This is the story of a group of young guys whos lives have
been changed into something completely wacky and never heard of in their
community.
These are a group of Pokot boys. The Pokot are known for
their aggressive behaviour and are notoriously dangerous and involved in such
things as poaching. They are one of the biggest problems we had on the
boundaries of the conservancy I have been working on for the past few months.
They are always cattle rustling (stealing cows) from other communities and
bringing them back through the conservancy causing problems for us.
Anyway… So…. One day the security team came across a poached
elephant. The elephant had only just died and the poachers were still in the
area. They caught one! He was sent to a local jail where he was tortured and
beaten up.Kuki, the lady who owns and lives on the conservancy, spoke
to the officer who took him in and said she wanted to speak to this poacher who
was no older than 18. She met him by the gate to the conservancy with a
Gallmann Memorial T -shirt and a mobile phone. A lot of the locals know Kuki
and think of her as a witch, with her long silvery hair. She spoke to him and
said ‘wear this t shirt and you wont do anything bad again, as I have put a
curse on it (a lot of Kenyans are very sensitive to magic and strongly believe
in other powers) She told him that she would call him everyday and she wanted
him to get 8 other people like him, who were also trouble makes from his
village to all come and meet her in a week. She called him everyday to make
sure he was doing as she said.
A week later she found him and a group of other boys, all
who have caused trouble and been linked to poaching etc. Then… They met Walter.
Walter is an amazing guy from Nairobi. He has been part of the Africa Yoga
Project which helps people in hard situations through the power of yoga. Walter
proceeded to teach them Acrobatics, something never seen in there part of the
world, they Loved it. They have gained respect from their community, which many
had lost and have started training up other youth groups and performing at
events on the conservancy. Such a ruggid rough bunch of boys when you first see
them, scared and bush, and then you hear the story of how it came about and it
is truly amazing. The reality of the
situation is that without that second chance they would sadly probably be in Jail or
dead by now. But they are the first people in their community for years and years who have
started something completely new and are inspiring all the younger generations.
