Activity report 2012, by Dominic Kimani

NOTE by Luca: Dominic Kimani is one of the three University-level students we have funded in 2012. Dominic’s fellowship is supporting his attachment at the Zoology Department the National Museums of Kenya. As part of his fellowship, Dominic regularly visits a number of primary and secondary schools in his native area, the Kinangop plateau. In these schools Dominic organizes numerous activities related to the conservation of nature and environmental resources.

Dear all,

Welcome to the 2012 report for the schools and community activities in Kinangop! This year, much of my time was spent at the University in Nairobi, where I am finishing my University studies. For this reason, I restricted my work to few schools this year due to the pressure with my studies. We have had very good weather since late March. The rains came when they were supposed to, so there is a reason to be happy. The last few years the weather patterns have been very unpredictable.

Pupils answering questions in Ndunyu Njeru school

My work with the schools has been good, my visits to the classrooms concentrated on teaching the students basic elements of environmental conservation, such as the importance of tree planting and water resources management. I also focused on the conservation of the highland grassland, the most threatened natural habitat in Central Kenya, and the only place where several animals and plants can live. These include Sharpe’s Longclaw, a bird of which all of you have heard about, and which is often the main focus of my class lectures. I have remained focused and I can say that we have made a good progress and the pupils are enjoying my visit to these schools. In the last three months I have visited the following schools: 

• Kimuri secondary school
• Hanjo Academy
• Ndunyu Njeru
• Plain Hill
•  Mwihoti

Besides teaching in the class, there were also other schools activities that pupils were engaged under my guidance, especially music festivals’ that took a lot of time. I also helped in organizing several other activities in the schools, such as tree planting and clean-up exercises. 

In Ndunyu Njeru Primary school we planted trees and watched an environmental film on trees. Ndunyu Njeru Primary School is in the upper catchment of Malewa river which feeds lake Naivasha. In this school we are promoting agroforestry and catchment restoration. We planted over a hundred indigenous trees.

World Environment Day at Murungaru Township

The World Environment Day is a big day in Kenya. It was held on 5th June 2012. The climaxes of the cerebrations were done in Murungaru Township. We had over 500 people who attended the World Environment Day 2012. The main activities in Murungaru Township were collection of garbage, songs and speeches

With my best regards to you all, Dominic

School pupils during World Environment Day