Archive for the ‘Education’ Category
This is an update of The Colobus Trust’s efforts to expand our presence on the world wide web. Beyond our amazing blog with WildlifeDirect that is! We now are represented on facebook with a cause: And a group: We also have a Flikr group: And, of course, our website: It is through these mediums that we intend to raise our profile. They will all be updated frequently and along with our blog we can promote ourselves and keep supporters informed. For those of you that wanted to know the situation with the young Sykes we had in. When I spoke to Kerstin this morning I asked her how everything was. She said that the young guy was doing very well but unfortunately his surrogate mother has fallen ill. We sent Peter & Robert, two of our field assistants, to help her and she’s now on her way to the vet. The youngun though is happily muching away on her bananas! We will keep you updated and I hope to get some pictures for you all next week. Also, our work with KPLC is ongoing. We are still working towards them reducing the fee. Keep up the support, Gwili
It started as any normal day would. I was seated at my marketing desk in the hotel lounge and had just finished telling some potential guests about The Colobus Trust and our eco-tour when an old mama approached. I was just getting up to greet her in the usual manner of “Jambo, how are you?†when she reached out for my hands and seemed very sad. I went to comfort her and she told me why she was so upset. This lady had not only traveled to Kenya but also to other African countries in the past and it seems that although here in Diani we are conserving the Angolan Colobus in other countries they are not being conserved but killed to make rugs. The mama confessed to me that she had, without knowing the plight of these monkeys, bought one of these Colobus rugs, but now after hearing me talk about the Colobus Trust felt an enormous guilt. The most important thing is that she visited the Colobus Trust and then filled in some forms so that she could keep sending money yearly to the Colobus Trust. She also said she was going to go home and support other organizations which deal with the conservation of natural habitats. For me this was a great achievement because I knew that the information I had given somebody could help to increase and protect habitats to the benefit of all the people and animals that use them. Mary Mandela - Sales and Marketing
February 2nd is World Wetlands Day. This year on the Kenyan Coast it was celebrated on February 24th and the Colobus Trust was invited. I went to the event in Shimoni with another volunteer to take in the festivities. Registration and the opening speeches began a little late but after this minor hiccup the rest of the day was a blast. The theme was “Fish for Tomorrowâ€, highlighting the importance of sustainable fish resource management in coastal and wetland regions. As could be expected, the majority of the speeches were in Kiswahili and I missed some meaning but the message was clear. This coastal community is dedicated to maintaining fish habitat and ecology for future generations. This was abundantly clear when local schools did a performance competition consisting of theatrical plays, singing, dancing and group poetry. The passion of the students embodied the entire day. Participants also did a beach and road clean up. It was amazing to witness how much can be done when a large group of people gets together and works towards a common goal, even for a short time. At the end of the ceremonies and activities, members of the local Kenyan Wildlife Service took my fellow volunteer and me out for dinner with several other guests from the ceremony. We had a great meal and discussed conservation, global and local ecology and got to know each other a little better. Thanks to the organizers of World Wetlands Day, Shimoni for having us and arranging such a great celebration of these incredibly important ecosystems. Eric Neilson - Colobiologist
Three Colobus Trust staff members (Robert, Peter and myself) and a volunteer, visited Mkokoni primary school for an outreach school workshop. The outreach program is designed to educate the students on environmental issues and conservation in their local area. By Hamisi Pakiah.
This morning, together with Shelly Waterland, a previous manager who is currently working for Born Free Foundation in the UK, we visited Ngo’nzini primary school. The aim of the visit was to check on the school’s progress and to inform them that some grants that they had applied for, soap processing (Aloe vera), will be sent next week. Some BFF members who had earlier visited the school had agreed to sponsor secondary education for two students from this school. Shelly was also supposed to talk to the head teacher about this and if possible identify the students. We had a warm welcome from both teachers and the very excited students. The meeting was conducted in the main staff room and all the teachers were grateful for the funding and hoped to continue working with BFF. After some refreshments, three boys took us on a tour of their nature trail, (where we also had a chance to watch elephants in the nearby Mwaluganje community sanctuary) followed by singing and dancing at the school compound. Some kids pulled us to join in with the traditional dance, and it was great fun which we all enjoyed. By Hamisi Pakiah
Today was the grand opening of this new conservation project at Gazi Bay and the We arrived at Gazi Bay at around 09:30 which was the published time for registration. However we caused a great uproar because by Kenyan time we are at least an hour early!! So to while away the time we are taken to have sodas at the Kenyan Fisheries HQ before heading back to Gazi village and down a track to Mwahore Beach in time for the start of proceedings. We are honoured to find ourselves seated amongst the guests of honour under an awning at the edge of the beach with the most beautiful views in front of us. The entire local community seems to have turned out for the day in a colourful display of costumes along with many school children who keep the crowd entertained with songs before the start of the speeches. Understandably this is a very special day for them all as 100% of the profits made from the project will be used by the Gazi community to improve healthcare and education. There are several speeches from various dignitaries - The KWS area Chief, the Director and Chairman of KMFRI, the Chief conservator of forests, a representative from Overljse (a Belgian company who have donated a substantial sum of money to the project) and the District Commissioner. The final part of the day is to take a walk along the boardwalk, an impressive 300m walkway through the Mangrove forest All in all we had a fantastic day and despite starting a bit late it was well organised and We wish the Gazi Womens group every success with their new project! George, Christine, Jane, Lynne and Ben - Colobologists
Below is the 1st place poetry winner from our children’s competition at our 10th Birthday Party last week! World Without Trees by Mwanadmarii, Dama, Momo, and Ali If all trees die, if all trees go. The land will be brown and bare Soil erosion will be more and more And no plant will grow. If all trees die, if all trees go. Baboons, Colobus monkeys will daily wonder Where did our beautiful fruits go? Where shall we raise our young ones? If all trees die, if all trees go. Where shall we get our food? We shall get weaker and weaker Till we can jump no more. If all trees die, if all trees go. How unclean the air will be No beauty to cheer us up No shade, no shelter, what a shame. If all trees die, if all trees go. What will hold up the swing when the children want to fly and make their hearts sing?
 Colobus Trust is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year. To start our celebrations we invited all of the schools that we work with in this area to enter a poetry / essay writing / picture competition. We held the prize giving afternoon for this competition yesterday. Nine schools came with about 150 kids in totals, so we held all of the activities on the front lawn by the beach, where we have lots of space. Some of the schools had prepared songs for the day, which they performed for everyone. Then we presented the prizes. There were three competition categories - pictures, essays and poems - each with themes related to monkeys / trees / nature in general / conservation. The first prize winners won a school bag with a set of stationery inside (notebook, biros, colours, geometry set, sharpener, rubber, pencil)., and wildlife jigsaws for their wildife clubs. The second and third prize winners got a stationery set each. After prize giving we cut a huge 10th anniversary cake for the Trust, and finished off the day with an out-of-control football match on the beach with all children, teachers, volunteers and Colobus staff members involved! We had two broken toes by the end but everyone had a great time!
Costings for translocation of Colobus Trust facilities to new site
The plot that the Trust has been based at for the past 9 years is being sold by the landlords and it is very likely that we will have to move to a new site within the next three months. We have found an appropriate new site to rent but need to raise at least 17,530 $US to construct the necessary facilities at this new location. IF WE CAN’T RAISE THE MONEY FOR THE MOVE, THE TRUST IS IN GREAT DANGER OF CLOSING DOWN. CAN YOU HELP? THIS APPEAL IS URGENT If you can donate money, construction supplies, or labour services to help us with our move please email Jophie at jophie@colobustrust.org for more information.Below are the estimated costs of this building work. 2) Vet clinic 3) Quarantine enclosure 4) Visitors car park 5) Visitors and staff toilets 6) Shower room / toilet 7) Additional volunteer accommodation (permanent tent with thatched roof) 9) Office 10) Shop and education centre 11) Furniture 12) Nature trail 13) Paint 14) Additional costs TOTAL COSTS 1,226,370 KSH / 17,520 $US |
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Colobus Trust had been invited to send some representatives.
have to mention the amazingly good PA system considering it was on a beach with no electricity for miles around!
Store room
The Colobus Trust was established in Diani Beach, Kenya, in 1997 to save the endangered Angolan colobus monkey which was a frequent victim of roadkills. The Trust's trademark is Colobridges - bridges over the roads for save overpass. Gwili, a Welsh volunteer at the Trust reports on the day to day activities in an busy local primate conservation charity 
