Above: The school children of Vanga receive their first dolphin education

Hot on the heels of Majoreni, the UNEP / CMS Year of the Dolphin, supported by tour operators TUI and Pollmans, was taken even further afield by the Kenya Wildlife Service education team, right down to Vanga, a small fishing community that sits on the border with neighbouring Tanzania. Credit for much of the recent work reported for Year of the Dolphin goes to many hard working and creative individuals on Kenya’s Year of the Dolphin committee, who have asked me to acknowledge that the main commercial partner in Year of the Dolphin , TUI, organised the events under the leadership of TUI-Pollmans Special Executive Abdulaziz Abdalla, who has a long track record of work for conservation of Kenya’s natural heritage.

Above: A group of Vanga Primary School’s girls get involved in dolphin education activities 

Rachel and Emanuel travelled down to Vanga, a community that has been idenetified as a crucial target for this year’s initiative. The fishing activities here at Vanga put the dolphins at risk of accidental by-catch - if they become entangled in the fishing nets, the dolphins can drown, being unable to surface to breathe. Vanga is also suspected to be one of the few remaining locations in Kenya where the endangered dugong, or manatee, is thought to still exist, although reported sightings are now rare. 

Above: Rachel and Emanuel explain the threats that exist to Kenya’s dolphin populations 

The KWS education team taught the children about the different species of marine mammals they have, their importance, the threats they face from fishing practices and pollution and of course how their communtiy can make a difference and help protect them. Once again, for this isolated community, it was both an educational and exciting day. A unique opportunity for them to learn to both appreciate and protect their natural resources for future generations. 

Above: By bringing some basic technology with them the KWS team give the children an insight into the marine world they would otherwise never have

help us and share this

Above: Majoreni Primary School children demonstrate their new knowledge of the dolphin species found along their coast 

When Kenya Wildlife Service took their Year of the Dolphin education to Majoreni Primary School, it really was something special for the children of this out-of-the-way coastal village. Very much off-the-beaten-track, this was the first time they had played host to Kenya Wildlife Service and had environmental education brought to them, their first opportunity to learn about dolphins and with the aid of DVDs and a computer screen, the first time that many of them had even seen a dolphin!

Above: The children cram in to the classroom and gather at the window to watch a film of dolphins and other marine wildlife 

The KWS team of Rachel and Emanuel, the Tourism Officer, taught the children about the four species of dolphin we know to inhabit this part of the East African coast, their basic anatomy and biology - most of them assumed that dolphins were fish, so it was something of a surprise to learn dolphins had more in common with people!

Above: The enthusiastic children learning their way around a dolphin

The teachers were equally enthusiastic and full of praise for the KWS education team and Year of the Dolphin, sponsored by tour operators TUI and Pollmans, expressing their gratitude for coming there to teach their children. Although a long and tiring day, for Rachel it was a highlight of her week, and exceptionally satisfying for her to contribute knowledge to a community so eager to learn.

Above: Rachel and Emanuel had to take their class outside, the classrooms not being big enough to take all the children that the school wanted them to teach

help us and share this

Above: Shimoni’s school children start their afternoon of marine environment education in the classroom 

 The next stop for Year of the Dolphin’s environmental education was Shimoni Primary School, where Kenya Wildlife Service’s Rachel and Jillo taught the children about their marine ecosystems.

Above: Rachel shows DVD’s to bring to life some of the ocean’s wildlife 

The full classes of school children were enraptured by DVDs showing some of the ocean’s most remarkable species, including dolphins and whales, animals that many of the children have never seen despite living next door to the Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area.

Above: Jillo takes the children through the mangroves to help them understand important ecosystems that they will to play a role in protecting

 The children were then taken outside to look at ecosystems on their own doorstep and investigate how some of the smaller creatures they take for granted play an equally important role in their marine environment. 

Above: Rachel and the children take a close look at some of the marine life they often overlook  

help us and share this

Over the weekend we played host to students from Shimoni Primary School. Friends of Shimoni Forest, who we are supporting in their efforts to seek responsible management of the forest by the community, feel that one of the most effective ways to get their message in to the wider community is by sending home groups of excited children to tell their families what they have learnt. So with the challenge put to us, that is what we set out to do on Saturday…

The children begun their day with the theme of ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ before going on to make recyled baskets from paper mache - an activity they found very funny, but once they had dried by the end of the morning and been planted with vegetable seeds, they had the beginnings of their own school vegetable garden. We have started introducing the concept of these little hanging gardens in Mkwiro village, where the goats manage to get to absolutely everything within reach, no matter how clever we think we are getting with fences!

The children then settled down to an outside class on the Angolan Black & White Colobus and other primates found in Shimoni before being taken in to the forest to to learn more about it hands-on, including behaviour as they watched a troop of Colobus, and flicking through our books to identify the birds.

This is the third such class we have run for Shimoni Primary School and plan to get as many of the children in to the forest as we can to ensure they don’t take for granted their incredible natural heritage.

help us and share this