The Arabuko-Sokoke Schools and Eco-Tourism Scheme (ASSETS)
Through reading our blog you might have heard mention of a project called ASSETS. We thought it was about time we shared about this amazing project run by A Rocha Kenya.
ASSETS is a holistic community conservation project that addresses threats to the important coastal forest and estuary habitats in the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest and Mida Creek regions. ASSETS achieves this through providing scholarships to help send impoverished children to secondary school.
Primary school children during an environmental education visit.
Before this project began, a survey in 2000 revealed that only 8% of the children eligible to go to secondary school (i.e. passed their year 8 exams) did!! The most common reason for kids dropping out after primary school was the high cost of tuition. Despite the primary school being free, secondary school is a significant expense (c. 24,000 Ksh [$415 NZ] per year when average household income was just over 33,400 KsH [$560 NZ] per year in 2004*). Many families cannot afford this when they are already struggling for food, clothing and shelter. Through this survey it was also discovered that one of the most common ways parents raised money for school fees was through cutting down trees in the forest to sell as timber for building materials and more recently charcoal.
Trees cleared in slash-and-burn farming. The wood was likely destined to be converted into charcoal.
Since 2002, ASSETS has provided over 375 children with an opportunity to receive a secondary school education that they would have otherwise missed out on. ASSETS doesn’t provide one-off scholarships but commits to supporting the student and family for the full four years of their secondary schooling. Over 140 of the students have now graduated with greater opportunities for higher education or employment. About 10 graduates have moved onto University while many more are in mid-level colleges.
A committee, including several village elders, determines who are awarded the scholarships based on criteria that include the level of need, grades and proximity to the threatened habitats. The scholarships do not cover the full fee but comprise either 70%, 60%, 40% or 30% of the total fees, depending on the needs of student. This allows parents to provide a meaningful contribution to their child’s education.
As the ASSETS name suggests, the scheme is tied to eco-tourism. Through grants and fundraising A Rocha Kenya has built three eco-tourism attractions. One is a tree-platform that rests 10 metres up a Baobab tree at the Gede Ruins and another is a 260-metre hanging boardwalk winding its way through the mangroves to the bird-hide at Mida Creek. Visitors to these attractions support ASSETS through the entrance fees they pay. The fees are a significant source of funding for the scholarships. Whilst these attractions hold the potential for a self-sustaining scholarship scheme, ASSETS currently still relies on donations to fund scholarships. In fact, some donors are even sponsoring individual students through the scheme.
Hanging out on the hanging boardwalk that leads to....
the Mida Creek bird hide - great viewing for coastal birds
The tree-platform at Gede Ruins.
But how does ASSETS protect and enhance the local habitats?
ASSETS firstly conserves the habitats by tackling the economic pressure of schooling, reducing the need of parents to cut the forest for timber and charcoal. In fact one of the conditions of receiving the scholarship is that parents will not hunt animals or chop down trees in the forest.
ASSETS also provides environmental education to the beneficiaries through school visits and practical conservation events. Not only are the students educated about the amazing habitats and creatures they live with, parents are also taught how to respect the forest through sustainable use of its resources.
Parents have been trained in alternative income generating methods and techniques including bee-keeping and conservation agriculture. Clusters of parents have joined together to create tree nurseries that are supported through ASSETS. They grow both non-invasive exotic trees for use in construction and as firewood, and indigenous trees to restore and enhance the biodiversity in their farms and the nearby forest. Over 160,000 seedlings have been raised over the past 8 years.
The whole family benefits through ASSETS
The A Rocha Kenya team wants to grow ASSETS to support even more students, from more schools (only working with 8 schools from the 40+ schools around) and ultimately change the hearts and lives of people that rely on these beautiful habitats for food, shelter and revenue.
If you wish to support the work of ASSETS, you can make a donation through clicking here: DONATE. If you wish to sponsor a child through secondary school for $38.50 NZ a month please email the ASSETS co-ordinator Stanley Baya at kenya@arocha.org.
When you sign up to volunteer at any of the A Rocha centres around the world, it’s best to be flexible – willing to take on tasks that you never dreamed of doing.
One of the unlikely jobs I have ended up doing here at A Rocha Kenya (ARK) is driving the recruitment process of a National Director. ARK has been given a grant by A Rocha International to recruit a National Director to lead ARK into a new phase – extending ARK’s projects to a national scale, raising funds to support and expand ARK’s work and lifting ARK’s profile both in Kenya and abroad. It turns out that even though I am not the most organized person (especially when it comes to work); I am good at organizing other people. Well, I am at least good at enforcing deadlines and chasing up people to make sure jobs are done. These are very handy skills when trying to get the overworked and often scattered Director, Colin Jackson, to follow through a complex process to its bitter/sweet end. Let’s just say he lives in the NOW.
My kali (fierce) enforcer face
A few months ago, I was given my 10-week mission with a 12-week window to complete it. What do I know about recruiting personnel? Very little – but I had as my guide the detailed notes, timetable and valuable advice of a seasoned A Rocha International advisor (and National Board members as we went along). Thus for the past 7 weeks I have been busy emailing the ARK National Board, preparing adverts, traveling 2 hours to pay for the advert, sifting through applications, reading CVs, replying to applicants, drafting up a written interview, short listing candidates, inviting them to interviews, arranging venues, and booking Colin a bus ticket to get up to Nairobi for the interviews on this Saturday.
It’s been a challenging but enjoyable job. My part in the process is almost over – I just need to organize a trip to Mwamba for the top 2 or 3 candidates (decided from the interviews on Saturday) and the final interview. The rest is up to the interview panel and ultimately God. We could certainly do with your prayer that God would lead the panel to the right candidate for the job. I have my suspicions of who that might be…
Last month, two days after the visit to Janet’s place, we embarked on a camping adventure in Tsavo East National Park. This second exploration of the park held promise of new animals, new scenes and new dangers. Although, we had very limited time to explore Tsavo on our last trip, we came away with close encounters with elephants (charging), lions (yawning) and a cheetah (sleeping).
We left very early on Day One to maximize our time in the park. The road to the entry gate is a rough dirt road with many pot holes, dips and ruts. We arrived well shaken and stirred at the gate and settled ourselves down by the river. A couple of crocodiles have discovered the benefits of tourism, hanging close to the gate to get an easy feed of goats’ hooves (?) from locals trying to attract a dollar. These Nile crocodiles were smallish (largest was just under 2 meters) but I am sure they could take out a decent chunk if you gave them a chance.
At 8.45 AM the safari began proper. As the road traveled along the river we came across loads of animals coming for a drink. Hartebeest, buffalo, Grant’s gazelle, impala, zebra, waterbuck and elephant were all headed to the river with the same intention before it got too hot.
Any hopes of ambushes by lions, cheetahs or leopards came to naught. We did, however, see a sick elephant lying on its side. We thought it was already dead until it wriggled around a little, and we heard the next day over the radio that it had died (unfortunately for us that meant we were not there to see any vultures, hyenas….). Further up we came across one of the animals I was keen to see, the humble hippo. In fact, we saw them at a number of places bobbing up and down in the river.
As we were heading to our lunch spot we came across a large male lion, lounging in the shade of bush right next to the road. After few minutes, he stood up and I thought it would be fun to have a roaring competition until he started to get a little serious and it was time for us to move on…quickly.
In between roars
We had lunch at Lugards Falls. Here it is reasonably safe to get out of your vehicles. After snacking on some sammies and sodas we wandered down to the edge of the falls. They weren’t too impressive height-wise but the rock formations were cool. And whilst we were admiring the rock, Anna spotted a crocodile waiting in the pools for one of us to get too close to the edge. It was much cooler to see a wild croc that wasn’t just hanging for some hooves.
From there we headed towards Voi to top up on supplies for the rest of our meals. Once loaded with chapatti and sodas, it was time to set up camp. The Ndolo camp site is very basic. No fence, no kitchen, no pool, no games room, no shop – just showers, toilets and two taps. The site was overrun with baboons when we arrived. They were very keen on the contents of our van, so we had to take extra care when windows or doors were open. After setting up camp, we were visited by some of our neighbours – an elephant and giraffe. They were keen on refreshing themselves with our water supply. They frequently tamper with the taps to get at this precious commodity. Thankfully, we had 3 askaris (guards) to shoo them away. In fact, we decided to pay one to keep a fire going near our tents so that the elephants wouldn't get too close. Despite this measure, when Albert (our guide) got up early and was preparing some coffee he saw two elephants walk within 10 meters of tents. We didn’t hear a thing.
Our neighbours.
Our second day bore much fruit. Getting away just after 6 AM meant that we had a good chance of seeing prized creatures before the heat came. After only 5 minutes we spotted a pride of lions striding through the grass by a stream. They strolled right past elephants and gazelles (in the distance) but seemed to only be concerned with getting a drink.
As we raced to a cheetah sighting we came across a large heard of buffalo crossing the road. It was a magnificent sight in the early morning light. Whilst we admired these beasts I spotted out in the back a small pack of bat-eared foxes trying to stay out of their way.
Eagle vs Jackal
We moved on to a lion kill that was being scavenged by an eagle and a pair of jackals (who came out better off with bone in mouth) before we settled in for a long wait with a cheetah. She was lying in the shade of bush some 50 m away, teasing us occasionally with a wave of her tail. Our patience paid off, however, when 40 minutes latter she stood up briefly for a stretch before retreating closer to the bush. As she slept we observed zebra getting too close for comfort before darting off. It got even more interesting when a couple waterbucks decided to inspect the cheetah up close. During the staring match that ensued we ran out of patience and left before any decisive action was taken by either cheetah or buck. However, 6 hours later the cheetah was still hanging out in the shade of the same bush.
We spot you, Cheetah.
Though the baboons in the campsite were more cheeky than threatening, we came across a baboon on the roadside with a bit more aggression. We stopped for a photo but very quickly he started to grunt at us and looked to be eyeing us up – preparing for a full on assault of our van. We took the hint and sped away.
At lunch time we pulled up to Mudanda Rock. Looking through a squinted eye, you could imagine you were looking at the back-face of Pride Rock. From the top you get an amazing view of animals coming to drink in a watering hole against the back drop of the expanse of African plains.
View from the top
To extend our break from the van, we snuck into the Voi Safari Lodge. They have an elephant-hide that you can descend into and watch elephants drink, shower, swim and scratch butt, all within 10 meters from you. Elephants smell somewhat like seals when you get that close.
To avoid the hassle of cooking out in the wilds, we cunningly pre-cooked and froze our dinners. Not only did this help keep our sodas cool during the day, it drastically reduced cooking time on our one kerosene cooker. We did not go hungry – beans and chapattis day one, vege curry and rice the next night. After we had retired to the ‘safety’ of our tents, hyenas and lions were heard calling during the night.
On our final morning we packed up camp and hit the road at 6 AM. We drove through the park heading for the river. Once travelling along the river we bumped into not one but two bunches of lions. The second bunch included a wee cub being brought to the river by Mum and Aunty. And before we knew it we were zooming through the gate at 9:00 AM – some 48 hours latter.
A few weeks ago we were invited to go and stay with Janet at her family’s shamba. Janet graduated from high school last year, made possible through a scholarship from the ASSETS program that A Rocha Kenya runs. She is now living at the centre for a few months to gain work experience and offer help running the centre. It was a privilege to be asked to go and stay with her, as it would be our first trip to a typical Kenyan village. We are keenly aware that living here at the field study centre, we do not share the average living standard for a Kenyan. Having running water, electricity, computers, appliances etc sets this place apart from most Kenyan dwellings. So we were eager to experience the real Kenya.
The first part of the adventure was getting there. Janet’s family live on the south side of the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, maybe 80 kms from here as the pied crow flies. For the first leg of the journey we got a lift to Kilifi. We did some grocery shopping there (thankfully with Janet translating) and it was clear that wazungu (white people) do not come to Kilifi as often as they come to Watamu. Plenty of wide-eyed children walking past us. From there we needed to catch a bus to Vitengeni. The bus looked like it was taking passengers, so we boarded, but before long Janet left us to complete some last minute shopping. A long wait ensued as the driver waited, not for a schedule, but simply for when he thought the bus was full enough to make the trip profitable. They started the motor to encourage shoppers to finish what they were doing and board the bus. We nervously waited for Janet to arrive, while trying to come up with a plan B if the bus left without her! Finally she returned and a few minutes later, maybe 1 hour after boarding, the bus took off. After a 2 hour drive we were grateful to alight and stretch our legs and get some fresh air. Now we were in Vitengeni and we felt whiter than ever with all the stares and giggles being sent our way. Our final challenge was to get 3 people, 3 school bags, a box of groceries and one mattress to Janet’s shamba, a couple of kilometres down the road. The means was 3 motorbikes and I don’t know how but somehow we and our luggage all arrived safely. The young drivers seemed thrilled to be able to drive wazungu for a change and everyone who we drove past gave them a knowing smile and a thumbs up.
Nearly 4 hours after we set off on our journey, we arrived at the family shamba. Most people in Kenya live in shambas – the family plot of land with a garden growing most of their food, and a few buildings often shared by a husband and his wife (or wives), grown children and their families, grandparents and lots of children. Janet’s family have 3 main buildings in their shamba, 1 mud and thatch house, a newer house with a tin roof, and a shade house. They also have a little outhouse, a 3 walled area for bathing and a shelter for drying meat in.
Upon arrival, we were invited to sit in the shade house with Janet’s father and chat with him. Gradually his children, mother, first and second wife (referred to by Janet as her big mum and small mum), and a few neighbours, young and old came in to timidly shake hands with us and greet us. They were able to speak varying degrees of English, we could speak a tiny bit of Swahili but sadly none of their mother tongue Giriama, so that posed some challenges for communication.
All our meals were eaten with Janet and her teenage brother and sisters and friends. It’s traditional for the family to split up at meal times and eat with groups their own age. It was dark by 7 so after dinner (an old chicken that had belonged to Janet and was the toughest chicken meat we’d ever tasted, so chewy they took to finding the more tender parts and handing them to us) we headed outside and sat around the fireplace with the rest of the family. Now they treated us to many songs, with an upside down plastic drum to provide the beat, and ladies taking turns leading the songs, as everyone else echoed the leader. Most songs were accompanied by actions, and though we enjoyed the music, the smoke blowing directly into our eyes for the entire performance somewhat detracted from the entertainment.
We excused ourselves to head to bed, long before anyone else looked tired, so we were ushered into sleep with their songs still rising in the night sky. As would be expected, we were woken by roosters early in the morning, but managed to snooze until about 6.30. Everyone else it seems, had already been up for an hour or two preparing food for the day. Breakfast was a tasty meal and would have classified as a ‘heavy’ breakfast here: Some tasty beans called kunde, boiled cassava in a thick coconut sauce, and plenty of sweet mandaazi (the Kenyan version of doughnuts).
Janet serves us breakfast
Shortly after breakfast, Lynton was summoned outside and a goat was handed over to him. After a quick demonstration, the knife was handed to him, and he had the honour of slaughtering the beast. Janet’s younger brother took over from there, hanging up the goat in the shelter and then skinning it before chopping it up for the meal.
To walk off the break-feast and make room for the next, we headed out with Janet and a few of her friends, for a walk around the shamba and down the road to meet some of the neighbours.
Serious business. (Pictured here with Janet’s father, big mother, small mother, and grandmother.)
The dirty deed.
Hands clean, Pontius?
Passing the village dam along the way was an insight into the water quality here. Usually the dam is used for watering livestock. But when the usual water supply runs out, people have no choice but to use the murky dam water. Much to Janet’s concern, many traps are set around the dam to catch birds that come to drink there. After watching for a few minutes, we saw for ourselves how one got caught and then was quickly removed.
Dam Trap The sun was beating down with a greater intensity than along the coast at Watamu, and even Janet’s friends were finding it too hot. But it didn’t stop the young neighbourhood children from following us, and the further we walked, the more followers we gained. The kids were nearly scared off though, when we chanced to spot a chameleon sitting on a roadside tree. We were pretty excited to see our first chameleon, with its strange, shaky way of walking and amazing colour-changing capabilities. The kids were very hesitant though, because as Janet told us, they are all taught that if you get too close, the chameleon can shrink and crawl up your nose. Apparently myths abound throughout Africa about the bad luck chameleons can bring..
Cool eyes!
Upon our return to the shamba we were quickly seated in our special seats of honour, treated to fresh coconut water and then given the delicious flesh to munch on. I wished we had brought a few balls or toys to play with the kids, as they seemed to look expectantly at us to perform tricks or something, but they had to be content with just staring. Next we were treated to a formal meal with Janet’s father and his first wife. It was sort of an appetizer to lunch, and I think it was the goat liver cooked with spices. Janet’s father assured us that we had now become part of the family, his children in fact.
Perhaps to celebrate that new status, we were then beckoned into the shade house to enjoy a little pre-feast entertainment. It began with Janet’s father and a few of his friends singing for us, then some of the children joined in, then some of ladies followed, dancing. We were encouraged to dance as well, much to their amusement. Then the room got too full and we all moved to the large lounge in the main house. Now the real party began with a room full of jubilant dancing and singing. The highlight for me was seeing everyone involved, from the toddler who had not long learned to walk, to the grandmother in her 90’s; it was simple, joyful fun
Lynton and Mum groove away
Good times
I think the party could have lasted all afternoon but we needed to squeeze in one more meal before our motorbikes were due to arrive. We made a valiant effort to consume our fair share of the goat, served with rice and salad. We got our last practice at eating everything with our hands, perfected the art of scooping up rice without dropping all of it, and then before we knew it, it was time to shake hands with everyone and jump back on the motorbikes.
The trip home was a lot quicker, just involving 2 matatu trips. The only newsworthy event was discovering, that the strange ‘goat-like’ noise we kept hearing (at first I thought it was a cellphone) was in fact a goat, tucked in the back of the van and peeking out next to my feet.
At times awkward (not knowing what to say), at times embarrassing (being treated like royalty, having our every move watched), at times humbling (being shown such generosity), at times eye-opening (to see a little of everyday life for people here), I’m sure the experience will remain as one of the highlights of our overseas trip.
In mid-September, Dr John Banks from the Washington State University arrived at Mwamba with three students: Maria, Heather and Jason. Maria and Heather were back for their second Kenyan adventure, returning with John to the Kenyan coast to undertake two research projects in the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest (ASF). The first project was study of the relationship between the abundance of arthropods and the diet of the globally threatened East Coast Akalat. To do so Colin, Albert and a bunch of keen volunteers set up mist nets to catch this rare bird. Across two sites and over four early mornings, we caught a total of eight Akalats, seven of which were obliging enough to leave a fecal sample in the bird bag. These important small parcels were collected in vials and sent to Nairobi for DNA analysis. Initial examination of the deposits under a microscope revealed clear evidence of insect exoskeleton.
Whilst we were busy catching birds in the nets and taking their measurements, the Banks team was using pitfall traps to survey the insects that live in the Akalat’s habitat. Many hours were spent back at Mwamba sorting the bugs and identifying the many species they caught. We are now awaiting the results of the DNA analysis to know whether bugs caught in the pit fall traps were represented in the Akalats’ diet.
The remaining few days were spent developing methodology for an elephant population survey in the ASF. Once again excrement proved to be of much scientific interest, as presence of these very shy elephants is usually only evidenced by the disturbed vegetation and the piles of dung they leave behind. Funding permitting, John hopes to return next year to collaborate with ARK and KWS in a full study of the elephant population (the first in over 10 years).
Since arriving at Mwamba, Anna and I have been party to five expeditions to Whale Island, a protected island about 2 km of the coast in the Watamu Marine National Park. It is home to colonies of three Tern species: the Roseate Tern, the Brown Noddy Tern and the Sooty Tern. The Roseate and Sooty Terns breed on this small island. Since 2006, ARK has been surveying the nests and ringing Tern chicks with the aim of gaining more information about this population. Tragically in 2009, rats made their way onto the island and wiped out all the young Terns. The rats have since been exterminated, allowing the Terns to return and rear young once more. There are an estimated 1,500 breeding pair on the island, the vast majority of which are Roseate Terns.
The Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) manages the National Park and kindly transport us over to the island on their boat. Once on the island we divide up into several raiding parties, scale the jagged rock face and catch as many chicks as you can in 20 minutes so as not to disturb the nesting for too long. Once you have run out of bird bags you carefully climb down the rock to the beach below. Because the chicks are still growing, only their species and ring number were recorded before the chicks were returned to the area they came from. For the penultimate voyage we set up a couple of mist nets that yielded 13 adult Roseate Terns.
Last week was our final trip. There were only about 150 adults and 3 chicks left on the island. On the boat ride in we saw a African Fish Eagle perched on one of the ledges. There was plenty of evidence of its feasting at the nesting site. However, the Terns faired much better with the eagle than with the rats of last year.
Over our five trips we ringed 272 Roseate and 9 Sooty Tern chicks. It will be interesting to follow this generation of Tern chicks as they mature and finally return to breed in a few years time.
Our way back from a successful Whale Island expedition. See Whale Island behind me (and Stanley) in top photo
Crazy Bird Fact:
Sooty Terns are very unique when it comes to seabirds. They don't produce the oily substance that makes seabird’s feathers water resistance. If they were to land on the ocean, they would quickly soak up the water and sink. So instead, they just fly...and fly...and fly some more. The adults won't touch terra firma again until the come back to breed in a couple of years. The next time Sooty chicks we ringed will return to land, I will be well into my 30's. That's right, they will spend 6 to 7 years flying around - even sleeping as they fly! Amazing!
Towards the end of last month a band of 8 keen beans packed the car for night out on the mud flats of Mida Creek. They left at 5.00pm to set up 162 m of mist nets in the light of day. Just as the light was fading the last net was secured. Anna and I were cooking that night, so I came out later at 8:30 pm to feed the hungry souls waiting for the tide to rise. As the tide rises, the wading birds are pushed closer to shore and ideally right into our strategically place nets. Every hour a small crew head out to check the nets for birds. If left in the nets for too long, the birds can get really tangled and injure themselves.
For the first few hours the birds came were caught in ones and twos but as it hit high tide at 1:50 am we caught 12 in one sweep of the nets. When removing birds from the nets you don't want to scare any uncaught birds nearby so torches are a big no. Thankfully Colin and Albert have magical hands (and eyes), extracting birds with ease in the faint moon light. Once back at base camp, 400 m away, the birds are removed from their bird bags and place in a 'bird tent' as they wait to be processed. The gas lantern is lit, the ringers watered and scribe penciled. The rest of us helpers bring birds one by one to Colin and Albert to be ringed and measured before being taken back to the beach to be released.
Me and my Little Stint
Once the birds are all done, its time to get a few winks before it's time to check the nets again. After the peak catch around high tide, there is a quiet patch until just before sunrise. During this period, the collectors often returned empty handed. By 4 am, the team was scattered all over the place trying to sleep and keep warm. Unfortunately, it was rather windy at Mida Creek until 3 am. In wind it is more difficult to catch birds as they are more likely to bounce out. The ringing expedition ended at 7 am, as the sun was rising over the mudflats. Everything was crammed back into the car to take the tired birders back to their roosts.
A month has past and we are soon to venture out again, hopefully without wind this time because night ringing deserves a quiet night.
