At Last ASSETS Finds one of its own

Finding the appropriate person to employ can sometimes be a tough task bearing in mind how many applications you always expect for any job advert you put up. This time round however the same task was made a lot easier by an application we noticed from an ASSETS graduate. Jonathan Charo graduated from Sokoke Secondary school in 2008, having received support from the ASSETS Eco-bursary scheme and came to volunteer at Mwamba Field Study Centre for seven months in 2009. It is at Mwamba Field Study Centre that he met a couple who were willing to sponsor his college education.

Jonathan has recently graduated from The Mombasa Polytechnic University College with a diploma in Environmental Community Health. Mr. Charo has now been employed by A Rocha Kenya as a Community Assistant, taking over from Patrick Kaunda who moved jobs in December 2012.

When he was in college, Jonathan was once attached to the Kenya Medical Research Institute as a field assistant where he gained good experience in community mobilization.

We welcome Jonathan back to the ASSETS programme; not as a student needing support but as a colleague. We all wish him well as he begins his career.

Beneficiary meetings

Over the last couple weeks,The Assets team has been going all round the forest to have beneficiary meetings.The meetings was to remind the students benefiting from the scheme of the conditions for their bursary to continue. Along with that,parents were also in the meeting to hear and also have a meeting about the CFA structure and how they will slightly change the way they do things.

All the beneficiaries had been visited after six days and on 18th the meetings, ended with Bogamachuko being the last one.

It was quite interesting to see how passionate the parents received the CFA news and how it would make a positive difference in their activities.

The meetings brought alot of debates and discussions especially about students    discipline. MrSuleman Bakari gave alot of inspiring examples of how the parents and the students can work together and how both can improve .

ASSETS Plot Beginning to Develop!

The Gede ASSETS plot has been full of activity as we near the end of the year. In addition to building materials being dropped off for the new ASSETS offices, and eventually a conference center, we have also hired a permanent team member, Jimmy, to live on the plot and help manage the land, as well as look after our conservation agriculture demonstration fields.  Last week a team from Mwamba spent the better part of the morning marking out the permanent fiels for our demonstration fields. Jimmy had done  a wonderful job of clearing a massive mango tree stump which was in the middle of one of our fields, as well as leveling the terrain. For the first time, we have six 6x6 meter fields marked out, side by side, ready to be prepared for planting when the long rains come in April/May. In addition to marking out the fields, a permanent composting station was also measure and marked out for construction, hopefully to be completely set up this week. If all goes according to plan, we should have enough compost to plant a whole acre of maize, which is more what we will need in one season of planting. We will have plenty of excess to store for future planting seasons. Plans are also in place to put a rainwater harvesting tank on the house Jimmy is living in to provide water for irrigation, enabeling us to maintain our demostration shamba's year round.

We are hoping to grow a number of different local and more traditional crops this year, in addition to maize to introduce crop rotations as well as cover crops and fodder crops. It is a huge blessing to have Jimmy living on-site to watch after the place, and hopefully this year we will have a plentiful harvest. 

Muvera Wa ASSETS

Muvera wa ASSETS  is an association of the parents of the beneficiaries of the Assets programme .It was formed in 2006 after the first Assets beneficiaries graduated from secondary school.The main aim of forming this association was to improve the benefits already received from the Assets programme,the name''Muvera''  is  a giriama word meaning ''Thanks''.This group now has over 100 members from all the 10 schools that are in the Assets programme. Over the past few years there were problems in the registration of this association because of a lack of a good forest management plan.This has changed since the Arabuko-Sokoke  forest,forest   management plan was launched couple months ago and it has three regions which are, Gede, Jilore and Sokoke Community Forest Associations (CFA) . Now the Muvera wa ASSETS association in the Gede region has been registered. The gede group comprises of Mida, Mijomboni, Mzizima and Chipande.

Last week we visited the four groups to explain to them the whole registration issue and how this brings an avenue of how the group can come up with eco-tourism projects for their benefits.The meetings were very well attended and we had 30 members all together.Stanley and Mr Suliman(one of the Assets Commitee member) were there to explain the registration issue

ASSETS graduate off to study at university!

We posted  previously about our 3 ASSETS graduates currently volunteering in Mwamba with us, Brian was one of them. He's been helping A Rocha Kenya for the past 5 months, working  at  Gede  Tree  Platform,  our  eco-tourism  facility,  raising  funds  for  the  ASSETS  bursaries. He enjoyed welcoming visitors there and telling them all about the history of the Ruins.

He'll be leaving us at the end of the week to start his nursing studies at Pwani University, in Kilifi! Hoi, one of our past volunteers from Singapore, kindly raised money for him to start his studies. To be able to continue, he will apply for various local and national bursary schemes.

Brian graduated from secondary school last year, and enjoys interacting with people and caring for others, which is why he chose to study nursing. He loved his time spent in A Rocha, saying its 'the best place', because of the conservation goals as well as the social side of working with communities. He especially appreciated building friendships with people from different parts of the world, and is grateful to have met this volunteer who agreed to sponsor him.

Looking back, the ASSETS scheme has really motivated him to study hard in secondary school, and to meet and work with the people who helped him has given him 'zeal and zest to study further'.

A great example of what the ASSETS scheme aspires to! We're grateful for this opportunity he has to study, and are still praying for funding for the many more graduates who wish to go to university too.

An encouraging letter!!

 

This week we received a great encouragement from one of our current beneficiaries in second year of Secondary School, who wrote us this letter of his own initiative.

What great news to hear that he is doing well and enjoying his education! Thank you again to our kind donators who make this all possible!

Just click on the picture to read the letter...

Braced for Summer camps

August is here with us again! 136 ASSETS beneficiaries are just about to sit for their end of term examinations in over 40 different secondary schools. With over 1.2 million shillings paid out as bursaries for the students, the ASSETS account is left wanting, needing Ksh. 148,000 to bring another group of 40 students to the August camp.

For the last five years, this exercise has aided over 200 students to spend three days at Mwamba Field Study Centre and get hands on experience in the conservation work going on. During these events, students have a chance to visit the famous Watamu Coral Gardens, the Gede Ruins and the Mida Creek. This experience always leaves a lasting memory in the students and they always talk about it. To some, this is often their first time to see the ocean despite living less than 100 km away.

Discussion on HIV AIDS and drugs forms a key part of the camp. This challenges the students on important choices they are required to make in life. The three days learning programme is spiced up with many games and quizzes for ease of learning.

We are grateful for a donation of £ 440 that we have so far received for this activity. This is enough to cover the costs for 15 students attending the camp. We are currently looking for sponsorship for the other 25 students at a cost of US$ 50 per student.

Help Us Stay Connected!

The ASSETS department is in desperate need of a new laptop. The current computer being used has been undergoing repairs daily making work difficult and frustrating. Although due to the computer's break down, the office has been much more peaceful now that it does not give off a sound like an airplane taking off, we need the laptop for work that includes access databases, blogging, and email to communicate with donors. We would really appreciate donations to support the purchase of a new laptop in order to allow the ASSETS department to work to its full potential.

ASSETS Graduates

During the last month, three new ASSETS graduates have joined A Rocha in various volunteer tasks. May God bless all three volunteers and may God give them strength as they continue to pursue their passions.

Brian, an ASSETS graduate from Kwale High School, joined A Rocha Kenya as a volunteer a month ago. He feels the ASSETS program is a very good project. Brain thanks the ASSETS program for contributing to his education by assisting him with school fees. During his time with A Rocha, Brain has been volunteering at the Gede ruins tree platform, which is one of the eco-tourism sites raising money for bursaries.  If God wishes and Brain finds the means he would like to study law at university, which has been his career choice since he was a primary student.

Joan joined A Rocha Kenya three weeks ago. She has been busy volunteering in the kitchen helping to make delicious meals. Joan is an ASSETS graduated from Bahari Girls Secondary School. She finds the ASSETS program to be beneficial because it helped her through school and she now knows how to conserve the environment. She enjoyed learning the names of trees and birds as well as the importance of biodiversity. In the future Joan hopes to teach science or Swahili because she loves working with children.

Kirao, an ASSETS graduate from Malindi High School, began volunteering with A Rocha Kenya last Monday. During his stay he wants to share the knowledge he has gained, and to learn from others. Kirao feels the ASSETS program is very good and it has helped many people including him.  If it were not for the program, he would not be a student a Pwani University in Kilifi. Kirao joined Pwani University in the year 2010 where he is currently studying environmental science. The ASSETS program helped to develop his passion to protect the environment. While in high school he began to share the information he learned with community conservation groups near Mida Creek. In the future Kirao wants to continue his work at Mida Creek by becoming a conservationist focusing on the protection of the mangrove forest.

It's great to see these young men and ladies so passionate about nature conservation.

ASSETS Beneficiaries Days

Students play "Hungry Hippos"

On Friday the ASSETS program started camps for families receiving bursary funds.  In the morning, parents and students from Gede primary school and Mijomboni primary school gathered in Mijomboni. This is where Festus, a community conservation officer, started off the day teaching the families about the history of A Rocha Kenya, shared the location of the eco-tourism sites that provide bursary funds and highlighted the importance of conservation in the surrounding area.  After enjoying juice and cookies the parents left leaving the students for the rest of the day. A key part of the ASSETS program is to teach students about conservation. The afternoon was spent explaining the ecological importance of the Arabuko-Sokoke forest and Mida Creek. Students participated in games called, “Hungry Hippos,” and “The Wader Migration Game.” During “Hungry Hippos” students had to share limited resources with their friends and by doing so they were able to cross a river full of hippos. “The Wader Migration Game” involved the students learning about the challenges birds face while trying to migrate around the world. The day ended with the introduction of a brand new curriculum, called A Rocha Conservation Education Course for Secondary Schools (ACCESS), where students participate in a four year long environmental studies course outside the classroom. The students were very excited about the introduction of the new course and agreed to participate. The day was full of learning. Next week Festus and volunteers will continue to run camps for eight more schools supported by the ASSETS program.

Students and parents learn about the ASSETS program

Students play " The Wader Migration" game