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Meet the Endorois - a closer look at the everyday lives of members of the community
Grace
Grace is a one-woman powerhouse. Her mission - "to provide a better future for her children."
Grace lives in the village of Loboi, near the gates of the Lake Bogoria National Reserve, and has a small shop selling vegetables, which doubles as a dispensary for the herbal medicine she practises. She also makes beaded jewellery which she sells occasionally to tourists who pass through the village.
She is the second wife of a polygamist husband - who's "not around that often" - and has single-handedly put her six children through school, two of whom are now studying at college (primary education is free for all children in Kenya but parents have to foot the bill for fees, books and uniforms for secondary school and college).
Grace, accompanied by her two youngest kids, who giggle infectiously at every opportunity, shows us into her house, which, although it lacks electricity and running water, is decorated with brightly coloured lace fabric. Style seems to be important to Grace - when we meet her on the road the previous day she is wearing a rather dapper straw hat and carrying a tiny red handbag - she's obviously the village fashion icon.
Richard
Richard Yegon is an elder from the village of Kapkuikui. Endorois elders take an active role in counselling and guiding the community and help to resolve conflicts over land and other resources such as water. He says, "Elders are not driven by their emotions, and are responsible people who serve all the community."
Richard fondly remembers the days before the creation of the Lake Bogoria Natural Reserve, when "the Endorois lived wherever they wanted, without restriction." In those resource rich times Richard owned a substantial herd of 200 cows, but now he only has 80.
He says, "The problem is with the grass" - in the old days the Endorois would move their cows between the fertile grazing grounds of Lake Bogoria and the lush highlands of the Mochongoi Forest. However, cattle are now concentrated in small, arid, lowland areas and the grass simply does not have enough time to grow back.
Richard's greatest hope is that the Endorois will eventually benefit fully from the income generated by tourists visiting the Reserve - but for now he only sees "the elite profit from the park, not local people."
The facts back his observations up - the nearest hospital is 60km away whilst the entire Endorois community (some 60,000 people) is served by only one maternity facility with just four beds.
Sarah
Many of the Endorois are embracing farming or becoming mini-entrepreneurs to complement the harsh life of pastoralism. Sarah Chelimo is one of them - she helps run the Chelaba Women's Group - a cooperative set up by local women to help lift themselves and their families out of poverty. The women weave mats out of Seagram grass, which are used locally for roofing, beds and partition walls in houses. They donate two mats a month to the cooperative -the rest they can sell themselves and keep the money.
The women are also branching out into weaving chairs and beadwork, and, after receiving training from WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), they are now training others themselves. The success of the venture is measured by the long waiting list for entry into the cooperative - local women from the surrounding villages have to apply to join and are selected according to a strict set of criteria.
The atmosphere in the cooperative is industrious but jovial, and represents a break from the traditional role of women in Endorois society, who normally take care of the house and children whilst their husbands tend the family's livestock. Many of the women work seated on the ground with babies strapped to their backs and chat animatedly to each other as they work. Faced with severe poverty and marginalisation, Endorois women are learning to help themselves.