GVI Kenya

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

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Category: Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Human-Wildlife Conflict | Date: Feb 25 2009 | By: gvikenya

“Elephants!” shouted the group of women huddled under the shade of a lone tree by the border of Tsavo West National Park.  Clad in colorful kangas with babies strapped to their backs, the women are not the least bit surprised to see elephants wandering down the main road of their village of Kidong, they are simply excited to point them out to me.  Although elephants are a common sight in this region of Kenya, I still get excited when I see them passing serenely by oblivious to our presence.

Elephants were in fact one of the main reasons that GVI began working with the community of Kidong in 2006, and remain one of the key focal points for GVI’s community development work in this village.  So what to elephants have to do with community development you might ask?  Lots! 

Firstly, many of the community members in Kidong village historically relied upon poaching animals, including elephants, in Tsavo West National Park for subsistence purposes.  In 2006, Kidong and two other villages in this region – Kasaani and Mahandkini – elected to give up poaching in favor of sustainable alternative livelihoods.  This is where GVI in conjunction with the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) stepped in and offered to provide assistance in developing sustainable alternative means of income generation in these villages. 

Secondly, the elephant population has created its own problem… human-elephant conflict! In the area surrounding Kidong agricultural pursuits are one alternative livelihood which is commonly pursued; crop raiding by elephants, however, has a significant negative impact upon the viability of this income generation option as whole shambas (farming plots) are often decimated by elephant incursions.

Constructing chili-oil fences at a local shamba

Not to be deterred from fully embracing their new found sustainable lifestyles, the community of Kidong has managed to put a positive spin on the problem of human-elephant conflict.  With assistance from both GVI and WSPA the community of Kidong has constructed the Kidong Cultural and Education Centre.  The Education Centre provides free educational lessons to communities about sustainable means of deterring elephants from farming land using chili-based deterrents such as chili-oil fences and chili-dung bricks.  The Cultural Centre is currently being developed as a tourism centre where tourists can come and learn about Kidong’s story – ‘From Poachers to Protectors’.

GVI enjoying recent developments at the Kidong Cultural and Education Centre 

On my most recent visit to Kidong, I witnessed the community continuing to take big steps forward in the construction of the tourism related elements of the Centre – in less than two months time a new kitchen, store room, toilets and defined paths around the Centre were all constructed!  Moreover, reports from employees of the Education Centre point to the continued success of chili-based methods of elephant deterrence from farming plots in the Kidong area.  It looks like Kidong’s main road will be marked by the footprints of eco-tourism alongside elephant tracks in the very near future!

Tags: Chili-Oil Fences, community development, Community-Based Conservation, Elephants, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Kidong, Poaching, tsavo west national park

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