Lake Victoria Day 2012

Every year somewhere between the 12th and 14th of April, fishing on the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria is halted to allow time for the fish to breed. This has been done since time immemorial. During this break in fishing, Lake Victoria Day (LVD) is held. What luck that I happened to be here this year because LVD was convened on one of the islands which I probably would have never gone to otherwise.

Getting to Mageta Island is in itself quite the adventure. You have to drive 80 kms (about 50 miles) west of Kisumu to get to a place called Usenge Beach. From Usenge Beach, Mageta Island is a 45 minute ferry ride. My parents, never ones to miss an adventure, tagged along since they too have never been to Mageta. The island is close to the boarder between Kenya and Uganda.

The ferry

In all, there are 7704 people who live on the island and the only access to the mainland is via the ferry or via smaller less lake-worthy (in my opinion) boats. As you can imagine, the people on the island rely on these crafts to bring everything. The ride costs KSH 100 per passenger (about USD 1). When we boarded the ferry which probably takes about 80 passengers total, there were all sorts of things headed there too including sacks of flour and sugar, crates of soda, and building materials. Fishing is the main source of income and I learned that there is some agriculture on other parts of the island.

The ferry stops at three places around the island and we were headed to the third, and final beach(and I use this term loosely because there was not a grain of sand to be seen) which happens to be the most densely populated area on the island. I was immediately struck by how close to each other all the buildings were but I guess that's what happens on an island.

We eventually found our way to the main event which was held in what can be thought of as the main square in the middle of town. It turned out to be a place for island resident to air their grievances in front of the local Chief/Elder and an NGO called Uhai Lake Forum.

The Elder/Chief is the dude in the red hat

As is typical of such events there was some entertainment provided by local school children

I learned a lot of the issues the communities face including access to safe drinking water, access to markets for excess crops they produce, and sanitation challenges. Above all, I learned that the things I consider problems are trivial.

The ferry ride back from the festivities was a lot more wavy since the winds tend to be higher later in the day. I have to say that there is something disconcerting about hearing Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go on", the Titanic theme song, while the ferry rocking back and forth.

More pictures form the event:

There has to be at least one drum

Taking in the festivities

Lots of dancing

Fishing is the major income earner in this part of the world. Here are some people coming in for the day. Others are mending nets in their boats.

Coming back in after a day of fishing

Adventures in Bureaucracy

While the MOU Saga continues (Argh!), I decided to take the opportunity to do some other things I have been meaning to get to. The first is to get a Kenyan ID card. Kenyans get them when they begin voting at 18 and since I left before then, I have never had one (We don't do absentee voting yet). What an adventure it turned out to be.

The country is divided in an array of administrative units and there are Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs that govern certain areas. I began at the Assistant Chief's office. I had to get him to sign a letter explaining why I don't have an ID yet (The letter said I didn't have one because of "Ignorance"). From there I headed to another office to get the form to apply for the ID. Once I filled that out, I then had to get the Chief to sign it (I realized at this late juncture that I could have consulted a cousin of mine who happens to be a Chief. Word is that she is fierce!). Once he signed it, I joined yet another line to have yet another form filled out. Then I needed all my fingerprints taken. Twice. Using the good old-fashioned ink. This step was of course accompanied by another form. By the time I got to the final step, getting my picture taken, it had been four hours since I started the process.

Now, I wait for two months. My goal is to have some pictures posted by then :)