大象传媒

Scientists predict that the world will be 1.5 degrees hotter by 2030. In some parts of Northern Kenya, it鈥檚 already 2 degrees hotter.

We knew we wanted to focus on maternal health for one of our short films. We鈥檝e worked on a few climate change projects and it鈥檚 clear that it鈥檚 women who are bearing the brunt of it. In Northern Kenya, women do most of the work. They cook, feed the children, build the houses, do the housework and walk for hours in the heat to find water. Some girls are pulled out of school because they have to help their mothers with the household chores.

With longer and more frequent droughts, water points have been drying out faster, forcing women to walk for about six hours or even longer in the harsh drylands to find water. And when they do find water, it鈥檚 usually dirty or contaminated but they have no choice but to drink it. Some of the women we spoke to told us that when they find a waterpoint, there鈥檚 usually a scramble for water, and some pregnant women have even lost their babies in these scrambles. All the women we spoke to said that they had chronic back pain, swollen feet and often had nose bleeds from walking long distances in the heat to find water.

Welcomed with smiles

The women at Loima sub-county welcomed us with smiles and songs and were willing to speak to us on camera about the impact longer droughts and increased temperatures are having in their lives. When we arrived at their homestead, I stepped out of the car in my flat shoes and could not stand the heat of the ground for more than 10 minutes. I don鈥檛 know how these women do it in their thin sandals made from goat skin.

Their bodies have had to adapt to a lot. I asked Esther, the pregnant woman featured in the first film, 鈥淲hat have you eaten today?鈥� She told us she had a cup of black tea in the morning. We tried to offer her food, but she would just give it to her children, who had also not had a meal that day. When she showed us where and how she fetched water, we held our breath, afraid she might injure herself and her baby. She was eight and a half months pregnant. During the long droughts, the community comes together and digs holes in the dry river bed about two to three feet deep (less than one metre) to find water.

For the mental health story, we were less sure whether Lomilio would be willing to speak to us, but he and his family welcomed us with smiles and were very open with us.

Sobering stories

But by day 2, the crew started getting very quiet, contemplating as Lomilio told us how he lost all his livestock one day during a flash flood in March 2020. He had about 900 goats. It was sobering to watch a man of around 70 years old break down in front of us because he had lost his livelihood. It was evident how much he loves his children and wants a good life for them, but he can鈥檛 provide that. He said that there is only darkness left in his heart. Luckily his friends donated some goats to him, but it hadn鈥檛 rained since that fateful day in March 2020, so his newly acquired goats were dying too.

After we listened to his story, one of my colleagues came up to me and said he was going to buy some food for them. It seems in those quiet moments we were all thinking the same. We are not supposed to pay people for an interview but when you go to these kind of places, you can鈥檛 just interview them and leave.

We chipped in and bought them enough food to last a couple of months, but we were worried that other people nearby who had seen us come to the village would take it from them. They, too, are suffering from longer droughts, with no food or water for their families. This is the reality of climate change in many parts of Africa.

Life is getting harder

We sometimes get asked why our projects focus on climate adaptation rather than mitigation. Looking at Lomilio, I thought, what can I tell him? The only way his family emits carbon is when his wife cooks food for his kids using charcoal. I couldn鈥檛 possibly tell him not to do that? Esther walks 28 kilometres to get to the clinic for her antenatal visits in almost unbearable heat. The nurse said she was due any moment and told her that if her waters broke, she was to get a motorbike to bring her to the clinic. Her friends would have to chip in to afford this motorbike ride to the clinic. I couldn鈥檛 possibly tell her not to use the motorbike to go to the clinic because it emits carbon.

Both Lomilio and Esther live day to day. They do not think in terms of carbon emissions but wake up hoping they will be able to find food and water that day. They cannot plant trees, cannot peacefully protest or recycle. They don鈥檛 own cars and have never been on a plane.

Africa contributes to 3.6% of global carbon emissions, but it is people like Lomilio and Esther who bear the brunt of the impact of climate change. They don鈥檛 know what COP26 is, they just know that life is getting harder, and weather patterns more extreme.

It is late October 2021 as I am writing this. COP26 ends on 11 November and people around the world will soon start getting ready for Christmas. I can鈥檛 help but wonder how many times Esther and Lomilio鈥檚 wife will have to walk long distances in search for water in the next two months, then again in 2022. Communities like these urgently need help. They needed help yesterday. This is what we hope leaders and policymakers watching these films can understand.

大象传媒 Media Action is working with journalists and weather and climate scientists in East Africa to help farmers, fisherman and pastoralists better understand and prepare for climate-related weather changes. Read more about our work.