September 09

The Pokot rain dance in Kacheliba.
© Daniel A’Vard

The first thing I saw as I crossed the threshold of the Kenyan Immigration desks was a sign saying “Smile, you’re in Kenya!” It was a fitting welcome from the tourist office in the arrivals area.  Everyone did seem to be smiling, and for me it was the realisation of a long held ambition to use my training and skills to help others. 

The next 36 hours were a blur.  From the guest house in Nairobi to the Médecins Sans Frontières office in the morning for some last words of advice and assistance, and then onto a very small plane flying across the green hills of Kenya to Kitale where I was greeted by my predecessor Jan who would take me to Kacheliba in North Pokot. 

Kacheliba is a small, quiet town on the north bank of the Suam River in North Pokot, an area about 20km from the Ugandan border.  The town is slowly growing and supports a Ministry of Health hospital where Médecins Sans Frontières runs a Kala Azar clinic.  Kala Azar is a parasitic disease transmitted by a sandfly and is endemic in this region.  It is also a disease that affects very poor populations and has a very expensive treatment program – which is where Médecins Sans Frontières assists by providing free treatment. 

This part of Kenya and Uganda has been home to the Pokot people for centuries.  Christian missionaries and Islamists have been in the area for some time, but for many people the traditional beliefs still hold and their way of life is little changed.  They raise cattle, sheep and goats on the floor of the Rift Valley, live in mud tukuls, practice traditional blessings and traditional rain dances.  On my first Sunday in Africa I was privileged enough to watch, and was even invited to join a Pokot rain dance. The experience was amazing as young men and women in varying degrees of traditional costume chanted, ran, danced and whistled as the thunderclouds grew in the distance and lightning struck with regular claps of thunder. Unfortunately it didn’t rain on the village we were in, however I think the rest of the region had a fair inundation.

After the dance, there was a blessing for the teenage Pokots (and a few muzungus) to have many children, and then it was time for us to leave, having gained a small insight into the community that we are helping here.  I am extremely grateful to James, our chief Water and Sanitation Agent who is a Pokot, for taking us to witness and join in this wonderful experience.