Nkiloriti Primary Class One got their work off to a great start for the September art exhibition ‘What Conservation Means to Me’ at Nanyuki's Lily Pond Arts Centre.
After two initial lessons on ‘Conservation’ and some drawing work they chose to work on Trees . The reasons given for the importance of trees in their initial drawings ranged from ‘We need trees to live’....'guests come to see trees and animals not cars’ to 'the wild animals need trees’.
So on ‘Painting and Creating’ Day it should not have been surprising, but was nevertheless inspiring, to have the 6-9 year olds rattling off their 8 most important reasons for protecting trees with no input from the teacher:
Trees protect our grassland
Trees bring rain
Trees give shelter
Trees give firewood
Trees give fruit for us to eat
Trees give us herbal remedies
Trees give leaves and fruit for our animals
Trees help us with fencing and house-building
Much hand-painting resulted in trees taking root around the classroom and much cutting, sticking and drawing resulted in a great montage for the art exhibition: the first finished product...(Well, almost...)
Each of the Kenyan schools will choose a different focus and a variety of media for the exhibition: conservation of elephants being an important theme for some with Africa’s huge rise in poaching . Conservation of water, grassland, wild animals, rivers, and Maasai and Samburu culture being other areas.
Our friends in Ireland and England are also preparing to join us in this display see Becomeafriend.net and we aim to create an exciting juxtaposition of European and African ideas of conservation. Watch this space as we paint/make/create our conservation ideas...
As part of our Community Enterprise initiatives, Ol lentilleare now going into the guinea fowl business..... “Bird “ specialist and Game Dealer par excellence ‘Duster’ Stevens has been slaving for 2 weeks in tropical heat to erect the new guinea fowl enclosure.. pictured below with his sterling team.. from left: Strong Man Johnson Yiangere- “ Carpenter Magnifique”, Mzee Justin Meshamiadding some much needed gravitas to the team, “Man- In- Charge” Duster and on the far right is “Man Not to be Messed With” and Ol lentille veteran ... Kijana Kidogo James Stevens.
Enclosures now complete Justin and Johnson will be getting on with the ‘real’ work of tending to the birds... ready for selling for the table. Guests at Ol Lentille will therefore have another culinary delight to be prepared by Chef extraordinaire Augustein Mulei.. recipe book in hand he is already planning the new dish.
Assuming that Man- In -Charge has made the said enclosure ‘Pussy Cat Proof’we aim to be breeding guinea fowl soon after the April rains.
Having taught Mzee Meshami all he knows of enclosure upkeep, and having learnt a great deal from Strong Man Johnson on how to make bird feeders African style (see pic) we look forward to welcomingMan -In -Charge back next year to instruct us all in the finer points of guinea fowl husbandry.
What Europe can learn from Africa? Plenty. First lesson is one in Africa time... get rid of the watch and go with the flow.. if the materials take four days to arrive then make sure that there is a good masseuse nearby and put your feet up....becausewe are certainly going to be getting our money’s worth from you in a few days time....
Having worked his little (and decidedly smelly) cotton socks off (plus a few kilos of sweat) for two weeks, Man -In -charge is now getting in touch with his feminine side at the lodge.... a whole day of pamperingstarted with a long lie.. a trip to the pool and more snoozing... a lengthy massage and then , yes, you’ve guessed it... manicure and pedicure.... now snoozing again by the pool with his handbag,g he is just awaiting Madam Paulina, Spa Therapist Terrifique, to return from a much needed break to give him a (gulp.....) facial..... Not quite sure how the boys in Moreton are going to take to the new man as he steps off the plane on Wednesday, probably he will quickly be demoted from Man-In –Charge back to the more normal Man-On –The –Roof.
Enormous thanks to Jakonjn Wijk and Wageningen University, Maastricht School of Management at Utrecht, in The Netherlands, for hosting Timothy Mosiany to their conference on Conservation Enterprise "What Europe can Learn from Africa". Along with Daudi Sumba, who presented on the work of the African Wildlife Foundation in Africa, Timothy was one of the two key speakers with his presentation on "Conservation Enterprise from The Sanctuary at Ol Lentille ;The Rationale". With Princess Laurentien as the moderator, Daudi and Timothy presented to a mixed groupof Professors, Businessmen, Conservation organisations, Ambassadors and Travel Agents: they were both very well received.
Timothy’s presentation included a background to the Ol Lentille project outlining the initial conservation goals, the community partnership and governance model and the conservation development reached so far, together with the economic and social improvements and the challenges faced by both the business and community along the road. The lessons we have all learnt along the way are, inevitably, that communication is the key to all, with participatory methods being essential, and ownership of the project being given to the community. In addition there is a need to involve the local administration and government authorities at all times and where possible future ownership of facilities to be transferred to the government and the community for a long term sustainable future. In addition, a wider community involvement to decrease dependency on the small lodge area. Room must be made for mistakes and experimentation along the way, to allow for innovation. The areas we are learning to avoid are: never to dictate ideas and projects and not to impose changes that may negatively change lifestyle and culture. Importantly to avoid involvement in politics at all levels but to allow the community to take control of their right to take part in political life and political decision making through - democratically. Above all- do not underestimate the locals- they know more than most of us think they do... and frequently more than we do.
Building on his success at the IUCN conference in Barcelona, Timothy is gaining experience in public speaking and spreading the message of conservation on behalf of the whole Ol lentille team.
Whilst the conference was greatly enjoyed by Timothy the highlights of his trip have to be his light- aircraft flight to Bremerhaven – Germany; and theAjax v RKC Waalwijkfootball match, where he was delighted to see Ajax move up two places in the Dutch premiership to second place with their win of 3-0; making this his most memorable trip to date! With thanks to all for their excellent pre- trip planning and communication and the very smooth trip organisation; andto all the friends of Ol Lentille involved for their generosity in hosting to make Timothy’s trip such a success for him and for all concerned!
Women are making great progress in so many areas throughout the world but progress can sometimes be painfully slow in the rural areas of Africa.
We have just finished our survey of the schools we support- the most positive gender ratio we have currently achieved in Primary Schools is 42% girls to 58% boys in Maasai areas, falling to 35% girls in the Samburu areas, with some classes as low as 13% girls. In order not to ‘lose’ this whole generation of girls we are currently conducting a house to house survey, with the help of very active Chiefs and Community Health Workers, to see how many children are still at home (both boys and girls) and to work with families on ways to help the parents to register their children. Sometimes something as simple as a uniform can be the difference between parents giving their child an education or not.
Imagine having your whole future hinging on a dress or a pair of shorts.
It goes without saying that education is a basic human right. We often have to remind ourselves here that this is the 21st century: just because kids here were born on the wrong side of the equatorial divide they still have equal rights. Girls have as much right to education as boys- but in educating girls the benefits for the future can be far, far larger. In the rural areas where FGM rates are still very high- 98% in the most remote communities, early marriage is inevitable. Since in the developing world 70,000 adolescents are killed by pregnancy the health risks involved in FGM are far reaching: keeping girls in school delays FGM and therefore delays marriage and saves lives: that simple. Babies born to adolescent Mum’s are 50% more likely to die in their first year. This is the 21st century. That figure is just not acceptable. Education saves lives.
In addition the effects on the economy and the environment are clear. Whilst there is enormous debate on the actual statistics, there is nevertheless an agreement that there is a clear correlation between the number of years a girl spends in school and her family size. Many studies agree that a 10% increase in female literacy leads to a decline of 0.5% total fertility; seven or more years in school leads to half the number of children; giving a girl no education she will bear 6.8 children, if she completes secondary this will fall to 3.2 children. Whatever figures you are reading the correlation remains. Moreover a mere one year in Primary school boosts the earning power of women with girls putting up to 90% of their earnings back into the family income compared to boys who will put back only 35%. Statistics are statistics and open to abuse, but the trend is clear.
An educated girl accesses health care not only for herself but also for her family. She is more likely to access pre and post natal care, to give birth in a health facility, to access family planning, to have a reduced risk of HIV AIDS both for herself and her family. She is less likely to be spending the 3 - 7 hours a day by an open fire exposing herself and her infant to smoke that is 100 times above accepted safety levels- the equivalent of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day...... and so the list goes on.. and on...
Study after study has shown that educating girls is one of the most effective ways to fight poverty and social prejudice. An educated girl has more say in her home, family decisions are more democratic and domestic violence is reduced.
Despite all these benefits, 30 million more girls than boys are out of school in the world. Empowering women and achieving gender equality is a difficult and slow process that entails shifting attitudes, traditions and practices.
How can we afford NOT to educate women? If only as the most effective way of improving health care and reducing healthcare costs. If only to reduce population growth. If only to improve family incomes. If only to give the girls in the developing world some of the chances that our girls in the West have had for three generations.
Above: meet Rose and her daughter Selina...Rose, who was unable to finish her own Primary education, was the first woman in the locality to open a bank account saving for Selina's 'university' education, Rose was also the first woman to wear trousers - I have often thought that the best gender equality motivator in schools would be to offer the girls a chance to wear trousers. (Rose is also an excellent pancake tosser......)
Support girls education today in whatever way you can!!
