Motivation from the community

The Mvera WA ASSETS (Parents of ASSETS Association) is becoming a winner to the community members around the Arabuko – Sokoke forest. This can be seen in a recent meeting, where three members of the community have willingly joined the program in conservation despite the fact that they do not have children benefiting from it. This means that they genuinely believe in practicing conservation. The new members acquired education on the importance of the forest and the need to conserve it from the ASSETS team (Festus & Bimbo).

Festus and Mvera members at the meeting

 There are also five other members whose children are beneficiaries that have completed their secondary school education. However, they have also decided to remain in the program because they have learned of the importance, significance and the benefits of conserving the forest.

Changes like this show that the ASSETS conservation program is bringing a very positive change to the community living around the Arabuko - Sokoke forest. It is so important to continue teaching on the importance of conservation in this area, for the hope that people will end destructive practices. When people who are not directly benefiting from ASSETS decide that conservation of the forest is important, it gives us hope that deforestation and animal poaching will come to an end someday.

Please consider supporting us in this important work!

-Bimbo (ASSETS Extension Officer)

Appeal regarding forth-coming Summer Camps

June and July are supposed to the coldest months at the coast of Kenya, equivalent to winter in temperate zones. Indeed it is quite cold at the moment, about 24° Celsius. I guess we are experiencing our share of the effects of climate change to which we have though in small ways contributed to. Climate change is one of the topics to be discussed by the ASSETS beneficiaries during the upcoming camps. On the 3rd and 4th of August 20 local children will be gathering at Mwamba Field Study Centre to participate in environmental education activities. Among the activities planned is a snorkeling trip to the Watamu Marine National Park, Bioken Snake Farm and Kipepeo butterfly project.

A similar event will hopefully be organised later in August if funding for the same is acquired. We have so far received a donation to cover the cost of the first camp. The cost per student is estimated to Ksh. 4000.00 (£29.00).

By sponsoring a student to the camp, you are giving them a life-time opportunity to interact with, explore and learn ways of  utilising the environment without destroying it.

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!

Mangrove Restoration Event

Yesterday, Bimbo, Naomi, and Lydia from the ASSETS program were involved in a mangrove planting event. ASSETS joined Kenya Forest Service, Kenya Wildlife Service and other Community Conservation groups like the Matsangoni youth group, Mkongani Conservation, and Uyombo subcreek in mangrove planting at Uyombo bandarini. Several schools, including Chipande Primary, Marafiki Primary and Uyuombo Primary also participated in the activity.

Four thousand six hundred (4,600) mangrove seedlings were planted! This activity was meant to conserve the sea shore and create a good breeding habitat for fish and other aquatic creatures. Mangroves are often illegally harvested for building materials, and their removal causes sand erosion and greatly disrupts the marine ecosystem. Events such as this are very important for recovering areas that have been damaged.

Later in the day, community members were educated on the importance of conserving mangrove forests and the entire environment. Effects of cutting down trees were also discussed in length and members were urged to conserve the environment for future generation. We hope that the community will take this event to heart!

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.

Environmental Education, trees and volleyball

The Environmental Education team took a bigger group with them this time to Mijomboni Primary School. The group involved students on a trip organized by the Minnesota Zoo, USA. Melanie a staff at the Minnesota Zoo accompanied them to this trip. The students are interested in nature conservation and some of them study related courses at the university. The rest of them have not joined the university but have an interest in nature.

The pupils at the school received us warmly as we gathered into one of the classes. This time they bombarded us with questions concerning the sustainable use of natural resources like the forest. This could tell that they are very active in conservation efforts. They were keen to learn how they will convince their parents on sustainable use of forests and water sources like rivers.

Each of the students together with the local pupils got a chance to plant an indigenous tree in the school compound. Later on they played volleyball in the school field together with the pupils and donated some stationery to the school.

Naomi Wanjiru Gichungu- Environmental Education intern

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.

Maintenance at 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!

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.

Environmental Education at Kahingoni Primary School

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