As a young girl growing up in Nairobi, my favourite hours were those I spent in the McMillan Memorial Library, devouring books in the downstairs fiction section: two hours of sheer bliss, whilst my parents attended to their various errands and had coffee at the nearby Café Vienna (managed, incidentally, by my grandmother). Later, I found my way upstairs to the Africana section, and fell in love with all the treasures I found there. Then, at the Kenya High School, I found yet more treasures in the school’s well-endowed library. In short, I grew up with books as a vital part of my life, and learned how important they were to an ever-expanding mind.
Every child in Kenya should have access to books, yet, sadly, very few do. Their education is limited, and they are in that sense deprived. A few libraries have been set up in needy areas, but the idea has not caught on as a necessity to a forward-thrusting nation.
I decided to remedy the matter to a small degree, in my own small way. My contribution was to be far removed from Nairobi.
I was born in Kenya in 1942, to parents who had fled war-torn Eastern Europe. After a two-year, 7,500 mile saga, my father had finally been offered work in Kenya, at that time a British Colony. The British would not recognise his qualifications as a famous veterinary surgeon. Instead, he was put in charge of a factory at Athi River producing corned beef for the British army in Burma and North Africa.
Construction work of the library at Samburu Mixed Day Secondary School funded by Ms Rhodia Mann. PHOTO| COURTESY
By the time I was nine years old, he had moved up the ladder somewhat, and had been put in charge of the entire northern half of Kenya. At the time, this was a region of pastoralists and nomads, continuously harassed by Somali bandits: one had to check in with the Police Post at Isiolo before venturing further north. Only a mad maverick such as my father would have considered the job a fascinating one!
My father decided to take me with him on one of his monthly tours of duty, and I was thus introduced to the Samburu people, a small tribe, of perhaps 100,000 people at that time, inhabiting a largely desolate area of roughly 8,000 square miles.
It seems I was the first white child they had ever encountered. Our curiosity was mutual. For me, it was far more than that: for me, it was love at first sight. I vowed to return as an adult.
By 1972, I had become a professional safari guide, specialising in Samburu culture. I was adopted into a family of blacksmiths, one of the last still following ancient traditions. Through them, I was invited to attend weddings, rituals and major ceremonies. I also met all the shamans, healers and spiritual leaders of the tribe. In 2000, I published a book about the Samburu, Talk to the Stars (out of print), and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in recognition of my exploration and research. My documentary film, Butterfly People, was launched at the Zanzibar Film Festival of 2006, and in 2014 was aired on MNET Africa television, throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2012, I was given a special Ambassador’s Medal by the outgoing American Ambassador to Kenya, Scott Gration.
I had attended the great circumcision ceremonies of 1990, and again in 2005. The elders have invited me to attend the next ceremony, scheduled for this August. My continuing involvement with the people is beyond question.
Samburu culture is on the decline due to external influences such as formal education, missionaries and modern technology. In addition, devastating droughts and recurring tribal clashes have forced the Samburu to migrate southwards. Instead of following a traditional pastoralist way of life, many are now forced to become sedentary agriculturalists. This is seldom successful, due to climate change in their habitat. The population has increased to over 250,000: they have clearly outgrown the confines of the district. They cannot graze their livestock to the north, because of desertification. If they migrate southwards, they run into privately-owned ranch land. Clashes on a different scale occur, with sometimes disastrous results, as we have recently witnessed. By the time I had completed my eighth book, inspiration was running dry and I needed another outlet for my creative talents.
Having spent over 40 years recording the slowly vanishing culture for posterity, I believed the only way I could help the Samburu go forward was via education. In 2016, deciding to put my money where my proverbial mouth had been for so many years, I searched the area around Maralal, the district capital, and made a commitment to help the Samburu Mixed Day Secondary School, on the outskirts of the township. I decided the school needed a library. The principal was enthusiastic, and we chose the site together.
I embarked on a series of talks and film shows, from which I rapidly learned that whilst people were reluctant to give me money, many had books they could bear to part with. Of the more than 1,000 I thus collected, I sadly had to reject roughly 300 as being entirely unsuitable. These included a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey and a huge carton of books on how to learn shorthand!
My library was to be a reference library, since it was not possible for children to take books home to mud huts with no light and no water for hand-washing. Books would have to remain on the school compound. The books I eventually selected were carefully packed into cartons and labelled according to category. Donations included a good fiction section. I filled in the gaps from my own pocket.
I had given a great deal of thought to the actual construction of the library. Building materials cost three times as much in Maralal as they do in Nairobi — due to transport costs for the 300kms they have to travel on extremely bad roads. I eventually decided to build a metal prefab, in pieces in my garden, and then transport it to Maralal where it would be reassembled on site. In June 2016, I returned to Maralal to supervise the building of the cement foundation.
Having by then run through my savings, I sold an old painting and a small carpet. A sale of my one-off necklaces helped me move matters further.
In August, I drove to Nairobi’s Industrial Area with my metal fundi to purchase the necessary bits and pieces. These were delivered to my home in the back of a large pick-up truck.
Three weeks later, my garden, driveway and verandah were littered with bits of wall, window, roof, the door, and five massive bookshelves. All built of metal: all termite-proof. Then I moved everything onto my verandah to protect the work from impending rain.
And then I ran out of money, and had nothing left to sell!
Another series of talks and film shows seemed mandatory. This time, my efforts paid off. The International School of Kenya came up trumps with enough cash to cover the hire of a 5-ton truck, to ferry the two tons of books and the two tons of metal up to Maralal. The cash would also provide me and my team with accommodation whilst the library was being built.
On January 6 of this year, my dream approached fruition. I had 11 men waiting at my home to load up the truck. At last, the “Mann Expedition” could set off! Our long journey through Laikipia proceeded without incident.
At the other end, students were waiting to help offload. Within an hour, all the boxes of books were safely stored inside an unused shed, and all the walls were laid out on the ground according to my diagram. By lunchtime, the walls were up, and by the end of Day Two, the roof was on.
I myself was responsible for Day Three: unpacking the 60 cartons of books, shelving them all, and labelling them accordingly.
Day Four consisted of the official opening ceremony, attended by the principal, his staff, members of the School Board, and the more than 300 students of the school. It began with the students dancing for me, the guest of honour. And what an honour it was!
I then explained why I had made them a library, and why at this particular school. It was all because of their principal, a man of integrity, a truly rare being in the Kenya of today. The principal cut the red ribbon I had tied around the building, and I invited the students to come in.
Wall-to-wall young people, all oh-ing and ah-ing over the treasures that had come their way. I had brought four sets of Encyclopaedias! Wow, here were books on astronomy, and here was a book about Canada: and here books on World War II. Want to know about cheetahs? Or what about First Aid? I shall never forget the sight of all those faces, all lit up with sheer joy — the same joy I had experienced long ago at the McMillan Libary!
The day ended with a football match, and then the entire school gathered together to make me a small present: a beautiful beaded necklace. I shall cherish it until the day I die.
The library is running well. My legacy is in safe hands. If I have helped 300 young Samburu into a better future, my life has had a meaning.
Rhodia Mann is a well-known jewellery designer, writer, bead historian and authority on Samburu culture. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. [email protected]
