"The Gun Women"

     The Turkana are Kenya's third-largest tribe and the second largest group of nomadic pastoralists (after the Maasai). They mostly live in the Turkana District of the rift valley in northwest of Kenya bordering Sudan.  Most of the Turkana people are cattle herders, some engage in small-scale agriculture and fishing on Lake Turkana.  On the Sudanese side of the border is the Taposa community.  Both of these tribes are completely dependent on the land for their sustenance.

      This fertile region (the Nadapal Belt) is also considered one of the most volatile areas in east and central Africa.   The Kenyan and Southern Sudanese security forces have in the recent past engaged each other in violent attacks, as both countries try to secure this green belt, considered the lifeline of the pastoral communities, for themselves.

       Scores of people have been killed and an undetermined number of animals have perished in these renewed hostilities that have derailed any hopes of peace on the Nadapal Belt. Adding to the tension is a persistent drought that has resulted in a shortage of pastureland and water.

        The recurrent attacks and severe drought are threatening the lives of more than 2,000 families in this area. The violence has forced the Taposa people to move to safer areas taking them within what is considered the Turkana land.  In an attempt to claim this land as their own the Toposa’s continually attack the Turkana.  The women and children from the Turkana community are left abandoned in the bush struggling to look for water and grass for their livestock.

        In recent days the Turkana women have joined forces with their husbands to protect their land and livestock.   Speaking on camera the Turkana women expressed their anger and said they had to take up guns to fight for their land and survival.

I just received these pictures from my friend and colleague, Felix Masi (Documentary photojournalist/Co-founder Voiceless Children).  He spent the last week out in the bush taking photos to document this sad story.