The following are excerpts taken from Peter Luck’s (Campion School) blog. Campion was part of a composite team made up of fives schools (Stanground, Stonehenge, Banbury and Woodford Lodge). Quite a handful for Leo Biles who was their expedition leader and by all accounts did a fantastic job (as did all the teachers and students [...]
Not so long ago, this 80,000-acre piece of land was home to a slowly failing cattle ranch. Overgrazing of cattle turned the fields to dust, poachers slipped on and off the ranch with ease, and squatters settled in, farming and building mud and thatch huts along the ranch’s critical rainwater basin.
Then in 1998 Wildlife Works took over the management of the ranch. They immediately moved the cattle from the land, began unarmed patrols to remove any snares set for wildlife, and worked with the local community to peacefully move the illegal squatters onto more prosperous farmland located outside of the wildlife corridor.
In only a few short seasons, the wildlife began to return; elephants first, then ungulates and then finally the predators, and Rukinga Sanctuary is now a healthy and balanced ecosystem with an abundance of wildlife that can live in relative security.
There’s very little to say when we have a series of spectacular shots, (most of which have been taken by Peter Luck, a teacher from Campion School) so I will let these pictures tell their own story about the red soils of Tsavo…
It takes a thousand wire snares to make this elephant, it takes one to kill it…
With over 80,000 acres to protect, the rangers are critical to the survival of this fragile ecosystem. Last year, we built one rangers post and this year our teams are assisting to lay the foundation of another.
And the view from above…
And just one good reason why we do what we do…
One of the most satisfying aspects of what we do is seeing school teams, and gappers come back every other year. Some schools are traveling with us for the third time and often our camp managers tell us that so-and-so who was a Gapper or Lifer is back in the country came to say jambo. Wonderful! And then there are some really special ones that we just can’t seem to get rid of…
Jennifer Green came out in 2009 as an assistant teacher leader for Southfield School. A couple of months later she was back as a gapper and not just for one month but for five! (three of which she spent in Tanzania). As you can imagine it did not take much convincing to keep her for longer – what better person could we ask to help us as summer team program coordinator than Jenny. I asked her to write about one aspect of our program that I know is dear to her heart…
This season has seen the successful launch of Camp Imani (Imani is the Swahili word for Faith) located in Itinyi village, Maungu within the Voi district of Kenya. The Imani Women’s group was formed in 2002 and Camps International first worked with the group in 2007. Teams have previously spent a day of their trip at Tsavo working with the group helping improve the women’s facilities whilst the women have provided an excellent basis for cultural exchange for Camp Kenya visitors. For many though, a day clearly wasn’t enough to spend with the energetic and passionate members of the group, it simply had to be taken to the next level. Camp Imani was born.
In 2009 I had been one of the assistant teachers with Southfield School and therefore I was delighted to find out the camp was up and running, and even more excited when I found out that I was going to be given the opportunity to spend a few days visiting Camp Imani. Having arrived after sunset I was amazed to wake up in the morning to the stunning views of the 
landscape behind the campsite and was overjoyed to see Camp Imani in its full glory. The Imani women last year were such an inspiration to the Southfield students (and teachers alike) it was marvelous to meet up with Mama Mercy and discover that she, the chairlady of the Imani group, was acting as one of the project coordinators for Camp Kenya. She has taken on the role to ensure that a wide range of cultural and community activities have been carried out by the teams throughout the season. Activities so far have included: pea harvesting, bead making and corn pounding – the realization of how long it takes to pound and grind the maize into flour gave the teams (and me too) the time to reflect on the hard work that goes into preparing simple meals!
Imani Camp is located a short walk away from Itinyi Primary School and so far teams from Alice Smith, Manshead and Joseph Rowntree have been involved in the rapid construction of a new nursery classroom (special thanks to Alice Smith School who raised an additional £3,500 towards the construction of this classroom!). The women’s community ethos is clearly passed onto all of its visitors to the group and the teams are gaining an understanding of how the women are working to reduce poverty whilst breaking down gender barriers and stereotypes. I know now from having visited the group twice just how much of a difference the women are striving to make by the range of projects that
they are involved in – from growing mushrooms in elephant dung in a fight to reduce human wildlife conflict, to providing rooms to rent for students and teachers at the school. The interaction between school students, local adults and the visiting teams are all providing excellent opportunities for positive changes in the area. I know that I’ve certainly benefited a lot from my few short days at Camp Imani and I’m sure all the other visitors to the camp throughout the season will also do too. Here’s to a fantastic future for all at Camp Imani, the Imani Women’s group and Itinyi village as a whole!
