Conservation Program Update - January Simba Scout Meeting

On Monday this week, the monthly Simba Scout meeting was held at the Chyulu Conservation and Research Center here on Kuku Group Ranch. The purpose of this meeting was not only to check in on the progress and work of the Simba Scouts, but to recap the achievements that were accomplished in 2013, and to give a presentation to these MWCT employees on the Chyulu Hills REDD+ Carbon Project. 

Joseph Lairumbe (above), MWCT's Conservation Outreach Officer, has been speaking and giving a presentation to many groups of community members of Kuku Group Ranch to inform them of this project, the importance of the project, and the benefits that it can produce for the community. The now informed Simba Scouts will be essential stakeholders in the acceptance of this project across Kuku Group Ranch, as they will effectively be able to communicate to their community members about the aims of the project, and the benefits it can produce.

Simba Scouts show off their new Chyulu Hills REDD+ Project t-shirts! 

To cap off the meeting, Conservation Managers, Lana and Dirk presented the Simba Scout Achievements for the year 2013. They included:

- Effectively tracking lions

- Taking their job very seriously by analyzing data sheets, even at home

- Encouraging community contribution to the lion project

- Training of 2 new Simba Scouts - whom have also improved their reading and writing skills tremendously

- Successful collaring of 3 lions

- Improvement of attendance to monthly meetings

- Monthly distance (walking) improvements

Lana & Dirk discuss 2013 Simba Scout achievements 

Conservation Program Update - Meetings & Collaborations

As you may know from our previous posts, the Conservation team here the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust has been extremely busy in the last few months. Not only has the lion collaring process been at the forefront of the efforts, but tremendous amounts of other work has occurred.

A large part of the success of the Conservation Program, is the collaboration that occurs with various partners and organizations. Over the past few months, the following meetings and works of collaboration have taken place:

MWCT Conservation Managers were invited by Stefano Desperati from IMMap to attend the International UNEP-Interpol conference on Wildlife Crimes in Nairobi on the 7th and 8th of November. At the conference, Stefano Desperati gave a presentation on data management and its' implications for conservation management. In this presentation MWCT was featured as a case study.

Further, Chris Tuite from Conservation International (CI) visited MWCT on the 24th of November to discuess the progress of the Chyulu Hills REDD+ carbon project. During this visit, Chris announced that the international law firm, Freshfields, is willing to do pro bono work to assist the partners in the development of the necessary legal agreements.

Joseph Lairumbe (MWCT Outreach Officer) speaking to the community about the Chyulu Hills REDD+ carbon project
at one of the Free Prior and Informed Consent meetings. During these meetings, community members were
informed about the project, and consent and support was given for the project. Community members also said
that they see the importance of the project and that they would refrain from charcoal burning and help MWCT
rangers to prevent charcoal burning and illegal logging on the group ranch. 

Christina Ender from Wildlife Works visited MWCT headquarters to gather information and to work on the Project Development Document (PDD) of the Chyulu Hills REDD+ carbon project.

And finally, a total of 18 community meetings were held across Kuku and Rombo Group Ranch to inform the community members of the Chyulu Hills REDD+ Carbon Project. In these Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) meetings the community and the local leaders gave their consent to the project.

MWCT Community Meeting

In late April MWCT hosted a meeting for all of its employees with the purpose of making sure everyone understands the aims and goals of MWCT's programs, how everyone is helping achieve these goals, and how it affects their communities.  Because we have a large number of employees and their individual tasks are often quite dissociated from the work of others in the Trust, we realized a meeting like this would be an excellent reminder of everything the Trust is accomplishing throughout the Maasai community.

All-employee meeting held in an Iltilal Village meeting hall.

Despite intense flooding due to heavy rains more than 50% of MWCT's 230 employees made it to the meeting in Iltilal Village, so it was a great success in that regard.  We began with short presentations on the Conservation, Health, and Education programs, and then opened the floor up for questions and comments.  Finally several community members told stories about how important the Trust was in their lives, and about the need to come together and be supportive of MWCT's activities.

Health outreaches like this one are one of many ways the Maasai benefit from MWCT's work.

The meeting was a great success because it allowed employees to get a true sense of the larger organization they are a part of, and to see the wide variety of ways the Trust is involved in the Maasai community on Kuku.  When our employees realize they are part of a wider group all working to improve the lives of the Maasai, they can travel home and spread this news to the rest of the Maasai.  Because it was such a good success, it was agreed we would hold a similar meeting every spring.

The kids at Kanzi Primary School also appreciate everything MWCT does!

MWCT's Community Involvement

Often this blog details the dedicated work of MWCT's three main programs in Conservation, Health, and Education, but it is important to remember one of the pillars of everything MWCT does: our involvement with the local Maasai community.  The Maasai of Kuku Group Ranch are the reason we exist, and they make our daily work worth doing.  In the past few months we've been honored to be involved in several important community events, providing excellent opportunities to remember why we do the work we do.

Three members of the Langata women's group display their beaded jewelry.

We've already detailed our adventures at the First Annual Maasai Olympics here, here, and here, and written about a celebration of a young women's group here.  We've also been encouraging the work of a women's group in Langata Village that has been crafting beautiful beaded jewelry.  Formed in 2009 when severe drought killed crops and forced families to search for alternative revenue, the group consists mainly of older women.  Our eco-tourism partner Campi ya Kanzi has graciously offered to help sell this jewelry in their gift shop, supporting the efforts of these local Maasai artists.

Village elders bless young women taking part in an alternative right-of-passage ceremony.

MWCT also collaborated with AMREF to sponsor a three-day workshop in Iltilal Village exploring alternatives to the traditional right-of-passage ceremony for young women, which involves female circumcision.  Over 200 young girls attended the workshop, where the dangers of circumcision were outlined and an alternative ceremony proposed.  On the third day this ceremony was held, with the entire Maasai community participating and the village elders blessing the young women.

Samson leading the community barazaa and explaining the new ambulance.

Finally, MWCT held a barazaa (community meeting) to announce the arrival of an important new part of the Health Program - an ambulance!  Nicknamed Anna (after its donor, Anna Kulidjian), this ambulance greatly expands the reach of our medical capabilities, and will allow for rapid transport of very sick patients, something that was previously impossible.  Samson presented the vehicale to the community and explained how it will be used; to cover costs and instill a sense of community ownership, there will be a small fee for emergency use.  It was well-received, and the Maasai are very happy with this new convenience.

A Community Health Worker examines our new ambulance.