TURKANA DIARY 5 - Fishing, health and mobile phones

Boat on the Lake

After water, access to food is the second priority in Turkana and fishing has been a positive development for the people, introduced by the mission. In fact, in early 2010 the mission was able to buy a small boat. They gave it to some local men, and they learned to fish. Now, there are many boats in the lake, and fishing, in addition to animal farming, is one of the main sources of food and revenue. Many men and children have become fishermen; they go out with their boats, often overnight, and catch fish with nets.

They dry the fish, so that it can be preserved, and use it to feed themselves or sell it in nearby villages. A new fish commerce has developed quickly. As fish is a source of revenue, and there is reasonable demand in bigger villages, which are too distant to walk to, a motorbike transport service has also developed. It is now not uncommon to see motorbikes carrying large packs of dry fish (and two or four people as pillion passengers as an additional taxi service!) going back and forth from lakeside villages towards other villages inland. It's all very basic: the motorbikes are very old, a big pile of fish packs is strapped at the back of the motorbikes with uncertain balance, the journey on the dirty and unpaved roads is an adventure. But it works, and it's an example of new business development, which the Turkana people have taken forward to improve their life, following the lead given by the mission. The mission had opened a new opportunity for them, and they embraced it. That's a remarkable change and a resounding success!

A lot has also been done to improve health services and access to medicines, including vaccines, managed by nurses and, sometimes, doctors. Again, nothing is provided by the government, and the mission has established dispensaries in different parts of Turkana where people can receive medical attention. Like any other service provided by the mission, a fee is formally requested. The fee should cover the costs of running these services, as for example the nurses' salary or medicines, but in practice locals are not able to meet these costs and the mission needs to rely on donations to keep them going. However, the mission makes a point of requesting a donation, whether that is a chicken, a soap or a young goat (it is rarely money) to foster a responsible relationship between those who benefit from the service and those who provide it.

The dispensaries managed by the mission are a blessing for the local community and they are learning to access them to improve their health. The difference they make on their life is impressive, even with little and scarce resources, staff and equipment. I have seen an example of this whilst I was there: a man was attacked by a crocodile and first aid was provided by a nurse at the Todonyang dispensary. The man was later transported to the closest hospital with the mission's vehicle, a four to five hours' bumpy drive away, for further emergency care. Without this help the man would have probably died.

Another positive development, this time provided by local private mobile network operators, has been the introduction of a new service called M-Pesa ("Mobile Money" in Swahili), which is now widely used to pay for goods with mobile phones. Surprisingly (or maybe not, in our digital era), in this arid and desertic territory where access to water is still difficult, mobile phone coverage is decent. Hence, most adults have a mobile phone, although usually a standard phone, as smartphones are too expensive. I found this a very positive development, as it allows people to communicate much more easily and carry out business, despite access to cash via standard banking services being impossible, as there are no banks in the region.

LINKS

To sponsor a Turkana child, please visit: Children Sponsorship Programme

To contribute to Manlio's trip crowdfunding, please visit: Manlio for Turkana

To support New Ways, see: Fundraising - New Ways

Read all the Turkana Diary stories here: www.indcatholicnews.com/search/TURKANA%20DIARY