In African societies, traditional cultures have often dictated how we live life. But what happens when there’s predatorial interference with culture? This question was conjured in Richard Turere’s mind when distress came to his family daily. Living in the southern outskirts of Nairobi proved to be risky as wildlife from the Nairobi National Park often treaded into the family’s boma to prey on the meek livestock.
Of Cradles and Resolutions
For Maasai people, livestock is a symbol of wealth and the community’s origin story speaks of Enkai sending the first Maa man to earth with a bevvy of livestock. So for wildlife to attack the Turere family’s livestock was a direct intrusion on their wealth. Richard knew this having taken on herding responsibilities from the age of six.
Not one to dictate the grazing distance the livestock would take, he would opt to stay alert knowing that if he wasn’t, he would lose an animal or two to stealthy lions. It wasn’t just him; most of his community members faced the same frustration, and some opted to kill the lions in defence. But this approach was not practical in the long run, and with continuous initiatives to conserve wildlife, the community would be grouped in the same category as poachers. So, what then was the way forward?
Embracing a forward-thinking mentality inspired Richard’s path toward a solution. His first step was to consider things lions would be afraid of. Perhaps fire? But after a test run, he discerned that fire was amplifying the lions’ vision, giving them leeway to attack. Richard went back to his idea board and for his second attempt, decided on a scarecrow. Surely the presence of a human-like figure would deter the wildlife’s effort; but after a few days, even the lions could tell that the scarecrow was a decoy. Though the solution was short-lived, it was enough to increase Richard’s audaciousness. For his third endeavour, he was determined to find the best answer to the recurring dilemma.
The Moment of Truth
Creativity and drawing from lessons gathered from his first two experiments guided his careful approach. He’d learned that it was essential to give a human illusion, but the recurring question was how to create movement so that the lions would be disoriented. It was also important to understand that the lions were simply following their animal instinct. His solution had to take into consideration wildlife’s contribution to the ecosystem.
Inspecting available resources around him led him to realise the power of batteries and how they could be powered by solar. He then sketched an electric circuit that transmitted power to different lights at intervals. On paper, the solution seemed possible, but there was only one way to know for certain. And so, in 2011 he built two things: solar panels and an indicator box. The panels would transmit power to the battery, which would then send an electric signal to the indicator box, and this box would cause the lights to flash at intervals giving the illusion of a human being walking around with a torch.
Richard named his invention ‘Lion Lights’ and tested it for a few nights. Surely enough, the lights did the job and onlookers from his community made requests to have the same lights installed outside their cowsheds.
Compliments to the Innovator
Richard Turere’s problem-solving approach made him his community’s hero. Beyond this, he earned a scholarship to Brookhouse International School in Nairobi, where he was able to continue advancing his interests in electronics. In 2013 he was invited to speak at TED, which further boosted his innovation from the local community to a global stage, and opened more avenues for him. Among these was the opportunity to join the prestigious Africa Leadership University where he chose to study Wildlife Conservation. Further developing and improving Lion Lights earned Richard the Anzisha Prize Award in 2018 and he was featured as National Geographic’s ‘Young Explorer’ (2020 – 2021).
Presently, Lion Lights has become a global name. It is appreciated as an innovation that promotes a sustainable and peaceful coexistence between humans and wildlife. Certainly, setbacks caused by natural occurrences can be resolved without harming the environment. We’re inspired by young Kenyans like Richard Turere whose solutions are community oriented as well as worthwhile.
#KeInnovators
