Education
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Scholarships Success Stories from the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya
By Jane Okoth If you wanted a glimpse into the Kenyan educational crisis in the early 90s, there is no better place to look than in the rural areas. During those times, there was unequal access to education, with less development in terms of infrastructure, with schools being few and understaffed. Thousands of students as old as ten did not have access to school because it was either not affordable for their guardians, or not made accessible for relevant stakeholders. Julius Mkala grew up in those times, in a small village called Kale in the southeastern part of rural Kenya. Born in 1993, Julius was the 6th born in a…
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Meet Rebecca Mututa, Wildlife Works Assistant Community Relations Officer
By Jane Okoth The Tsavo region, very popular with wildlife, is home to the biggest national park in Kenya and one of the largest elephant populations in the world. As a young girl living close to Tsavo East, Rebecca Mututa would encounter wild animals from time to time. “This gave me the inspiration to learn more about animals by working in a conservation organization,” she says. Rebecca grew up in Voi, a small town 30km from Wildlife Works’ Head Office with a population of at least 50,000 people. “My passion for working hard was ignited by watching my mother struggle to put food on the table. I put a lot…
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Mentoring Students in the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project
By Jane Okoth “If you hear about Wildlife Works, what is the first thing that comes to mind?” asks Fred Ouma, the Principal of Mzwanenyi Secondary School in Mwatate. “Bursaries,” one of the students quickly answers. “We have also partnered with Wildlife Works for a tree-planting program where they supply us with indigenous tree seedlings,” he adds. Mzwanenyi Secondary is a mixed boarding school located in Mwatate, one of Wildlife Works’ community locations. The school has a population of 178, with the majority of students coming from the surrounding area. Mzwanenyi Secondary is one of the many schools in the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project area that has benefitted from Wildlife Works…
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Boosting Reforestation Efforts in the Kasigau Corridor
By Jane Okoth In a tiny village, Juliana Karisa stood beside her house in anticipation as she watched a canter truck accompanied by Wildlife Works’ greenhouse team make its way through her compound. After a courteous greeting, she proceeds to direct the team to where the tree seedlings are located. The greenhouse team then loads the seedlings one by one into the truck under the close supervision of Greenhouse Supervisor Willy Kanyeki. Juliana and her family is one of hundreds of beneficiaries from the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project who have received cash in exchange for tree seedlings. In an effort to boost reforestation efforts in the region, Wildlife Works regularly…
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Ground Breaking Ceremony Marks Construction of Classrooms for New School
By Jane Okoth Wildlife Works Kasigau REDD+ project has benefited thousands of members of communities in rural Kenya through the distribution of carbon revenue. Local people in the Kasigau project area face a lot of challenges, ranging from marginalization to poverty and illiteracy. The intervention of Wildlife Works’ projects has brought a lot of positive change into the lives of these communities, especially in education. For example, the construction of classrooms for schools has ensured that vulnerable children in our project area have a chance to fight the inequalities that stand in their way. In the month of November 2018, Wildlife Works was invited to officiate a groundbreaking ceremony held…
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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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Carbon Credit Sales Fund New Desks to Two Schools In the Kasigau Corridor
Education matters! Wildlife Works is constantly trying to tackle barriers hundreds of children face when accessing education in our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project. Many pupils at schools in our project area struggled to learn, often because they didn’t have desks and were forced to write on their laps or on the floor during their lessons. This is Meli Kubwa Primary School and Mgalani Primary school, located in a remote location of our project area. When we arrived, the pupils and school administration from Meli Kubwa Primary School welcomed us with songs and dance from the vibrant maasai community which forms majority of the school’s population. In a school that is…
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My Trip to the Kasigau Corridor: Seeing a REDD+ Project in Action
Guest blog written by Vibeka Mair, a Senior Reporter for Responsible Investor who visited our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in February 2018. Jacob Kazungu has been disabled since birth. Now 72, he walks with a stick and has shakes when he stands up. But he insists he will stand as he presents the work of his community group in rural Kenya. The Buguta Disabled Group supports the disabled and parents of the disabled with a place to come to every day, conversation and most importantly a form of income through the making of toys, jewelry and baskets sold in places including popular fashion website ASOS. “We want to be self-reliant and not begging,” he says. Buguta Disabled…
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Women’s Agency Grows in the Greenhouse
By Jane Okoth In sub-Saharan Africa, women perform more than 50% of the agricultural activity, according to the United Nations. While women provide the majority of labour in agricultural production, their power over resources is restricted due to discrimination by male dominated traditions. Wildlife Works has been co-creating opportunities for economically-marginalized women to take the lead in their communities and generate new sources of income. We have been teaming up with organizations in order to support local women’s groups in setting up greenhouses within their surrounding communities. The concept of greenhouse farming was adopted because only a small size of land is needed to erect the greenhouse, and conditions can…
