Amboseli National Park, located in south-west Kenya just across the border from Tanzania, is home to over 56 mammals, and more than 378 species of birds. The park has a beautiful view of Mount Kilimanjaro and although it is small by game park standards (only 390 Km²) it contains one of the largest populations of elephants in all of East Africa.
I have seen elephants in Uganda but at Amboseli they were terrifyingly close to our vehicle, and the strength and wisdom of the animal became increasingly evident. It is said that elephant herds have the same family migration paths that are followed every year, their memory is meticulous, and their lifestyle of eating, bathing, and walking is deeply engrained in their being. Seeing the elephants so close at Amboseli reminded me of the well-known parable about a group of blind men (or men in the dark) touching an elephant. In the parable each man feels a different part of the elephant and then shares his perspective of what an elephant is like. To the surprise of each man, they completely disagree about the physical characteristics of an elephant.
A Jain version of the story tells the experience of six blind men asked to determine what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephant's body. The blind man who feels a leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the one who feels the tail says the elephant is like a rope; the one who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a tree branch; the one who feels the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the one who feels the belly says the elephant is like a wall; and the one who feels the tusk says the elephant is like a solid pipe.
A king explains to them:"All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all the features you mentioned.” (Wikipedia, Blind men and an elephant)
Living in Kotido has given me one perspective of Uganda, an even smaller perspective of East Africa, and a minute understanding of Africa. Even with this knowledge, I often find myself oversimplifying my experience and applying it to all of East Africa. Thankfully, I am not alone, many of my Ugandan friends lump me into the TV show and movie portrayals of North American culture they are exposed to. However, this does not mean that either culture should find solace in the equal unawareness of the other culture. Instead we should all be working toward a greater understanding of one another, and actively seeking to discover the intricacies of each other’s realities.
The parable about the elephant energizes me to embrace the conflict of differing perspectives because, in the argument of each perspective, a bit of truth is revealed. Runi, the 13th century Persian poet and teacher of Sufism once said in response to the parable, "If each had a candle and they went in together the differences would disappear."
