The "Singing Wells" of Ethiopia - Borana People

THE WELL - Water Voices from Ethiopia

THE DIRECTORS

Paolo Barberi
Anthropologist and filmmaker, teaches cultural anthropology at the University of Rome "La Sapienza".

Mario Michelini
Geographer and filmmaker, works with the international development cooperation. He is specialized in indigenist issues.

Riccardo Russo
Geographer and filmmaker, an expert in communication and development. His research focus on social and environmental issues; he collaborates with several universities and NGO’s.

INTRODUCTION

The Well describes the life of the Borana people, a semi-nomadic shepherds tribe of South Ethiopia that struggles perennially for survival. In a dry land of astonishing beauty, during the long periods of annual drought, the Borana life revolves around ancient perpetual wells, the only resource against the tragic effects of global climate change.

SYNOPSIS

The Borana territory extends in South Ethiopia, in the Oromia dry lands. The Borana are a shepherds semi nomadic population that manages its scarce water supply through a community organization in order to assure access to this resource to everyone, without any money exchange.

Ancient hand-excavated wells, known as “singing wells” and managed with the shepherds voluntary work, allow the survival of this population and its cattle during the long periods of annual drought, when thousands of people and animals move close to the wells in search for survival. According to an unwritten rule of the wells’ management nobody can be excluded from their use. It is as if, in this remote region of the planet, water has become a symbol of union and peace even among different ethnic groups, often in conflict with one another.

The documentary follows the daily life that revolves around an ancient well, beginning with the dry season until the arrival of the long awaited rains. During this period of time each and every activity of the Borana is focused on the well.

Every day the young shepherds form human chains to be able to reach the depths of the well and to fetch out the water. Their hard work is stressed by a chant that seems to draw the great herds that are slowly moving near, after days and days of walking in search of a pasture, and are finally coming to drink. In this phase the well becomes a small integrated social system: by observing this world it is possible to understand the delicate equilibrium of the relationship between man and Nature that governs the existence of pastoralist people in Africa today.

The audience will become acquainted with the extraordinary Borana abilities to manage the water as a common good in one of the most inhospitable regions of the world.

http://www.esplorarelametropoli.it/progetti/i_pozzi_cantanti_en.php

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ETHIOPIA: Special report on the Borana

Field health clinic in a remote part of Borena        Photo: IRIN

Yabelo, 26 June 2002 (IRIN) - The sick often walk day and night for medical help at Yabelo Health Centre in southern Ethiopia. For many it is a wasted trip: the centre, which serves some 103,000 people, has no doctor, electricity, or running water, only a handful of medical supplies, and just four beds. 

The nearest doctor is over 100 km away, and for surgery, patients would have to travel more than 300 km. "If they are seriously ill or in need of urgent surgery they will probably die," said Alemu Tuji, a nurse at the centre, which is situated in the remote area of Borena. "Our vehicle has also been broken [down] for the last two months, so they would also have to use a bus to get to a hospital."

Borena Zone, in Oromiya Regional State, is one of the forgotten areas of Ethiopia, and is still reeling from the severe drought that hit the region three years ago. The impact of the drought in the vast arid region bordering Kenya, dependent as it is on both agriculture and livestock, was devastating.

Because almost 80 percent of the livestock died, the Borana, the local ethnic group, lost their only source of income. Almost all their crops – an estimated 98 percent – were destroyed. At the height of the drought, almost one in five of the area's 1.6 million people was suffering from malnutrition. Among vulnerable groups like the elderly the figure was four times as high. Some three-quarters of the population were also dependent on food aid.

But the crippling effects of the drought has had a far more insidious impact on the Borana: because it destroyed their livelihoods, they have been unable to shake off the severe hardship that now has a stranglehold on them.
Today, according to a recent study by the government’s Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission, some 60 percent of the population of Borena is still "food insecure" – the highest proportion in the entire Oromiya region. 

As a result, the Borana have become more marginalised and dependent on help from the outside world every year. Since the drought, poor rains in the last three years have exacerbated their many problems. Water shortages often force them to wander hundreds of kilometres with their cattle in search of grazing – sparking fierce clashes with rival ethnic groups like the Hamer. 

The ethnic conflict – particularly with the Hamer – has also taken a heavy toll on both. Teltele, which is the main town of the area, has a single borehole, with a tiny yield serving more than 54,000 people. In rural areas, women and children often walk overnight to carry water back to their villages. Over-use of water sources by both livestock and people also leads to illnesses and serious waterborne infections.

For families, the threat of disease is acute. In some areas, the vaccination rate against the five main childhood diseases, including measles and diphtheria, is just 8 percent. In the area, only 10 percent of the population is within walking distance of the nearest health facility - which can mean the difference between life and death.

Another serious threat to the Borana is HIV/AIDS – arising in particular by the fact that truck drivers use the Addis Ababa to Kenya highway, which traverses the region, and the presence of several army camps. Borana culture not only accepts promiscuity but actively encourages it. A married woman is expected to take at least one lover, and is encouraged to do so by her husband.

Malaria, however, remains the biggest killer. Two NGOs - the local Action for Development (AFD) and the international agency GOAL - are now joining forces to combat the unremitting impact of the 1999 drought with a four-pronged comprehensive strategy. By joining forces, they say, they can target more areas with a wide-ranging approach using the skills they have both developed in the area. Joint action also means that they do not duplicate each other’s work.

They aim to break the downward spiral that many Borana are now in – and shift the focus from yearly food aid hand-outs by tackling the "root causes of chronic food insecurity". In this context, they are targeting around 84,000 people to improve their health, education and water facilities.

Women and children are being immunised against serious diseases and water access points are being built in some of the most far-flung corners of the region. The NGOs will train about 100 traditional birth attendants, who will radically improve the lot of pregnant mothers and their children.

But - perhaps most importantly - they have devised a "livelihood diversification" scheme by helping the Borana kick-start incomes and escape the cycle of poverty. As more and more Borana look for alternatives to cattle rearing, credit and saving groups and service cooperatives will help them explore new livelihoods and strengthen existing ones. Experience by AFD so far has shown repayment rates of 100 percent, and 58 percent of the people using the money have been women.

"A multi-sectoral approach is essential in Borena. Years of neglect combined with recurrent drought and the recent famine have decimated the asset base of the Borana communities," Catherine Fitzgibbon, the GOAL country director, explained. "Interventions that only address one or a few of the problems facing these groups are unlikely to have much impact. We are aiming to strengthen not only the communities physical and financial asset base but to build the human and social capital of individuals and communities as well."

Alemu Dowa, field coordinator of AFD in Yabelo, said the Borana were "marginalised and forgotten". He said lack of rain had taken a heavy toll. "This is one of the worst areas in the country," he said. "The drought has big consequences for the Borana and has depleted their livestock. They live below the poverty line, "the traditional way of coping is getting worse and worse, and the people are tending to shift from the pastoral way to the alternatives, like trading."

Alemu added that more and more Borana were trying to move away from pastoralism to a more fixed, sedentary lifestyle. "The way of pastoralism goes with rain and pasture and water, and if these elements are getting worse day by day, they want to stop that," he said. "The way they have been living the last 100 or 200 years is becoming non-operative now... A human being wants some kind of outlet where you can see other alternatives." 

Alemu said offering food aid or education or health as separate packages would not help. "All the issues are tied in together," he said. "Without education their health problems will continue. Without the chance to escape from the poverty by giving them credit or loans they are stuck and the whole process will continue."

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Reduce suffering in northern Kenya

Posted Tuesday, June 15 2010 on Daily Nation

Northern Kenya was described by a British writer as one half of Kenya which the other half knows nothing about and cares very little to know what is happening.

This area has suffered inequalities due to historical injustices, a situation that has denied locals their fundamental civic, political, social, cultural and economic rights.

It is a well-known fact that Northern Kenya, and specifically upper Eastern Province, has a low literacy rate of 8.3 per cent compared to the nation’s 61.6 per cent. This is a major contributor to poverty.

The region suffers marginalisation and the levels of insecurity betray characteristics of an ungoverned area. The Shifta War, which ended in 1967, contributed to insecurity and persistent banditry.

The major economic activity is pastoralism. Challenges encountered in this sector include prolonged droughts, inability to access relevant information or marketing and lack of organised livestock marketing systems.

Despite the appointment of one of our own, Isiolo North MP M. A. Kuti as the minister for Livestock, no improvement has been seen in this sector.

It is a pity that the ministry was ranked last among ministries and government parastatals during the last performance index.

Other major challenges include food insecurity, with many residents depending on relief food, uneven water distribution and a poor transport network.

The government has tried to decentralise development funds, but due to the selfishness of many leaders, this money only benefits a small group of people.

As a result, areas such as Malka Gala, Dadacha Basa and Badana lack water both for human and livestock, resulting in cholera outbreaks. Action needs to be taken.

HASSAN SHANO,

Isiolo

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http://tvblik.nl/kruispunt/missiepost-boranaland

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BORANA WOMEN NARRATE THEIR ORDEAL DURING THE SHIFTA WAR

Posted: June 16, 2011

The Borana community was forced into prostitution during the shifta war of the1960’s to the 1990s the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission heard yesterday.

  

Former Moyale Member of Parliament Guyo Halake who served in the 4th Parliament told the TJRC hearing in Moyale, that their women were forced to have sex with state security officers to ensure their men were not suspected or arrested for being part of the shifta militia and to earn money.

The small payment received from the security officers would be used to provide for their families who were economically challenged as the war escalated, Mr. Halake said pointing out that the government crippled the community economically as it tried to retrieve firearms allegedly in its possession.

“The government knew that livestock was our main source of livelihood yet the officers killed all the animals, leaving us economically vulnerable,” said Mr. Halake

Abdi Lafa from the smallest ethnic group in Moyale known as Saknye said they were victimized by the government.

“The government involved us in the shifta war because we were surrounded by two communities who were alleged to be part of the militia. In the process of flushing out shiftas we were subjected to constant abuse and forced to cross the border into Somalia ,” said Mr. Lafa.

He appealed to the government to ensure their protection so that the rest of the community could return from Somalia.

The Commission is hearings continue in Marsabit today and tomorrow.

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Borana’s Ethiopian king fails to endorse aspirants.

Updated Friday, December 21 2012 at 00:00 GMT+3

By Ali Abdi

The Borana traditional king who reigns in Ethiopia has spoken again on the community’s politics in Marsabit County.

The Abba Gadha, Guyo Gobba met delegates representing Moyale MP Mohamud Ali and his rival Chachu Tadicha, an NGO official, in Moyale, Ethiopia on Tuesday afternoon but never endorsed any candidate for the Marsabit governor seat. Mr Gobba was reported to have asked both sides to go out and seek votes from the electorates peacefully.

The man whose decision has never been defied in the past addressed the delegates on the sideline of a gathering meant to discuss new Ethiopian policy for residents of southern Ethiopia. During a previous meeting held last July, he endorsed Tadicha, a decision that caused an uproar among Kenyan Borana .

Elders Diba Guyo, Roba Guyo, Boru Jillo, Halake Godana, Guyo Dulacha and Hussein Arero represented Mr Ali. Tadicha was represented by former Moyale MP Mohammed Galgalo and elders Sora Ganso, Tuke Huka, Khalich Halake, Godana Sharamo, Mohammed Haji Wario and Hoche Galma.

Both sides had requested the Abba Gadha to help them make a decision on who should be the community’s flagbearer for the second time.

‘‘The Abba Gadha came to Moyale town of Ethiopia where he met government officials to discuss Ethiopian issues. The Kenyans took this opportunity to meet the leader later,’’ said a source who declined to be identified for security reasons.

He said Gobba agreed to their request, which was discussed in less than 30 minutes. The Abba Gadha came with 20 members of his assembly while the 11 Kenyan elders represented the two rivals.

Both Ali and Tadicha’s representatives yesterday confirmed the meeting took place but differed on the ruling of the Abba Gadha.

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