The Merile tribe
 |
| "The Merile
Tribe" |
The Merile (they
call themselves Dassanech) are settled in many villages in the delta area along
the banks of the 6 branches of the
Omo
River
. The largest village is
Toltale-Sibil and it has a population of about 4,000 people.
This is also the nearest Merile settlement from the Kenya Police Post
(5.5km). The
Omo
River
delta (which continues to expand southwards into
Lake Turkana
) is technically Kenyan territory. While
the Merile have access to water (from the Omo River) and hence are able to
support large herds of cows and goats, and cultivation activities, their main
need is in the area of health care and basic education for the children.
Curative medicine
 |
| "we have
provided curative medicine to the local people" |
We have been
visiting Toltale-Sibil and other villages to the north and south of it since
October 2004. On most of these
visits, we have also provided curative medicine to the local population, apart
from meetings with the elders on a getting-to-know basis.
On all these
trips, we have always been accompanied by Turkana men and youth from Lowarengak
who were always astounded by the friendliness and warmth of the Merile towards
them.
Nursery school
In December, we
placed a Turkana nursery school teacher at Toltale-Sibil but he was home-sick
and had to leave. The local people
at Toltale saw to his needs of food and shelter as the area had a scarcity of
persons who could read and write and were willing to teach the many hundreds of
children of all ages at this village alone.
Agriculture
 |
| "The banks of
the Omo River are mostly cultivated" |
The banks of the
Omo
River
are mostly cultivated on both sides. About
1.5 km north of Toltale-Sibil, a Merile elder gave the parish a plot of land
fronting the most western branch of the
Omo
River
. Fruit trees and vegetables are
already being cultivated on this plot.
Peace plan
The elders of the
villages along the 3 western branches of the
Omo
River
are in favour of peace with the Turkana and have frequently asked for Turkana
elders to come and visit them. As a
matter of fact, people are related to each from both sides.
A number of Merile elders at Toltale-Sibil have a Turkana parent and they
also speak Turkana and Kiswahili.
We have obtained
some prayer books in the Merile (Dassanech) language from Ileret Catholic
Mission.
The needs in the area
At the moment,
the track from the Kenya Police Post to Toltale-Sibil is being improved by
Merile volunteers; this track is near to impassable during the rain season.
The Kenya Police do not agree to Turkana and Merile working together.
The needs in the
Toltale-Sibil area and the neighbouring villages of Koroh, Gabite, Nakabilah
etc. are:
 |
Availability
of clean water (as compared to the river water) for human consumption
through the drilling of boreholes;
|
|
Curative
medicine and periodical coverage by health agents;
|
|
Education
in English especially for the several hundred children;
|
| 
