Help Us Save Lives and Care For The Earth in Kenya

 We are engaging with one community in Kenya to do the sacred work of conservation - caring for the earth as God intended.  But we need your assistance.  Here is our story:

 

Twenty-five years ago, Silas Wekesa Muchenje had a dream … a dream to end hunger for those less fortunate, especially women and children, as well as to care for God’s creation. He looked around the land and saw how people had stripped it of the native trees to make way for more people and to grow agricultural crops. Seeing this led to the idea of replanting all of those native trees and restoring the land. He waited patiently until 2021, when the Upendo Conservation Area was created in his village of Mwiyenga, Kenya in 2021. Today, that conservation area is managed by a team of people from the village, directed by Silas himself.

 

The conservation area got off to a great start. With the help of some students from Eastern Nazarene College (Quincy, MA) and donations from people like you, a well was constructed to provide drinking water to the village. Before the well was installed, the women of the village had to walk many miles every day to get clean water or use the polluted water of the nearby river which could make them sick.

 

To restore the trees on the land, a tree nursery was started so that 10,000 native trees could be planted in the conservation area and throughout the community, Nursery attendants were trained by the Bungoma County agricultural agent so they would know how to plant the seeds and seedlings and care for them until they could be planted. The initial 10,000 trees have been planted, but now the attendants are growing and planting an additional 6,000.

 

You can’t protect and conserve plant and animal species in a conservation area if you don’t know they are there. To address this problem, Silas and his young protege Evans began to conduct species inventories to determine what species are present in the conservation area. In addition to the species inventories, a fence has been installed to protect the conservation area by keeping domestic animals from entering. To inform visitors about the conservation area, a sign has been constructed and installed near the entrance. To make the conservation area accessible to the people, a trail is being constructed, and one bench has been added so that people walking the trail have a place to stop and rest while contemplating nature around them.

 

Many of the management team and the people of the community are not aware of all the plants and animals with which they share their space. Professor Jonathan Twining of Eastern Nazarene College, with assistance from Makayla Johnson, is preparing training modules for Silas so he can provide conservation education programs for the people, One primary concern in the conservation area and community is the presence of venomous snakes. Snakebite is a significant concern in Kenya because the venom of many snakes is powerful enough to kill or cause the loss of the affected limb. Since most people live on less than $1.25 per day, the cost of snakebite treatment is enormous and it can be a real detriment to maintaining their livelihood. As a result of this need, the first training module was about snakes and snakebite awareness.

 

Snakebites have the potential to alter the course of a person’s life. None know this better than Dorcus Machuma, one of the committee members. In her early life, Dorcus came across a snake while collecting firewood. Her father never let her collect wood in the area again because of the danger the snake posed to the young children. Later in her life, Dorcus was walking through the town center as evening approached. As she walked barefoot she stepped on something along the road. She looked around and noticed a black snake moving away and a sharp pain in her foot. She couldn’t make it home alone and the traditional healer was not home. Those with her took her to the nearest hospital where she received treatment. Through the grace of God and the expertise of the doctors, Dorcus survived. Unfortunately, her hospital bills totaled 21,000 KSH (182 USD) and she could not raise enough money to pay them. The only option Dorcus had was to sell her only cow that produced her family’s milk. Through the snakebite awareness training, Dorcus has seen how the minds of the community toward snakes can change. She is also learning the necessary precautions to remain safe around snakes. Dorcus considers herself an ambassador of the Upendo Conservation Area in light of her experiences and wants to help keep others safe as well.

 

To date, three training sessions have been given by Silas, which as a whole have been very successful. For Evans, whose grandmother was a victim of snakebite early in his life, the latest training on different species of snakes was informative and timely teaching. As the indigenous nursery attendant for Upendo Conservation Area, Evans now considers himself a snake protector, and he will be educating and changing the minds of others with similar old perceptions like those he grew up hearing

 

Many community members have requested more snakebite awareness trainings. The community is learning that it is important to preserve snake habitats and to exist with wildlife in safe ways. The Upendo Conservation Area and the work being done to protect the land and the species that live there are inextricably linked to the health and safety of the people. As the community learns more about how to take care of the land, they will also protect themselves from things like the devastating impacts of snakebites. In addition, there will be an opportunity for them to share what they have learned with their neighbors, their children, and people from nearby communities.

 

Despite all that has been accomplished in the last six months, this work is just getting started, and there remains a number of needs for which we are seeking your help. Additional training programs are being developed to educate the people about frogs and lizards in the conservation area, and funds are needed for the delivery of these programs, including the production of training materials. The fence needs a gate, and a small shed needs to be constructed inside the conservation area to store tools and equipment for tree planting and conservation. Three of the management team need to be trained in basic first aid and life support in the event of an accident or snakebite in the conservation area. Stipends to support those working on training and monitoring are needed, as well as paying for transportation (and potentially food and lodging) for trainers to go to nearby communities to train others. Equipment is needed for finding and tracking wildlife in the conservation area, including those species that can be heard but not seen in the thick vegetation. Finally, we would like to provide some support to organizations in-country that provide funds to snakebite victims that cannot afford the expensive treatment.

 

Silas is starting to see his dream come to fruition. Now, as he walks the Upendo Conservation Area with Evans, he has found 12 species of frogs, each making their own unique sounds that can be used to identify them. Frogs are very important in any ecosystem because they control insect populations, and are indicators of ecosystem health because they are amongst the first to be affected by pollution and habitat degradation. Over 30% of all frog species on Earth are currently threatened with extinction.

 

Silas and Evans have also seen several other permanent and transient residents including a young leopard, two water mongooses, naked-tailed shrews, bush squirrels, the Hadada ibis (a bird) with its nest of young, a Nile monitor that cools off in one of the trees, various small lizards, three kinds of snakes, and many other small animals. The conservation of these species is critical to the health of the biological community within and surrounding the Upendo Conservation Area.

 

The Need

 

We are asking for your financial support for the following in concert with Silas Wekesa Muchenje and the management team of the Upendo Conservation Area. Specifically, we are asking for help with the following: (1) providing basic first aid and life support training for three people, (2) providing stipends, transportation, and materials for those doing training in the community and surrounding area, (3) purchasing equipment and supplies necessary for surveying species and to manage the conservation area, (4) development and delivery of training materials, particularly about snake recognition and snakebite protection in an area where snakebite can result in loss of life or limb.

 

Much like the ecosystem in the Upendo Conservation Area is connected, we can now be connected through the wonders of the internet. Those from all over the world can help in the work of conservation and education that not only protects the planet but saves human lives as well. Would you consider a donation to continue the success of what has been started in the Upendo Conservation Area?