A little more about Pokot

Since I wrote the last little bit about Pokot, the women's marathon took place at the world athletics championship. The winner... a Kenyan, Catherine Ndereba, who lives in the Rift Valley region.

The picture below is a typical sight in Pokot. It's a traditional Pokot mud hut.

This hut is made of mud, and thatched. They prefer to use metals for their roofs, but that is more expensive. (And sweltering - but they don't mind!). The door on this hut is made of wood and has a padlock on it. The number of people living in such a hut will vary depending on the relative wealth of the owner. It is not uncommon for a whole family to share one; the hut will be divided into a sleeping and a living area, and mum, dad and all the kids will share a bed.

To the left side of the hut you can see some goats. Most Pokot people are animal herders. You can see from the background to the photo that Pokot is not a desert; there is sufficient rainfall for much greenery. This rain does tend to fall all at once though, with long periods without in between.

Animal herding leads to a nomadic lifestyle which can be difficult to integrate with school. For this reason many Pokot people are keen to have boarding schools.

Many Pokot men, once their children are old enough to herd the animals themselves, will "retire" and leave it to the next generation - spending their time chatting about politics and playing Pokot games with their peers. Some of the older generation don't see the value of education - how much do you need to learn to herd animals? Denied an education, of course, their isn't then much choice to do anything else but herd animals.

Read more about the cause and make secure donations here.
David

A little bit about West Pokot

The remoteness of West Pokot is well illustrated by the shortness of its Wikipedia page. There is, though, within the 6 sentences of that epic read (one of which is the glorious revelation "Pokot people inhabit the area.") a hint at something significant: "Tegla Loroupe, one of the most famous Kenyan female runners is from West Pokot."

A typical sight in West Pokot

In fact, Pokot is part of the north-west Rift Valley quadrant of Kenya which is responsible for about as many of the world's top ten marathon runners in the last decade as... the rest of the world put together. Did you notice that a Kenyan won the marathon at the world championships a few days ago? He was raised in Eldoret, in the Rift Valley. The world marathon world record holder? Paul Tergat, from the Rift Valley. If I ran a single mile 90 seconds slower than he can reel off 26, I'd likely vomit up my breakfast. Tegla Loroupe, mentioned above, holds the world records at 20, 25 and 30 kilometres and is a former ladies' marathon record holder.

Pokot: A very beautiful place.

So, it's somewhat ironic to be running a marathon on behalf of Pokot! They are part of the world's hotspot for producing talented marathoners. What they don't have, but we do have, though, is the opportunity for a good education for our children. We have the opportunity to give them that opportunity. A little money will go a long way in Pokot. Read about the cause and make secure donations here.

David