Tough but successful assessment of potential beneficiary students around Arabuko-Sokoke

The assessment exercise for the new ASSETS beneficiary students has taken the assets team four good days to complete. It was a tough time for the team riding through the sand dunes into several homes bordering Mida-creek at the sea shore and far and beyond the Arabuko-sokoke Forest. Here are pictures showing Festus and Bimbo in the villages interviewing the parents of the beneficiaries.  

Some parents have found it hard and expensive sending their children through the secondary education due to lack of funds.  However, the ASSETS team has taken an extra mile of guiding, counseling and giving hope to them that God will give way and the students will pursue secondary education. The ASSETS program is there for them and its purpose is to glorify God. This is one way of helping the less fortune and letting them know that God loves them and they still have the potential to attain a better life.

Below is a photo showing Festus guiding and counseling a parent and his son

Apart from the above activities, the team has managed to see one of the parents who has been a beneficiary in the ASSETS program for several years and have grasped the knowledge of conservation. It was really interesting to see his wood lot and nursery seedlings doing well. This year, he has posted another child into secondary school and is being interviewed so that his child can get support from ASSETS program.

Assets team is hopping all will be well even to the families that has lost hope.

Assets bursary disbusment

Hello every one! Just to update you on how far ASSETS has gone this year. The ASSETS team i.e. Festus and Bimbo have been busy dispatching bursary cheques in secondary schools for the continuing students. Already, forty one (41) beneficiary students have been awarded bursaries to keep them in school. This has really helped the students, since most of them had already been sent home for fees, but the ASSETS team has struggled to ensure that they are back in school by sending the bursary cheques to the various secondary schools, paying a total of four hundred fourteen thousand and three hundred shillings (Kshs. 414,300) for the 41 students. This is just the first phase of the bursary payment which has been done for the continuing students only. The second phase will include those students joining form one this year. An assessment of the new beneficiaries who are yet to join this year will be conducted and then bursaries paid for these new ASSETS members. This will take place in the next two weeks after which the bursary payment task for term one of the year will be finished.

Feedback from ASSETS Camp Participants

As you have seen on previous posts, we were privileged to host 18 ASSETS students last weekend for ASSETS Camp. At the end of the weekend, the students were asked to write down any feedback/comments they had about the camp and all that they got to experience. Here are some excerpts from their notes:“all the trips helped me to learn a lot of things which I didn’t know before” “At first I was afraid of swimming but because of the life jackets I found it easy to swim.” “Although I was afraid of snakes before I was impressed by the visit to the Bio-Ken Snake Farm from where I learned that there are some snakes that are not poisonous” “I would also like to thank this organization and how they help the children from poverty-stricken families” “In Mida Creek I got to know some of the different types of mangroves and what they do for the ecosystem.” “I appreciate the warm welcome you gave us, the meals and accommodation” “I have learned very important things, that actually if I am to tell one by one I may end up taking the whole day” “I wish the camp could take about two weeks so that I could continue enjoying myself” “I enjoyed all the lessons that you had for us” “Let the cooks be blessed and GOD KEEP THEM FOR A LONG TIME!” (There were many happy comments about the food, obviously meals were a highlight!) The students seem to have really enjoyed all the out trips, learning sessions, meals and games that they got to play while they stayed here at Mwamba Field Study Center, which makes it all very worthwhile for all the staff and volunteers who participated.

A big thank you goes to Stanley, Festus, and Bimbo, who put in a lot of time preparing. They are hard at work now preparing for our second ASSETS Camp, which takes place from August 27-29. Keep us in your prayers as we hope to provide a wonderful experience for this group coming in!

ASSETS Camp: Days 2 and 3

Now that the camp has finished and the camera is back, we can give you an idea of everything that the students here were able to experience! On Saturday evening, after a day full of sessions and getting to know Mwamba, the students had a great time playing beach games. From this, you'd think that a dip in the sea would be a nice way to cool off afterwards... Now, for the majority of coastal Kenyans, there is a huge fear of the water, and especially the ocean, built into cultural traditions. These fears originate in the belief that there are evil spirits lurking in the sea that will drown you. We try to break down these fears to let people fully appreciate the Creation around them, so after a while of games Stanley mandated that "Everyone needs to get in the water!" and everyone did! It was quite amazing to be along and realize that this is the first time some of the students had ever been in the ocean this way!

To build on this, Sunday included a trip to go snorkelling and experience the amazing marine life on the coral gardens near Mwamba. Before we started, we played some beach football (or soccer for the Canadians around here...) at 7:30AM after breakfast!

After this, we had snorkelling! The students, coached by Stanley, went in one or two at a time and saw some amazing things! Even Lydia, the ASSETS graduate who is serving an internship at Mwamba, has said before that she would never go out in water so deep, and here she is!

That evening included some talks on Creation Care and healthy lifestyle choices, as well as a Bible study carried out around a campfire. There was a great discussion on the way that Jesus told us to be servant leaders, and how these students should carry that same spirit of servant leadership into whatever work they may do during and after secondary school.

Day 3 was the final day of ASSETS Camp, and included a trip to see the two ecotourism facilities that support ASSETS: The Gede Ruins Tree Platform and the Mida Creek Boardwalk. Though the students have heard of these facilities, most had never actually experienced them and had a great time. Below is a picture of some of the students descending from the Tree Platform:

Here is a photo of the students at the Mida Creek Boardwalk:

After all this excitement, it was time to eat lunch, have some final talks and go home. The students had been separated into two teams at the start of the camp, and there were prizes of school supplies awarded to those students who had scored highly in the games and quizzes that were held throughout.

Now that everyone is gone, it is quite a bit quieter around Mwamba, and we will have many cherished memories of our time with these wonderful students. It is amazing the opportunity that these students have been given to complete secondary school, given that they all come from families which could not afford to send them.

Wishing you could have been a part of this? There is a big way that you can help! There is another ASSETS Camp scheduled for August 27-29th and currently, ASSETS has not received enough funding to cover the costs for all the students to attend. It costs only $29 US for each student to be able to attend this camp and get an amazing opportunity to see, learn and do things that they wouldn’t otherwise, as most students come from very poverty-stricken families. Please consider donating today to help us give these students a great experience!

ASSETS Camp: Day 2

Hello everyone! We've been having a great time here at Mwamba with the group of 18 ASSETS beneficiaries who are camping here. Yesterday was a full day, including snorkelling, some speakers, and a visit to Bio-Ken Snake farm! Today, the group is visiting Gede Ruins and Mida Creek (where two of the ASSETS revenue-generating projects are located), and since the camera with most of yesterday's pictures on it went with them, we'll just share about the snake farm.

(The best way to travel on a hot day!)

For a bit of background, most Kenyans are deathly afraid of snakes. There are a lot of myths that all snakes are poisonous, and will kill you almost instantly with just one bite. This is not actually true... as the folks at Bio-Ken try to teach, only 34 of the 127 species of snakes found in Kenya are venomous, and many venomous snakes do not deliver venom with every bite. They try to spread awareness and offer a free snake removal service to try to encourage locals not to kill snakes on sight, as they are valuable contributors to their ecosystems. This is not information that ASSETS beneficiaries would usually receive, so the A Rocha staff thought a visit to the snake farm would be a great opportunity. Students were given the opportunity to handle non-venomous snakes, and get a chance to appreciate how beautiful some of the species are... especially when they are behind a glass wall!

At least one person in the group, Naomi (the current A Rocha Environmental Education Intern) was brave enough to hold one of the snakes!

In addition to all of the fun activities, there are many speaker sessions built into the ASSETS camp program. The students receive teaching on the importance of education, responsibility towards community, creation care, healthy lifestyle choices, and a Bible study as a part of their ASSETS Camp experience. They have a chance to discuss these topics openly with the speakers, in a way that they don't really get a chance to during their formal schooling.

We are looking forward to telling you more about the rest of this camp!

ASSETS Camp kickoff!

This morning we greeted almost twenty ASSETS beneficiaries who arrived at Mwamba Field Study Centre for a weekend of ASSETS Camps! With so many people, the Mwamba campground is looking quite full...

After a decadent tea with mandazi (donuts) and boiled eggs, the students were given an introduction to the center and shared their expectations about the weekend.

We hope everyone will have a great time this weeked, we will try to keep you posted with all the activities that will be happening!

Work Day at Mida Creek

On Thursday July 7, a crew of A Rocha staff and volunteers went to Mida to begin work on some of the restoration that is needed. The main activity for the day was repainting the entrance banda, which was looking quite dull. With so many hands, the task only took a few hours and left everyone very happy at a job well done!

The Mida Creek boardwalk is very important in both generating income and spreading awareness about the ASSETS program. In the next few weeks, some of the other jobs left to do are replacing the old boards in the boardwalk itself, and greasing of the big support chains that keep it standing. This work is made much easier with adequate funding, so please consider donating to ASSETS today!

Sewe Vera Akello: an appeal

Today ASSETS is bringing forth an appeal for Sewe Vera Akello, a very gifted girl who has recently lost her secondary school sponsorship and desperately needs someone else to sponsor her so that she can complete secondary school. Sewe is fifteen years old, the firstborn in a family of two children. Sadly, her father passed away in 2010, and her mother is now supporting Sewe and her sister on her own. Sewe attended Mida Primary School, and was the top student of all beneficiaries selected by the ASSETS program in 2011. She has been accepted into Limuru Girl’s Secondary School, one of the best schools in Kenya. She is attending for the current term, but has no money to complete the next three years. Sewe is very interested in English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and hopes to become a doctor someday. In her spare time, she also enjoys acting. With enough donations now, Sewe can continue in school and will not have to halt school to try to raise money on her own.

It is not difficult to sponsor Sewe or another ASSETS student in need. The donation button on the right hand side of the blog takes you to A Rocha International’s donation website, from where you can select Kenya’s ASSETS bursary program and make a donation through PayPal. Every donation you can give makes a big difference in the lives of needy children in the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest area. If you wish to become a regular sponsor, it costs only $30 US per month (on average) to support a child through secondary school. For the average earner in the western world, this amount is not so large, but in Kenya where incomes are much lower these costs are crippling to parents who wish to school their children. If you are interested in sponsoring a particular child, you can email [email protected] for more information.

Letter from an ASSETS Student

Yesterday the ASSETS office received a wonderful letter from Martin Baya, one of our ASSETS beneficiaries. In Kenya, as in many other places, completing secondary school can make the difference between good future opportunities and barely making enough to survive. You can support an ASSETS student through A Rocha's donation page (there is a button on the right hand of this page), and make a huge difference in the life of a Kenyan student like Martin.

Introducing Festus and Bimbo: the ASSETS team

Today I’d like to introduce the two main players in the ASSETS team: Festus and Bimbo. Both have been employed recently at A Rocha Kenya under the ASSETS program, and have not been introduced yet on this blog.

Both have been very busy, as they have had to distribute bursaries to all of the schools supported by ASSETS in the last few weeks. So while we had time for Bimbo to write about what brought him to work for A Rocha, Festus had to answer questions quickly for me to write up before he headed out today!

Festus Masha – Community Conservation Officer

Festus started work at A Rocha in December 2010, as the new Community Conservation Officer. Prior to being employed by A Rocha, he had spent five years working for Kenya Medical Research Institute as a Field Officer, and completed a diploma in Community Development and Project Management.

When I asked why working in the ASSETS program interested him, Festus responded that he likes the community interaction aspect of the program: holding meetings with the needy families and the distribution of bursaries. He is concerned for the welfare of the families, and feels it is very important to help his community

Bimbo Msafiri Baya – Assistant Community Conservation Officer

I joined Marafa Secondary School in the year 2002-2005. Later I joined Pwani University and completed my course in the year 2010. At Pwani I pursued a certificate course in Community Development. Before I left Pwani, I obtained an advert for A Rocha seeking for employees.

After having sent my application, I was called for an interview, in which I was successful. I started working as an A Rocha employee on 4^th May 2011. My job title is the Assistant Community Conservation Officer. As a new employee I have been doing data entry of the beneficiary information. Also I have joined the other Assets staff and volunteers in starting a farm at Gede, where we are piloting Farming God’s Way (a Christian conservation agriculture program).

So far I have enjoyed working as an employee at A Rocha because the focus on the conservation of the environment is an interesting one. Also, assisting the less fortunate families enhances the local community, and also brings joy to the beneficiaries.

I am glad to work here, I am hoping that I will continue to gain more experience in environmental conservation at A Rocha.