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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| January 19, 2004 |
Bringing Music and the Nature of Kenya to Peace Boat – Peter Orwa |
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| Peter Orwa in full regalia |
Four members of "Peter's Band" from Kenya, Peter Orwa, Edward Mburu, Bruno Mbaruk, and John Nze Nze, joined Peace Boat's 44th Voyage from Singapore to Mombasa, Kenya. As the leader Peter Orwa made clear in fluent Japanese in their first meeting with Peace Boat staff and passengers onboard, the cheerful members of Peter's Band were with us to assure that we all have fun and learn about African culture as much through interactive music and dance as educational lecture. The full onboard program included Swahili lessons in the mornings, drumming lessons in the afternoons, educational lectures, and much personal interaction and discussion time all hours of the day and night.
In one lecture entitled "A Message from the Elephants" Peter introduced the sobering reality of natural life in Kenya. Showing a video titled "Wanted Dead or Alive," Peter introduced the reality of elephant poaching in Kenya. Elephants, symbol of safaris in Kenya, have become the most popular target for poachers because of high demand for their tusks in Asia. Peace Boat's base country Japan always ranks second or third in ivory consumption in the world, with elephant tusks used to make stamps, the surface of piano keys, furniture, and various ornaments. Although the Washington Treaty of 1989 fully prohibited international sales and trade of elephant tusks, it was not sufficient to stamp out poaching completely and it still presents a major problem in Kenya. The video also introduced anti-poaching efforts by Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers and the elephant orphanage in the Tsavo National Park. The elephant orphanage looks after young elephants that have lost their parents to poaching in order to assure that they are able to be reintegrated into the wild. Unfortunately, as encouraging as they may sound, anti-poaching efforts have proven to be limited in effectiveness, with the black market for ivory continuing to provide the impetus for the ongoing slaughter of this magnificent animal.
The reality is that no matter how strict regulations are, elephant poaching continue as long as there is demand for elephant tusks, and poverty and a lack of other job opportunities make poaching a lucrative source of income. How can we resolve this problem then? Mr. Orwa concluded his lecture by stating his belief that peace for human beings must coexist with peace for animals at the same level. If the majority of people in the world shared this belief, poaching would almost completely disappear. Well managed, conservation not only protects nature and animal life, but recognizes and protects one of the most important economic resources of Kenya - its nature-focused tourism industry, also one of humanity's most important natural resources. |
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