the boma project Working Solutions to Climate Change · 2014. 10. 30. · Eighty of BOMA’s 520...

As recurring drought devastates their livestock, the pastoral nomads of northern Kenya are learning new ways to make a living.

Photographs by David duChemin

Photography © The BOMA Project / David duChemin. All rights reserved. | bomaproject.org

the boma project

Working Solutions to Climate Change

Malawan Lejalle and her daughter in the nomadic village of Ndikir,

near the family hut and chicken coop.

As prolonged drought destroys the grazing terrain, warriors take the

herds on long trips in search of forage. The women and children are left

behind without cattle, their traditional source of food and income. “My

husband does not know if he will find us alive when he comes home,”

says Malawan Lejalle (photo at left), who leads a three-woman business

group that sells food staples—such as beans, tea and sugar—to residents

in Ndikir. “But the last time he returned, he found his eight children

doing well.” In addition to generating income for food, her business is

using its savings to send 17 local children to secondary school. Above:

Malawan (in green) counts profits with partner Algoya Basele.Photography © The BOMA Project / David duChemin. All rights reserved. | bomaproject.org

Northern Kenya is a remote and neglected region that suffers

from extreme poverty and hunger. Severe droughts now threaten

the main source of food and income—livestock herding—that

has sustained the pastoral nomads here for centuries. Since

2008, The BOMA Project has been helping residents to start small

businesses and earn a sustainable income through the Rural

Entrepreneur Access Project (REAP), which offers a seed capital

grant, business skills training and two years of mentoring to

groups of three participants.


Above: A woman in a traditional cloth, called a kanga, walks through the wind-

swept nomadic village of Ong’eli in the Kaisut Desert.

Warriors like Brilee Rimoti (left) now range farther and farther in

search of forage for their herds. The situation is volatile, as armed

bandits roam the region to steal livestock, and ethnic tribes clash

in violent skirmishes over dwindling natural resources, such as

grazing lands and water.


Drought has made life harder in many ways. Children

walk long distances to collect kindling for the family cooking

fires (above), while many livestock—the nomad’s source of

sustenance for centuries—have died during the driest condi-

tions in decades. Hunger and malnutrition are at critical

levels across the region.

Left: Warrior Long’erua Letorre brings his cattle home to Ndera village.

The traditional nomadic diet relied on cattle milk and blood as

the main source of nutrition. As the warriors travel in search of

grazing terrain, the women are left to themselves, with no money

and no food. Maize flour and cooking oil, often delivered as

famine relief by aid organizations, have become the new staples,

and sweetened tea is considered a meal.

Above: Nayong Lomurut and Ntojoni Ngosoni serve their children sweet tea

for breakfast in front of a family hut.


School was not a priority in traditional nomadic culture, but more

families are now enrolling their children: Primary school is free,

and each child receives a mid-day meal. Students walk as far as 20

kilometers to attend.

Because many schools do not have

a building, teachers often gather

under the shade of trees and use

a single blackboard. In this photo:

Classes at St. Dominique Savior

School in Manyatta Lengina village.


Ninety percent of REAP participants are

women. Studies indicate that economically

empowering women—the “poorest of the

poor”—is an effective way to fight poverty

in the developing world.

Above: Arbe Wario sells traditional water gourds to

visitors and aid workers who frequently travel

through her village of Loiyangalani.

Right: Halhalo Barmin lives in Goob Barmin, where

she and her business partners run a small food

kiosk. Savings from the business allowed her to

loan her brother money, which provided life-saving

medical care for one of his children.


Halima Arbele (above) is a BOMA Village Mentor. Mentors are

respected local residents who have professional experience;

Halima attended secondary school and runs her own small

shop. Mentors work closely with each business to ensure

success. In this photo, Halima meets with a REAP group for

a progress report; she walked 15 kilometers from her home

to the nomadic village of Obregebo, where the women have

opened a kiosk.

Left: BOMA entrepreneurs sell potatoes at the market in Loglogo, one of

the few areas in the semi-arid Laisamis District where it’s possible to raise

crops. The women bring their produce to market every day of the week,

except Sundays.

photography © The BOMA Project / David duChemin. All rights reserved. | bomaproject.org

BOMA mentor John Lesas reviews a record book with a business

group in the village of Ngurunit. John is a highly regarded primary

school teacher and community leader in the village.


Beading is a traditional nomadic

skill; the women in this Laisamis

village business group sell their

products to travelers who pass

through northern Kenya on the

Pan-African Highway. Laisamis

District—an area larger than the

country of Rwanda—has only

two medical clinics and no paved

roads, post offices or banks.


Three BOMA entrepreneurs—Gumato Lomurut,

Ntelengon Lamut and Kehsimo Eisemkelle—

cross the Kaisut Desert on the way from their

nomadic settlement, Nemerai, to the settled

village of Korr. They buy food and supplies

from a wholesaler in Korr, and then sell the

goods in their village kiosk. They used to haul

the supplies home on their backs; now they

can afford to hire mules. Sometimes they also

hire a warrior to protect them from bandits and

wild animals.


Eighty of BOMA’s 520

businesses operate

near the settled village

of Loiyangalani on Lake

Turkana, the world’s

largest desert lake

and a UNESCO World

Heritage site. Many of

the business groups

buy fish along on the

shoreline and resell it—

dried or fresh—for retail

prices at market.

Right: Etelej Erumu and

Nakorodio Esimit stack dried

fish for resale.


Five young men in Loiyangalani used the $150 REAP seed-

capital grant to start Umoja Petroleum, the only source of

diesel fuel in the district. They buy drums of diesel at whole-

sale and then sell the fuel in small quantities at retail price.

The fuel drums are delivered by transport lorries that haul

fish from Lake Turkana to larger markets.

Ahmed “Kura” Omar (left), the BOMA Operations Director in Kenya,

meets with Rebecca Lesuper, a BOMA Village Mentor in South Horr.

Local leadership—the transfer of skills, knowledge and resources

to community members—is the philosophical cornerstone of the

BOMA microfinance program.


Raphaela Mpiraon Neepe is the only educated woman in

the village of Kamboe and has worked for several NGOs.

As a volunteer BOMA Village Mentor, she meets with REAP

participants to review record books. Many of the businesses

now have savings, often kept in a metal lockbox.

A new BOMA program stresses the

importance of savings and explains

options like mobile banking.

Each business supports three women

and an average of fifteen children; an

impact survey showed that REAP parti-

cipants use the income to pay for food,

medical care and school supplies for

their families.

Above: Adowto Isandab used income from

her business to buy school supplies for her

son, Schola.

Right: Sabthio Wambile feeds a child by

lantern light.


The BOMA Project works to improve

the lives of the marginalized residents

of northern Kenya through economic

empowerment, education, advocacy

and the training of a new generation

of ethical, entrepreneurial leaders.


802.231.2542

www.bomaproject.org

[email protected]

Nayong Lomurut with her daughter, Ntimiran.

Date post:	08-Sep-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	0 times
Download:	0 times

the boma project Working Solutions to Climate Change · 2014. 10. 30. · Eighty of BOMA’s 520...

Documents