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Education; Meet Some of Wildlife Works Bursary Recipients
This week, we wanted to introduce you to a few students who got the chance to receive Wildlife Works bursaries and what it means to them. This is Joseph Mboya, an 18 year old student at Moi Boys High School in Kasigau, located in one of our project area. Joseph comes from a single parent family and is the second born in a family of four. His mother works as a farmer and cannot cater for his tuition and his siblings forcing him to stay at home because of lack of school fees. Now at form four, Joseph has been receiving wildlife works bursaries since form one. “Thanks to Wildlife…
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Education matters; Thousands Benefit from Wildlife Works Bursaries
In a remote village in Southeastern Kenya called Marungu, Zanira Kasyoka, a Wildlife Works employee, stands with pride as she gives an inspiring speech to hundreds of attentive local community members seated in a social hall. Present are different stakeholders including Environmental Officers, local Chiefs and Bursary Committee Members, all who have come to witness Wildlife Works’ bursary presentation ceremony. Zanira is giving a speech on how Wildlife Works’ educational scholarships helped transform her life. “Thanks to Wildlife Works’ bursaries, I was able to complete my secondary education. I am living proof that the REDD+ project can positively impact lives,” she says. Zanira’s case is similar to thousands of students…
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Encouraging Bright Leaders Through Educational Scholarships
Ambrose Maundu Gerald is looking forward to returning to school. The fourth year university student had a break while professors were on strike these last two months, his Bachelors in Education in the Arts on hold. “I like studying the environment and land form,” explained Ambrose, who volunteers his free time helping with the Wildlife and Environment Club at his alma mater primary school near his hometown of Kiteghe. The oldest of 3 kids in his family, Ambrose was raised in a single-parent household. His younger brother is starting university this year and the other is in his last year of secondary school. Their mother died when Ambrose was a teenager,…
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Reproductive Health Education and Support for Wildlife Works Communities
Within the captivating yet isolated hills of Sagalla, Taita Taveta County, Kenya, 20 women and two men came together to form a self-help group with the objective of improving reproductive health. Rauka Reproductive Health Group meets at the Sagalla Health Centre under the auspices of the Sagalla community health unit. Members of Reproductive Health Group Hygiene is a common concern for people living in poverty in developing nations. Rauka Reproductive Health Group felt the need to address issues that are related to reproductive hygiene, especially menstruation hygiene, to assist women and girls in the area. With this initiative, the group has been able to reduce traditional birth deliveries where now…
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Miasenyi Secondary School Gets Conservation Education Tour and Safari
Part of Wildlife Works community empowerment strategy includes ensuring that underprivileged students get the chance to view their beautiful ecosystem and see wildlife in its natural habitat. Since March 2015, the Wildlife Works Community Relations Department at our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya has been running an education program for local students to tour the Wildlife Works diverse operations, learn about conservation at our Tsavo Discovery Center and experience wildlife firsthand. Since the program started just over a year ago, over 25 schools have participated, bringing over 750 students through our curriculum. The aim is to eventually reach 80 schools in the area. On 20th May 2016, Wildlife Works…
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Environmental Education For the Youth Through Sports
The highest percentage of environment destruction through poaching bush meat and charcoal burning involves mostly youths. Wildlife Works has developed many programs to educate young community members about eco-friendly alternatives such as eco-charcoal, growing trees seedlings and other environmental initiatives. These education and training programs, which are proposed by the community, are funded by carbon sales within our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project as well as by donations from our partners and customers. In early September 2014, Wildlife Works launched a football tournament among six county locations within the Kasigau Corridor region, with the objective to educate the youth on protecting the environment and nurturing their talents. Before kick off and…
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Wildlife Works Sponsors Conservation Education and Safari for Kasigau Corridor School Kids
This is a shocking fact: most rural communities that live their entire lives bordering Tsavo National Park (adjacent to Wildlife Works’ Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project) have never seen an elephant before. More likely than not, they have a contentious relationship with large wildlife, who destroy their farms and eat their livestock. Meanwhile, thousands or tourists come from all around the world and pay a lot of money each year to gaze at wildlife that share the same territory as these local communities. Most rural schools in Kenya cannot afford to take their students on educational field trips due to harsh conditions in the area. Most families are subsistence farmers who don’t…
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Meet Rehema, a Student Who Never Gave Up On Her Education
Born in 1990 in Kale village in the Marungu area, Rehema never knew what her future held. At the very best, she was certain that she would end up growing old in her rural village. Rehema Mwaka is the second born in a family of four. Her parents are both subsistence farmers in Kale village. She joined Kale primary school in 1997 but because of the extreme poverty in her family, she was forced to dropped out for 2 terms due to of lack of school uniforms and tuition funds. However, she went back to school in the 3rd term and managed to maintain top position in her class and…
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Improving on Education along Kasigau Corridor by Wildlife Works
Education! The key to success in life. The dream begins with the teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes to lead you to the next plateau. But for many rural Kenyan children who are fortunate enough to attend school, poor classroom environments threaten the foundation for learning at a basic level. Teachers and students face overcrowding. Many schools have classrooms with over 100 students per session with leaking roofs or poor ventilation. Wildlife Works, through the funds of our REDD+ Project, is trying to change this for as many schools as we can in our project area. Since we founded in 1997, we have been building, renovating classrooms,…
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Wildlife Works Marks World Environmental Day With Town Clean Up and Climate Change Education
At this year’s World Environment Day, some of our employees at the Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project put down their tools and left the offices to commemorate the day with the community at Kamtonga, a small village located in Mwatate about 50 kilometers from our station. Those who attended the event included the head community Relations Officer, Mr. Laurian Lenjo, Mrs. Emily Mwawasi and Joseph Mwakima (both working in community relations), and the agribusiness manager, Mr. George Maina. From the moment we arrived in Kamtonga, it was very clear that we could not have chosen a better place to commemorate the 2014 World Environment Day. The Mwatate community has…