GVI Kenya

The work GVI does on the border of Tsavo West National Park with three villages of ex-poachers continues at an exciting pace.  The villagers, who all chose to stop poaching and to actively seek alternative livlihoods, are progressing in leaps and bounds with both conservation and income generation.  Brittany, who recently returned from the village of Kasaani, tells us how she saw things…

 We arrived in Taveta dusty, dirty and bruised – the bus journey was our first challenge. The final leg to Kasaani was brief and our arrival much anticipated by its vibrant villagers and beautiful baobab trees. The moment we stepped off our matatu and were greeted with fluming tongues and warm embraces by Priscilla (the village elder), we knew the week ahead would be an incredible adventure.

The red dust of Tsavo 

With much excitement, we settled into our new banda and waited our first formal meeting the next morning to share the plan and purpose of our productions with the villagers.

Some of the village women 

The morning, however, was a slow start. Kasaani held a meeting which would last the majority of the day and kept most of the village leaders from joining us. Those who could be with us led a walk to the apiary where they harvest the honey we hope they can use to make beautiful products and hearty income for this community of ex-poachers.

Maritima, a strong and beautiful woman of the village, made a proud presentation of their hard work which made us feel honoured to work with such ambitious people. There would be obstacles – little of our efforts that day registered with the delay of our translators – but there would be far greater rewards, like the hugs and laughter of delight between ourselves and the villagers when both the honey vanilla bath wash and honey caramel sauce, with labels made of elephant dung recycled paper, were completed on Thursday afternoon. On that final evening, we celebrated with a special meal around the campfire with the community, under African stars.

 The Honey caramel sauce
 

In the intervals of our work in Kasaani, we explored more of West Tsavo and witnessed exciting wildlife, Massai villages, the beautiful and eerie Lake Chala, and the always buzzing Taveta Market. It was a different side of Africa and a part and people of Kenya we will definitely never forget.

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