Upon arriving at the KENVO office on day one, Alex and Will were quickly ushered into the pickup and swept off to the site of a forest fire overlooking the Great Rift Valley. Forest fires like this one, they learned, were becoming quite frequent due to the drought plaguing most of East Africa. The rainy season was long overdue.
The next couple days were spent tracking down elephants in the Kereita Forest, filming tree nurseries, tea farms, income generating activities such as beekeeping and fish farms, community forums, youth debates, and much much more.
The highlight of the trip, however, had to be the trip home from the funeral service of the founder of KENVO's mother. Squatting in the back of the old pickup, Will's face told it all. Sheer agony. Instead of using the toilet at the funeral service, Will valiantly decided to suck it up and hold it until they got home. The ride was longer and bumpier than anticipated, and Will was brewing at a rate faster than anticipated - it didn't look good. Finally in Kimende, the town closest to Bernard's house, Will had one more obstacle to overcome... speed bumps. Kenyan speed bumps aren't your average humps in the road either, mind you. In it's most literal sense, Alex and Will can think of nobody to whom the saying, "You're making mountains out of molehills" better applies than the architect behind these monsters. Once at home, Will hopped out of the pickup, sprint-waddled over to the outhouse (a simple hole in the ground), and let loose. A few minutes later, he emerged from the toilet with a wild grin on his face. Due to the lack of any light in the outhouse, Will was forced to use his phone as a light source. After doing his duty, he proceeded to throw his toilet paper... and his phone down into the abyss below. Since Will had his phone on "flashlight" mode, a dim light could be seen twenty feet down through the small hole in the floor for the next couple days. But enough bathroom stories.
Will and Alex had a great time at KENVO and were truly inspired by the work they've been doing. The primary objective of KENVO is the conservation of the Kikuyu Escarpment Forest , some 1590 hectares. The most remarkable part of KENVO is that they came into existence purely through community action, and their realization that something had to be done about the rampant deforestation plaguing the forest.
The office
Walking up to the fire
climbing...
Another forest fire sprang up inside the crater of this dormant volcano
A funny mural at one of the schools we filmed with KENVO. Click on it if you can't read it.
The tea farms were quite beautiful
Quilted hillside
A woman picking tea
Will hard at work
