December 2019 Update
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NAME: John Akwam
Age: 17
Form 3 (Grade 11) January, 2019
School: Nanyuki High School– Boarder
PA-MOJA Scholarship started: Form 1 (Grade 9)
Supported by: Dr. Charles Best Secondary – Coquitlam, BC, Canada
John was born on the Mpala Ranch situated between the towns of Doldol and Nanyuki. He comes from the Turkana tribe. His mother, Agnes Asimit, has never attended a school and his father, Peter Ekomwa, finished up to Class 7 (Grade 7). Up until 2016, John’s father had a job at the Mpala Ranch Research Centre as a field assistant to visiting researchers. In 2016, the workers went on strike and all the employees were dismissed.
John’s mother works at Elkarama ranch as a cleaner. The family doesn’t own their land; they gave up the traditional way of life as Turkana pastoralists and herders in 2010 because there was a severe drought and the family’s entire herd of cattle died.
John is the eldest child and has four younger brothers and sisters who all attend Endana Primary School. John earned a position at Nanyuki High School, one of only a hundred National Schools in Kenya. Only students who achieve top grades are accepted into National Schools. His favorite subjects are the sciences. His favorite teacher is Mr. Ndiritu, who teaches physics, and Mr. Osidha, who teaches chemistry. Both teachers make learning interesting and help the students outside of class.
John has an A average, which is extremely rare and difficult to achieve in the Kenyan school system. He wants to be a medical doctor and was inspired by his friend’s father, Dr. Ekeno, who heard about John’s high marks and told him it was a great career. In Uaso-Nyiro, John’s elementary school, he broke the record of highest marks of any student in the history of the school. John is proud of his achievement. He is only the second person in his entire extended family to attend secondary school. The first was his cousin who completed Form 4 (Grade 12) in 2012, but wasn’t able to go to university because his marks weren’t high enough to earn a government sponsored university scholarship; the family couldn’t afford the fees.
Turkana Culture:
John comes from the Turkana tribe in Northern Kenya. The Turkana live in clans made up of groups of hundreds of extended family members. Before the drought of 2010, John and his family lived among 12 clans.
Turkana traditions vary depending on how much access the clans have to modern life. In traditional Turkana villages, men, after the age of 30, can have upwards of ten wives. The first wife is chosen by the father after the young men have undergone Athapan, a rite of passage. To be eligible for Athapan, young men, called Ngimamki, are given a small herd of cows and goats to look after for 6-8 years. They are expected to return home at the end of this time with a much larger herd than they left with.
The traditional Turkana diet is made up of milk, meat, roots, and wild fruit. When the Ngimamki are away from home looking for pasture for their animals, they rely on the blood and milk from their animals. Slaughtering a cow isn’t practical, so they use tiny arrows to bleed the animals, taking approximately one litre of blood from the cow’s jugular. The blood is put into a bowl and mixed with milk. The wound is given 3 months to heal before it is done again. This gives the young men the protein they need to survive many months away from home.
The Ngimamki boys often pull their herds together to keep each other company during this time. Sometimes they are given young boys to assist them. They are allowed to return home occasionally to visit and collect provisions.
If the father is happy with his son’s performance, he will give him permission to go through the Athapan ceremony, which then allows him to take a wife. On the day of Athapan, the young man is given a large spear. A bull is chosen and the candidate has to throw the spear at the bull and kill it. Afterwards, the elders eat the bull and give the boy their blessings. The undigested grass from the body of the bull is mixed with mud and put on the boy’s head. Then a string is placed in the mixture. Once the string falls down, he is ready to marry. After marriage, the new husband’s job is to protect the clan. He can join his elders as a clan leader at about 40-45 years old.
Traditional Turkana girls and women have very few choices over their lives and are not treated as well as the boys. Men from other clans visit families to look over the girls when they are still children in order to book them for later marriages. Girls are married as young as 12 and often become one of many wives of a much older husband. Although it is illegal to marry until age 18 in Kenya, the government can’t reach many of the remote areas where traditional Turkana people live.
As Turkana boys, such as John, are becoming educated, they are starting to speak out for their younger sisters. Only educated young men can approach the elders in the community in order to encourage change. Boys who have gone to university are particularly respected. University educated boys go back to their communities and are often elected as MP’s (Members of Parliament) or MCA’s (Members of the County Assembly).
A successful student, like John, will not be asked to herd cattle to prove his ability to achieve Athapan. His education is considered a journey and upon graduation from university, he will be considered eligible for an Athapan ceremony and marriage. Because John will be educated, he will also be allowed to choose his own wife. He and his wife will celebrate two marriages. The first will be a modern marriage. His wife will wear a white dress and he will wear a suit and tie. The second will be a traditional marriage. His wife will wear animal skins and her hair will be colored with red ochre (soil mixed with water) and she will wear animal skin shoes. John will have his head shaved and covered in ochre. He will also wear ostrich feathers and carry an eporokocho, a small traditional wooden chair.
The traditional wedding lasts for three days. The family will slaughter enough cows and goats to feed all the guests. Each of the guests is given a carefully chosen portion of meat. The men eat ribs, liver and hearts, the women and grandmothers eat the necks and legs, boy children eat the intestines, and girl children eat the chest. Afterwards there is an evening of singing and dancing.
After the wedding, before the husband is considered a leader, he must perform one last ceremony. He must visit his wife’s family and take as many goats and cows as he can afford. This is called Emong. If the family is satisfied with the number of animals, they agree to cut all ties to their daughter and the husband can leave with her and begin his own family. If the Emong ceremony isn’t completed, the wife’s family can take her, or her children, back at any time.
Before Christian missionaries came to their villages the majority of Turkana believed in one god, Akuj, who lives in the sky. The community offered sacrifices to Akuj. The sacrifices were performed by elder men who would slaughter and burn the animal without eating it. This was especially done during the dry season in the hopes that Akuj would bring the rain.
In Turkana County, many traditional Turkana still worship Akuj and struggle to continue their way of life. Since the terrible drought in 2010, the rains have never returned and the land is becoming too hot and dry to sustain animals and the pastoralist way of life. Many communities are starting to farm and fish in Lake Turkana. Others have migrated south to towns like Isiolo, where it’s cooler and less arid.
“For many of these people,” John explains, “the move is difficult. Many have never seen a t.v. or car and have no idea how to integrate into modern life. Some don’t even realize they live in Kenya. They think they have come from their own country and are moving to Kenya when they head south.” He understands how hard it is to change a way of life. “Cattle and sheep are so important to the elders,” he explains, “that if the Pokot (a warring tribe) steals all their animals, the elders often commit suicide because they feel they have nothing left to live for. Owning a large herd of animals is their whole world.”
When John completes his education, he would like to go back to these communities as an inspirational speaker. “I would advise them to keep some of their traditions but to send their children to school. They need to sell their animals and invest in small businesses so they don’t have to keep migrating with their animals when the drought chases them away. But I would still want to teach my own children about the traditional Turkana way of life, such as the dancing, the food, the beads, and traditional clothing, especially the use of bottle caps sewn together to create music when we dance; the sight and sound of everyone dancing together is beautiful and exciting.”
John has a message for his PA-MOJA donors: “Thank you to my donors for this life-changing support. When I finally achieve my dream of being a doctor, I hope to give back to the community by setting up hospitals so that the Turkana people can have good medical care. I also hope to provide for bursaries for other students like me.”
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[one_third_last] Christmas Greetings,
August 2018 Update,
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[one_third_last]John’s comment June, 2018.
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