Kenya's Lake Turkana water level rises, cutting off islanders

At first light, children from one of Kenya's smallest and most isolated tribes put on life jackets and board a fishing boat for the journey across the lake to school.

Until recently, they could walk the distance. A road connected the El Molo with the world beyond their tiny village, a lifeline for a secluded community of fishers and craftspeople subsisting on the shores of Lake Turkana.

But three years ago the lake started rising dramatically, lapping at the El Molo's dome-shaped huts draped in dry fish, then pushing inland, forcing villagers to higher ground.

Turkana, already the world's largest desert lake, stretching 250 kilometres (155 miles) tip to tip, grew 10 percent in the decade to 2020, according to a government study published last year. That expansion submerged nearly 800 additional square kilometres (about 300 square miles) of land including around El Molo Bay, where the tribespeople live on Turkana's eastern shores.

Extreme rainfall over catchment areas -- a climatic event linked to global warming -- greater soil runoff from deforestation and farming, and tectonic activity were all cited as contributing causes.

- Blessings and curses -

The phenomenon has profoundly impacted the El Molo, whose distinct Cushitic culture was already under serious threat.

That expansion submerged nearly 800 additional square kilometres (about 300 square miles) of land including around El Molo Bay, where the tribespeople live on Turkana's eastern shores.

Extreme rainfall over catchment areas -- a climatic event linked to global warming -- greater soil runoff from deforestation and farming, and tectonic activity were all cited as contributing causes.

- Blessings and curses -

The phenomenon has profoundly impacted the El Molo, whose distinct Cushitic culture was already under serious threat.

The El Molo are skilled fishers, but as Turkana rose higher their people went hungry.

The fishing nets and baskets used for millennia, hand-woven with reeds and doum palm fibre, proved less effective in the deeper water, reducing catch.

No longer able to access freshwater, the El Molo were forced to drink from Turkana, the most saline lake in Africa.

- Disappearing culture -

School attendance has fallen sharply because parents cannot afford the boat fare, said David Lesas, deputy head teacher at El Molo Bay Primary School.

The local government and World Vision, an aid group, are assisting but resources are scarce and needs many in the region, which is experiencing a once-in-a-generation drought.

The school has suffered too: the perimeter fence and toilet block are underwater, and crocodiles have taken over part of the playground.

But the real damage to the El Molo is indelible.