For his last field trip of the volunteer year, Don traveled
to Turkana County during the week of October 26, 2015. Turkana, the poorest region in Kenya, is
located in the northwestern part of the country.
The Turkana are pastoralists. 87%
of the population lives in poverty. The
school dropout rate for girls is 94%. Don spent the week conducting a market
assessment of a project that is intended to encourage girls, ages 12-19, to own
small livestock. This would require an adjustment to cultural norms, as girls have no ownership rights in this region.
During his trip, Don met with government officials, animal
health workers, micro-finance institutions, and villagers. He also toured a
fisheries area in Lake Turkana, the largest desert lake in the world. Buying
and selling fish is another possible means of income for the girls. As you can
see from the pictures below, parts of Turkana resemble a lunar landscape.
This is our last blog detailing our year in Kenya. On November 14, we leave Kenya. We will miss all of the wonderful people we
have met and are fortunate to now call our friends. It
has truly been an adventure. We hope
that we’ve had a positive impact in the places and countries we’ve visited; we know that
we’ve learned a lot.
