Visits with Local Schools and Agriculture Projects - Kenya Post #4

 

Obwolo Secondary School student assembly

Obwolo Secondary School was our first stop on our Wednesday visiting tour of several public schools who have participated in God’s Green Resourceful Earth tree planting projects on their campuses. We were overwhelmed by the gracious hospitality of the school staffs and the earnest attentiveness of their students.  

Renja Secondary School

Nyakakana Secondary School

Bishop Tom has worked with more than 30 secondary schools in the Nyanza Area to teach the students about caring for God’s creation.  Discussion of the importance of trees came up at each school assembly we attended.  Kenya currently has forest cover of only 8% nationwide, but established a goal in 2022 of 30% forest cover within ten years. The school students clearly understood they are the hands and feet of God in achieving this goal.

On Thursday, our group loaded the van and headed into the countryside, where we hiked to the six acres of land being cultivated by GGRE for sugar cane, maize, and vegetables.  Through a grant from the Power of One non-profit organization, the land has been leased as a regenerative agriculture demonstration site.  

One acre of the leased land is located adjacent to the

Nyando River, which will be a source of water for a vegetable garden once a new water pump is installed. The vegetables harvested from the garden will be donated to the local elderly population, as well as sold in the market so that profits can be reinvested in additional seeds.

A visit to beautiful Lake Victoria for a meal at an adjacent restaurant completed our day.

Visiting the Projects of GGRE - Kenya Post #3

 

Obugi Church in Kisumu, Kenya

Sunday, Sept. 8th began with our visiting group’s

attendance at the weekly worship service at Otieno Oyoo High School boarding school for boys on their campus in Kisumu, Kenya.  Several hundred boys in attendance

 welcomed our participation as we worshipped with exuberance and thanksgiving for all that God has provided.

Obugi Church was our next stop, where we were welcomed with open arms to worship with their close-knit congregation with time for scripture, singing, and praise. Having previously met under a tree, construction of their new sanctuary has not quite been completed, but the structure that exists was filled with the Holy Spirit during our time together.

We were blessed with the hospitality of Ruth, who welcomed us into her home to share a delicious lunch prepared by several of the women of the congregation following worship. We broke bread with the church pastor and several of the church’s elders.

A visit to the thriving God’s Green Resourceful Earth tree nursery, located on the

grounds of the African Inland Church (AIC) Nyanza Area Bishop’s Office, kicked off our second full week in Kenya. We had the opportunity to see in person the successful work being done to plant and nurture trees of many species for sale and distribution.  Many will be given to farmers, landowners, and schools.

We met the Bishop of the Nyanza Area AIC, Rev. Phillip Osenya, as well as the team that leads GGRE. The Bishop led us all in the dedication and laying of hands on the truck that was recently purchased for the GGRE program with the assistance of a generous donation from Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, TN.  The trucks makes possible the essential task of transporting of trees, plants, and materials for the GGRE program.

Our afternoon travels brought us to the Kenya Forestry Service at the Kenya Forest Research Institute in Maseno. We learned all about the tree seed and reforestation program managed by Joyce Cortina, leader of seed distribution, who has worked with Tom Ochuka and GGRE to help mitigate climate change through planting seeds for trees.

GGRE maintains a reforestation and regenerative

agriculture demonstration site at a farm owned and managed by Tom’s family in Awasi, Kenya.  On Wednesday, our group had the opportunity to visit the farm and learn about the trees, abundant vegetable garden, numerous chickens, and thriving apiary located on the property.  Much of what we observed was made possible through fundraising done through the GGRE partners in the United States. Tom’s family welcomed us graciously and provided a meal made of eggs and vegetables from the farm, such as sukuma wiki and cassava, for us all to enjoy

together.   We closed out our visit by planting passion fruit along the apiary fence line, envisioning its future blossoms will provide nourishment for the bees in their production of honey.

 

Masai Mara Safari - Kenya Post #2

 

From L to R: Tom Ochuka, Rick Randolph, Damar Ochuka, Joan Ochuka, Jo Randolph, Mindy Hidenfelter, Trisha Tull, Sajal Sthapit, Mark Lynch, Dennis (guide)

The third day of our friendship visit to Kenya began with a devotion led by Rick Randolph, with a focus on a reading from Isaiah 1:17 and a discussion about the injustice of environmental problems disproportionately affecting our economically disadvantaged brothers and sisters in Christ. We then headed out into Nairobi for another day of exploration.

A visit to the Nairobi National Museum in the morning gave us all some background on the rich history of the people of many tribal cultures who comprise the country of Kenya. From the brutal British colonization period to the present day fierce independence of a nation struggling to develop a unified identity, we were all given some important context for our time spent here over the next two weeks. 

In the afternoon, we were off to the Karura Forest for an ecotour of the forested oasis in the middle of a bustling city. In 1900, much of the native forest was cut down for fuel and then replanted with nonnative eucalyptus, pine, and cypress trees. Today, 64% of the forest has been restored to native species and work continues to remove the nonnatives. Animals making their homes in Karura include antelopes, monkeys, bush babies, jackals, Angolan fruit bats, bush pigs, and a variety of bird species. We were also given a tour of the adjacent tree nursery, where trees are grown from seed to plant in the forest restoration process.

A full day’s drive west brought us to Olkenyei Tent Camp, on the outskirts of Masai Mara National Game Reserve. This brought us to the location of our next adventure- a jeep safari on Friday.

In awe of wonderful creatures so nearby, there are no words to appropriately describe our experience in the 1510 sq. km. of Masai Mara. Here are a few of our group’s collective photos:

Masai giraffe at sunrise

Wildebeest

Thompson’s gazelle

African elephant

Lion cubs

Zebra

Water buffalo

God’s Green Resourceful Earth - Friendship Visit to Kenya

 

From L to R: Rick Randolph, Jo Randolph, Trisha Tull, Mindy Hidenfelter, Damar Ochuka, Sajal Sthapit, Tom Ochuka (not pictured:Mark Lynch)

Welcome to the next several Blog posts to follow our journey as a friendship trip to the beautiful country of Kenya. To learn about the God’s Green Resourceful Earth partnership’s background and mission, please read recent posts on the Inhabiting Eden blog written by Trisha Tull HERE. Presbyterians for Earth Care has been a supporter of the partnership since its inception in 2016, and now both PEC Treasurer Jo Randolph and PEC Coordinator Mindy Hidenfelter have joined the group of six traveling to Nairobi and then on to Kisumu, the location of the conservation projects carried out by the staff of GGRE.

Monday & Tuesday (Sept. 2-3) : Nairobi

Our week began with breakfast and our daily devotion. Trisha read to us from Psalm 139 and suggested that we come to the country of Kenya with receptivity, as everyone we we will meet is “fearfully and wonderfully made” and a gift to us in friendship. This set the tone for our stay in a culturally rich nation whose past includes the unfortunate influences of the paternalistic intentions of colonialism. Rev. Tom Ochuka and his wife Damar would be our gracious hosts during our stay in their country.

Our first stop was a visit at the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF). We learned from the staff of very friendly and accommodating experts of fascinating work being done in agroforestry gene banking, soil analysis, and conservation. A “Food Trees” project, developing portfolios of trees and crops for farmers for year-round fruit production, has proven to be especially successful. The “champions” are the extension workers who work directly with farmers throughout Kenya. These individuals are supported by non-government organizations, not the national government.

The next day was full of unique Kenyan wildlife and cultural experiences.  At the Nairobi National Park, we spent our morning enjoying a visit to the Elephant Nursery, where orphaned baby black rhinos and baby elephants are cared for until they are ready to be returned to the wild.

Afterwards, a quick visit to the Giraffe Center allowed us to experience a close-up view of the Rothschild giraffes which are cared for as part of a species breeding program.

We rounded out our second day in Nairobi as a group with a cultural experience at Bomas of Kenya. A series of traditional dances from the many ethnic communities throughout all the regions of Kenya, from the coast to the western parts, were performed to the beat of live drums. Each dance was explained to us in interpretation of traditional lives of Kenyans

.