In Kenya, climate change and human activity could spell the end of the country’s largest freshwater swamp. While wetlands are repositories of culture and biodiversity, they are disappearing three times faster than forests on a global scale.
Luo tribesmen have historically inhabited Yala Swamp, located on the shores of Africa’s chief water reservoir, Lake Victoria. Their homesteads are arranged in traditional patterns to reflect the strength of family ties. According to research, the organization “crystallize[s] the vision people have of the ideal life.”
Since March 2020, what were once seasonal floods have come to stay. The water has forced hundreds away from their ancestral homes and broken families apart. Luos bear a great fear and respect for their deceased ancestors. Abandoning places of burial indicates disloyalty, which is believed to provoke hauntings and turmoil.
