Please find below the latest statement from the Kenyan government regarding the drought in the Horn of Africa. If you have any questions please contact the UK office on 0844 800 1127

STATEMENT ON DROUGHT SITUATION IN KENYA

 

28^th July 2011, Leah A. Gwiyo CBS, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism

 

As reported widely across the media, the horn of Africa is currently experiencing drought which has caused hardship to many people in the region. 2011 has been the driest period in Kenya, recording the lowest rainfall in many years.

 

Affected areas

The Northern and Eastern parts of Kenya are arid and semi-arid areas with minimal rainfall annually. Unfortunately, this year the region did not receive any rains at all making them the hardest hit areas by the drought. The affected areas include Garissa, Wajir, Moyale, Isiolo, Marsabit and Mandera.

 

Assistance

Together with various Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) and donors, the Kenyan government through various ministries has mobilised resources to supply essentials such as food, water and medication to help the affected people.

 

Tourism not affected

The drought has affected specific areas and regions, however most other regions have received adequate rainfall and expect bountiful harvest. Tourism activities in these and other parts of the country are going on as usual. Hotels and lodges around the Maasai Mara region are recording impressive bookings as tourists continue to flock to witness the on-going annual wildebeest migration. Other tourism products in Western, Rift Valley and Coastal regions among others are also reporting impressive bookings.

 

It is also important to note the hotels and lodges distributed across the country have a plentiful and constant supply of water. There have been no reports of hotels running out of water as most of these facilities do not depend on rain water.

 

KWS Intervention

The affected areas of the Northern and Eastern regions have few tourist facilities, National Parks and Game Reserves. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) – the government body mandated to conserve and manage Kenya’s wildlife has done the following under the emergency intervention programme;

 

·         Water supply – KWS has started supplying water to the parks/reserves for the animals in the affected areas. KWS has built bore holes for a sufficient supply of water in these areas not only for animals but communities within the vicinity

·         Providing hay grass to the herbivores especially the elephants and giraffes

 

The above measures have helped maintain the national order of wildlife population in the parks in the affected regions.

 

On behalf of the Kenya government and the tourist sector let me reassure our visitors that Kenya is ready and able to receive tourists. Kenya is a land of diversity with plenty of tourism attractions to sample and it remains of vital importance that tourism continues to flourish.

 

 

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We asked a few of our past travellers to comment on their Camps experience here's what they said:

The most amazing thing for me was to see what a difference I could make to a community... we went back to one of the schools we helped out at towards the end of our trip to give them some books that we had bought for them and check up on some of the work we had done at the start of our trip. Just seeing their faces light up when they saw us was the most incredible and exuberant feeling imaginable.
 The expedition gave me not only a second family with the people I went with (I'm still good friends with the ones I didn't know at the start) but a wider scene of what was going on around me. Since coming back from the expedition I have become a school house captain and the leadership skills developed in Tanzania have been invaluable to me. The expedition also helped me get a job as a Lifegaurd in a local pool as they were impressed that i had been able to not only raise the money but also been driven to make a difference.
In a way I don't want to recommend an expedition... purely for the selfish reason that I want to go back soo badly. Tanzania was the most fantastic month; it had it's ups and downs (namely toilets) but that's life. Being on a camps international expedition allows you to open your eyes and see another way of life that you have missed. Its not easy, but not for a millisecond would I regret any of it. The experience of Tanzania starts right from the moment when you think 'i wonder what Tanzania is like' of course then you go home and google it and you're hooked; everything about it draws you in. Its a once in a lifetime experience but it feels like a lifetime of its own, if that makes any scene. Its isolated and you learn to live with people who you have never met before. You also learn how to shower in a bucket and talk Swahili.   
 There was a girl in my tutor who had gone in a previous year and it was, seriously, all she talked about it. The massi, colors, language, people everything she could relate back to that time in Tanzania. But although it was exceptionally annoying i felt so jealous that she had got to do all these things that i desperately wanted to go... So i started researching into how I could get to go to Tanzania, i looked at loads of different companies but none of them offered what I wanted, a real diverse experience of Tanzania, not the tourist hot spots, real life. Then along came Camps. I had heard of it a couple times before when looking at various companies but never in detail. The real thing that made me choose Camps thought was an assembly given to my school year about what would be doing. The guy talking was so passionate and enthusiastic that it was hard even for the people who decided not to go to say they weren't envious. So that's what did it, for me i mean. I wanted to go with an organisation who felt as passionate about Tanzania as i felt.

Thanks Guys

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Yup, we are just going to keep planting and planting and planting and...

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It struck me in a taxi on the way to the airport this morning – how does this city keep moving with such chaos occurring on the streets all around me.  I have just spent two days dashing around Saigon, or Ho Chi Min City to give its more modern name.  The purpose of my visit was to speak with some of the schools in the city – 3 of them have just completed short trips with us over the past 6 months and 3 of the schools had expressed an interest in starting up service orientated experiences.  It is always a bit stressful dashing from meeting to meeting, in the intense heat, always in a taxi with a driver who assures you in very broken English he knows exactly where the next appointment is, and blatantly doesn’t.

Anyway, during this dashing around, and mainly on the dash to the airport this morning, it hit me square between the eyes – how does this city continue to keep moving amongst the chaos.  2 wheels are the preferred method of transport amongst the populace – well perhaps that is inaccurate, a nice air conditioned car might be the preferred option but is unachievable on the average Vietnamese income.  And so its onto 2 wheels and perhaps they really do prefer it because 2 wheels seem to have priority over 4 (2 wheels good, 4 wheels bad to twist a quote from a group of 1980’s pigs!).  Nowadays most 2 wheels are powered by an engine and not legs, although there are still plenty of bicycles amongst the throng.

But back to the chaos theory – everyone is moving on their own set route, dodging and weaving, thousands upon thousands of random journeys (not random to the person doing it, hopefully that’s planned or in some way thought out loosely), criss cross the city and the other plethora of journeys.  And when I say criss cross, I mean criss cross - inches away from each other in varying directions, at varying speeds, filtering across each other, horns blaring continuously……and yet no-one seems to collide, the city keeps moving, and you don’t see any of the rage and anger you might expect in other parts of the world.  And when I checked with my taxi driver about what time to leave for the airport and would we hit any rush hour traffic he said no, which surprised me since we were heading into the maelstrom at 8 in the morning.  But now I get it….the randomness, the chaos actually makes the city work.  In other big Asian cities (Bangkok and every visiting businessman’s nightmare, Jakarta) there is a semblance of order and hideous hideous jams.  But actually this order is superficial – it looks ordered with its lanes, signs, tolls and rules.  But scratch below the surface and people are actually ignoring the regimentation – they are pushing in, (constantly), and abusing each other – horns are less frequent but they are usually accompanied by some kind of gesture and look.  There is a serious lack of respect for others - they are simply an impediment for you to get on with your busy day.  And actually this is extremely common in the west where I grew up, no matter how big or small the town or city.

Now heading back into the apparent carnage of Saigon’s rammed streets.  So yes it does appear completely chaotic, random, messy and liable for disaster at any second.  However scratch below this chaos and you will find something……order!  There are unwritten rules and courtesies, people understand you have no choice but to drive your moped across 3 lanes of oncoming traffic to turn down a side street, and it works.  Cars stay in the centre of the road with the bikes on the right near the curb, cars slow to let bikes pass, the horns are gentle reminders to move a little to the left or right.  There is no anger or rage.  I suppose it’s a look of resignation or gentle acceptance that you need to push across in front of oncoming traffic – its just the way it is and there is no need to get all worked up about it.  Although you need to have nerves of steel or be a born and bred “Saigonese” to venture on the city streets.

And so based on this crazy randomness, Saigon works. Chaos is actually working very nicely thank you very much.  And so where does this leave us….what can we learn?  Well even though I see chaos working there is a time and a place.  My job is to plan, execute and manage safe and challenging expeditions and trips for young people.  And in doing this I don’t like chaos – I want everything planned, thought through and and “what if’d”!  So that is our challenge at Camps International – providing such a trip amongst the chaos – but the trip wouldn’t be such an experience if the teams did not see and experience the chaos first hand – so its all about providing the chaos but in a controlled environment.  Having said I like everything to be planned, I also recognise that randomness is an essential element of all trips – and it usually occurs in strange places, strange events when you least expect it, which sometimes are a nuisance but looking back that was what made the trip more interesting, away from the norm and the mundane.

We have a lot to learn from the streets of Saigon – patience, respect, acceptance are just some of them.  And so next time you’re stuck in a jam or perhaps wishing people would get out of your way or quit pushing in and breaking the rules, wherever you may be, just consider the chaos theory for life. 

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Hiya im just wondering that if your going on this trip if you want to chat as i want to get to know people im going with and it would be nice to establish some friendships :D

Thanks  from Louise xx

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April 22nd is Earth Day, it's only a few short days away! This year, Earth Day's theme is themed after A Billion Acts of Green: our people-powered campaign to generate a billion acts of environmental service and advocacy before Rio +20.

We intend to plant A LOT more trees than usual on April 22nd so watch this space

If you would like to take a pledge or do something small to mark the day, click HERE to visit the Earth Day website...

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If there is one thing everybody in the world knows about Kenya, it's the fact that we have THE BEST long distance runners in the world! No doubt most of you would have read the news that's buzzing across the papers about this weekends London Marathon.

Mail Online has this great story (click HERE for the full article)

A massive congrats to Emmanuel Mutai who won with the fastest time in the race's 31-year history and Mary Keitani who won the women's race!

It's an exciting year ahead for Camp Kenya as we prepare for this year's Sports Development Expedition and next years Olympics. Yes, we will definitely be doing our bit to make more runners like Mutai and Keitani...

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So during my time in Muhaka I met Juma Omari, he helped us build his Grandmother a new house.

We spent a lot of time talking about his dreams to be a pilot and this really stuck with me, that money was the only obstacle in his way, and he knew deep down he may never have the money to go to Secondary school let alone achieve his pilot dreams. So when I got home I spoke to Nicci and Neil, the owners of the theatre company I work for, Ariel Company Theatre www.arielct.co.uk

They agreed that we should raise the money for Juma, so on Friday, 15th of April, our young actors, did an african workshop. Due to their hard work and awesome performance we managed to raise over £300 pounds for Juma. It costs 16, 000 kenyan shillings per year for him to attend kinondo secondary school he now has all 4 years paid for.

So thank you Ariel Theatre Company, thank you to all the parents that supported their kids in this workshop and supported Juma and his education.

Going to Kenya was  humbling experience and I'm so glad that our students, who are 5 to 12 years old, took on board how important it was to raise this money for someone who not only lives in far worse conditions than us, but has to pay for his education; something we so often take for granted.

Also, massive thanks to Dipesh for all his support in making this happen! Go Camp Kenya!!

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Is anyone thinking about going to Kenya from 5th of January to the 29th of March 2012? Would like to start getting to know people that are thinking about going. Right now I'm not too sure if I am actually going away so would be nice to talk to a few people thinking the same!

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This year Craig David, Ronni Ancona, Lorraine Kelly, Scott Mills, Olly Murs, Dermot O'Leary, Nadia Sawalha, Kara Tointon and Peter White embarked on a 5 day trek across the Kaisut Desert, Kenya. This 100 km mission has raised huge amounts for comic relief and put the celebs through their most grueling challenges to date. http://www.comicrelief.com/news/2011-02/stars-sweat-it-out-desert-trek

Today Chris Moyles and Comedy Dave started their mammoth 37+ hour Radio show and Ant and Dec have been raiding TV shows all in aid of Comic Relief.

Inspired by what the celebs are doing this year? What are you doing?

With Comic relief looming closer, why don’t you get a bit more involved this year and go beyond the usual fundraiser activities? Make a real difference and volunteer abroad with Camps International. Volunteering will give you the chance to get your hands dirty and make that difference yourself and is a perfect way to benefit those communities in need and be able to see the results of the work you are doing.

“I have loved every minute of it and gained a different perspective on life. The best 28 days of my life. Hard work that made a difference, combined with the most fun, I’ve ever had.” – Charlotte Winckley, 2008.

You will find more information on the projects you can get involved with by clicking on any of our destinations:

Camp Kenya

Camp Tanzania

Camp Borneo

Camp Cambodia

and now Camp Ecuador.

The projects in each location will vary depending on the local needs of the communities and wildlife at the time, which means whatever you are doing, the difference and impact you are making is always adding a genuine and lasting value to the people that need it.

That’s got to be better than just raising money without seeing the benefits for yourself hasn’t it?

If you would like more info on our programmes or want to book yourself a place call either Hattie or Linda on 0844 800 1127 or email gap@campsinternational.com

Alternatively, if you want a more immediate response without talking on the phone you can get hold of Hattie via the online chat feature http://www.campsinternational.com/gap-year/index.html (you can see Hattie’s smiling face on the right!)

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