Monday in Kisumu

We spent the whole of Monday in Kisumu meeting various people, below is a report

Monday 6th July

The first appointment on Monday was a meeting with the Mayor of Kisumu at the town hall. Howard had collected letters from the Mayor of Cheltenham, Lord Surgener and Lord Nigel Jones and we passed them to the Mayor. He very graciously received them and presented us with a Kisumu plaque for us to pass onto his counterpart in Cheltenham. He was encouraged by the letters we had delivered and told us how happy he was to see people connecting at a grass roots level. He did, however, tell us that he was disappointed that Cheltenham seems to have fallen behind its other linked cities in Germany, Sweden and the USA. He hoped that the links between Kisumu and Cheltenham will be revitalised at a Civic level in the future and will write to the Mayor of Cheltenham to express this optimism.

After our meeting with the Mayor we headed in an old seven- seater Peugot matatu to Kisumu airport. We had an appointment with the Meteorological department. We were hoping to get some insider opinion on the impacts that climate change is having in this region. We spoke with the Deputy Provincial Director for Meteorology – Berike Arera. He was very cagey not allowing us to record the conversation, he explained that he was only willing (or allowed) to discuss the data collected in Kisumu. He could not talk about climate change or long term trends and even though we pushed him quite hard he would not speculate on what the weather might do in the next few years. They are not involved in prediction.

He did explain to us however the traditional pattern in the weather here. Kisumu is almost on the equator, but this does not mean the weather is the same all year round. The weather here is affected by weather patterns in other parts of the world as these effect the winds converging or not at the equator, winds that bring in moisture from the Indian Ocean. Kisumu usually has a Long Rains season during April, May and June during which it can expect to receive around 50-70mm / day of rainfall. It then has a Short rains season in October and November. The temperature drops a little during these periods, at all other times it is hot and dry. Arera told us that in recent years there has a dramatic reduction in rainfall during both of the rainy seasons, he said that last year was below average and this year was lower again. This is a big concern as this is not a part of the world that copes well with drought conditions. When there is little rainfall crops fail and people get hungry, it is as simple as that. All around Kisumu we have seen evidence of this, there are fields full of failed Maize crops and the news is full of stories about predicted shortfalls in other crops.

Our day on Monday ended with a dramatic thunderstorm which lasted for around 2 hours bringing much needed rain. The wise residents here collect rainfall from their roofs when it falls. They use this ‘grey’ water to flush toilets and water any plants they may have in their compounds. Aby’s host, Michael, uses this water for his paper making business. This was the first serious rainfall we have experienced since we have been in Kenya, it was certainly very refreshing.

Environmental Education, Elsamere style!

Our last full day at Elsamere. Today St. Clare’s Secondary Girls School visited Elsamere. 55 girls in total arrived in two shifts (their 2 minibus did shuttle runs). It was great to watch Cliff Barkatch, our host, in action. Following on from a screening of ‘Born Free’ Cliff told the story of Joy Adamson, she was an inspirational woman. After that it was up to me to give a lecture on ‘Environmental Education’. I’d spent the previous evening frantically hashing together something relevant to say. In the end I talked about the need for us to explore the drivers of our behaviours, explaining how in the UK, our consumer obsessed society is driving climate change because of the over emphasis we place on the sign value of commodities. Climate change is observably having an effect here, now. We are on the shore of Lake Naivasha and there is clear evidence that the water level is falling. This is due to the extraction of water for agriculture, particularly to feed the 40 or so flower farms that flank the lake. While it is true that the flower farms are removing water too quickly in a classic case of ‘the tragedy of the commons’, the lake is also not replenishing itself because the rain is not coming. It is very possible that the droughts suffered in this region over the last two years are the result of climate change. This climate change is the result of the activities of Western cultures.

After a break for lunch and a boat trip, the girls gathered again in the main hall to be taught by Cliff about Natural resources. There is clearly awareness among the pupils of St Clare’s about environmental issues. They have developed a campaign of giving out green ribbons (similar to the ones used to raise awareness of aids and breast cancer) to encourage people to think about conservation and adaption to the changing climate. There is a large emphasis here on tree planting, to commemorate the visit of St Clare’s Cliff instructed a few of the girls to plant a tree in the grounds of Elsamere.

During the evening I headed out on a short bike ride, a mile or so down to the gates of Oserian (one of the biggest flower farms) and back. On reaching the gates of Elsamere I met Howard and walked with him up to the nearby township, in search of beer. Townships such as this have sprung up, completely unplanned, all around Lake Naivasha. Everyone was very friendly, the children, parrott fashion, all asked ‘how are you?’ as we walked passed them, not all of them were smiling and you can see why. The paths were rutted, sewerage spilled out onto the street, there is no running water and will probably never be any electricity. As soon as we left the main road we were met by Salom who enquired what we were after. ‘Beer’. He led us up through the very tight knit community until we eventually reached a small bar. We bought 6 bottles of Tuska and thanked him for his help before he led us safely back down to the road. When he’d met us he’d left his bike leant up against a shop front, advising me to bring mine with me. On returning he pointed at his bike saying ‘nobody will take it, I am a big man round here!’