Covering the eastern part of Africa with its forests and mountains is the interesting nation of Kenya. The country’s forest lands are huge and long stretched to miles; accumulating different species of wild animals. The annual convergence of wildebeests in the Masai Mara area is popular worldwide. However, the interesting part about these forests is that, wildlife is not the only thing it sustains.
The land of Kenya is filled with a number of noticeable and un-noticed tribal communities. The famous Masai tribe is known amongst many across the globe, but there are various other such communities (some even bigger than Masai) that are also breathing in these forests, yet not many know about them.
Here is a list of few of those tribes which you might encounter while volunteering in Kenya;
Tachoni
A sub-group of the Luhya tribe (another huge tribal community in Kenya), the Tachoni people live in, both, modern cities as well as in their traditional countryside territory of western Kenya. The Tachoni speak the Wanga dialect of the Luhya language.
Sengwer
Facing the unfortunate fate of not being recognized as an official tribal community, the Sengwer are left in handful of numbers now. The members of this community have been known for their hunting skills since ages.
Kikuyu
This is the largest tribe in the region of Kenya currently with a population fo around 5 million members. The Kikuyus have always been dominated the lands and most of them follow the Christianity religion.
Lou
The second largest tribe, and a keen opponent to the Kikuyu community, Lou people practice more of colonial British lifestyle. They rely mostly on farming and fishing for their survival.
Dahalo
This is one community that is almost near to extinction with just about 400 members remaining today. The community is heavily dependent on hunting and fishing for survival.
Kuria
Similar to the Masai tribe, the Kuria community people are divided between Kenya and Tanzania, where majority of portion (2/3rd) lives in Tanzania. The community has people from different occupational backgrounds.
Mijikenda
An amalgamation of 9 different Kenyan tribes forms this community of Mijikenda people. The tribe that sustains the intriguing 'Kaya Forests' has kept their territory untouched and sacred for themselves. They commonly trade with the Swahilis (another popular tribe in Kenya, which is also one of the national languages).
So if you are planning to attend a volunteer program in Kenya this summer, make sure to interact with any of these "hidden" tribes and know more about them.
