Losam Part 2 – Life is Different in Losam

The first evening we set up all the tents that we had.  There were about 20 or so boys that did not have room in the tents so they had to make arrangements using tarps and rope.   I also got the chance to sleep outside later in the week when one of my youth was getting pretty sick and the doctors did not want him sleeping outside.  He thus took my tent, and I took his spot shown in the picture.  But the first few nights I had a nice tent.  We then went to sleep around 11 that night.  My tent mate and I awoke in the morning at around 5 am and discovered we had some uninvited guests.  After getting bitten several times, we finally found that we had slept with hundreds of ants.  We spent the rest of the morning getting them out of our tent and getting some insect repellant powder to put under our tent to avoid future visitors.  This was when I first realized that life is going to be much different this week.  The people of Losam, called Pokot, have a very simple and difficult life.  They live out in the middle of nowhere, and food and water supplies are scarce.  When we were there, it was even the rainy season, but water was very limited.  We had to dig down several feet in a dry river bed until we found water.  Then we had to scoop out all the dirty water and let new water filter in.  After that, we filled water containers and carried them for drinking water, cooking, and showering.  It was a long process.  I am not sure how the Pokot women survive.  They have to fill their containers and carry them on their heads for several kilometers.  As for the showers, they consist of filling a bucket, walking around the corner of the river, and using your hands to get wet, lather, and rinse.  The showers are very simple as you can see in the first photo here.  I also sometimes had visitors who were very interested in what this white person was doing out in the middle of nowhere, showering out in the open.  Here they are in the photo to the right.  Bathrooms are also much different in Losam.  The good news is that they are all around everywhere you go.  The bad news is that they are only bushes.  At a few places the Pokot people have built some coverage around the bathrooms as in this photo.  Naps are also very common for the Pokot people when they are out traveling in the desert.  The men carry this chair here, which also serves as their pillow.  The women and the children usually just find and stone to use for a pillow.  It is safe to say that I had to make a few adjustments while in Losam. ~Jeremy