"This is Edoe, leader of one of the Turkana herding groups (ngadakarin) in north-western Kenya. I had spent more than an hour talking to Edoe, and was trying to find an image that showed his authority, and also reflected his understanding of the changes that are needed if his people are to survive and prosper. In this photo he is in a makeshift brushwood classroom, talking about routes of learning. Behind him the blackboard bears a lesson in Kiswahili, the common tongue of East Africa.

These schools, which are supported by Oxfam, are new to the Turkana. They can move with the community. They do not require the children to attend all day, allowing them to perform their usual tasks at home. Edoe supports the initiative. A man who a few years ago had barely met a single government official is now sits on the Board of ABET - Alternative Basic Education for Turkana.

And this is what Edoe was saying: 'There are two schools in life, and both are blessed by God. There is the school of pastoralism, and the school of the white man. Both are equally important to us. The children will graduate to both schools, some to one and some to the other. We will make sure that each family sends at least one child to the white man's school, while with ABET those who graduate to pastoralism will also be able to read and write. If this is correct, ABET is the best. Because ABET will not separate us from pastoralism.'"