TPP at Mpala: Spot the Ndovu (elephant)! And other life skills

As a history teacher, I love primary sources. My students back in the US might even say I love them a little too much. Unsurprisingly, yesterday’s lesson at Il Motiak Primary School was one of my favorites so far as it was essentially an oral history lesson. A mzee, or elder, named Mr. Richard traced the history of the school, town and environment through his own experiences.

To begin, we were fittingly led to il motiak, the hole, from which Il Motiak derives its name. Mr. Richard first gave a history of the primary school through his own experiences. Born in the 1960’s, Mr. Richard was part of the age group that had to journey to Kimanjo Primary School, as Il Motiak did not yet have a school. For seven years Mr. Richard made the journey to and from Kimanjo Primary School by foot (30 km round trip). He told us that only one person from the Il Motiak group was able to afford to attend secondary school and unable to pay the fees, he began to teach at the nursery school recently founded by a Catholic organization in Il Motiak. He was very proud of his role as teacher, repeating a litany of individuals he had taught and their accomplishments (including a current employee for the county government). He recounted how World Vision came and helped to build the first classrooms for the primary school, which currently serve as the administrative block. He told the students that the community was on the right track now as many Il Motiak students continue their education to the secondary school level and some have continued on to university.

Mr. Richard then began to talk about the agricultural and environmental history of the region. The Maasi are a community based people. Each community is governed by elders who collectively make decisions for the people. Unsurprisingly, land was owned communally. During the 1960’s and 1970’s many Kenyan communities began to organize group ranches, including Il Motiak. There were 59 original members in the Il Motiak group ranch, and the number of members today has grown to nearly 400 (to be a registered member today, you must be 18 years of age and a descendant of one of the original members).

Though the group ranch did bring benefits, there were some serious problems to contend with as well. Overgrazing was widespread and to combat the disastrous effects, the ranchers now utilize holistic farming and rotate where cattle graze and use cow dung as a fertilizer to help replenish grazing lands.

Despite these counter measures, Mr. Richard spoke about how he has witnessed a huge change in the landscape. What was once fertile grassland is now desert-like and animals like rhinos are an anomaly rather than commonplace. I imagine the difference is similar to that which we see when we leave Mpala and head into the countryside. Recognizing the difficulties of overgrazing, the group ranch has also now set aside 5,000 acres for conservation efforts. Conservation rangers also patrol the area to guard against poachers. Mr. Richard clearly valued conservation and traveled several hours the previous day to come teach the lesson.

Mr. Richard also spoke about the role Mpala Ranch has played within the community (Mpala has two parts, the research center and a working ranch with livestock). A tractor brings water to the community each week, saving people from making the long trek to the river. Mpala workers are often sent to help with various community projects and many local people are employed by the ranch and research center in some way (Jackson, one of our drivers, attended Il Motiak Primary School).

The lesson got me thinking about conservation in the community. Conserving natural resources is essential to the livelihood of a pastoral community and seems to be readily accepted. Without grass, cattle can’t eat and farmers are forced to move or witness their income dwindle. Yet, conserving animals is a bit less straightforward. One of my favorite parts of being in Kenya is getting to see elephants, giraffes, zebras and hippos on an almost daily basis from the safety of a car. Yet, many of these animals, elephants in particular, are incredibly dangerous. Being able to spot elephants is an essential life skill for local people. Elephants have killed humans in the past, which often leads to a retaliation killing of an elephant (not necessarily the same one) by the community. The threat of encountering an elephant is ever present for locals. While on our walk, an older Maasi woman came out of her home to warn us that an elephant was nearby, so we walked back a different way. I asked the students how many of them have seen elephants on the way to or from school and nearly every student had. The kids were able to spot another elephant far in the distance (I just thought it was a rock until it started to move). While the students are definitely on board with our message about protecting animals, it’s understandable as to why some adults may be a bit more hesitant. Understanding their perspective and addressing their concerns is key to ensuring the complete acceptance by the community of conservation. The conservation clubs do address these concerns with students through various lessons and we encourage students to bring the message home.