From the past few posts, it is evident that we have had a busy month and the Nice Place Foundation environmental sessions were the highlight of our environment outreach mission.

Through our partnership with the foundation over 60 young girls from across the country attending a leadership course at the foundation have been receiving training from CHD every Thursday and Friday for the last 4 weeks all in a bid to make them environmental champions.

To juggle their minds and get their hands dirty the superwomen, as they refer themselves to, have been engaging in indoor and outdoor activities including team-building exercises that aim to foster team spirit and cooperation.

In the true nature of CHD’s training script, the superwomen were divided into three groups namely Royals, Champions and Wisdomians and tasked to come up with a green sustainable project which they quickly adopted showcasing that each member truly lives up to their group name.

Champions adopted a plan to ban single-use plastics, set up a bean-growing kitchen project and conduct environmental advocacy through a website created from scratch by their coding skills.

Wisdomians are on a mission to reimagine plastics and give them a new life. The girls are keen on advocating for better plastic disposal by collecting plastics from Kimana town in Amboseli and upcycling them.

While Royals are dedicated to restoring the Amboseli ecosystem. With the goal of overcoming overgrazing, our mentees are planting and nurturing Boma Rhodes and Napier grass.

We look forward to joining the students in the remaining 3 weeks of our sessions as we continue to empower them into becoming environmental champions.

A special thank you to Nice Place Foundation for seeing the necessity to have such a program and for empowering young girls to become better versions of themselves.

Project Implementation and Field Trip as of 29th June 2023

Champions have already established a bean-growing kitchen project to provide food and improve soil formation and texture. In addition, they are currently using their coding skills to create a website for environmental advocacy.  They have also drafted a letter that seeks to ban the use of single-use plastics at the foundation and are awaiting submission and approval.

For their field trip, the young mentees soaked up knowledge from our sustainability projects manager for their model kitchen garden project. With hands-on learning from planting trees to watering plants, potting new seedlings and pricking, shaping them to become true stewards of nature.

The Wisdomians embarked on a meaningful field trip to Kimana town in Amboseli, spreading awareness about the harmful effects of improper plastic disposal and collecting plastics along the way. In the dumpsite and on the streets, the team worked tirelessly, with the vision of a greener future.

By upcycling and repurposing plastics, the Wisdomians are reimagining their potential and reducing their harmful impact on our planet. But we’re not stopping there! The team has gone one step further to push awareness of plastic pollution by launching the campaign on social media.

The Royals are on a mission to overcome overgrazing in the Amboseli ecosystem. To curb the ongoing depletion of nutrients from the soil, they are keen to educate the Maasai community on alternative ways of creating animal feeds. This will not only restore the ecosystem but also prevent soil erosion and provide a habitat for wildlife.

The excitement was palpable as they learned the art of growing Napier grass and boma rhodes at Empiron Saigilus Farm. In addition to the invaluable knowledge they gained on preparing sites and establishing grass banks, they received samples to kickstart their restoration project.

Finalization of Projects and Graduation 28th July 2023.

On Friday 28th July, a team of assessors formed by CHD Conservation Kenya and Nice Place Foundation, inspected and awarded marks for the sustainable green projects done by the three teams that were undertaking our environmental sessions.

The assessors included KWS Amboseli deputy warden Mr Jirma, Mr David Onsomu from Loitoktok Education Office, T.Njue, Deputy Principal of Maasai Technical and The Hermans, guests from the Netherlands.

From the Royals’ Boma Rhodes grass-growing project that sought to address overgrazing in Amboseli, to Wisdomians’ upcycling plastic project that lead to the making of a variety of products including dustbins and home decor items and champions’ banning of single-use plastics at the foundation the assessors were utterly impressed with the project’s practicality and demonstration of environmental consciousness.

What followed was a beautiful Maasai-themed graduation ceremony where the girls were awarded their hard-earned leadership certificates after 9 weeks of intense leadership training.

CHD Conservation Kenya congratulates all the incredible girls, we know that the Journey has just begun and we can’t wait to see the positive impact they will make as leaders and environmental champions.

We highly appreciate Nice Place Foundation for giving us an opportunity to mould the girls into environmental champions and guiding them through the development of their green sustainable projects which have left an indelible mark at the foundation and soon in their communities