Saturday, June 9, 2012

Pastor who charms the high heavens


Pastor who charms the high heavens

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"I’m a descendant of the Nganyis, the renowned rain makers from Ebusiekwe. What I do does not affect my work as a pastor” Reverend Joseph Owino Kudilo. Photo/ISAAC WALE
"I’m a descendant of the Nganyis, the renowned rain makers from Ebusiekwe. What I do does not affect my work as a pastor” Reverend Joseph Owino Kudilo. Photo/ISAAC WALE 
By BENSON AMADALA newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Friday, June 8  2012 at  22:30
A group of traditional rain makers in Vihiga county have a unique characteristic: They are led by a church pastor, and they will soon be collaborating with real scientists in research on weather.
The traditional Nganyi rain makers of Esibila village Ebusiekwe in Bunyore, will team up with scientists and researchers from two public universities and the meteorology department to study the adverse effects of climatic change in western Kenya.
To set the ball rolling, the government has been constructing a weather station at the foot of Marondole hills.
The construction started two years ago and is a few months away from completion.
The hills are reknowned for their abundant plants with medicinal value that the medicine men use to treat the sick.
The rainmakers from the Abasiekwe clan of Bunyore say they want to prove to the scientists that they have something to contribute to alleviating the suffering of rural communities in the country.
They want to prove that their work as rain makers goes beyong mere folklore. Through their mystical practises, they claim that they can influence weather patterns and make predictions on when to expect the rains.
The traditional elders involved in rain making are led by Reverend Joseph Owino Kutiro, 66, a pastor of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God church.
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His role as a man of God and his dabbling in tradition rain making, which often involves sacrifices to ancestors, do not necessarily conflict with each other, he insists.
“I’m a descendant of the Nganyis, the renowned rain makers from Ebusiekwe, and what I do does not in any way affect my calling as pastor in the church,” said Mr Kutiro.  
He is enthusiastic about the weather station and has even mobilised his flock to build a new church next to the new weather station.  
At the new weather station, a radio station will be set up to disseminate information to the local community on rainfall and weather patterns. The weather station is being built at a cost of over a Sh1 million.
The Ranet Nganyi radio station will broadcast to communities within a 30 kilometre radius. The community at Nganyi donated three acres for the construction of the facilities.
The rain makers, who are revered for their powers to intercede with gods and ancestors to bring rains during dry spells, will be part of the team at the weather station.
The rain makers claim they possess powers to make rain, or hold it to allow important functions to take place uninterrupted.
The regional director of Western Meteorological Services, Walter Nganyi, said the decision to bring the rain makers on board in the project, was in recognition of their unrivalled indigenous knowledge on weather patterns in the region.
Taking part
Researchers from Maseno University and the University of Nairobi, and a team form the IGAAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre, are taking part in the project.
“What we intend to do is partner with the rain makers by carrying out joint studies on rainfall and weather patterns in the region to come up with accurate predictions and  information to be used by communities for their benefit,” Mr Nganyi said.
The Oluchiri is the biggest shrine for the rain makers in Ebusiekwe.
Senior Government officials, among them Forest and Wildlife minister Noah Wekesa and Emuhaya MP Wilbur Ottichilo have visited the shrine and planted trees within the hallowed grounds.
Villagers are forbidden from setting foot in the in the grounds lest they provoke the anger of the gods associated with rain making. The shrine is in the midst of a dense thicket with a tree known as Iseleve jutting above the bushes.
According to Mzee Kutiro, the Iseleve tree is the source of water and villagers are not allowed to cut it down.
He explained that the consequences of desecrating the shrine were dire.
“If such a thing happened, rains accompanied by thunderstorms and hailstones would wreak havoc, destroying crops and property,” said Mr Kutiro.
A second shrine is located at Namwonywa in Ikokwa village, where the remains of earlier rain makers were buried.
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Mr Kutiro says the rain makers knew what to do when the rains disappeared for long.
When the situation became desperate, the rain makers would retreat to the shrines to perform rituals and make sacrifices.
“After the sacrifices it does not take more than a day before the clouds begin forming up in the skies and the rains begin falling,” Mzee Kutiro said.
The meteorologists and researchers are keen to work with the rain makers to understand their interpretations of weather patterns.

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