In late March, I traveled with Caterina Amicucci to eat it, to taste the bitterness of their reality. “The people who want to build that dam should come here and eat these palm nuts!” one man shouts in disgust.
The day we arrived back in Lodwar to catch the plane to Nairobi, I reflected on what we saw. I had expected to see crocodiles, AK-47s, a lake full of fishing fleets and a parched desert wasting away. I saw none of those things, but I had absorbed the reality of the Lake Turkana region: the hunger, the disconnection from the rest of the world, the daily insecurity, and the compassion and sorrow of the people. Lake Turkana is the foundation of their survival. As the environment becomes harsher and without a government-driven safety net to help them through the worst droughts, Lake Turkana is their best defense against hunger and conflict.
Watch Resisting Gibe 3 Dam: Voices from Lake Turkana multimedia presentation
Download Fighting for Lake Turkana, a new report based on our March 2010 field visit
Visit our Gibe 3 Dam and Lake Turkana Under Threat webpages