Our First Two Days in Nanyuki, Kenya. July, 2014

Maureen, Noble and I travelled to Nanyuki, Kenya to be part of a Trainer Workshop. Trainers, both experienced and new, were gathering to be part of a joint district (Gilgil, Naivasha and Laikipia)  workshop for the first time. We flew to Nairobi from Arusha on a quick 25 minute flight then made our way through customs at Jomo Kenyatta Airport before getting our phones new sim cards and data for our computers. We were picked up by Kimani at the airport and driven three and a half hours north east to Nanyuki town. Nanyuki is in Lakikipa County which encompasses many nature conservancies including Ol Pejeta and Mount Kenya.

Brainstorming session about EBB with Trainers.

We were met at the Nakumat, the Kenyan version of Walmart, by the Laikipia Central coordinators, Emily and Munga. Sammy from the Laikipia Wildlife Forum and Moses, the current EBB Kenya Country Coordinator and Ol Pejeta community education officer, also greeted us and helped us settle into our accommodations at The Oldhouse in Nanyuki. That evening we had dinner with Sammy and Moses then discussed the role that their two organizations play with EBB in Kenya and how the two groups can grow and work together. Currently the Laikipia Wildlife Forum is a partner with EBB in Laikipia County and the two groups have been working together with EBB facilitators delivering workshops for Laikipia Wildlife Forum. During our conversation we discussed how EBB trainers could work on environment projects through the ….. of Project Based Learning during the trainer workshop. We also discussed having  a game drive to Ol Pejeta to add the aspect of experiential learning that would allow the trainers to gain a first-hand knowledge of how their environmental projects could be tied to the syllabus and impact student learning.

Brainstorming Session with Trainers.

Our second day in Nanyuki began with a meeting with Munga and Emily to go over the schedule for the trainer workshops and determine the outcomes that we wanted to achieve. Most of the trainers attending the workshop have been active with EBB for many years and have a lot of experience delivering workshops. We wanted the next step to be designing new workshops with new topics, developing an action plan for program evaluation in Kenya and the individual districts, developing environmental projects, working on individual professional development plans for the upcoming year and the sustainability of EBB Kenya. Later in the afternoon we left our hotel and traveled to Mount Kenya College, 5 km out of Laikipia, the site of the workshops and our accommodation. We were very disappointed to find that the facilities were not ready for the workshops as the buildings were under renovation and promised areas were not completed. Maureen and I returned to the Oldhouse while Noble, Munga, Emily and Moses traveled to Naromoru Safari Camp 30 minutes away to check on availability and access for the four day workshops. Fortunately the camp was available and they would be able to get rooms and meals organized, the Gilgil trainers were able to be contacted and arrived at the safari camp in early evening then ate in the nearby town. Despite a rocky start to the conference the changes in venue were positive and appreciated by all EBB members involved.