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“David and Karsten are developing great panga swings as they machete their way through the bush making nature trails!” |
December 1, 2006
A Rocha
Turtle Bay, Kenya
November 22, 2006 saw us on the road again. This time we were taking a 10 hour trip by bus, leaving the big city life of Nairobi for the vastly different life on the coast. Nairobi was cool and rainy, Watamu is hot and humid. Nairobi was crowded and scarey (not called Nairobbery for nothing!). The villages in this area are small, safe and very friendly. Walking or driving the streets of Nairobi was endangering to your health; black exhaust spews from cars, trucks and matatus. Walking in the streets of Timboni or Watamu, you see more goats and children on the roads than motor vehicles. The A Rocha base is a small campus of old, ramshackle buildings surrounded by forest. That it happens to be located on one of the most beautiful beaches of white sand and warm water (Indian Ocean) we have ever seen was a big surprise to us. Really! That’s NOT why we chose this as our second place to volunteer, but it sure was a nice surprise! It is a welcome relief after very hot days doing gardening, cleaning or handyman jobs around the campus to jump into the ocean.
A Rocha Kenya is “a branch of A Rocha International, a Christian conservation organization which works for the responsible care of God’s creation through sustainable community-based programs”. There are A Rocha field study centers in many parts of the world, including one in White Rock, BC! Each center has different environmental and ecology programs going on, The Kenya base is very involved in bird research and monitoring, and environmental education in schools, clubs and churches. A Rocha Kenya has developed a super program called ASSETS (Arabuko-Sokoke Schools and Eco-Tourism) which uses funds generated by eco-tourism and donors to provide bursaries for local secondary school students who may otherwise be unable to afford secondary school. Primary school (up to grade 8) is free in Kenya, but secondary school is not. Not only do many needy students benefit from this program, but the families and villages of the recipients are also involved in cool eco-projects such as growing home nurseries of indigenous trees. A highlight for me in the past week was to go on a road trip through the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest to visit some of the parent groups participating in the ASSETS program. Not only was it great fun to visit some or these very isolated small villages and meet the people there, but I was also greatly inspired by the seedling tables they have built to start their tree nurseries, and their great enthusiasm for these planting projects.
A Rocha also provides accommodation to researchers involved in various research projects to do with the environment, plants or animals. Currently, there are researchers and volunteers living here who are studying Sykes monkeys, Ader’s Duiker ( a small antelope), and the illegal trapping of bushmeat. There are also some volunteers working with Watamu Turtle Watch. One day we went to visit and watched sick turtles being tube fed. It was very exciting a few days later to see a recuperated turtle being released back into the ocean. We are learning a lot about doing animal research, about the environment and about various plants and animals. Watch future blog reports by Stephanie and Karsten on some of our learning experiences! A few guest rooms are also available here at the base, and we’ve met some very interesting travelers who have stopped here on their ‘off-the-beaten-track tours of Kenya! Makes our trip seem tame in comparison! One couple from Germany, camped here on the property for several days with their rented jeep equipped with a tent that unfolds on the roof! RV’ing Kenyan style!
Our tasks as volunteers run the gamut from bush wacking (David and Karsten are developing great panga swings as they machete their way through the bush making nature trails!), house and garden maintenance (even sweeping the floors and verandas is a sweat-producing job in this climate!) and accompanying Liz to do grocery shopping in the local village. Volunteering is a wonderful way of becoming immersed in the local community! See our next blog entry to find out how Karsten and David got to play soccer in the Kenyan village of Dongokundu!
previous travel blog entry
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