The Tree Club Introduction

There is a lot to tell, so I'll break up these posts into a few different ones.

The school yard as you walk down the center walkway into the school

First, I'll explain a bit more about the project I'm working on now as I have a few more details since arriving.

It turns out I'm not working at the primary school, I'm working at the Girls' Secondary School, which is a boarding school for Kenyans. This is where we'll be planting the indigenous shade trees around the property for education and, of course, shade. I went to the school yesterday and introduced myself and what the plan is to the 'tree club'. That's right we have a club! There are fifteen girls that will be making the decisions on what trees we use and where they'll go. The idea is I will be a resource to help ensure the trees go in to the best spot possible, but as it is their school they need to be the decision makers. I have done the research and found the trees at the nursery on the farm (where we hope to take a field trip all together) and will teach them how to plant them properly and how to take care of them once they're planted. They'll be responsible for taking care of them until they are established. This way they'll live on at the school (the trees will be labeled with the name of the tree, its uses, the girls who planted its names and the year it was planted) as well as hopefully learn something.

A courtyard inside the dormitories we hope to make look like the secret garden.

The dream of starting a tree nursery and a garden are fading as there is only so much time until the term is over (November 18th). I'll still be doing some work on the woodlot around the sports field, but it is a challenge. It has poor drainage and already has trees growing. Ideally we would dig swales (trenches on contour with the slope) to capture some of the water draining down to the area that floods, but the trees already growing there cause a bit of a problem. It will take some problem solving but the solution may be to wait until the trees that have already been planted are bigger and plant underneath them. I guess that means another trip to Rongai in the future!

The original compost pile.

We have started a compost system at the school. The kitchen has been great about making sure to throw only compostable food and ash into the box. They had already started before I arrived, but we've worked on adding different things like dead grass and manure so that we get a really rich soil at the end of the process. It's been smelly work, but will be worth it in the end.




Another project we hope to initiate is a wetland garden. We hope to plant some bananas and bamboo in the area where the grey water from the kitchen drains in to, to make a lush landscape and use that water instead of losing it to the ditch beside the road.

My pants covered in black jack from walking around some of the fields. I still have to pick them all out.

There is a lot to be done and it's all very exciting work. Everyone is very positive and thankful when it comes to planting trees and I'm so glad I'm getting to be a part of it!