Tribe to reverse 'pen curse'
2007-12-18 19:41
Kotido - Once a symbol of British oppression, education is now seen as the only remedy to marginalisation for the Karamojong, a tribe of herders hidden in one of the most remote corners of Uganda.
To get to school, Lucy has to wake up at the crack of dawn, sweep her family plot and perform other domestic duties before trekking 9.5km through a vast ochre expanse of desert.
"I want to learn very hard and find a job. I want to be a nurse," said the 19-year-old Karamojong, wearing a bright purple and white school uniform and a plastic cross around her neck.
For this isolated tribe, the options are clear: education or continued isolation.
But it was not always so in the Karamoja, whose proud warriors are still feared in the region and which once equated education with the roughshod rule of the British colonialists.
Instruments of oppression
According to historical accounts, even pens and pencils were perceived as nefarious instruments of British oppression.
Colonial authorities had used pens to write the names of tribe members who were forcefully enlisted in the British army during World War II and never returned.
Pens were also used to count the Karamojong's cattle before imposing taxes, as well as in sentencing elders who had opposed the government.
Subsequently, pens were cursed and one was buried in a tribal ritual. In 1995, the curse was lifted and a pen was symbolically unearthed.
Much headway has since been made in promoting the virtues of literacy. The region is now producing a steady flow of young school enthusiasts like 14-year-old Samuel Keno who are begging to prove to their elders that the pen is mightier than the sword.
An unquenchable desire
Samuel is not put off by his 12.8km journey to school, and it seems nothing could quench his desire to become an educated adult and read his way out of the confines of his tribe's ancestral lifestyle.
"I get up at 05:00 and then I milk the cows for an hour before I can walk to Lomukura primary school," in the town of Kotido, 346km northeast of the Ugandan capital Kampala.
"When it rains, sometimes I'm stuck home because the rivers are overflowing and there are no bridges," he said. "When the enemies are there (rival tribes), I have to hide in the cereal fields."
The Karamoja region, an inhospitable range scattered with measly pastures stretching where the tropical forest and the arid Rift Valley meet, has been beset by bitter tribal feuds and deadly cattle-rustling.
The rebellious region of some one million inhabitants has been marginalised by the central government in Kampala and has the lowest literacy rates in the entire country.
According to the Save The Children charity, the rate stands at a lowly 12%, well below the national average of 65%.
According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), 80% of Karamojong children aged seven to 18 have never been schooled.
'Disarm everybody'
"I want to become a politician, an MP, and I want to disarm everybody... There must be peace talks among the tribes," said Samuel.
Primary enrolment has been free for 10 years in Uganda, which was also the first country in the region to lift fees on secondary education in 2007.
But Karamoja is catching on belatedly and Lomukura primary school is welcoming pupils well into their twenties into the lowest grades.
"In Karamoja, we take any age, there is no age limit to be admitted," said Dennis Okengo, a teacher.
"We even have 22-year-old men coming directly from the kraals with their wives," he said.
Okengo noted that attitudes have changed in recent years thanks to a government campaign but bemoans a lack of teachers, schoolbooks and equipment.
"I teach 157 children, it's very difficult... Few of them understand what we teach them, managing such classes is very difficult," said Gloria, another teacher at Lomukura who gave only her first name.
Five miles down a rocky dust-swept track, the Rengen primary school is also struggling, with only six teachers for 624 pupils aged six to 19. And the teacher-student ratio is not the only challenge facing such remote schools.
Their ranks are depleted during the sorghum harvest seasons, during which many children must work in the fields to help their parents.
Classroom safety
Yet their numbers swell when the government conducts disarmament operations in the villages, prompting many children to spend the night in the safety of the classrooms.
Safety is no minor incentive for many children living in this region rife with tribal clashes and violence against women.
Betty Koryang is a boarding student at Rengen. Her village is 16km away and at 16, she feels her future is in better hands at school than back home.
"Life in the village is full of problems... You're forced to do many things, they take the girls for granted and they look at you like property. At school, I'm free. In the future, I will not depend on anybody," she said.