Covid-19: How unfinished learning affected Tana River children

A pastoralist gathers his herd in Hola for grazing. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Daud Dughal would be sitting his Standard Eight exams this year had it not been for the Covid-19 pandemic that forced the closure of schools for months.

The situation at home was not made any better by the biting drought that was claiming livestock at an alarming rate, leaving parents in despair.

The first two weeks of the break turned out to be the toughest days of his life at home.

"My father called me to a meeting in the morning and my uncles were there. They told me that I was going to lead my cousins to the Tana Delta with the livestock to save them from the drought,” he narrated.

It was a journey he had not anticipated as he knew no routes to the Tana Delta, had not made such a trip before and did not know how to survive in the wilderness.

His salary would depend on the survival of the livestock as each family that brought its herd for the trip would give him a goat and those that brought cattle would pay with a cow.

"I was afraid. Eight families had placed their assets in my hands. If they survived, the glory would be huge and if they died, I would have to live with the blame," Dughal recounted. 

He set off on the journey to the wilderness with 350 animals, a dagger, a water bottle and a stick, leading a group of five young herders.

Each family had painted their herd to mark possession.

His uncles made short prayers and wished them well as they set off that dawn.

"The livestock had been through this several times, so they knew the route to follow and even where water reservoirs were. We were just following and protecting them," he said.

It was a tough adventure that would expose him to the stark realities of life, walking past carcasses of dead livestock and wild animals.

"I learnt a lot out there, the hard way. It is not all easy, some would group livestock with yours thinking they are making friends only to steal from you. We lost five goats before we could realise that and act accordingly," the 17-year-old narrated.

The journey toughened him, making him alert and responsible for his life, but it also stole his childhood and desire for education.

All he thought about was livestock and survival. He was forced to make friends with farming communities, request help and appreciate it the best way he could.

"I decided that I would not drive my herd into someone's farm to make them survive, but would request and trade something for it in appreciation,” he said.

Unlike what other herders would do with impunity, his idea worked for him. 

He would walk into homes and ask and in return he would share a cup of goat milk or wild honey harvested during the trip.

"Whenever we spotted a hive in a tree trunk, we would light fire and raid it and harvest the honey for food and also for trade. We won the hearts of our brothers," he said.

His journey to the Tana Delta was peaceful and he loved the experience and embraced it.

And when schools resumed, he was still in the wilderness, away from civilisation, not aware of what was happening on the other side of life. 

"I was in the wilderness for 11 months. God saw me through, the livestock increased in number and some were expectant by the time I came back," Dughal said.

That trip changed his mind about going back to school, with his wages paid as agreed, sneaking in the worry of losing it to the drought and the desire to get more.

With the drought still biting, he has never looked back and now grazes more than 700 animals, 20 of which are his, earned from the wages as agreed.

"I can’t go back to school; I will not get anything. I allowed my younger ones to go and live that dream but for mine, it has already been established by the pandemic," he said.

Dughal is just one among the many children who dropped out of school as a result of the pandemic and ventured into other things.

Statistics from Unicef show that more than 5,000 learners did not report back to school after the pandemic, with children from the herder community the most affected.

Tana River Children's Officer Daniel Waiti noted that more than 20,000 children in the county were affected by the pandemic, leading many to drop out of school.

"Some became herders and moved with livestock and have never returned, some got pregnant during that holiday and were married, while others left home to find jobs as domestic workers in towns like Garissa and Malindi," he said.

But he said the department in partnership with Unicef and the Ministry of Interior was looking for the children to return them to school.

"We have rescued more than 5,000 and we are still going for more. What they will need even more is counselling," he said.