighbouring ethnic groups.

The lake's unexpected rise fragmented the remaining El Molo still following the old ways of life.

Some displaced in the disaster made the wrenching decision to relocate to the mainland, erecting a squatter camp on the opposite shore.

The cluster of shanties on a barren and wind-swept clearing is nearer to the school and other facilities, but a world away from their tight-knit community and its traditions.

Read also

Five years on from deadly Sierra Leone mudslide, risks remain

"It was very difficult... We had to go and discuss this with the elders so they could permit or bless us to go with no curses," said Akolong, a 39-year-old father of two.

For those who stayed, life on the island has become a struggle.

Three years ago, the lake started rising dramatically
Three years ago, the lake started rising dramatically. Photo: Simon MAINA / AFP
Source: AFP

The El Molo are skilled fishers, but as Turkana rose higher their people went hungry.

The fishing nets and baskets used for millennia, hand-woven with reeds and doum palm fibre, proved less effective in the deeper water, reducing catch.

No longer able to access freshwater, the El Molo were forced to drink from Turkana, the most saline lake in Africa.

Children in the village suffer chalky teeth and bleached hair, a side effect of the lake's high fluoride content.

"We often get diarrhoea... we have no other clean water. This is all we have. It is salty, and corrodes our teeth and hair," said Anjela Lenapir, a 31-year-old mother of three who decided to stay.

Read also

Miners toil for coal beneath the battle for east Ukraine

Disappearing culture

School attendance has fallen sharply because parents cannot afford the boat fare, said David Lesas, deputy head teacher at El Molo Bay Primary School.

"Most of them remain at home," he lamented.

The El Molo number barely 1,100 according to the last census
The El Molo number barely 1,100 according to the last census. Photo: Simon MAINA / AFP
Source: AFP

The local government and World Vision, an aid group, are assisting but resources are scarce and needs many in the region, which is experiencing a once-in-a-generation drought.

The school has suffered too: the perimeter fence and toilet block are underwater, and crocodiles have taken over part of the playground.

But the real damage to the El Molo is indelible.

Separated from his people, Akolong has missed initiation rites, naming ceremonies, and funerals -- rituals that strengthen tribal identity and community.

"We are now divided," he said bitterly.

Stone cairns marking the resting place of El Molo's dead have been swept away, erasing memories of the past, while the lake threatens venerated shrines to tribal deities.

Read also

Cairo blaze highlights problem of unsafe makeshift churches

"It is a place that is deeply respected in our culture. With the water rising, we will lose that tradition too," said Lenapir.

New feature: Check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.