Help Resettle the Persecuted Ogiek
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HELP RESSETTLE DISPLACED, DISPOSSESSED, AND PERSECUTED INDIGENOUS MINORITY OGIEK PEOPLE IN THEIR ANCESTRAL LAND IN MAU FOREST, NAKURU COUNTY, KENYA.
THE STORY
My name is Alex Sieber, and I am raising money for my friend Leonard Mindore. I met Leonard at Columbia University where we studied Indigenous Peoples' Rights together. Leonard is an indigenous person from Kenya. His tribe (the Ogiek) faces displacement and dispossession after a recent attack. Leonard has provided further insight in his own words and pictures below. Please, consider giving to this cause.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF OGIEK by Leonard Mindore
Ogiek is an indigenous minority forest-dependent tribe; its one of the only remaining hunter-gatherer tribes in Kenya. Their ancestral home is Mau forest complex in Kenya.
Ogiek have been advocating for their land rights for many years now. They have been to National and international courts of justice-seeking for rights to their ancestral lands. Decisions have been made in their favour in all these courts, but they have never been respected by the Kenyan government, the same government that facilitated the invasion and forceful occupation of their land by the Kalenjin community, one of the biggest tribes in Kenya.
However, a recent move by the same government to evict all the illegal invaders and encroachers of Mau forest was welcomed and greatly supported by the Ogiek. This did not go well with the encroachers who directed their anger on innocent Ogiek community members burning down houses, looting property, attacking and shooting everyone on sight with bows and arrows, as security forces watched. It was part of a long, well-planned scheme to wipe out the entire community who are perceived as a stumbling block by the invaders in their bid to occupy their fertile land conducive for agriculture.
Calm has returned, but the attack has left a trail of unimaginable destruction. Over a hundred families turned homeless, with no food nor clothes. Some were admitted in hospitals with injuries while others have been arrested and charged in courts.
We call upon international friends and people of good will to help us rebuilt our houses and put food on our tables.
This Ogiekman is counting his blessings after missing an arrow directed to his head
Ogiek man injured and writhing in pain
Community members pondering on the next move
Ogiek homes destroyed
Means of livelihoods destroyed
Houses reduced to ashes
Some atrocities were done with the supervision of the authorities
THE STORY
My name is Alex Sieber, and I am raising money for my friend Leonard Mindore. I met Leonard at Columbia University where we studied Indigenous Peoples' Rights together. Leonard is an indigenous person from Kenya. His tribe (the Ogiek) faces displacement and dispossession after a recent attack. Leonard has provided further insight in his own words and pictures below. Please, consider giving to this cause.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF OGIEK by Leonard Mindore
Ogiek is an indigenous minority forest-dependent tribe; its one of the only remaining hunter-gatherer tribes in Kenya. Their ancestral home is Mau forest complex in Kenya.
Ogiek have been advocating for their land rights for many years now. They have been to National and international courts of justice-seeking for rights to their ancestral lands. Decisions have been made in their favour in all these courts, but they have never been respected by the Kenyan government, the same government that facilitated the invasion and forceful occupation of their land by the Kalenjin community, one of the biggest tribes in Kenya.
However, a recent move by the same government to evict all the illegal invaders and encroachers of Mau forest was welcomed and greatly supported by the Ogiek. This did not go well with the encroachers who directed their anger on innocent Ogiek community members burning down houses, looting property, attacking and shooting everyone on sight with bows and arrows, as security forces watched. It was part of a long, well-planned scheme to wipe out the entire community who are perceived as a stumbling block by the invaders in their bid to occupy their fertile land conducive for agriculture.
Calm has returned, but the attack has left a trail of unimaginable destruction. Over a hundred families turned homeless, with no food nor clothes. Some were admitted in hospitals with injuries while others have been arrested and charged in courts.
We call upon international friends and people of good will to help us rebuilt our houses and put food on our tables.
This Ogiekman is counting his blessings after missing an arrow directed to his headOgiek man injured and writhing in painCommunity members pondering on the next moveOgiek homes destroyedMeans of livelihoods destroyedHouses reduced to ashesSome atrocities were done with the supervision of the authoritiesOrganizer
Alex Sieber
Organizer
Brookfield, WI
