In a classroom at Kerio primary school, Sharon Odero a school teacher marks attendance. Again, some names are missing. Those of girls. “Most of them stay home for a week every month,” she says. “The syllabus goes on, and they’re left behind.” The reason is simple. No access to menstrual products. [...]
We recently feted three candidates from TBI’s Ileret scholarship program that sponsored students from the Daasanach community. They are Rahma Ahmed Said, Joseph Arcoy Hirbnle and James Loki Abucha. Their faces are presently unmistakable in the village, having produced exceptional performance in KCSE 2021. Such results have not been seen at the remote location [...]
Wednesday 20th April was yet another memorable occasion for the Ileret community and the community outreach program as TBI hosted the annual scholarship meeting. This was the first such meeting of its kind in Ileret after the Covid-19 restrictions were eased. The attendees of the scholarship review meeting at TBI Ileret The meeting [...]
March 22nd is World Water Day and this year the international focus is on groundwater. This is a precious resource whose importance is increasing as the impacts of climate change become more significant. We feel this acutely in TBI Ileret where groundwater is critical to our operations. In 2021, we were able to decarbonize [...]
James Alkerech was a herder who spent most of his time taking care of his father’s livestock. Life in Fora, located in the remote area of Ileret Ward, has livestock keeping as the primary economic activity. This area is also characterized by frequent conflict over grazing land. In 2018, after a particularly fierce exchange, [...]
Martin Kirinya and Emmanuel Aipa showcase fossils in the TBI booth at the Tobong'u Lore Festival 2021 The Tobong’u Lore cultural festival is an annual event hosted by the Turkana County Government in order to promote peace, indigenous culture and tourism within the region. This brings together local and international groups lending [...]
TBI Community Development Manager, Joanne Velo (L) With Local ECD assistant Esther (C) and Rotary Muthaiga's Lead Projects Manager, Kanyana Muriuki At The Kaikol Event Rotary Cupertino visited Napudet in Turkana County on invitation by Prof. Isaiah Nengo. Kaikol is a remote village in Turkana Central, 45 km south-east of Lodwar Town. It [...]
The students together with their facilitators from Ileret's hydroponics training As part of the Water Energy for Food Programme Funded Project in Ileret, we have been conducting training in Hydroponic Farming for local community members. In June this year, we conducted public participation meetings to let people know about the opportunity and [...]
TBI has been organizing a number of football tournaments in Ileret to keep the youth engaged and active during this long school hiatus due to COVID-19. With schools closed indefinitely, students were sent back to their villages with little opportunity for engagement and activity, leaving them vulnerable to early marriages, teenage pregnancies, and drug [...]
On Tuesday May 30th, a vast storm hit the Ileret area and brought an immense amount of rain. Within a short period of 9 hours, TBI Ileret facility documented a record-high rainfall of more than 200 mm (8 inches). This amount is much more than a typical rainstorm at Ileret (~20 mm), and more than [...]
I am Peter Akol and I help to coordinate the Turkana Basin Institute bursary program. I recently paid a visit to several of the schools that enroll several TBI bursary supported students and would like to share some experiences with you.
The Turkana Basin Institute (TBI) is not only a non-profit organization interested in scientific research in the Lake Turkana region, in addition, TBI works closely with local communities on health and education. The vast majority of the people (population near 900,000) that live on this semi-arid, harsh environment are nomadic pastoralists with cares focused on [...]
The TBI mobile clinic is a stakeholder in the provision of health care services to the people of Ileret location/ward. The team engages in a number of activities and the mobile clinic staff contribute largely to health care provision. The general health care provision constitute a large portion of the team’s work, however rescue services [...]
The Turkana Basin Institute has, since its inception of the community outreach program, been supporting needy but bright students in high school from both Turkana east and west. This year alone, the bursary scheme has seen 18 students from the illeret community supported in various secondary schools. Aside from the students, TBI is currently paying [...]
Despite the delayed blog since the opening of the maternity, i owe it to you to inform you of the completion and opening of Loreng'elup maternity. The Loreng'elup maternity was supported by Safaricom Foundation, Turkana Basin Institute and Stony Brook University through the Department of Health Sciences. The Loreng'elup community were honored to [...]
The Nakechichok Women's Group continue to work hard on their shamba to meet their families needs, increase their income and self reliance. While they celebrate some good produce, we do have some challenges with the capsicums Amazing [...]
The roof of the maternity was put up as we start to admire what was just a dream now shape itself into a reality and what has become the trademark TBI green roof which is sometimes mistaken for the KWS green greets visitors driving into Loreng'elup. With the team working on the plaster and [...]
As the Nakechichok women continue their efforts to feed their families, their challenge had always been the means to fetch water from the river. They struggled with the basic buckets, drawing water from the river and watering the plants. With the money maker installed, where the inlet is just submerged into the flowing Turkwel [...]
Construction of the Loreng'elup maternity ward continues to move forward with the roof being put up. The maternity ward is TBI's contribution to supporting access to maternal health care and with support from the Safaricom Foundation have put up an 8 bed maternity ward at Loreng'elup dispensary. With the roof put up, [...]
With the current drought in northern Kenya, including the Turkana Basin, Nakechichok Women can only be grateful for the rains up in Mount Elgon and Cherangany which feeds the Turkwel River. With the support of Friends of Turkana and the Turkana Basin Institute, these women have, in the last months, put in effort and after [...]