A Rocha Kenya offers a great opportunity for conservation awareness and action to the community living around Arabuko-Sokoke Forest and Mida Creek.
We have over 100 stories to tell, but one at a time gives one the true picture that sure enough the ASSETS program is God sent to some of the families living around Arabuko Sokoke Forest and Mida Creek.
The Mida Creek Boardwalk was requiring some yearly maintenance and repairs, and Festus has been out of the office on his motorbike to Mida quite often in the last week to make sure they are going well. We are grateful for what a good job he is doing out there, and just wanted to share a picture of how you can put Festus, a generator, and some extension cords all on the same motorbike!
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 4th 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.
School visits for Environmental Education have picked up very well, and this time the staff and volunteers of A Rocha Kenya were in Kahingoni Primary School. As usual the pupils were excited. They assembled in one class where we had our lesson which later on led to a very lively discussion. The lesson touched on the importance of conserving the forest and the endangered animals like the Golden-rumped sengi (elephant shrew), whose habitat is the Arabuko Sokoke Forest.
Pupils anwering questions during the lesson
A Rocha Kenya also donated some tree seedlings to the Wildlife Club of Kenya members in that school. The tree seedlings were of the Bombax rhodognaphalon (East African Bombax) commonly known as 'msufi mwitu' in Swahili and Balanites wilsoniana commonly known as 'mkonga' in Giriama which is the local language here. The trees were planted after the lesson by the pupils.They promised to take care of them by putting a small fence around each of them and watering them.
Mapenzi, a pupil planting one of the tree seedlings
We hope to get more funds to continue sustaining our program which involves a lot of traveling. Our goal is to educate all the schools surrounding the forest on the importance of conserving it since it is an important biodiversity area.
Naomi Wanjiru Gichungu- Environmental Education intern
On June 10, 2011 we had another chance to teach the pupils surrounding Arabuko Sokoke forest about the importance of conserving the forest and their environment in general. This time it was in Nyari Primary School. The pupils were excited because we had earlier announced that they we were going to show a conservation film. When we entered the class where we were to make our presentations, they all stood up at once to say hello, which was amazing with such a large number of students!
Without wasting time we introduced the film. The film was produced in Swahili, and made to help encourage people to conserve their forests. The film was done in Tanzania by the Community Based Conservation Films. The pupils enjoyed the film all along and later on we asked questions on what they had learnt to summarise on our lesson.
The excitement of the pupils was a great motivation for us to continue with school visits. This time apart from Mr. Stanley and I (Naomi), we were joined by Lydia, an ASSETS graduate who attended Nyari primary school. Lydia was interviewed previously on this blog, and is currently doing an internship with A Rocha Kenya. She is awaiting a sponsor so that she can attend university.
We were able to show a film at this school because a projector was generously donated to A Rocha Kenya last month by Ruth and Ron Rob, from Canada. It has been appreciated greatly, as we can now take many different kinds of educational media along when we go to do the presentations, and keep the students well engaged.
Naomi Wanjiru Gichungu, Environmental Education intern.
Due to the many staff changes in the last six months, the Environmental Education programme at A Rocha Kenya had stagnated for some time. We are glad it has been possible to revive it with a new program of school visits! The 7th of June marked our first visit to a primary school near the Arabuko Sokoke forest. The journey took us almost one and a half hours to Girimache Primary School where we found the students preparing to get in to the hall where we were meeting. On board was Nathaniel, one of the volunteers from France, Naomi, a student attached in the Environmental Education programme from Kenyatta University, and Stanley the Environmental Education officer at A Rocha Kenya.
The students were eager to hear what we had to teach them and surprisingly they loved it. They enjoyed answering questions and asked for clarification where they did not understand. It was really satisfying to see how the pupils were passionate about the environment. The students seemed to have had some environmental education as a component of their schooling already. We had a discussion on how each one of us contributes to the degradation of the environment, including the Arabuko Sokoke forest that neighbours the school. The days’ success was marked by the promise that the students will do their best in taking care of the environment, and they will be involved in educating other students and their parents on the importance of conserving the environment.
The first nine schools that will be visited for Environmental Education, including Girimache, are schools with ASSETS students enrolled. For students from this area, understanding why conservation of the environment is important is crucial to the preservation of the unique ecosystems of the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, and only by educating the young will there be a change in the way the forest is used be achieved in the future.
Naomi Wanjiru Gichungu- Environmental Education intern
World Environment Day (WED) is a day that stimulates awareness of the environment and is on the 5th June. It was the day that United Nations Conference on the Human Environment began. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972. The first World Environment Day was on 1973. World Environment Day is hosted every year by different cities in various countries with a different theme each year.
This year being the UN international year of forests, the theme was no different. It emphasized the conservation of forests and urged nations to increase their forest cover. We at A Rocha Kenya participated in the celebrations in various ways. We spent the previous day doing lots of tree planting at the Mzizima primary school where we planted over 800 tree seedlings which we had donated together with the Kenya Forest Service.
(Kenya Forest Service watering a recently planted tree)
(Naomi, Env. Ed Intern, and Bimbo, ASSETS staff, planting a tree)
We then took a walk through the Mida Creek together with the guest of honour the Provincial Commissioner of Coast province and guests from NEMA. The creek helps the organisation to raise funds to support the education of students living around the Arabuko Sokoke forest through our ASSETS programme.
Later on we joined the celebrations with the local schools and community at Mida Primary school where we also planted some trees.
(Students from Mida school singing a song for the environment)
Naomi (Environmental Education intern with A Rocha Kenya at Mwamba Field Study Center)
This has been a very good year for the Mida Creek boardwalk! During establishment years, it has been difficult for the boardwalk to make much more than its cost of operation. But this year, thanks to a generous grant covering the yearly maintenance, the net income for 2010 was 303,830.70 Kenyan Shillings! A monthly breakdown of the income can be found below.
These results are very exciting, as all the funds collected help to fund the important work that ASSETS does in providing bursaries for secondary school education. If you are visiting coastal Kenya, visiting some of the ASSETS projects is a great way to support this work! Details on ASSETS projects can be found here.
Hello everyone! Our apologies for the long gap in updates, we have been going through some changes, and we have a lot of exciting news to share. We will soon be introducing our new ASSETS team, Festus and Bimbo, as well as giving an update on how Francis is doing. For today, we would like to introduce Mwamba Field Study Center's newest intern, Lydia Kayaa. She is 19, coming from the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest area, and has recently completed secondary school through the ASSETS program. Following is an interview with Lydia about her life and how ASSETS helped with her schooling.
How many brothers and sisters do you have? I have two sisters and three brothers. I am the third born.
What do your parents do for a living? They are peasant farmers.
When were you first involved in ASSETS? I was first involved in ASSETS by achieving the conditions that they had set. It was in the year 2007 when I joined Form 1. I completed Form 4 in 2010.
How did you come to be at Mwamba? I received a call from Stanley, that there was a space for a volunteer and so I came. I arrived on May 13th 2011.
What activities are you involved in at Mwamba and with ARK? Currently, I am assisting the cook in the kitchen. I have also assisted on a bird count in Malindi and Sabaki River Mouth.
Has your time here at Mwamba helped you to learn about the environment and wildlife? Yes. I’ve learned a lot of things about the environment and wildlife. I’ve learned about conserving the forest and the trees from the nature trail.
(At the ARK center, there is an interpretive nature trail highlighting many indigenous tree species, many of which are also present in the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. The nature trail is a great educational experience for visitors and staff.)
What do you hope to do in the future? I’m looking forward to attending university, though I don’t currently have a sponsor. I’m planning to take a degree course in education. I hope my dreams will come true!
Internships at the Mwamba Field Study Center offer a chance for ASSETS beneficiaries to receive training and experience in a variety of areas, such as hospitality (cooking and hosting guests), maintenance, environmental education, and research and monitoring. This experience can be very helpful for obtaining future employment or school placements. Since volunteers and staff are often from many different places around the world, there is also much cross-cultural teamwork, an experience that can be very broadening for everyone involved! This kind of opportunity could not be possible without donations and other forms of support. This helps provide opportunities that are often taken for granted. If you would like to donate to ASSETS, and help to contribute to real and lasting change in the lives of children near the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, please visit our donations page. Thank you!
After a rigorous recruitment exercise, we are pleased to inform our supporters, stakeholders and the entire public that we have a new assistant in the ASSETS programme. After Tony Kanundu's departure in August, ASSETS has been struggling with the workload. It was a very encouraging day today! Basically all the four shortlisted candidates matched the criteria making it only a matter of choosing the best. One distinctly stood out among them and a decision to hire him was very easily arrived at. We shall be introducing him officially as soon as the hiring process is completed.
Hopefully by 10th of December, we shall start the induction process in readiness for the students selection process come January 2011.
How ASSETS has changed the lives of two young people, currently doing internships at Mwamba Field and Study Center.
To give you a further understanding of how the ASSETS program supports young needy people I have interviewed two young volunteers as to how ASSETS has positively impacted their lives and given them a diverse range of opportunities that would not have otherwise been available to them.
Name: Francis Kazungu
Age: 22
How many brothers and sisters do you have?
I have 2 sisters and 7 brothers
What do your mum and dad do for a living?
My parents are jobless
How did you first become involved with ASSETS projects?
In 2005 I first became involved with ASSETS, after I had passed my exams they assisted me with school fees, those whose parents couldn’t afford to send their kids to school they assisted and they paid for a high percentage of my school fees
How did you come to be at Mwamba?
After we had completed our secondary school exams they gave us internship forms to fill out, this was in June of this year (2010) after filling them in we were called to an interview at Mwamba, there were seven of us and I managed to be one of two who were accepted.
What activities are you involved with at Mwamba and with ARK?
I help assist the cook; I do some house keeping including laying the table for meals and interacting with guests. I will be going to the Gedi ruins to be in charge of the tree platform project that is re-opening by the end of this month.
Has your time here helped you learn about the environment and wildlife?
Yes because the staff encourage the importance of conserving the environment and to know deeply about the bird species and the tree species.
What are your plans for the future?
I want to start helping with conservation of wildlife and teach people the importance of conservation, so our children can get to see the different species of animals, I want to be a teacher, teaching about conservation, that is what is in my heart.
Name: Janet Kalama
Age: 21
How many brothers and sisters do you have?
six sisters and one brother
What do your mum and dad do for a living?
They are farmers
How did you first become involved with the ASSETS projects?
I had just passed my KCPE examination and was given ASSETS bursary forms and applied for funds for my secondary school education. They started paying for me from form one to form four at St Johns secondary school.
How did you come to be at Mwamba?
After finishing secondary school we were given an internship form and filled it out and posted it. Then we were called for an interview, had the interview and a few days later I was called to report at Mwamba.
What activities are you involved with at Mwamba and with Arocha Kenya?
I help with housekeeping, kitchen work, computer studies and office work, learning about hospitality.
Has your time here helped you learn about the environment and wildlife?
Yes!
What do you hope to do after you leave Mwamba?
I want to join a teaching course and start teaching at a primary school.
It is clear to see that the projects that ASSETS offer to young people are completely life changing and life enhancing. This work helps to empower young people and encourage them to live great lives; an internship at Mwamba providing hands-on experience of team work and industry and knowledge about the environment. As well as this, the students learn about hospitality and gain an understanding of different cultures, working and meeting volunteers and guests from all over the world at Mwamba. This great work could not be possible without donations and other forms of support, so if you would like to donate to ASSETS and help to cause real and lasting change to the lives of local children, providing them with support we often take for granted, please visit: A Rocha donations page
