With May 10th set to be the Tree planting day in Kenya it is treated as a holiday and most Kenyans don't get to report for work (ourselves included) but we are built different!
Other than making our environments look much better trees also help in:
Environmental Benefits: Trees absorb carbon dioxide, release oxygen, and help mitigate climate change by acting as carbon sinks.
Biodiversity Support: Trees provide habitats and food for numerous wildlife species, promoting biodiversity.
Human Well-being: Trees improve air quality, offer shade, reduce noise pollution, and contribute to overall mental and physical health.
As part of our commitment to REGENERATIVE TOURISM we partnered with one of our projects, JERICHO BOXING CLUB to conduct an open workout session in the nearby Kiambiu slums and then finish up with a tree planting exercise to close off the day which was to also double up as a sensitization exercise to dissuade youths from engaging in drug use and crime as statistics gathered the world over suggest that youths from such humble backgrounds are the ones who are most at risk to fall for the aforementioned vices.
One thing that heavily influenced our decision to choose Kiambiu as the location for this exercise was that one of our boys from the boxing club (a 16 year old who hails from this area) got ganged up on and beaten by other boys when he was ferrying some foodstuffs home from the area chief's office courtesy of a charity food drive exercise from the Nairobi Governor's office and they took the food from him. After the scuffle our boy had an open wound to the head and he was taken to the hospital to get some stitches to help with the healing of his wound.
The slums are quite probably the toughest areas to grow up in largely because most of the dwellers have limited education resulting in most of them lacking employable skills meaning they have next to zero financial might thus most of the residents are forced to resort to providing menial labour services such as house-keeping, construction work, child minding and acting as security guards in some of the city's high-end estates at least to earn their keep.
The male youths are quite exposed to leaning into crime to create a source of income while the girls are exposed to early teenage pregnancies and even falling into prostitution in order to make a living in the same environment. Both the males and females from the slums are at risk of falling into the use of drugs to cope with the vagaries of everyday life.
When we arrived we found that the bridge had been washed away by the recent floods and another rudimentary make-shift wooden bridge had been built by a local youth group and they were charging kshs 10 (7 US cents) per person to everyone passing through. The previous day we had sought permission from the area chief but on the material day the officer-in-charge declined our request stating that protocol was not followed but in real sense it was local area politics at play (some of the police work in collaboration with the area gangs in return for a cut of the money raised from the activities happening in the slums) which meant that we couldn't get to conduct the exercise.
Though dejected we left with our heads held high knowing at least we tried to play our part, however small, in making the society better. Along with the members of JERICHO BOXING CLUB we made our way on foot back to Jericho Social Hall where the guys got to engage in a short training session and our C.E.O also joined in on the fun exercise!
After the training session, we got to plant some trees around the hall and I must say, the boys were much more enthusiastic than we expected with the energy they showed when it came to digging the holes and planting the trees!
These two guys below, Emmanuel and Chris are very good friends but when the boxing session starts the friendship is thrown out the window and the serious work begins!
This exercise surpassed all expectation in the sense that not only was it a successful tree planting exercise but also turned out to be a mentorship exercise with the boys getting to build up their confidence but them also learning the value of conserving the environment in general but specifically the one that they live in.
The end result will be young boys who will get to be leaders in their respective homes with a strong sense of the value of environmental conservation!
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