As we get closer to the day of the sponsored walk, (read more about the walk)More and more well wishers are getting on board to support this cause. A generous donor has offered to match every donation of above $50 that will be made towards the fundraising walk.This means that if one gives $50,the walk will receive $100. Isn't that just great? so let's donate guys.Take advantage of this offer and help as many needy children get a high school education as possible.With only three days to go...EVERY SECOND COUNTS!!!time to give nature and children a special Christmas gift!
ARABUKO-SOKOKE FOREST DOUBLE TREAT!!
A while ago, A Rocha Kenya team of Katana, Andrew, Stanley, Ayoti and Silas, Nick (a volunteer from England) and two guests at Mwamba went to Arabuko-Sokoke Forest with the hope of catching a glimpse of the very elusive,endemic and endangered Sokoke Scops Owl. This was under the brilliant guidance of Mzee David Ngala. David Ngala, also often referred to as ''professor'' Ngala due to his uncanny knowledge of and passion for the forest met the team at the entrance to the forest before hoping onto Kiboko (A Rocha Kenya's pickup truck). He kept the team entertained on the way by telling hilarious tales of the origin of his native tribe and his encounters in the forest.
After the drive that took about forty minutes under the "turn right" turn left" keep going straight" instructions by David Ngala,the driver, Andrew, was finally asked to stop.The team got off the truck and the cool air around them was palpable with excitement as the anticipation to catch a glimpse of the owl mounted.
Then the search for the owl began! Of course David Ngala already knew of its whereabouts and their hope therefore was that it would still be where it had been spotted. Using their hands as shields against the low hanging branches; on and on they went, deeper into the forest.
After about twenty minutes of bowing, hoping and walking, Ngala suddenly signaled everyone to stop and be as quiet and still as possible. He shone his flashlight in the branches high above them and VOILA!! there it was-the Sokoke Scops Owl!!!. What an incredible sight!it was the cutest animal to behold and gave one a sudden urge to cuddle it. Its big yellow eyes stared back unblinkingly at the camera and its talons could be seen clinging onto a branch. The sight was priceless! especially for Stanley who despite the fact that he had grown up around the forest,it was his first time to see a Sokoke Scops Owl. It was high up among tree branches so getting a perfect shot was a challenge.
Sokoke Scops Owl on the night - by Nick Gardner
The walk back to the main track started a while later. This time it was in search of of the Golden-rumped Elephant-shrew. Unfortunately, after a long while none was spotted and everyone had to admit defeat. Ngala couldn't hide his disappointment though.
He said that none could be spotted because their population had rapidly depleted over the past few years as a result of poaching. Otherwise, given the period within which they had been searching, they would have seen at least four!!!!
Later, the team was ready to head back to Mwamba. Little did they know that the forest had a second treat in store for them that was as elusive as the Sokoke Scops Owls - elephants. Though the forest has elephants, they are very difficult to find and one has to rise up very early with the hopes of catching a glimpse of them as they go to drink water in swamps. Which unfortunately hardly ever happens. So for the team to spot not one but two of them was just priceless.
It was indeed a double treat....Arabuko-Sokoke Forest style!!!
Age is no limit; Environmental Education at Kindergaten
Most environmental education programmes target students at upper primary level of education. To many of us this is because membership of the environmental clubs (the main focus of most environmental education programmes) often comprises of students of this age. This tendency locks out the smaller children from any involvement whatsoever in environmental programmes. Today we went against all odds to engage 53 students from Edna Peter's Academy in environmental awareness activities for the afternoon. With ages ranging from Baby Class (play group) to class Four, (11 years old) it was definitely a challenge to put to order a class of 53 students. However it was a lot of fun.
After their packed lunch, the students were led on a discovery tour through the Mwamba Field Study Centre Nature Trail where they enjoyed seeing ants, monkeys and butterflies among other creatures. I couldn't stop them from singing an old butterfly song;
Butterfly butterfly
Where do you stay?
I don't know, I never had a home,
So can you take me eh eh, can you take me.
Later they had a really good time building sand castles on the beach.
It was fun! As Mark Twain wrote, "Age is an issue of mind over matter; if you don't mind, it doesn't matter"
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
MUVERA WA ASSETS GETS REGISTERED AS A CFA USER GROUP
Finally,after a long time and several setbacks, a cluster of Muvera wa ASSETS, an association of the parents of the ASSETS beneficiaries, has been registered as a user group of Gede Community Forest Association. This cluster is of parents whose children are pupils at Mzizima, Mijomboni, Chipande and Mida primary schools,four of the ten schools in the ASSETS program.
The registration means that the association can finally benefit from different activities it maybe involved in in the forest as opposed to before when it wasn't registered.
As a result, Stanley and Patrick have been up and down holding meetings with parents from the four schools.The main reason being to set up structures that will facilitate maximum exploitation of the advantages that come with the registration and establishing the most effective way of dealing with it's affairs.
Being a user group means that you can set up projects and activities that promote conservation and sustainable use of the resources within the forest .The income generated from these activities is for the benefit user group.
Isn't that great?
Some of the projects by ASSETS include the board walk in Mida creek and the tree platform in Gede ruins.This two Eco facilities were set up to collect funds through Eco tourism.The funds are then used for bursaries for the children' s secondary education.The parents of these children,who are members of Muvera wa ASSETS in turn participate in conservation activities.
Any project ideas?
we would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.
Assets Second camp
The assets second camp was on from 28th of August and ended yesterday 30th August.It was a three day camp with alot of activities just like the first camp.The students who are first year beneficiaries got to learn about the environment and conservation.A total of 20 students and a teacher and a parent were in this camp. The first day the students were taken to the Mwamba nature trail where they learnt more about tree species and the general biodiversity of the mwanba little forest.
Thereafter there was an introduction part and this second camp was lucky to have two Assets university graduates who gave alot of encouragement to the students.
Later that day there was a talk on education and discipline by one of the Assets committee members(Mr Julius Mwawiswa).Mr Mwawiswa talked and quoted verses from the bible to give emphasis on his talk.Again the students were lucky to get a talk fromMr Rafael Magambo, the National director of A Rocha Kenya.Mr Rafael gave them sound advice on being morally upright and conservation.
It was time for games and two groups were formed,SIMBA(lion) and NYATI(buffalo).The first game was filling an empty bottle with water using hands from one member to the last.This was by giving water using the hands, then to the other member the same way until the last member who takes the water in the botlle. Nyati emerged the winners.It was then football where we had a great encounter and simba won 1-0.
In the evening the students watched a movie (finding nemo) before they went to bed.
Day two of the camp saw the students going for snorkelling after the morning glory and a powerpoint presentation from Benjo.Snorkelling was a great experience for the students whose majority had not been in water.Mr Robert Sluka and Benjamin cowburn who are the marine biologists at mwamba led the students on this wonderful part of marine life.Students were able to see corals and different types of fish.
After snorkelling Mr Stanley gave a powerpoint presentation on drugs and HIV Aids.We later went to the Watamu turtle watch(WTW) where the students learnt alot about turtles. We later went to games.After a tough match which ended on a 1-1 draw we went to penalties.Nine penalties were taken from both sides and Simba won 2-1.In the evening we had a session of bible study and a session of quiz in which simba won, before they went to bed
After a bird ringing session led by the director of conservation and reserch,A Rocha Kenya, Mr Collin Jackson, the last day was full of movements.The students were taken to the two eco-facilities where the bursaries come from.Mida creek was the first place they visited and were happy to learn the various species of mangroove.They were very amazed by the different species and their long biological names .They went on to climb the boardwalk. Few of them were very afraid of its shaky nature but got encouraged by their fellow students.
The second movement was visiting the Gede ruins tree platform. Here the students had a lot of fun on the platform after a tour of the ruins.
The students returned to mwamba for lunch.After lunch we had a recap of the camp and a short final quiz. The points were calculated and Simba became the overal winnere with 23.5 points and Nyati had 23 points.Prizes were awarded to the winning group.The losing group also got consolation prizes.The teacher and the parent who attended the camp were also awarded prizes. The camp ended with a prayer from one of the students and then they were shown a slideshow of all the photos taken during their stay.At 3:20 the students left mwamba.
Mijomboni seen by a professional photographer...
Last week, we had the visit of a professional photographer Matt Brandon, who followed us throughout the week taking pictures of our activities.On Friday morning we went to a Muvera Wa Assets meeting in Mijomboni, to meet the parents of the beneficiaries. While we were interviewing a few parents, Matt was having fun with the kids...
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...
Visiting Mida Creek and Gede Ruins with ASSETS beneficiaries
Today, last day of our camp already, after Morning Glory, a time of praise and worship, and assisting Colin in bird-ringing, the students headed of to visit the two eco-facilities which provide income for their bursary scheme. It was very interesting for the students to see first-hand where the money for their education comes from, and how this income is directly linked to the state of surrounding environment. We first visited Mida Creek, where we listened to a guide telling us about the different types of mangroves, and why they are endangered, as well as a bit on the birds of the Creek - we saw some flamingoes and yellow-billed storks!-, and we then moved on to try out the newly renovated boardwalk!
We then visited Gede Ruins and the tree platform, supervised by Brian, our current ASSETS volunteer. There the students learnt more about the history of the site, 'how people lived in the past'.
After this followed a lunch back in Mwamba, and a feedback time before everyone took off around 3. A few comments..:
'The teachings I got from the A Rocha hosts also contributed to have encouragement in studying very hard'
‘I learnt where the funds are coming from'
‘I have really learnt a lot about A Rocha and career chioces, and know my mind has opened’
‘thank you for your teachings they have benefited me and from here I have a story to tell my friends. From now I am sure I will advise people who go against environmental conservation’
‘I lack words to express how happy I am’
‘the other thing is that I will now change myself against the damaging of the forest and some of the creatures in our home area’
' I am sure this will result to a great change of my life'
'This is a camp will never be forgotten’