Dear MEP Champion,
The Coexistence team’s community development and education activities expanded the second half of 2024, all a good launching pad for their 2025 planned impact. In July, the team conducted conservation school club activities in five schools: Ormeoshi, Enkipai, Nabulu, Kileleoni, and Emarti primary schools. As part of the nationwide initiative ‘National Read Aloud Day,’ they engaged a total of 847 students from these schools by providing each school with 20 copies of the book ‘Kijiji Cha Ukame’. The book focuses on the importance of education and conservation for local communities and the role of communities in safeguarding resources in our environment.
They ended the 2024 educational activities supported by Kampur Travel Diaries with a big event in September, the inaugural Conservation Career Day. Promoted to students preparing to complete their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education and transition into university life, the event was designed to encourage a career path into conservation. It was a team effort as MEP rangers, researchers and support staff all convened at Emarti Secondary School in the Transmara to engage the over 80 eager students and share their experiences and expertise in their various fields. MEP joined forces with partners Women in the Wild and Critical Conversations, an organization that harnesses the power of storytelling through drama to engage youth and communities in the Maasai Mara on the significance of nature conservation. Their creative approach when partnered with our on the ground expertise captured the student’s attention, engaged their interest and hopefully planted the seed for future conservationists.
In October, the team collaborated with the Kenya Wildlife Trust at their Wildlife Club Open Day at Margaret Kenyatta Primary School. We celebrated National Tree Growing Day by partnering with Women in the Wild for a training session on nursery management using seedlings from our newly launched nursery.
The social survey results provided valuable insights into the socio-economic status of the community we serve. While the community primarily engages in crop cultivation, a significant portion consists of livestock keepers and herders. The majority of the interviewed individuals are young, which attributes to higher literacy levels and a sounder understanding of conservation dynamics and coexistence. The survey revealed that elephants only accounted for 13% of all wildlife conflict incidents, while other animals were more prevalent. Surprisingly, the community members are not particularly enthusiastic about fencing, as over 80% of them either use shrubs for fencing or have not fenced their lands at all. These results serve as a powerful tool to comprehend the diverse components of coexistence and guide our subsequent steps in the out-growers program in 2025.
Speaking of which, in 2024, the team hosted eight community trainings at the farm and a total of 243 women and 24 men were trained and equipped with over 30,000 seedlings (mainly vegetables) for their kitchen gardens. A great success was Nolarami Musana, who encouraged other women to embrace the kitchen garden for increased access to nutritional foods after she was trained and equipped by MEP. Another, Nadurari Tiyo, expressed how she started selling her excess vegetables thanks to the program.
As the Coexistence team looks to the new year, we strive to expand our conservation education and school garden activities, engage more meaningfully with community members on our activities and increase the out-growers program with more equipment, training and collaboration.
We’ve appreciated everyone’s support along the way. It’s been such a pleasure to work alongside other dedicated conservationists to build on the successes of this program annually.
Sincerely,
Abigael Pertet
If you’re interested in funding a farm or education initiative in 2025, please email us or you can donate here.
