The Pokot Acrobats

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.