Results Of The Adventure To Tsavo West
Category: Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Ex-poachers, Tsavo West Sustainable Development Programme, Uncategorized | Date: Aug 16 2009 | By: gvikenya
There has been a lot happening recently on our sustainable development programme on the edge of Tsavo West, where we are working with former wildlife poachers in Kasaani, Kidong and Mahandakini to find alternative ways to earn a living that enhance conservation rather than threaten wildlife. We have very exciting news to report from Kasaani but will start with Kidong…
Our team returned from Kidong very excited and clutching a box of new aloe vera soaps! One of the key objctives of our visit to Kidong had been to assist the community with the final stages of producing and packaging natural soaps to sell to tourists in Kenya… and we did it!
The community of Kidong learn how to make soap over a year ago; however more recently GVI has been helping the community group develop this recipe in to a higher-end product that could be marketed to tourists. The soaps are made start to finish by members of the ex-poacher community group and are packaged using natural materials including sisal fibres and recycled paper made using elephant dung for the labels. The looks of surprise, contenment and achievement on the face of some of the older men of the Kidong group as they wrapped soap with sisal string, tied beads on and stamped their recycled paper was very special.
The rationale behind producing soaps that can be sold to tourists is to enhance the markets and profit margins for the group. The community will continueto make their more basic neem soaps for the local market in and around Taveta which means they don’t end up wholly dependent on tourism which is not necessarily the most reliable market in Kenya.
The other key objective of the trip to Kidong was to was to continue to assist the group with the development of their cultural centre as a community-based eco-tourism initiative. It was a succesful week teaching the community how to cook panckaes with honey-carmel sauce and other ‘exotic’ dishes for tourists including guacamole and salsa. After some giggles from the community over the food that tourists might like to eat, we mnaged to uncover some talnted chefs within the group. Pancakes with honey-caramel suace were an absolute winner and with a bit more work we hope to see them served up to tourists at Kidong Cultural Centre by the end of the year!
Tags: alternative livelihoods, ecotourism, Kidong, soap making, sustainable developemnt, tavo west
The News Arrives At Kasaani
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jul 08 2009 | By: gvikenya
When I visited Kasaani two days ago to announce that the construction of a water pipeline directly into the village was going ahead, the faces of the community members beamed with joy. The people of this community are currently travelling over 3km daily to collect water from the nearest supply in Cess; the return journey is uphill making the trip tiring and time consuming. The absence of a water supply in Kasaani has been an ongoing issue in this community for over 10 years and as such this announcement was of huge significance to the people of this village. When the announcement was made yesterday, the response of the community of Kasaani reflected their overwhelming gratitude and excitement about receiving a water supply.
Although the availability of clean water is something that the developed world takes for granted, for many communities in Africa, issues of obtaining water constitutes one of the greatest challenges for daily subsistence. This project may not solve the issue of water availability throughout Africa, it will however, make a significant difference to over 3,000 people living in and around Kasaani village. I feel privileged to have been involved in the planning and development of this project, and I’m eagerly anticipating the construction of this pipeline in August of this year.
Cotton Processing, Food Security and Ex-Poachers
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 05 2009 | By: gvikenya
We recently returned to Mahandakini, a village located in the southern part of Kenya close to the border with Tanzania. The village has a population of around 2,000 people, many of whom having given up poaching in nearby Tsavo West National Park and have been seeking to engage in sustainable income generating activities. GVI’s role is to assist the community with capacity building to support alternative livelihoods. During our week long trip to Mahandakini we continued where we left off last time, developing a Food Security Programme for the community and cotton processing industry that Mahandakini is endeavoring to establish.
Throughout the week at Mahandakini, we worked in two groups; the first focused on developing the Food Security Programme, whilst the second spent time assisting with the development of a cottage cotton industry in Mahandakini. as part of the Cotton Processing group we worked through problem solving with the community, providing training on using natural dyes and assisting with financial management. The primary obstacle facing the cotton processing industry in Mahanadakini is the lack of funds for the processing and ginning machines necessary to undertake large scale cotton processing. Over the week, we managed to initiate a plan for the community to develop the cotton industry by selling the cotton they are already growing, and buying cotton material which can be dyed and manufactured into value-added products. In this way the community will be able to start generating income immediately, some of which can be used to save up for the cotton processing equipment required for spinning and weaving.
Our week wasn’t all about cotton though; we took time to visit some of the amazing sights in the local area. We visited caves which were used by British soldiers who were fighting in Kenya during World War 2 and are now home to thousands of bats, went swimming at beautiful Njoro Spings the source of which is melt water from Mt. Kilimanjaro, and visited Ziwani Voyager Ranch, a great opportunity to see some local wildlife including elephants, hippopotamus, zebra, antelopes and a vast array of birdlife. Finally the week culminated with a wonderful traditional dinner prepared by some of the women from the ex-poachers group; the community invited us to share a meal with them as a sign of their appreciation for the work we had achieved together!
Tags: alternative livelihoods, capacity building, cotton, food security, Mahandakini, sustainable development, tsavo west national park
Journey to Jimbo – Swahili Wedding and Community Based Conservation
Category: Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Uncategorized | Date: Apr 29 2009 | By: gvikenya
Saturday morning wasn’t a promising start… pouring rain in which I had to drive Squirrel, our little wooden dinghy, between Shimoni and Mkwiro… I jumped overboard just to keep warm in the sea!
The next stage of the journey was more comfortable; after drying off and dressing up, our small party of staff and volunteers climbed in to the car and headed south, to the coastal village of Vanga on the border with Tanzania. Leaving the car behind for fear of getting stuck in the mud, we walked the final leg, at times bare foot through the mud, to the smaller village of Jimbo. The reason for our little odyssey was an invitation to a traditional Swahili wedding. A niece of Athumani, our friend from Shimoni, was marrying the son of Mchasa, boat captain with Paradise Divers, our neighbours in Mkwiro.
The rain came down once more as we joined the procession of men escorting the groom from the mosque where he had been married, to the house where he would be united with his new wife, but the excitement running through the jostling crowd clearly wasn’t about to be dampened by the weather.
Meanwhile, the ladies in our party had taken up their positions, along with the other women, beautifully wrapped in bright, bold kanga patterns, at the bride’s house, to witness the union. In contrast to weddings back home, this is not meant to be a time for beaming brides – tradition expects her to appear sad as she prepares to leave her family behind. As a result, photos of the ‘happy couple’ can appear anything but… however it was reassuring to see that this particular bride was clearly struggling to keep a smile from her face, even if it did go against protocol!
With our party reunited, we were ushered in to one of the family homes, sat on colourful hand-woven mats, and presented with vast plates of lemon-coloured rice and richly flavoured beef dishes. With no disrespect to the bride and groom intended, our traditional Swahili wedding lunch was probably the highlight of the day, and we all ate our fill. Then down to the beach to wave off the bride and groom, as their dhow set sail for the bride’s new life on Wasini island.
But conservation in Kenya is found even in the remotest villages and before setting off home ourselves, I was privileged to spend time talking to Hassan and Mwichambi of Jimbo Environmental Group. With support from Kenyan organisations including East Africa Wildlife Society and Kenya Sea Turtle Conservation Committee (KESCOM), the group of nearly 50 have been busy these last few years restoring mangroves, protecting turtle nests, planting trees and keeping bees.
It was obvious that this was a team of bright, environmentally aware and dedicated community conservationists that had already achieved great things for their small community. One more group of unsung heroes, conserving Kenya simply because they understand it’s the right thing to do. We talked about the possibility of GVI Kenya returning in the future to share some of our knowledge with them, and they were eager to learn about the dolphins they see there… it made the journey incredibly worthwhile and one I hope to repeat in the not too distant future. Watch this space!
Corti
Tags: bee keeping, Community-Based Conservation, environmental awareness, jimbo, mangrove restoration, tree planting, turtle conservation, vanga
Our Week In Mahandakini In Pictures
Category: Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Uncategorized | Date: Feb 08 2009 | By: gvikenya
I was updating you last week from the field, thanks to the wonders of mobile phones, and now I’m back in Shimoni, showered and rested, I thought I’d illustrate our little safari for you!Mahandakini is a small rural village sandwiched between Tsavo West national park and Mt Kilimanjaro across the border in Tanzania. We were introduced to a community based organisation, the Mahandakini Youth Network for Animal Welfare and Rights, by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) back in early 2007. WSPA supported the establishment of this group of former wildlife poachers to help tackle the bush meat trade and the illegal and inhumane killing of Tsavo’s wildlife. For their part, the former poachers have been only too willing to leave poaching behind them, a dangerous livelihood that the felt forced in to by socio-economic pressures - quite simply, they didn’t know how else to earn the money to feed their families in an area where unpredictable rains and crop damage by elephants can render subsistence farming ineffective in putting food on the table. Our task in supporting WSPA’s objectives is to help the community find alternative ways to earn a living.
The journey to Mahandakini took us through Tsavo West national park and this time around, past four elephants feeding by the roadside:
On Monday the community members were busy collecting government food aid, making our mission of the week even more important - we were to work with the group in developing a strategy for their own community-based food security. The group want to raise funds to buy maize at low harvest-time prices and store it for tougher times when food scarcity drives the market price up, out of economic reach of many families. This is not for profit; the community group will then sell maize on at the original low price to ensure families can afford to feed themselves throughout the year.On Tuesday we had the community group split in to two project teams, tackling their food security plan and their ideas for income generation - growing and processing cotton, a plant that fares well in the harsh conditions but for which there has been little market value recently. If they can raise funds for a workshop with spinning wheels and looms then with the training that Dishon has already received they can produce their own fabrics which will definitely have a market in the nearby trading town of Taveta.In the afternoon we visited the nearby primary school at Chumvini to teach the standard 8 class - all 70 of them - about the bats in their nearby cave, with the hope that they will treat them with a bit more respect in future. It was a lot of fun and the message certainly got through to the class about how interesting and important bats can be: 
Wednesday was a day off from work as we checked out some of the incredible local sights, starting with the stunning crater lake at Chala:
On to the bustle of Taveta market, then the cool (actually very cold!) peaceful Njoro springs for a refreshing swim, before passing through Ziwani Voyager tented camp for a cold beer by the hippo pool:
On Thursday we reconvened with the community groups and made real progress towards to outlining strategies to get both the food security and cotton production going - we have some work to do putting it all together as organised business plans but we believe we can get both initiatives up and running within in a few months with relatively little funding which we hope to source:
We finished the week planting trees, our contribution to improving their environment and with training that they have already received, a key ingredient for their home made neem soap. And throughout the week we were had one of Africa’s most beautiful views right on out doorstep - Mt Kilimanjaro:
Metting of Friends of Shimoni Forest
Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Logging, Primate Research, Shimoni Forest, Uncategorized | Date: Feb 03 2009 | By: gvikenya
Friends of Shimoni Forest held a meeting this week, and were beginning to put a lot of our plans into action. With the help of Mr. Adini Mgeni, Assistant area chief, our forest patrols are on their way to being a regular scheduled event. One of the problems we have been facing has been a lack of man power. Our members are committed to conserving the forest; however, they also have their own well beings and those of their families to be concerned with. We are unable to compensate them for the day’s work they miss while patrolling. We are working currently on a schedule that will work with member’s availabilities and still leave sufficient time to patrol until we can find funding to help pay them.
Some of our members.
Another topic we discussed, which is really exciting, is the training classes we have set up for some of our members and locals from the community. With the help of Corti, GVI country director and Friends of Shimoni Forest secretary, and Rachel, a previous GVI expedition manger, who raised the money, we will be sending people learn how to make soap from the Neem tree. Out of the people being trained some of them are charcoal burners so we are really excited to be getting them into a new sustainable field of work. Those who are being trained have also agreed to bring the skills they learn back and train more community members. This is going to be a great way to get the community involved in conserving the forest where these trees grow.
Chairman Matta on patrol.
Our guided nature walks are also well on their way starting, which is another way we plan to help people into sustainable work. Training started this week and the guys are really anxious to get started. Mr. Athumani Omari and Madme Mwanamkuu saidi are our fist to tourist guides, their knowledge of the local communities uses and history with the forest is going to be a great asset. I started teaching them a little more about the wildlife in our forest, particularly about the Colobus monkey. They already knew a lot of the animals in the forest and were really interested in learning more about them. As a group we are always trying to stay busy. Coming up on Saturday we have a meeting with the local village elders. They’re going to speak with us about using the Kayas, sacred areas, in our forest walks. We are still looking for funding to get some people training in bee keeping, the woman of Anzwani are ready to go. Soon Mr. Corti, Athumani, and Matta, Friends of Shimoni Forest Chairman, will be heading to a bank in Ukunda. We are going set up a bank account in our groups name. This is going to be a great help with our fundraising. Other meetings with the district commissioner, local teachers, and village chairmen are being planned as well and proposal for community toilets and conservation are being written left and right. I’m really pleased with all the hard work these guys are doing and were going to be making some big changes soon. I’ll let you all know how it goes. See you later. Drew.
Tags: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Logging, Shimoni Forest
Bush Babies at Home & Komba with Calf!
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, Uncategorized, bush baby | Date: Jan 30 2009 | By: gvikenya
So the last blog was all about going out in search of the wildlife… today’s is more about the wildlife coming to us. I mentioned before that we had discovered the night time raiders of our bananas; a pair of short-eared bush babies (or short eared galagos as they should be referred to).
Provisionally named ‘Bushy’ and ‘Fishy’ - I know it doesn’t seem overly original but we’re not being quite as obvious as it seems… they’re named in honour of Ekens, our former national scholarship programme student from Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute, and then intern, who has been battling to recovery from an accident four months ago. He loves the bush… and fish! We know he’ll be as excited as we are to have the forest wildlife sharing our office and home…
Well they’ve been climbing through our kitchen window every night since, having decided not to be overly concerned by our presence. And they’ve brought guests; two nights ago we had three of them clambering around outside the kitchen. And last night we discovered that one of them has lost the lower half of one of its forelegs. Clearly a major disadvantage for an arboreal species but with banana in mouth its having no problems moving around the kitchen, and it seems to be an old, healed injury. ‘Stumpy’ seems a little insensitive for the third of our banana thieves so we’re inviting suggestions!
Meanwhile back out at sea yesterday, no reappearance of the spinner dolphins, but the research team caught up with some of the bottlenose dolphins near Kisite Island in the marine park, a group of 15. One of our identified individuals, ‘Komba’ (Kiswahili speakers will understand the link in this blog of two halves!) was recorded with a calf, not only happy news but also valuable data… we now know ‘Komba’ (or more formally ‘individual 036′) is a she!
Unfortunately, they also witnessed one of the tourist boats allowing their guests to jump in the water and swim with the dolphins… known to cause unnecessary disturbance and stress to wild dolphins, this was prohibited under the code of conduct introduced in 2007 and its a shame to see a regression in the standards of responsible tourism here.
Tags: bottlenose dolphin, bush baby, code of conduct, dolphin calf, dolphin tourism, galago, kisite mpunguti marine protected area
Perspectives from Tom, our Marine Research Volunteer
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Turtles, Uncategorized | Date: Jan 27 2009 | By: gvikenya
Tom O’Dell travelled from the UK to assist us with our marine research programme so we thought we’d share is perspectives on the work and the life out here in Kenya…
I think I am a little different to the others here, everyone else is involved in some type of conservation work, or has spent, or is spending months travelling. Not me!
I am a so-called IT professional who was owed a couple of week’s holiday and can’t stand the idea of sitting on a beach reading and sunning myself for days on end. I had two weeks, no plans, a hatred of being bored and fancied something different , so I packed my bags and headed off to Kenya to do a couple of weeks marine conservation work. That was two weeks ago, and I am sitting here, on my last day wondering how I can wangle more time off work.
To say the conditions here are rustic is a small understatement, there’s no fresh water except that which is collected when it rains, the shower facilities consist of a bucket and jug on the floor and the toilet is, literally, a hole in the floor. And with all this “rusticness” comes probably the greatest sense of community and togetherness I have ever experienced.
You are never alone here, unless you want to be. If you are feeling under the weather, everyone does whatever they can to help you out (I have had my fair share of acclimatization problems); if you are feeling down, they will do whatever it takes to cheer you up and if you do want some time to yourself, then they will leave you to it.
Despite my intentions, being here is not a holiday, you work most days, cooking, cleaning, building, but everyone has their jobs and everyone helps out each other where they can, adding to the sense of community.
Working on marine conservation is quite simply amazing. The best way to describe it is probably to quote a text I sent a friend of mine back home; “Typical day, up just before sunrise, have breakfast and traipsed down to the boat. Watched the sun come up across the water then started “work”. 7am, watching a pod of bottlenose dolphins feeding about 20 meters away from the boat; 10am snorkeling on a reef looking for turtles, managed to photo a green before it swam away; 11.30am back on the boat heading home for lunch, took a slight detour to watch some humpback dolphins socializing. Back at base to learn about the dolphins and turtles we saw, relax in a hammock, do a little computer work, then dinner and drink in Paradise. Wednesday tomorrow, more of the same”. Let’s just say the response I received was blunt (she was a little envious).
Were it possible, I would stay out here longer, and I definitely heading back to explore further. Unfortunately, the “modern world” beckons. I’ve been two weeks without television, internet access, cars, running water, microwave and have only sent and received 10 texts in total which for a so called IT professional borders on heresy, and I’ve loved every minute of it.
Tags: bottlenose dolphin, dolphin research, green turtle, humpback dolphin, Kenya, volunteer
Politician personally patrols coastal forest.
Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging, Shimoni Forest, Uncategorized | Date: Jan 26 2009 | By: gvikenya
Friends of Shimoni Forest here again and still were working hard on our goals. I mentioned once that the local assistant area chief, Mr. Adini Mgeni, was devoted to helping us in our efforts to conserve the coastal forest. Well, for the first time in history a local politician has personally patrolled the forest in search of charcoal burners and illegal logging.
Athumani and I had a meeting with Mr. Mgeni the other day and talked to him about his efforts and plans for the future. Mr. Mgeni has been into the forest twice since coming into office, this month, and has had a firsthand look at the destruction in the forest. As he is very busy, he created a volunteer community policing group, mostly youth, to do patrols more frequently. Twice now this group has brought in charcoal burners. After talking with the charcoal burners, Mr. Mgeni discovered some interesting things. The charcoal burners are fully aware what they’re doing is wrong and would be happy to stop. The issue is that the unemployment rate in Kenya, especially among youth, is extremely high. This is why finding alternative sources of income are so important, and these guys will be some of the first we train as guides when we begin our forest tours.
The assistant area chief Mr. Mgeni has been very helpful and shared with us his thoughts on some of our plans. He really wants the forest tours to get up and running soon and agrees we should include the local Kayas as well. Kayas are sacred areas of the forest which in the past were used for prayer and worship. These are still used today by local elders, and they are very concerned about the future of the Kayas. The Kayas represent the culture heritage of Shimoni and are at risk of being destroyed, one has already been lost due to destruction. We would like to include the Kayas in our forest tour, so we are arranging a meeting with the village elders to discuss their hopes and concerns.
Active charcoal pit
Mr. Mgeni has been very active in conservation throughout his career, including being chairman of Shimoni Youth Conservation group. He has a few ideas as well which he would like our help with. One of his goals is to raise enough money to plant 5,000 saplings in local schools and public areas. This will be a way Shimoni can support environmental education, as well as the villages own way of fighting global warming. We think this is a great idea and we will help raise as much money as possible.
As always we appreciate you taking the time with us today and on behalf of Friends of Shimoni Forest, and our new partners, this is Drew saying thanks and talk to you soon.
Tags: , Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging, Shimoni Forest
Olga Rides the Waves at Wasini
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Turtles, Uncategorized | Date: Jan 23 2009 | By: gvikenya
Here at GVI we are fortunate to have volunteers from around the world join us to support our research and community work and of course learn about the incredible habitats, wildlife and culture of Kenya. Olga Bloemen has joined us on the expedition for 7 weeks, coming from the Netherlands, and shares the news of our marine research programme with you…
My first week on Wasini Island in Kenya is over already. Monday was filled with training activities such as dolphin and turtle identification, data recording procedures, dolphin behaviour and how to use the radio; “Base, base, base, this is squirrel, squirrel, squirrel. Do you copy? Over?” I learned a lot but I couldn’t wait for Tuesday as it would be our first trip out on the boat searching for dolphins!!!
My alarm rang at 5am and I took a bucket shower under the stars which was amazing, although at that early hour, a bowl of Weetabix is all my stomach could stand! At 7am we were on the boat crossing the water between Shimoni and Wasini Island, heading for the open water. We soon spotted a group of Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins swimming just a few metres away from the boat, including a mother with her calf. The team of watchers scan the sea for hours and then someone spots a fin and the whole boat bursts into energy! How many are there? What is their behaviour? All information is recorded on the forms, but as important is to take photographs of the fins. These are used to identify the dolphins using the photo-identification catalogue and the mark re-capture programme.
A sighting is cool, but being on the watch and on the boat with the wind in my hair is what I enjoy the most. It feels a bit like riding the waves! The snorkeling, searching for turtles and all the tropical fish is also quite incredible… I can’t wait for my next marine research week!
Bye for now, Olga
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