By Mary McCarthy | Project Development Officer
In the first two months of this year, we have revisited each tree planted in 2018. Doing so enables us to collect data, offer supplementary training to our recipients, and tweak the method of planting. This monitoring and evaluation aids us in truly seeing what we’re doing right and where we need to improve. During times of drought, these activities are where it’s best to focus our efforts. Also, without rain, it is crucial to deliver water to freshly planted trees. Despite a continuous struggle with our unreliable vehicle to transport the water and ourselves to the sites of the trees, we are happy to report an 83% survival rate for 2018 trees monitored after three months!
We have observed more frequent droughts with less recovery time in between. Because of the lack of rain, recently many nearby crops have failed, wells dried up, and we have found that people are traveling from ever farther distances to access the water we supply free of charge here at Sadhana Forest Kenya. On Sundays, women and children carry their laundry up to 5 kilometers and spend the day outside of our Community Agro-Forestry Learning Centre washing and conversing. Resinoi, our front gate attendant, relays to us the gratitude that everyone has for this water supply; sometimes it is the only clean water available for dozens of kilometers and, for some people, not having it might mean death.
Regardless of the hardship of drought, we are surrounded by a loving, supportive Samburu community with an eagerness to learn and improve the situation. Recently, after a tree planting and training session at a school, a group of local students presented some of our techniques and ideas at a Science Fair in nearby Maralal. They were particularly interested in the concept of bio-mimicry and how it can relate to tree planting in dry areas. We are so excited to have inspired the local youth!
A big thank you to our volunteers and the Global Giving community. If you are interested in providing us further feedback concerning our project, finding out more about our activities or area of operation, or would like to volunteer with us, please contact us here or email us directly at kenya@sadhanaforest.org. We also strongly encourage you to provide feedback at the end of this report.
Ashe Oleng! (Thank you very much in Kisamburu)
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
