Advocacy, and educational projects for NGOs.
Backstory
NGOs working with the Maasai, Turkana, and other pastoralists developed a Sustainable Livelihoods Framework to put in context and address the challenges they face. Not confined to plots of land, pastoralists go where their cattle need to be for grazing. As the seasons change those locations change. Increasing population expanding out of urban areas, tourism and other activities are clashing with the traditional use of these large swaths of land. Without a voice in government or commerce, their cattle-oriented livelihoods are threatened.
My goal was to illustrate these dynamics. To provide a glimpse into how pastoralists live their lives, daily and seasonally, and how they interact with the various systems around them.
I built an interactive website that you can still see in its turn of the century form – sliced graphics, image rollovers, and everything. The full website, called The Species1, contained other advocacy projects as well as a huge collection of photographs taken in East Africa.
Slides from the original website – without interactivity
In the original website, clicking on the words showed a set of photos of the pastoralists on the right side of the screen relating to the selected topic.
Pastoralist Zones – These images show the pastoralist’s environment, resources available, living area, activities.
Day in the life. From dawn to dusk the activities on a Maasai boma.
Seasons and the movement of cattle. Early in the season, wildebeests are calving in the midlands, after April the cattle can move in further to the midlands, later in the season as the midlands dry out, the cattle are moved to the highlands. Tick-borne diseases are more prevalent so veterinary services are required. At the end of the year, the area is extremely dry, humans are also suffering a shortage of food. Cattle are typically moved into the forest areas but these areas now require permissions.
Turkana pastime – twisting Cleo’s hair.