How raid turned herder to a petroleum engineer

Starlon Ikaal

Turkana, Kenya: For Starlon Ikaal, 26, from Lokori village in Turkana County, raiders who struck his village in the 90s while he was looking after his father’s goats opened an opportunity for him to go to school.

Starlon, now a petroleum engineer working with Tullow Oil Company, was born at a time when the Turkana believed in cultural values where boys were trained to be warriors, known as ng’oroko in the local dialect. Their task was to protect the community.

Unlike other children, Starlon skipped nursery school and joined Class ne when he was four years old.

In an interview with The Standard, Starlon said the raiders struck in the morning when he had just left to tend his father’s goats.

The attack

“When raiders from the neighbouring community struck in the morning, they drove away all our goats leaving me with nothing to look after. The same day our goats were driven away by the raiders was the same day I joined school,” he told The Standard.

He says he decided to go to school since there was a playing field where he could meet with most of his age mates to play.

In reflection, he says if the raiders had not taken their goats, he could now be a ng’oroko. After the raiders took all the goats, Starlon turned his focus on education and now he is a jewel in his community.

With the recent discovery of oil in Ngamia-1 in Turkana County, Starlon is a trailblazer as he is among the first petroleum engineers in the country.

“When it was announced that oil was discovered in Ngamia-1, a place where I used to play with my friends, I decided to pursue petroleum engineering,” Starlon said when The Standard caught up with him in Tullow Oil Company offices in Westlands.

When he realised that education is the only powerful tool for him, the third born in a family of four worked hard in his studies. Although his parents were not in a position to pay his school fees, the church came to his rescue.

School record

After completing his primary education in Katilu Primary School, Starlon joined Katilu Boys’ Secondary where he scored a mean grade of B+ (plus). He later went to Maseno University where he studied Bachelor of Arts Science.

Even before his graduation from Maseno University, he says he got a job as a geochemist with Africa Oil Corporation.

Upon completing his first degree, he says he had hoped to do a second degree but he did not have funds.

“After the discovery of oil in the field I used to play, I felt that this was a perfect chance for me to get involved in the exploitation of the resource and contribute to my skills,” he told The Standard during the interview.

He says there are few petroleum engineers in Kenya and he wanted to encourage and nurture others to take the career.

Scholarships advert

He came across an advert for scholarships by Tullow Oil Company and decided to apply.

He emerged among the 10 students who were picked for scholarships and left to Manchester University in UK in 2012 to pursue a master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering.

Two years later, Starlon is a back to the country and he has rolled his sleeves ready to offer his expertise.

Immediately he landed in Kenya in February this year, he says he went for a cleansing ceremony in his Lokori village.

“People in my community always conduct a cleansing ceremony for those who go out of the community for a period of time. They do so before you are accepted back to the community,” he says.

Starlon could not forget to narrate his experience in the UK.

“I had heard of cities like London, New York, Liverpool, Scotland, among others, but the scholarship opened doors for me. I traversed the whole UK and it was exciting to interact with people of different backgrounds,” he says.

For a Turkana boy who trekked several kilometres to school with no shoes and rose to become a Petroleum Engineer, Starlon is now an inspiration to Turkana people.

“Besides oil exploration, I will give my people the ideas on how to get out of poverty and engaging in businesses. The livestock, which were their only source of livelihood, have died of drought and others were lost in cattle raids. Children are now going to school in Turkana and I urge the Government to build more schools in the region,” said Starlon.