Project summary

The purpose of this project was to increase the overall awareness of the critical challenges, pressures and threats that the Abasuba indigenous community of Kenya is facing, by providing a culturally-sensitive voice, and by offering support through Olusuba language and cultural documentation. It aimed to collect any useful information that could be used in the development of a Trilingual Olusuba-Dholuo-English Online Dictionary and make the resource data available for the public. In so doing, the project contributed to saving the Olusuba language from total distinction and raised awareness of Olusuba as an endangered language by creating a one-stop-shop-access and reference point for the general public, anthropologists, linguists, professors, students in Kenyan universities and researchers beyond borders.

The project led to new collaborations with the Abasuba Community Peace Museum on Mfangano Island. It was agreed upon that the principal investigator and the Museum will continue working together in preserving the Olusuba language and culture through projects of common interest. In addition, the Ekialo Kiona Suba Youth Community Radio (Mfangano Island) will continue hosting agricultural know-how programmes and children’s programmes meant to enhance the usage of the Olusuba Language. Finally, the KWS - Kenya Wildlife Services that is in charge of Ruma National Park and Game Reserve agreed to continue helping with information such as the naming and translation of the flora and fauna found within and around the national park.