0:00:02 > 0:00:05This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08Africa is home to one billion people.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11TRAIN HORN
0:00:11 > 0:00:15This vast continent is a melee of cultures and identities.
0:00:21 > 0:00:22For the past century,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26there's been a mass human migration in Sub-Saharan Africa
0:00:26 > 0:00:29as families leave their rural way of life behind
0:00:29 > 0:00:32and establish homes in towns and cities.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41Growing up in the Sudan
0:00:41 > 0:00:42and newly-independent Kenya,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46I've watched this movement of people.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49I've been photographing here since the early 1970s.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53Recording the changing face of Africa has always been my passion,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56and it's the focus of my photography.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20Travelling out to remote parts of the continent,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23I'm able to record what still exists of the old,
0:01:23 > 0:01:26and also photograph what's new and emerging.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Despite the city's powerful magnetic draw, surprisingly,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41most of Africa's billion people do still live out on the land.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47It's a fascinating time because, within the next ten years,
0:01:47 > 0:01:49that balance will tip
0:01:49 > 0:01:53and the majority of Africans will become town and city dwellers.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01If I could find the same rural people
0:02:01 > 0:02:05I photographed two or three decades ago, I think they'd give me
0:02:05 > 0:02:08a vivid insight into Africa's story of change.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28This wild land of North Kenya is one of my favourite places on Earth,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31and it's home to a semi-nomadic group called the Samburu.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Here, in 1984,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39I took a series of portraits of five young Samburu women.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42Because of their nomadic ways,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45who knows where those women might be today,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48or even whether any of them will still be alive?
0:02:48 > 0:02:51But I would like to try and track them down,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54and for that I'll need the help of an old friend.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56Harry!
0:03:00 > 0:03:03- How are you?- Fine, thanks, fine.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Well, we've come all this way to talk to you about a plan.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12We have a plan.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20The young women whose portraits I'd taken in 1984
0:03:20 > 0:03:24were all from traditional Samburu clans, living with livestock.
0:03:24 > 0:03:2730 years on, I want to know what's become of them
0:03:27 > 0:03:30and if Kibiriti will help me find them again.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Is that something that you could come with us?
0:03:33 > 0:03:36- Yes, I will come with you. - Yeah? Excellent.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Do you need to get yourself ready or anything?
0:03:38 > 0:03:42- I think I can just put a trouser on.- OK.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45We found you without trousers, without anything!
0:03:45 > 0:03:47I am very happy to see you again.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49So nice, so good.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54- Were you surprised to see me? - Yes, yes. I just saw the car.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58- I was standing here, I recognised you.- Really?
0:03:58 > 0:04:02- You thought, "Who's that?"- Harry.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08These five women. What's your instinct?
0:04:11 > 0:04:15How do we start to look for them and find them?
0:04:15 > 0:04:18I think the way to start looking for these girls is to search
0:04:18 > 0:04:23- out from the old names, the one they had before.- The family names?
0:04:23 > 0:04:26- Their original family names? - The original family name.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Do you think they will still be living traditional lives?
0:04:29 > 0:04:35I think some might be, because they never change.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40If married by the townspeople...
0:04:40 > 0:04:43They will be different there. They will change.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48Or if they have been married at the town, at the time, change.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51- So people in the cities change faster?- Yeah.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54It will be a long journey to go
0:04:54 > 0:04:56and look for them because...
0:04:56 > 0:05:00HE SPEAKS IN DIALECT
0:05:00 > 0:05:02Looking for a needle in a haystack.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04- Is that right?- Yes.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Samburu Land covers an area of 8,000 square miles.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16That's a region the size of Wales.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19So I don't doubt Kibiriti when he tells me
0:05:19 > 0:05:22that our search for the five women will be no small task.
0:05:47 > 0:05:52'Drought is a recurrent part of Africa's climate.
0:05:52 > 0:05:53'It's not a rarity here
0:05:53 > 0:05:57'and the Samburu have adapted their lifestyles to deal with it.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01'Since 1984, there have been least three cataclysmic droughts in which
0:06:01 > 0:06:04'most Samburu lost virtually all their livestock
0:06:04 > 0:06:07'and many people died.'
0:06:11 > 0:06:13'My fear, I suppose, would be
0:06:13 > 0:06:17'to find out that the woman in the photographs have suffered.'
0:06:20 > 0:06:24Kibiriti suggested that we return to the place I took the photographs
0:06:24 > 0:06:26and speak to his friend, Douglas.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29He thought Douglas might know the family names of some of the women.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33Do you recognise any of these girls?
0:06:34 > 0:06:36THEY DISCUSS
0:06:45 > 0:06:4830 years is a long time, it's a lifetime.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02Of course. But that's the story of all societies now.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Of course.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23Douglas spread the word that we were searching for the five women,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26though he, like Kibiriti, warned me it wasn't going to be easy.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39Douglas explained that women
0:07:39 > 0:07:41generally marry into a different clan,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44and, once they've taken on their husband's name
0:07:44 > 0:07:47and moved away to live with his family, they'd be hard to trace.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50But what if they hadn't married, I asked.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Douglas just laughed
0:07:52 > 0:07:55and said that wasn't an option in the Samburu girls' life.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03The Samburu tribe are divided into nine clans.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Outside of towns, they, for the most part,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09continue to live steeped in their tribal tradition.
0:08:20 > 0:08:21When I arrive at a community,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24if people are amenable to having their portrait made,
0:08:24 > 0:08:26I put up a studio tent.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30- WHISPERS:- Fantastic.
0:08:30 > 0:08:35It's like a Victorian studio portrait.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40He wouldn't need one of those neck braces to keep him still.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Absolutely like a statue.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Fantastic.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03You were just as still as a rock.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13HE EXCLAIMS
0:09:19 > 0:09:21Woo!
0:09:45 > 0:09:48I've just had my first positive lead.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51One of the Samburu women has been recognised by a relative.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55He believes Ndito Lekisoli is now married to his brother
0:09:55 > 0:09:57and that she's living on this hillside.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15I'll be gobsmacked if she's actually here.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24That's her in the yellow. No! Ndito?
0:10:26 > 0:10:29No.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33No, she hasn't spotted us yet.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36Here we are. Yes. Yes.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Ndito!
0:12:01 > 0:12:06Her oldest child is 24. She's a grandmother many times over.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09So exactly six years after I took the picture,
0:12:09 > 0:12:13Ndito got married and started having children.
0:12:13 > 0:12:14That's great.
0:12:16 > 0:12:17It's incredible.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21Amazing to find her 30 years on.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25What was the happiest time of Ndito's life?
0:12:45 > 0:12:48What really surprised me about photographing Ndito
0:12:48 > 0:12:51and finding her is that, in 30 years,
0:12:51 > 0:12:53she's only moved two miles,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56settled down and had a family.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59So the whole pattern of the Samburu nomadic group
0:12:59 > 0:13:02has completely changed over 30 years.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06They're no longer travelling great distances in search for pasture.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12I asked Ndito, what's the furthest away place she'd been in her life?
0:13:12 > 0:13:16She told me it was when she went on a shopping trip to Kasima.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20That's a small town 12 miles from where she lives.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22It's interesting to me that
0:13:22 > 0:13:25it was a town, as opposed to some wild, far off place.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30Small towns certainly are an irresistible allure all over Africa.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34They're vital to people's livelihoods as marketplaces,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37where they can buy and sell livestock and produce.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45It's fantastic. A lovely pot of tea.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47It's the Serial Hotel.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50A hotel in this part of the world isn't a place where you stay.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54It's a place where you eat. It's a restaurant.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58- Oh, hello. Is this your hotel?- Yeah.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03Can I take a picture of you and the mural? Thank you.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11I like your T-shirt.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20Excellent. Thank you, sir. What is your speciality? What do you serve?
0:14:20 > 0:14:23I just sell rice, beans and potatoes,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26about 50 shillings for a plate.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Cup of tea, 20 shillings per cup.
0:14:29 > 0:14:3220 shillings for a cup of tea?
0:14:32 > 0:14:34- Yes.- That's good value.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38That's about 20p a cup. That's very good value. Yeah. Excellent.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41- Can I have a cup of tea? - Yeah, come on.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Thank you, thank you.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48Oh, it's very sweet. It's already got the sugar in it.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50It's very sweet. Delicious.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55The people who travel into these small market towns
0:14:55 > 0:14:59to sell their produce or buy goods often come from a place
0:14:59 > 0:15:03way out in the land, a place they still call home.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08But Samburu territory is surrounded by other tribal groups.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11There are more people on the land than there once were,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14so there's greater conflict over grazing and water.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19Cattle can never be more than half a day's walk from drinking water.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24In the remote parts of northern Kenya, traditional singing wells
0:15:24 > 0:15:26are still very much in use.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31THEY ALL SING
0:16:00 > 0:16:03THEY DISCUSS
0:16:08 > 0:16:12My search for the four remaining women continues,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15and I've just met someone who thinks they know Mary Lesupai.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22If it really is her, she'll be living near a place called Baua,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25with a married name of Mary Lekaltia.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27I've been given directions
0:16:27 > 0:16:31and driven out to the open flatlands to speak to the community elders.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33We have a girl here. I have a mystery.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37There's a girl here called Mary Lesupai.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40This picture of Mary was taken in 1984.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47You do? Chief Paul, you know everybody! How old is she now?
0:16:51 > 0:16:54Yeah. Let's go, let's go and meet her.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56Yeah, we go back?
0:17:15 > 0:17:17Oh, yes, yes OK. Let's go and try there.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05Does she recognise this? Is it her? What does she say?
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Does she recognise herself?
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Chief Paul, what was her name before she was married?
0:18:28 > 0:18:30So this is the right name.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39She is the one, but she doesn't...
0:18:39 > 0:18:41Does she recognise it?
0:18:46 > 0:18:48It is her.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00Is it really? It's definitely her. It is her.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05PRINTER BEEPS
0:19:05 > 0:19:06Why isn't it working?
0:19:14 > 0:19:18Chief Paul, how many children does Mary now have?
0:19:22 > 0:19:24Eight children. Any grandchildren?
0:19:27 > 0:19:31Do any of Mary's boys have jobs in the city,
0:19:31 > 0:19:33or do they all work with cattle?
0:19:33 > 0:19:35They're all cattlemen.
0:19:35 > 0:19:36PRINTER BEEPS
0:19:37 > 0:19:42"Remove the paper jam and press the resume button on the printer,
0:19:42 > 0:19:44"reprint the page you were printing."
0:19:52 > 0:19:54PRINTER BEEPS
0:19:58 > 0:19:59What do you think of that?
0:20:02 > 0:20:04'I couldn't understand at first why
0:20:04 > 0:20:07'Mary found it so hard to identify herself.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10'I suppose I took it for granted that most of us grow up
0:20:10 > 0:20:14'surrounded by family photographs and pictures of our childhood,
0:20:14 > 0:20:16'images that remind ourselves of how we looked
0:20:16 > 0:20:19'and reinforce our self-identity.'
0:20:19 > 0:20:21Mary, your picture.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28Incredibly concentrated look that Mary has,
0:20:28 > 0:20:30looking back 30 years,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33seems to be bringing back very deep memories.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40'Mary still lives with cattle, but like Ndito,
0:20:40 > 0:20:44'she too now lives in a permanent homestead with her family.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49'Time on the move with her herds is now largely
0:20:49 > 0:20:51'a thing of the past for the Samburu.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00'Our continued search led us
0:21:00 > 0:21:05'out to the furthest reaches of Kenya's northern deserts.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09'But we still had no news of the other three Samburu women.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20'Across the rest of Africa, a good number of pastoralist tribes
0:21:20 > 0:21:24'continue to move with their herds in constant search of grazing.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28'Some of these pastoralist groups still live very traditional
0:21:28 > 0:21:32'lives and seem to be almost immune to the city's strong magnetic pull.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36'To find these people today,
0:21:36 > 0:21:40'I have to head much further out into the heart of Africa.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48'One group I've been keen to photograph for a very long
0:21:48 > 0:21:51'time is the Mundari.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54'But their newly-independent country of South Sudan has been
0:21:54 > 0:21:58'blighted by civil war and turmoil for over 30 years.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02'There's no knowing what kind of reception I'll get from a
0:22:02 > 0:22:05'people whose entire lives have been dominated by bloodshed and war.'
0:22:07 > 0:22:09Look at this.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12'The camps where the Mundari keep their herds in amongst
0:22:12 > 0:22:15'the Nile tributaries are often very remote
0:22:15 > 0:22:17'and totally inaccessible to vehicles.'
0:22:20 > 0:22:22Good morning.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25- Madak?- Madan.- Madan.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27Madan.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31- Madan.- Hey! Hello.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33Madan.
0:22:36 > 0:22:37Madan.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39Salaam.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41Salaam.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44Wow! This is a great camp!
0:22:44 > 0:22:46Fantastic!
0:22:46 > 0:22:48Salaam. Madan.
0:22:48 > 0:22:49Madan.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51Madan.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Madan.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57Ah, madan. So, where is the head man, Clement? Where is the head man?
0:22:57 > 0:23:01SPEAKS IN LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:23:01 > 0:23:03This is the head man?
0:23:03 > 0:23:05Ah, excellent. Madan.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07How are you?
0:23:07 > 0:23:09What's his name, Clement?
0:23:09 > 0:23:10SPEAKS IN LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:23:10 > 0:23:12- He's called Loku.- Loku.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14Loku.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16Clement, can you ask Loku
0:23:16 > 0:23:19if we can do some photography in his camp today?
0:23:43 > 0:23:44How does he feel about that?
0:23:44 > 0:23:47SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:23:59 > 0:24:02How does he feel about that?
0:24:04 > 0:24:07They're welcoming it?
0:24:07 > 0:24:10But, Clement, he doesn't seem very happy. Is he happy?
0:24:18 > 0:24:20- Which is his camp?- This one.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25- From here to there. - From here to there.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28- And the other leader is down there? - Yes.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30Shall we start at this end?
0:24:31 > 0:24:33So just make sure that we're in his camp.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35Thank you, thank you.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41OK.
0:24:41 > 0:24:42Very good.
0:24:44 > 0:24:45Excuse me.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Thank you.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Thank you very much. That's good. Thank you.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06It's inside there, but I have to take it back to process
0:25:06 > 0:25:10it in the laboratory in England and then it comes out.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13HE TRANSLATES
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Not sure whether he understood that one.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48Have a look.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50Have a look.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52Look.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Can you see? Beautiful?
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Huh?
0:26:00 > 0:26:03OK, one second.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05I love your hat.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07Fantastic hat!
0:26:37 > 0:26:39How many cattle do they have?
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Wow! Really? For a bride?
0:26:46 > 0:26:48Yes.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52How does... How do you make the hair like that?
0:27:25 > 0:27:28And when the Dinka come to raid the cattle, what do they use?
0:27:28 > 0:27:32Do they use spears or clubs? How do they defend the cattle?
0:27:33 > 0:27:36LAUGHTER
0:27:46 > 0:27:50That's fantastic. Look at that. Wow!
0:27:50 > 0:27:53- And do they have lots of spears here?- Yes.
0:27:53 > 0:27:54Yeah.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59'During the dry season, young Mundari men
0:27:59 > 0:28:03'and women leave their villages and take their herds
0:28:03 > 0:28:07'down to the flood plains around the Nile, in search of pasture.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11'They spend all day out grazing, but before nightfall,
0:28:11 > 0:28:13'the animals return to camps for protection.'
0:28:34 > 0:28:37An absolutely incredibly magical moment.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39All the cattle coming back at dusk.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42And they come in, there's about 1,000 in this camp,
0:28:42 > 0:28:44and each cow turns to the same peg it was the night before.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48In fact, where it always goes. They know exactly where they belong.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51It's just, they're creatures of habit.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55The Mundari have this incredible bond with their cattle. They just...
0:28:55 > 0:28:59I mean, they're treated like family. They ARE family.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03What's happening is that the girls just wait in the little circle
0:29:03 > 0:29:06of pegs, waiting for the particular cows to come back
0:29:06 > 0:29:11and then they just put a noose round their neck, peg them to the ground.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13And that's that.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15Moored for the night.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22It's fantastic. Incredible sense of order about it.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29Like parking cars. Absolutely incredible.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50'Back in the Mundari villages, the elders,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53'as well as the mothers and small children,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56'are waiting for the rains to arrive, so they can begin planting.'
0:30:13 > 0:30:1525 cows for his wife?
0:30:18 > 0:30:19I'm sorry?
0:30:19 > 0:30:23They're still demanding more? How long ago did he get married?
0:30:30 > 0:30:3330 years and he still is in debt for his wife?
0:30:33 > 0:30:37That's a long time to be paying for your wife.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50So this is for shooting people?
0:30:50 > 0:30:54They're nasty-looking arrows. Has he shot a person with this?
0:31:06 > 0:31:09It's a secret. A secret, how many people...
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Um... Can we have his permission to camp tonight here?
0:31:12 > 0:31:15Just tonight. We'll leave in the morning.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21He says you go to his home.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41It's incredibly kind of this family just to let me
0:31:41 > 0:31:43pitch a tent in their compound.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47Can't imagine in England if you walked into somebody's back yard
0:31:47 > 0:31:51and said, "Can I pitch my tent?" you'd get quite such a warm welcome.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09'Rain has finally brought relief for the Mundari.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13'But within a few days, roads will be impassable
0:32:13 > 0:32:15'and bridges washed away.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18'Mundari land will remain cut off and inaccessible for months.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24'Such isolation from outside influence has certainly
0:32:24 > 0:32:27'played its part in retaining Mundari culture.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33'But there are not many parts of Africa where the powerful
0:32:33 > 0:32:36'lure of city life is not felt.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50'The whole continent is on the move.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53'All about, I see people rooted in their past,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56'yet propelled forward towards an urban future.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01'Everyone in the city is here to earn their living.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05'Hand-painted signs advertise what's for sale.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08'These shop front murals began life by being a very clear
0:34:08 > 0:34:12'and effective way to communicate across a vast population
0:34:12 > 0:34:16'composed of so many different tribal languages.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20'The signs of goods and services for sale promise a new and exciting
0:34:20 > 0:34:24'life to many rural people coming in from the countryside.'
0:34:37 > 0:34:41I've done restaurants, butchers,
0:34:41 > 0:34:43salons, shops.
0:34:43 > 0:34:48- Is it a satisfying job?- It is really satisfying, but really annoying.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50HE LAUGHS
0:34:50 > 0:34:55They want it to be this way... I want it to be like a brown face...
0:34:55 > 0:34:57I want it to be yellow face!
0:34:57 > 0:34:59So this man, is he happy with this one?
0:34:59 > 0:35:02He is so happy, but maybe 95% happy.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05The 5%, like, "Please, can you come tomorrow
0:35:05 > 0:35:08"and fix the eyes a little bit?"
0:35:15 > 0:35:20'The city certainly is the place to come and make money.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24'But just 100 miles from this densely packed metropolis,
0:35:24 > 0:35:27'there's a group of people who resist the draw of the city
0:35:27 > 0:35:30'and for whom money has no value or use at all.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54'The Hadzabe are one of the very few African groups who still
0:35:54 > 0:35:58'survive entirely as hunter-gatherers.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02'They, like pastoralists and nomads, cling resolutely to a traditional
0:36:02 > 0:36:06'way of life, while the rest of Africa changes all about them.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17'The Hadzabe are masters of survival in this harsh land of theirs.
0:36:17 > 0:36:23'They find drinking water high in baobab.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26'A pool of rainwater has collected, way up in the hollow of the tree.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38'Hadzabe hunting weapons have changed little with time.
0:36:40 > 0:36:45'Their bows and arrow shafts are made from a sturdy local tree.
0:36:45 > 0:36:50'Their feather flights are taken from hawk and guinea fowl wings.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52'And their arrowheads are tipped
0:36:52 > 0:36:55'with a poison brewed from a toxic plant.'
0:37:38 > 0:37:42'Golfani's band of hunters have no means of storage.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45'They rely entirely on what can be harvested in a single day.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49'And they have no use for money,
0:37:49 > 0:37:52'because their currency is their skill as hunters.'
0:38:01 > 0:38:04But across Africa, only a few groups of people
0:38:04 > 0:38:07still manage to survive as hunter-gatherers.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13The Batwa pygmies of the East African forest
0:38:13 > 0:38:16have been, for the most part, squeezed off their land,
0:38:16 > 0:38:20and are now living in refuge on the edges of small towns.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28The Khoisan bushmen of the Kalahari are equally threatened.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38The Waata of Tsavo, who once lived by hunting elephants,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41have long been forced to give up hunting.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47The Hadzabe, meanwhile, cling to a tradition
0:38:47 > 0:38:50that's now virtually extinct across the continent.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57'I'd photographed Onka'a and his band of hunters on a previous visit.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59'I now had their portraits for them.'
0:40:48 > 0:40:52Golfani's hunters are preparing for a baboon hunt, tomorrow at dawn.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58Baboons are highly-prized by the Hadzabe,
0:40:58 > 0:41:00and they're exceptionally difficult to hunt.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05A young man, in order to demonstrate his skill as a hunter
0:41:05 > 0:41:08and prove that he will be capable of supporting a wife and family,
0:41:08 > 0:41:11must shoot at least five baboons.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06BABOON BARKS
0:42:44 > 0:42:47BIRD CAWS
0:43:26 > 0:43:28BANG!
0:43:28 > 0:43:31SQUEALING
0:43:40 > 0:43:43SHOUTING
0:44:16 > 0:44:19It's the whole story of the hunt.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22A whole re-enactment of the hunt that he has just performed.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25It's a huge, huge, alpha male baboon.
0:44:25 > 0:44:26That is food for the whole group.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30A baboon of this size is a real cause for celebration.
0:45:18 > 0:45:23Fewer and fewer groups of people in our world remain able to practise their traditional ways.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25It may be just a matter of time before the Hadzabe too
0:45:25 > 0:45:29will be forced to move towards a homogenised, urban society.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33The anthropologist Margaret Mead warned that one day,
0:45:33 > 0:45:40all human experience might be reduced finally to an amorphous, commercialised culture.
0:45:40 > 0:45:42Her worst nightmare was that we would wake up one morning
0:45:42 > 0:45:45and not even remember what we had lost.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00'Back in northern Kenya,
0:46:00 > 0:46:03'Kibiriti and I discovered sad news about Elisa,
0:46:03 > 0:46:05'who was one of the five young Samburu women
0:46:05 > 0:46:07'I had photographed in 1984.
0:46:08 > 0:46:13'Elisa had contracted HIV and died of AIDS in the year 2000.'
0:47:02 > 0:47:07Generations of African children have lost their parents to AIDS.
0:47:07 > 0:47:09The statistics for the disease
0:47:09 > 0:47:12in Sub-Saharan Africa tell a terrifying story.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18On average, 169 people have died every hour from AIDS
0:47:18 > 0:47:20for the last 15 years.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26The orphans are often left to be raised by their grandparents.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43All over Samburu Land, clans are gathering to perform a rare ceremony
0:47:43 > 0:47:46that only occurs once every 10 or so years.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51It is a vitally important rite of passage
0:47:51 > 0:47:53in a Samburu man's life.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56It marks the point that a Moran, a man of warrior age,
0:47:56 > 0:47:58is initiated to become a junior elder.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04This ceremony only takes place once a decade,
0:48:04 > 0:48:06because it is the moment each generation moves on.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09'All the young men together, as a collective group.'
0:48:09 > 0:48:11Very good. Well done.
0:48:17 > 0:48:22'The initiation takes place in a large, specially built corral.'
0:48:22 > 0:48:25Each of the Morans is staying by their house at the moment.
0:48:25 > 0:48:27Yes, I see. Standing by.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34I don't know which one of these cows is for the chop,
0:48:34 > 0:48:42but each of the 68 houses around the perimeter has a young man who is being initiated today.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47Each one has to sacrifice an animal.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50HORN BLOWS
0:48:50 > 0:48:53'That's the signal everyone's been waiting for.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05'It's a momentous occasion for the Morans.
0:49:05 > 0:49:06'It's their last day as warriors.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09'A crucial turning point in their lives.'
0:49:13 > 0:49:15It's all kicking off now.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18They're starting to get the cattle out and moved to the area
0:49:18 > 0:49:21where they're going to slaughter them.
0:49:33 > 0:49:39'The psychological pressure of the moment is deeply felt by the initiates.
0:49:39 > 0:49:41'Some are so overwhelmed with emotion,
0:49:41 > 0:49:45'they collapse in violent seizures, known by the Samburu as enduka.'
0:50:01 > 0:50:04The Samburu name for this ceremony
0:50:04 > 0:50:07translates as "the death of many cattle in one place".
0:50:09 > 0:50:12No part of the sacrificed animals will go to waste.
0:50:14 > 0:50:18Each cow's dewlap is carefully skinned, the jugular pierced,
0:50:18 > 0:50:20and the initiates drink fresh blood.
0:50:36 > 0:50:40'This is vitally important in the way that it reinforces
0:50:40 > 0:50:43'the initiates' bonds and commitment to their clan and group.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49'But today, many Samburu manage to balance their traditional roots
0:50:49 > 0:50:53'with an entirely different, contemporary African lifestyle.
0:50:55 > 0:50:57'I was fascinated to meet one of the initiates
0:50:57 > 0:51:01'who has a full-time job as an officer in the Kenyan Air Force.'
0:51:01 > 0:51:04Why is this ceremony so important to you?
0:51:15 > 0:51:18Being a warrior, a Moran?
0:51:23 > 0:51:25You'll be allowed to marry?
0:51:25 > 0:51:28- And you will return to your job in the Air Force?- Yes.
0:51:37 > 0:51:42'He may hold a hi tech city job, but it is still crucial for him
0:51:42 > 0:51:46'to join the rest of his Samburu clan for the finale of the ceremony.'
0:51:55 > 0:52:00'The dance increases in volume and intensity.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03'Through its rhythm, the dancers build themselves up
0:52:03 > 0:52:05'into a trance-like state of consciousness.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11'As the tension mounts, initiates start, once again,
0:52:11 > 0:52:14'to break down under the emotional strain.'
0:52:28 > 0:52:32'While the initiate is carried off, the dance continues.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36'The dance is all-important and it cannot be interrupted.'
0:52:51 > 0:52:53'It is extraordinary to me that these same dancers
0:52:53 > 0:52:58'one moment are entirely immersed in this timeless ritual,
0:52:58 > 0:53:00'and the next, they effortlessly navigate
0:53:00 > 0:53:02'the modern 21st-century world.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08'Many of these young men are experienced internet users.
0:53:10 > 0:53:12'Some have created Facebook profiles.
0:53:12 > 0:53:14'That in itself may not be surprising.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17'What interests me, though, is that on their homepages,
0:53:17 > 0:53:21'they have not posted images of themselves as modern city dwellers.
0:53:21 > 0:53:25'Instead, they are dressed in full traditional tribal regalia.'
0:53:34 > 0:53:38The duality of life here cuts to the core of my passion
0:53:38 > 0:53:41to photograph Africa as it moves between the past and the present.
0:53:44 > 0:53:49While the roots of so much African culture have undergone erosion and change,
0:53:49 > 0:53:54this ceremony is conducted in a traditional way and with total conviction.
0:54:01 > 0:54:06As I photograph this rite of passage, I am very conscious the world will be a decade older
0:54:06 > 0:54:08by the time the ceremony comes round again.
0:54:11 > 0:54:15I can't help wondering if the next generation of Samburu Morans
0:54:15 > 0:54:19will experience this ceremony with such authentic intensity.
0:54:26 > 0:54:27Kibiriti has good news
0:54:27 > 0:54:30about one final woman from the portraits I'd taken.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41Selina received word someone was looking for her
0:54:41 > 0:54:44and she crossed the mountain to search us out.
0:54:45 > 0:54:50She has carried a baby all the way down that incredible mountain!
0:54:50 > 0:54:52And the baby is still asleep! That is amazing!
0:54:55 > 0:54:59Oh, my God!
0:55:00 > 0:55:02Hello.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06HE GREETS HER IN HER OWN LANGUAGE
0:55:13 > 0:55:15Are any of these her?
0:55:19 > 0:55:24That's you? That is you! Oh, that is beautiful.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34She remembers. She does, she remembers that.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37That was 30 years ago, that was in 1984.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39How many children do you now have?
0:55:41 > 0:55:47Seven children. Is this your youngest child? Oh, look, a little fella.
0:55:48 > 0:55:54He is fast asleep. That is fantastic. Look, he is snoring!
0:55:55 > 0:55:59You can hear him snoring, he is fast asleep.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13Right now, the present day.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16When she looks back, was that a happy time?
0:56:24 > 0:56:27She prefers the present to the past.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30What about for the future, does she feel positive about the future?
0:57:04 > 0:57:08'Of the five women we searched for, it was a sad blow to hear Elisa had died.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13'But managing to find three of the women was far beyond my expectations.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19'Since photographing them as girls, they had raised families.
0:57:19 > 0:57:23'They were well, and all three were grandmothers.
0:57:23 > 0:57:25'I'm inspired by their resilience.
0:57:25 > 0:57:29'The bedrock of Samburu culture does appear to have survived
0:57:29 > 0:57:31'the pressures of a changing Africa.
0:57:31 > 0:57:37'What strikes me most was the way each of the women preferred to be living in the present,
0:57:37 > 0:57:40'as opposed to looking back at their past, or ahead to their future.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45'That's a quality I value and admire enormously.'
0:57:47 > 0:57:50There is one girl we were unable to trace.
0:57:51 > 0:57:54Nakwan, we were told, had moved to the city.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58The details of her life and her whereabouts remain a mystery.
0:58:02 > 0:58:08One of the things I find totally surprising is that two of those women had travelled so little.
0:58:08 > 0:58:14They were still within a few miles of where I had photographed them, 30 years ago.
0:58:15 > 0:58:16How do you explain that?
0:58:16 > 0:58:18In Swahili, we say that...
0:58:18 > 0:58:21HE SPEAKS IN SWAHILI
0:58:21 > 0:58:23How do you say?
0:58:25 > 0:58:31The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. It's the same in English!
0:58:31 > 0:58:32Kibiriti...
0:58:32 > 0:58:36THEY SAY THEIR GOODBYES