Letter to Global Vision International - Kenya/Taveta Construction Work and Safari holiday.
Posted:02 Feb 2010 16:03
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| Back in the UK just a couple days having spent an incredible few weeks with GVI and a community building project along with a water processing project for the village...and missing everyone in Kidong,Kenya near Taveta Kenya and Tanzania border. Our fearless leader Sara Sawa Sawa who is nothing less than amazing in what she has created and continues to do for the area….not to mention the red endless dirt roads of Tsavo and everything that is associated with life in the Taveta region. Ok, so how do you not “gush”? Well you just have to- it was all just too overwhelmingly beautiful. The villagers were the hardest working people I have ever seen in my entire life. We all became a team and a big family overnight. We were welcomed the very first morning with huge Jambo’s and smiles and then every single morning after that. Kenya is full of smiling welcoming people, something I won’t forget. GVI volunteers and the Kidong community worked together for a common purpose to reach a common goal; a sustainable alternative livelihood for Kidong’s community of ex-poachers and their families, resulting in a wonderful gift shop and restaurant for safari lodges to bring their groups to visit when on safari. This was especially meaningful because it was a choice and decision made by the community themselves and they were grateful for the assistance of GVI. And …it has been accomplished. The whole project was nearly complete in just 2 weeks- quite phenomenal when you think about it. But it had to be done- the village couldn’t wait, the wildlife couldn’t wait. Having contributed to this actively and this is “key” for me- that I actively contributed. We got to see it, we got to participate and we get to know exactly what the results are from all of it. We got to share in the celebration the satisfaction of selfless giving and hard work made exciting. When a few of us went on safari for several days afterwards, we had the opportunity to see exactly why our contribution was so rewarding. Kenya is a country that recognises its resources more and more and the Kenya Wildlife Service works very hard to promote education and training on protecting and preserving its wildlife. It recognises that Kenya’s touristry business would make a rapid decline if there were no more animals to see on safaris which are a huge business in itself and revenue for Kenya. I wondered about this when we drove for days looking for the “big 5”. Our guide said the animals use to be everywhere just 10 years earlier and they have become are fewer and fewer. But we already knew this, but you don’t really get it until you "get it." On safari we" got it". There was a sense of how fragile it all was, nature hanging in a balance. To understand this: Approx 2000 lions are left in the whole of Kenya. Every time one lion is killed for ANY reason it costs the economy/people of Kenya 1 million US dollars per year in touristry revenue! That's just 1 lion! Consider if you dare ALL the animals that go missing. For some reason the 200 dik diks poached per man per day sticks in my mind…. As I drove around in the safari truck standing up in the back looking at the endless beauty of the Amboseli and Tsavo horizons for 4 days I got it… I understood the urgency and determination of the project we just helped complete on so many levels; the village’s basic survival and the ability for its families to thrive just like anyone else who wants a good education for their children, clean water and security in their lives. GVI and all of us who participate in any of the programs are helping to give alternatives to very good and deserving people; to raise awareness and bring viable concrete solutions by the commitment of a lot of good folks. We worked hard but I’m telling you the people in the Kidong community worked dawn to dusk in a way that I will remember the rest of my life. Profound thanks to GVI and an outstanding job in every way and... for the time of my life…which is… just beginning. Chris Hartridge |
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