Robert M Johnson. Roark Johnson. Jonesco (Sam Jones) Rebecca Jackrel. Nils Jorgensen. David Johndrow. Lee Jeffries. Adam Jahiel. Chris Jordan. Ushirikiano noun (Swahili): partnership, collaboration, or community of shared interest This year I was honored to be chosen for the Prix Pictet Commission, which took me on a thousand-mile safari in a part of Kenya that most tourists never see. There I encountered a confederation of NGO’s working closely with local tribes to create a sustainable way of life based on principles of environmental stewardship, wildlife conservation, and peace.
Despite enormous adversity that includes poverty, drought, and wildlife poaching, and some dubious intrusions of outside religious, commercial, and educational culture, this quiet mini-revolution, led by a council of tribal elders, is bringing peace and stability to a huge area of Kenya. Ironically, their chances of success in the long run depend largely on whether the so-called first world can shift our own paradigm, as this part of Kenya increasingly is being ravaged by the effects of global climate change. ~cj, August, 2011.