Reach for the stars

Traveling Telescopes project inspires young Kenyans to reach for the stars

Kenya is known as one of the world’s most exciting safari destinations with lions, leopards, elephants, rhino and buffalo among the manifold majestic wildlife to be found across its protected plains. However, local astronomer Susan Murubana likes to point out that the country boasts another, just as spectacular Big Five. All you have to do is look up.

“We have a Big Five in the night sky,” she says. “You need a crescent moon that does not give off too much light and you’ll see the rings of Saturn, which are so cool. Then there’s Jupiter and its moons – it’s incredible to think that Galileo was looking at the same planet 400 years ago – the Orion constellation where stars are born; Scorpio, one of the brightest constellations in the night sky, and the Milky Way stretching from horizon to horizon.”

In describing these celestial headliners, Murubana’s words spill in a rush of excitement down the line from her home in Nairobi. Astronomy is obviously a passion and one that has changed her life. She believes studying the night sky can be similarly game-changing for others, especially Kenyan youngsters. It was with this idea in mind that Travelling Telescopes was born. The social enterprise – which Murubana founded alongside her husband, filmmaker and fellow astronomy enthusiast Daniel Chu Owen, in 2014 – transports the team’s donated Unistellar deep sky telescope and inflatable planetarium to bring the far reaches of the night sky to schools and public spaces across Kenya, often in very remote areas. So far, Murubana tells me, the initiative has “reached close to 500,000 people”.

Much of the funding for Travelling Telescopes comes from another of the team’s initiatives, Star Safaris, which operates in collaboration with local safari-friendly lodges to offers guests monthly stargazing trips – often with overnight camping – under a canopy of dark sky in Kenya’s rural wild. As well as the mobile experience, there is also a permanent base in Riverside Lane, in the Westlands area of Nairobi that features another planetarium – this time made out of low-cost and planet-friendly bamboo.

For Murubana, the sky comes alive beyond the reach of the capital’s light pollution. “The minute you drive out of the city there is, bright unpolluted sky. Drive north to the Samburu National Reserve and the Masai Mara and astronomy is extension of the wild world. The trip is very therapeutic in its combination of the beauty and wildlife. The communities out here are connected to the natural world. We want others to share the joys and beauty of the night sky.”

Murubana still remembers the transformative effect of her first look down the lens of a telescope in 2002. By then she was an economics and sociology student heading for a job in marketing and her focus was very much on earthbound advancement. “Growing up in Nairobi, I don’t think I ever looked up at the sky,” she says. “However, in my early 20s I joined a group of students to watch the total eclipse.” The trip was organised by Kevin Hand of Cosmos Education, an international non-profit organisation dedicated to improving science education in developing countries. Murubana was inspired. “Kevin had a telescope and I got to see Saturn. It was very powerful. I wanted to be part of that journey.” She travelled with Cosmos Education, working at schools in South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana, Tanzania and Kenya.

Murubana completed her degree and found work as a marketing executive, but “I knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do,” she says. Her ambitions were now sky high. “Cosmos Education had given me these opportunities and I felt fulfilled and humbled. I wanted to pay it forward. I thought: ‘Wow, if only Kenyan kids could have a planetarium. At the time, it really was a far-fetched idea.”

She quit her job and began an online master’s course in astronomy. She didn’t come from a science background and friends and family “didn’t get it,” but still backed her. In 2013 she met Owen – the couple are a testament to the romantic allure associated with stargazing, falling for each other at a Nairobi party held on the night of a solar eclipse – and Travelling Telescopes was born. In the years that have followed, astronomy has emerged from the fringes of education in Kenya. You can now study it as a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Nairobi, the country has its own space agency and is set to get its own observatory.

Travelling Telescopes reflects the progress made with the team now including Kenyan astrophysicist Ronald Wasilwa, who studied in Nairobi. Murubana hopes the change in climate will encourage others to follow suit and believes Travelling Telescopes may be the perspective shift needed to spark such big sky thinking. Just as the vast expanse of the universe convinces her “there is life out there” so she believes young Kenyans will see a world of infinite possibilities reveal themselves for the first time.

“Looking through a telescope can make you feel very tiny, there is so much up there. Everyone has access to the night sky – it builds inquisitiveness and is a gateway to possibilities. You see these other worlds and you begin to believe you can become an engineer; you can build rockets. It’s that powerful.”

To find out more about the work of Travelling Telescopes and book your place on a Star Safari, visit travellingtelescope.co.uk