Sarah Asingo

Migration Story

I Am Nyar Ugenya, Daughter of Jok I am Luo. I am nyar Ugenya, ja-Jok. And we are people of arguments and ambition. We didn’t just follow water. We followed ideas. When Jok’s sons divided Siaya, my people didn’t settle for the easiest land. We took the ridges. From there you can see Alego, see Sakwa, see trouble coming. That’s why Ja-Jok became the ones people called to settle disputes. We are loud. We debate at funerals, at weddings, at the bus stage. My grandfather could talk for 2 hours about land, then go plant maize like he solved the world. But we are also the “school people”. Early mission stations? Jok children were first in class. That’s why Ugenya has produced so many teachers, headmasters, MPs. My shosho sold eggs to pay school fees, and told me: “Soma. A Jok woman does not keep quiet.” We don’t do omena. We do ugali, kienyeji chicken, and tea that’s strong enough to wake ancestors. We don’t fish. We farm hillsides and we build. To be ja-Jok is to be stubborn in a good way. We don’t wait for rain. We plan for drought. We don’t wait for opportunity. We create it. Today I live far, but I still carry that ridge energy. I speak up. I work hard. I build. “An nyar Ugenya, ja-Jok.” It means my people chose to lead from the hills. I am not just old stories. I am the new ones too.

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