July proved to be a month of many firsts as we hosted our first international volunteer Lena Star Hensen hailing from Vermont, USA. The second-year international relations student from Brown University volunteered with us for a week and had an experience of a lifetime.

Upon arriving in Amboseli, Lena was warmly welcomed by our team and was immersed in a variety of projects among them, carrying out our first qualitative field research, where she got the opportunity to interact with community members of Lemong’o as well as explore their culture and traditions.

At our Carbon Restoration & Conservation Education Centre, she rolled up her sleeves and nurtured seedlings with the guidance of the site manager Arnold Oricho, ensuring they were ready for planting and would contribute to CHD’s goal of restoring the Amboseli ecosystem.

Lena’s commitment to empowerment extended beyond environmental conservation as she gave a powerful talk to 60 girls attending a 9-week leadership course at Nice Place Foundation.

After her one-week stay, Lena bid farewell to Amboseli and expressed her sincerest gratitude to CHD for the opportunity and the positive impact the organization is making in creating environmental stewards in Lemong’o.

‘I initially did not grasp the meaning of People Cented conservation but after visiting CHD interacting with the community and seeing the positive impact CHD is making across Lemong’o I now understand what it means to be people-centred and the merits of involving ordinary people in the conservation conversation’ said an inspired Lena during her farewell party.