My name is Carol Muthoni and I work for A Rocha Kenya as an administrator. Around two and a half years ago, being a “city gal” brought up and living in Nairobi, I had never taken time to think much about the environment. I would go to parks with friends on picnics and also visit Nairobi Nature trail where they have caged some wild animals and walk around, see them and it was cool and that was it. It was nice to be out of the hustle and bustle of the city! But how on earth did they manage to keep the place so amazingly beautiful with variety of trees, flowers, birds, butterflies, animals, fresh air and all?

In December 2005, a friend of mine requested me to accompany his nieces on a trip to a small touristy village - Watamu at the coast. I was between jobs then and so I thought it was a good idea, so I jumped to the opportunity. I had never been to the Coast Province before. In Watamu, we had been booked to stay at Mwamba field study centre for one night. I met this guy who introduced himself as Stanley, and he showed us around and into our rooms. Later after my first swim in the sea, I had a chat with him and he told me all about A Rocha and ASSETS. It is after talking to him and seeing their efforts and commitment to care for the environment that I realized what a beautiful place the world would be if all utilized our resources responsibly. I realized that as an organization, A Rocha was putting a lot of efforts in keeping the world a beautiful place to live in, both for humans and other creation. I was so impressed and wanted to help. I straight away decided to help with administration of the ASSETS Programme without realizing I wasn’t going to work or live in Nairobi any more after all. After volunteering for nearly 7 months, I was offered employment as A Rocha Kenya administrator.

I have come to love life outside the city so much though there are times I miss the city life, but not enough to wish to go back. A Rocha opened my eyes and I was able to see that there was something I could do in a small way that could save the world. Now! The guy I first talked to in my first trip ever to the Kenyan coast, the first of that tribe (Giriama) I ever spoke to in my life, the one who introduced me to the wild, my boss and my best friend apparently became the love of my life! We are getting married this year in October and that means I belong to the Kenyan Coast and to the wild now and forever! His name is Stanley Baya, the ASSETS Coordinator.

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The balance will go towards costs of a holiday “eco-camp” for 30 of the beneficiaries in August where they come and stay at the A Rocha Kenya field study centre in Watamu for 3 days, located right on the beach. Over the three days they are given a lot of input of exciting and stimulating environmental education particularly about Arabuko-Sokoke Forest and Mida Creek, with games, videos, talks, excursions (e.g. snorkelling in the Marine Park and to the Mida board walk) and for the two years we’ve done it so far they’ve really enjoyed it and learnt a lot. Many of the kids, even though they live only 15-20kms from the sea, have never actually seen it, so for them to have the chance to even go snorkelling blows them away!! So it’s really good to be able to do this for them and this donation will really help make it a great experience - thank you, the Giraffe Centre!

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Renovation of the Mida Bird hide

While this is happening, we have since mid-May closed the Mida bird hide for some major renovations. A team of five has been working tirelessly on the facility and is now almost done. The fundi, Kadenge, “the bomb” promises it will be fully functional in two weeks.

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You might have been wondering why there has not been news. I have had to put work aside for a week to attend to some critical, urgent personal matter, in fact to pay dowry for my wife to be on the 11th of October. You never know what to expect in this and therefore leaving very little room to prepare ending up very supprised by what it turns out to be. Caro (Caroline) my fiance comes from the Kamba tribe so we travelled about 800 km north to Tala where she comes from, a beautiful country side about 60 km from Nairobi. My mother was very supprised to learn that coffee is from berries and not leaves of the coffee plant. Having spent all her time down at the coast, she was indeed thrilled by the long journey and the sudden very different set-up inland.

Among the things required as dowry are 42 live goats, one bull and loads of honey. Most interesting, I dont’t do alot of slaughtering at home but here, I have had to slaughter a goat as a symbol of accepting Caro. This went very well and the meat was delicous. After all the feasting we were alowed to negotiate on the dowry and give a date for when we shall present this price. 6th of September was agreed at in the end; barely one month before the wedding.

I am looking forward to the 12 hrs drive tomorrow night going back to work!

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My names are Tony Kanundu alias Bats; I work for ASSETS  as a Community Conservation Officer.  I grew up at Gede 500m from the edge of the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. I am named Kanundu after my grandfather who was really a character of his kind. Locally, the name has two meanings. In Swahili language, Kanundu is a small hump of any animal and in Giriama, my first language, Kanundu is a bat; the flying mammal. Guess which character I am! My grandfathers’ characters resembled those of a bat but he could neither fly nor was he nocturnal. He was known to be tricky and a strategist and he could do things many people didn’t believe. He could disperse a crowd helter-skelter with his own intention, the same way Drogba can cut through a solid defense call it of any soccer team. When I was taught about mammals in high school, I was very amazed to learn the real character of the real flying mammal. As my grandpa could do, a bat which is nocturnal moves in a very marvelous way, without eyes it uses echo-location. As it flies lazily, it sends rays ahead and if there are any obstacles, the rays are reflected back to it and the Bat changes its route and it is able to enjoy its world in the night.  As I grew at age 14 I joined a local football club, Clarkes Weaver which was supported by Kenya Wildlife Service, Gede Forest station. The playing field was right in the forest and this was an opportunity to see wild animals. Apart from playing football I was voluntarily involved in small forest conservation activities. During and after high school I was very active member of the football club and later through my local church I joined A Rocha Kenya as a volunteer in the ASSETS programme. After 14 months volunteering, I had significant know how on the environment and the community around and the need for its involvement in conservation of the natural resources. This was a good time for me to move on. I stopped volunteering and joined Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute where I studied Environmental Management for 2 years. Early January 2007, a few weeks before I graduated, I was called up by the ASSETS Co-ordinator to take up this job in the Community project. Ever since, I am enjoying working with the communities for the environment from the environment.

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These meetings are held during every school holiday to link the bursaries received to the conservation of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest and Mida Creek. After a great awareness meeting with tons of coments from the participants, we were again faced with the task of starting the vehicle. This time we had promised to give a lift to some of the parents going to Chipande, 7 km away. (Now this is the most ridiculaous thing) “this vehicle must respect people from Chipande” an old man utters amidst the crowd. “It has to start without any problem.” All the other parents laugh. “Ok, amen to your words old man” says Jonathan as he jumps into the truck, turns on the engine and it starts straight away. Goodness, what a mirracle! we are wondering whether we should pick the old man up tomorrow when we go to Nyari for the next meeting just in case the truck refuses to behave.

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Janet Kalama

Jonathan Menza

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Friday the 7th marked the climax of a 3 week long exercise that saw over 70 students being selected to receive scholarships from the ASSETS eco-bursary fund. This process that started with the whole of the ASSETS team visiting all applicants to assess their families’ ability to pay schools fees for the children ended up with the ASSETS Bursary sub-committee meeting to do the actual selection. This year the meeting was held at Malindi Town Secondary school where one of the committee members teaches instead of the usual forest station conference hall and it lasted for just under 6 hrs.

This year, a record 95 students from the 8 ASSETS beneficiary schools applied for bursaries. The very enthusiastic bursary sub-committee has never been as strict in their consideration of applicants as they were this year. This was to ensure that bursaries reach those in most need whilst maximising their input in conservation of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest and Mida Creek.

The ASSETS beneficiaries

ASSETS has so far secured sponsorship for 5 of these students from AGGREKO, a UAE based Electrical Engineering firm as part of their Social Corporate responsibility. AGGREKO will be supporting these students through secondary school and University. A major task to secure funding to support the rest still lingers, considering the blow suffered by the tourism industry following the disputed presidential elections on December 27th.

Kalama Nickson-who is a sponsored student.

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My name is Stanley Baya, working as the Co-ordinator of the Arabuko-Sokoke Schools and Eco-Tourism Scheme (ASSETS). I feel privileged to share with you my experience in working in community and conservation at Arabuko-Sokoke Forest and Mida Creek. Perhaps the best way to do this is to share with you what drives me to take up such a challenging task as you will realise community development is indeed not easy especially when you are from that community yourself (a prophet can not be accepted by his own people); I am not suggesting that I am a prophet, that’s not the point, I only mean “familiarity breeds content”

I grew up at Gede village, one and half kilometers from Arabuko-Sokoke Forest but I knew very little about it until much later during my college days. Mida Creek was more familiar to me as I had a chance to learn how to fish from my cousins as a child.

My job as co-ordinator of an eco-scholarship fund would not have been as exiting without my High school experience when I had to stay out of school for a greater part of the school semester owing to the expense of school fees. One of my most exiting moments has always been when I received a bursary support from World Vision International which enabled me to complete my secondary school education. I later trained as a Primary school teacher and worked in a private school for two years until year 2001 when I joined A Rocha as the ASSETS Co-ordinator. <www.assets-kenya.org> It is while teaching in a private school where the children had more than what they needed that challenged me to think of the other children in public schools whose parents could hardly lay a meal on the table.

In ASSETS, I have realised an incredible combination of two of my greatest passions; helping needy children and environmental conservation. By the time these children graduate from secondary school, a sense of appreciation of the natural environment is often very evident. While others write to express their gratitude for the bursary support, some present themselves in person to do the same and tears are a common characteristic of their joy. This plus their parents commitment in caring for these internationally recognised habitats is indeed the encouragement to press on!

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