COMMUNITY OUTREACH MONTHLY REPORT
September 2016 SUMMARY: In September 2016, the DSWT hosted four wildlife video shows and three school trips. Additionally, the Community Outreach team carried out maintenance with local farmers of the beehive fences funded along a border of Tsavo East. The DSWT is running a high school scholarship in collaboration with Children Conservation for the best performing and most needy children in the Tsavo Conservation Area. To ensure that sponsored children are faring well in school, the Community Outreach team conduct regular visits to the respective schools to talk with the teachers about the children’s academic performance and their general welfare. The DSWT also organised the annual Tsavo Kerrigan Cup this month, sponsored by the Waves Trust, and hosted by Sowa Primary School. This annual sports event including football and netball competitions brings together four primary schools (Gimba, Mosi, Sowa and Kalambe) and is located on the South Western border of Tsavo East National Park.
SEPTEMBER 2016 SCHOOL FIELD TRIPS
Children living in communities bordering the parks do not get the chance to visit Kenya’s wildlife reserves and parks, as in most cases park entry fees are unaffordable. For over a decade the DSWT is continuing to fully sponsor school children who live in wildlife areas on a trip into either Tsavo East or West to learn about wildlife and their natural heritage. Both primary and secondary school children have benefited from this program, learning about environmental conservation from a young age, which works towards creating a generation of conservation conscience people.
SCHOOL TRIPS Makutano Primary Trip 1 Makutano Primary Trip 2 Mbetwani Primary Trip 1 TOTAL
DATE 12th Sept, 2016 15th Sept, 2016 9th Sept, 2016
STUDENTS 25 25 25 75
TEACHERS 3 3 3 9
SEPTEMBER 2016 WILDLIFE FILM SHOWS
The DSWT hosted four wildlife film shows in four different schools located on the south western boundary of Tsavo East along the Athi River. The program reached out to 769 (teachers and students). The film ‘Elephants of Tsavo’ is made in an easy to understand local Swahili language, showing the threat of poaching of elephants and elephant population trends in Tsavo over the last 30 years. The film also highlights the conservation work of the late David Sheldrick in the Tsavo.
Name of School
Film
Date of Film Show
Makutano Primary School Mbetwani Primary School Mavindini Primary School Metava Primary School
Elephants of Tsavo 8th Sept., 2016 Elephants of Tsavo Elephants of Tsavo Elephants of Tsavo
11th Sept., 2016 13th Sept., 2016 22nd Sept., 2016
TOTAL
No. of Audience 147 254 200 168
769
SEPTEMBER 2016 BEEHIVE FENCE
The DSWT is currently helping to protect seven farms from elephant incursions using beehive fences. With the ongoing drought in Tsavo there have been minimum bees colonising the hives in recent months as bees need a lot of water to cool the hive and dilute the honey they feed to the young ones. Additionally, during droughts, plants produce fewer, and shorter lasting flowers. In September, working together with the farm owners, the Community Outreach team have regularly carried out hive maintenance with the farmers tending to the hives including dusting and removing pests. There is a forecast of short rains in the coming months so in response to this, the team have also helped the farmers to re-wax all the hives.
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is reliant on your kind support in order to keep our community outreach projects running. For more information about these projects please visit www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.com/community or email info@dswt.org