Once off the Malula - Ngarenanyuki road [sign post King'ori], the tracks are narrower and less negotiable, even sometimes muddier! The tracks are more for the convenience of the farming population, so are not necessarily a direct route, but I became used to the trip. I must say that this is good farmland with a higher rainfall than lower down the hill or over it in Ngarenanyuki. So there are crops of coffee, bananas and of course the staples, maize and beans. This goes for Shishtoni, Leguruke, Ntuwe and Kwatulele as well.
Mch Nassari invited us to his church to see what we had to offer his parishioners and the wider community and I guess he wanted to know if we had similar resources to those of Lutheran Churches in Germany and USA. I had no pool of funds like those churches to draw from, but suggested that education of environmental issues and techniques could have a sustainable impact on his flock. He agreed, and each time we visited there, he made sure we were well fed and (if you like) nurtured.
We held seminars at the church and each time the participants were attentive and enjoyed to 'show' most of the people brought an exercise book to take note and were keen to plant trees. Their focus was on crop type trees - timber or fruit mainly.
It was a good atmosphere as the people were always good to us and while the environment there was in far better shape than say Ngarenanyuke, there is no doubt that all environment are fragile and awareness is needed to keep the standard up.
Mch Nassari and his Evangelist were the drivers, but when it came time for us to deliver trees there were plenty of takers; the church also served the village of Shishtoni and some of the teachers from that school also attended. And there was a substantial area to be planted surrounding the church.
The primary school was not far away but at first we had some difficulty accessing it by road/track. The first time we actually walked the last few hundred meters, but soon found the best way to get there.
The school was large and there was a good compliment of teachers. One of the first things the impressed on us was the lack of resources they had, meaning not only teaching aids, but tables, chairs and cupboards for the teachers. I had found that if it was possible to help the school, it helped gain access it the pupils for our environmental project.
There was a water tap within the school's boundary, so there was generally not a problem for the pupils to irrigate trees, as long as the teachers allocated the time to do it. As it happened, the Waianakarua Country Women's Institute and Trade Aid, Timaru sent us some money so we were able to purchase [or have made] chairs, bookshelves and tables for the teachers' use. And they ensured that the trees were irrigated.
The results were good and we were able to carry out planting programmes there over three seasons. We also encouraged home plantings,for the pupils and supplied nursery materials for one season, but really there was not enough time allocated by the school to produce many plants for out planting.
It became more usual for us to stop as kids waved us down on the tracks, or stood beside the road singing 'Tumependa!'
Tree deliveries to Maruvango Church. We used tomato boxes to carry them on the roof rack.
Furniture deliveries for the teachers. By now I knew people who could make items for us a good prices and it also provided employment/income to the local craftsmen.
We could never hold a seminar with our target audience - the senior school. The whole school wanted to listen to us (the mzungu/Bw Miti) so we allowed it and enjoyed our 'performances', for that's what they were. Many time poor old Loti did not know what was coming next as I would include stories and skits as my Kiswahili improved.
Well tended trees were the norm and it became difficult to choose the best ten trees! The pupils erected a sign, with the growers name; the mulched the tree properly and erected protective shelter. The shelter was against the harsh sun and against browsing animals - also hens/chickens because the moisture the mulch provided would encourage insects and grubs, so the fowls liked to scratch looking for food!
Prize-giving days were always exciting for the kids and as we arrived, the kids would be out tidying their trees. No all had cared for theirs and would be trying to play the trick of replacing a dead tree with a healthy green stick! We did manage to source some funds to allow us to purchase things like rulers or tennis balls that the kids would value.
If you look at the photos, I was always amazed that not more girls won prizes - but there is a myth that girls/women do most of the work.
The yellow T-shirt was donated from a printing factory in Sydenham, Christchurch who gave us all we could carry from their 'mistakes shelf'.
There was always support from the rest of the school for the prize winners, and perhaps that was because we gave the environment teacher the job of choosing the pupil based on the amount of work they had put in. I thought it unfair for the very best tree as we left no culls in the nursery which resulted that not all were equal to start with.
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