More information from Earthwatch about the CRI in Samburu

I recently received an email from Earthwatch that provided an update about their various CRI projects. There was an article about the severe drought in the Samburu region and how the project has been working to help the region. I've copied the text below, but the entire text (with information about the CRI's in general and the various CRI projects in particular) can be found here.

Samburu: Conservation Partners Meet in the Rain

This year was marked by severe drought in northeastern Kenya. Families whose wealth is measured by the number of livestock they own went from having 400 cattle to 4. Herders moved their cattle to protected forested areas on the top of mountains to find any remaining pasture, and when that ran out, they climbed the trees and cut down braches to provide the leaves to their cattle. Shortly thereafter, the rains fell in amounts that people do not remember occurring before. Since there was no grass due to drought and grazing to help absorb and slow down the water, it ran across the landscape, creating flash flooding and erosion.

In the middle of these rains, 55 partners, scientists, and community members managed to arrive at an Earthwatch workshop in Isiolo. Some of them had walked 40 kilometers in the pouring rain to arrive, while others were receiving news that their camp had been carried away by a river. Yet from April 6-7, 2006, the participants shared their research findings and community needs to improve the livelihoods of the people and wildlife living in the area. Recognition of the impacts of the drought on the region brought natural resource understanding and management to the forefront of discussion. Initial research findings from Earthwatch teams were presented in terms of how their findings about natural resource management can be turned into action by the communities. Dr. Alex Njue, of the Communities, Water, and Wildlife and Wildlife Habitats projects presented preliminary results from the water project, finding that water quality in the region is generally low, especially due to fecal contamination and land degradation caused by animals, but that the boreholes were the cleanest of all sources. The data, which he expects to be completed next year, will help communities identify and map the best water sources for humans, livestock, and wildlife. The project has already prevented an outbreak of cholera by detecting contaminated water, and containing it before it affected the general population of approximately 142,000 people. Results from the two Grevy’s Zebra projects have found that the endangered Grevy’s Zebra prefers to water from 8-10am. If they must compete with cattle for the water at that time, they will return at night, and be open to lion depredation. As PI Joseph Kirathe said, “The take away message for conservation is that possible mitigation is to water cattle later in the day.”

Results from all the projects will also contribute to the establishment of community conservancies in the pastoral area. These organized local communities have legal jurisdiction over the zoning of their land. The conservancies are determining which parts of their land will be used for settlement, grazing, and preservation. They recognize that by having zoned areas, there will be less competition for pasture between wildlife and livestock. Zoning will also allow the land to recover to its natural state, providing a crucial emergency pasture resource during severe drought. Titus
Letaapo of the Namunyak Wildlife Conservation said the community conservancies
“want to get reports from the scientists to identify those areas. The data could be used for wildlife management plans.”

Earthwatch scientists are eager to help the communities apply their findings, but data must be collected first, which requires the hands-on work of Earthwatch volunteers. With volunteers, data collection is increased, seasonal fluctuations can be understood, and the communities can have answers to their environmental questions.

The Samburu CRI is comprehensive and constantly evolving. There are six research projects, two research centers, and many partners and communities involved. Even if you’ve already been to a Samburu CRI project, come back and help out from another angle!

Meeting people from Kenya

Last night, I was invited to the Scituate Rotary Club meeting to meet 3 men from Kenya. (Some of the members had seen the article about me in the Patriot Ledger and decided to contact me.) The Rotary and a local church are involved in helping the Lutheran church in Kenya with clean water projects, and the 3 gentlemen were in the area as part of a 3-week tour of the US to talk to the Scituate Rotary Club about the water situation and the church's involvement in trying to find solutions. I learned a lot. Two-thirds of Kenya is arid or semi-arid land, so water is very scarce. The bishop who spoke talked about meeting people who walk 2-3 days each way to collect water, people who will ask you for water before they will ask for food or money. He also described how difficult and expensive it is to drill for water in those regions. Finally, he talked about the prevalence of typhoid in the country. The men were familiar with the Samburu region, and they even know a pastor in the region that they are going to try to have me meet while I am there. It was wonderful to meet some people who know where I am going. Hopefully I will be able to see them when I am in Kenya. They were very nice people, and I would like to be able to share my experiences with them. The Rotary Club members were very welcoming as well. We had a wonderful meal and good conversation at the Scituate Country Club, which is a beautiful location. They were very interested in what I will be doing there, and because many of them had never heard of Earthwatch, I was able to explain about the organization's mission to many people. They have invited me to come back and speak to them after my trip, because part of my work will involve water sources, their use, and their safety. All in all, it was a very pleasant evening. I enjoyed meeting new people and learning more about the country I will be visiting.

Getting my shots

Greetings from the human pincushion! Actually, getting my travel shots wasn't all that bad. I went to the travel clinic at South Shore Hospital, where a very nice nurse practitioner helped me figured out what I needed. In the end, I only needed three shots: typhoid, hepatitis A, and rabies. The hep A shot was the second of the series, because I'd had the first one when I was in the Peace Corps. I'd also had rabies shots in the Peace Corps (the first 3 were pre-exposure, and then I got the last 3 because my cat bit me and my friends freaked me out until I got on a taxi-brousse and went to see the Peace Corps doctors in the capital), so I just needed a booster shot of that. Hopefully I won't be bit by any lions, but I'm ready now in case they have rabies! As for the typhoid shot, that vaccine only lasts 2 years, and I'd had it almost 7 years ago, so I needed to have it updated. None of the shots really hurt badly; I used to be terrified of shots until I had to get so many in the Peace Corps, and this nurse practitioner was very good. All the same, just in case they were painful, I focused all my energy on telling her about the Adventure Club hiking trip. Now I just have to hope that my arms don't hurt as the night goes on; I remember some of them being very painful when I was in the Peace Corps! However, the nurse practitioner said that they usually hurt less when you already have some immunity built up, which I do because of the previous shots. To minimize any problems, however, she put 2 in my left arm and 1 in my right arm, because I'm right handed.

Along with the shots, I also got 2 prescriptions. One is for anti-malaria drugs, while the other is for an antibiotic. The antibiotic, Cipro, is just in case I get a bad case of diarrhea. The anti-malaria drug is more important. There's been a change in these type of drugs since I was in Madagascar. I took Meflaquin back then, but now I'll be taking Malarone, a newer drug. Instead of taking the medicine once a week like Meflaqin, I'll only have to take Malarone every day, starting 2 days before I leave and finishing 7 days after. I didn't have too many problems with Meflaquin, although my dreams were perhaps a little more vivid than usual. At least they weren't violent dreams like some people have! Malarone is supposed to have fewer of those side effects, which is why it is more commonly prescribed now.

One other cool trip-related thing happened today. I had a phone interview with a reporter from the Globe South. He said they'd print something about me "next Thursday." So I'm definitely going to have to keep an eye out! I had heard from the editor before asking for a picture that they could use in their "People" section, so I had Mrs. Shannon take a picture of me in our classroom. I sent it off to them, and then I heard from the reporter today. It was kind of fun to have a bit of an interview; he asked about how I got involved, the programs I'd be doing, and how I'd use this in my classes. If anyone spots the article when it's printed, please let me know!

Press Coverage

There was an article about me in the paper yesterday! Mr. Edson brought me a copy of the article from the May 9 Patriot Ledger at the play rehearsal last night. It was such a surprise! As part of my fellowship, I had to write a press release and send it out to local papers. I emailed my press release to a bunch of different editors and reporters at various papers last weekend, but I didn't hear anything at all from the Patriot Ledger in response. I really wasn't expecting to have it be so easy to get press coverage for my trip. There doesn't seem to be an online version of the article anywhere, so I can't share it easily with all of you here, but I will be glad to show the print copy to anyone who would like to read it.

Video Recommendation

Thanks to Ms. Corriveau (who called and told me that the show was on PBS on Saturday morning), I discovered a great video about lions in Kenya this weekend. The Nature series on PBS has an episode called "Vanishing Lions" that is all about conservation efforts centered around lion populations in Kenya. It was so great to watch it and get some idea of the issues that the researchers I'll be working with face in their work. A lot of the video focuses on the Laikipia region, where I will be, and on the efforts made their to keep lions from killing livestock. In areas where there is not enough game, lions will sometimes turn to attacking livestock, which are kept in pens called "bomas" at night to protect them. The small herders (like the Samburu or Maasai peoples) tend to kill any lions that attack the bomas; commercial livestock owners on large ranches tend to tolerate a few more losses, but if a lion becomes used to the easy prey in the bomas, the ranchers also kill the lions. This is part of the problem that the Carnivores in Conflict project in Samburu is trying to stop, because the lion population in Kenya decreased dramatically in the last couple of decades. The Nature episode does a really good job of highlighting these problems and showing the efforts that are being made to save the lions. I think it really helped add to my background knowledge for this trip, and I highly recommend it.

Unfortunately, WGBH won't be airing the episode again any time soon, according to the station's website. You can find out more about the episode and order the video or DVD at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/vanishinglions/. Hopefully, my parents taped all of it for me when it aired in Maine yesterday (I missed the first 15 minutes), so I might be able to show it in classes if we have time. The episode was only produced this April, so the local libraries do not carry it at this point. Still, I recommend watching it if you're interested.

Another upcoming Nature episode that I'm hoping will give me some good information is called "Chasing Big Cats." (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/bigcats/) According to the website, WGBH will be airing this on June 21 (ch. 44, 10pm) and June 22 (ch. 2, 1am).

Happy viewing, everyone!