{"id":2050,"date":"2016-04-07T13:13:27","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T13:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/?p=2050"},"modified":"2016-09-21T15:16:38","modified_gmt":"2016-09-21T12:16:38","slug":"exciting-rewards-for-winners-of-schools-green-initiative-challenge-phase-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/exciting-rewards-for-winners-of-schools-green-initiative-challenge-phase-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Exciting Rewards for Winners of Schools Green Initiative Challenge Phase I"},"content":{"rendered":"
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St. Martin Kaewa Secondary School, Machakos, beat their rivals to emerge the winners of phase I of the schools Green Initiative Challenge<\/a> and win the coveted prize of a fully paid for educational trip to Mombasa.<\/p>\n

The three-day trip saw 30 students and their teachers visit our very own Kipevu Power Station, the largest diesel plant in East Africa, where they learnt about thermal power generation and also received career advice from KenGen engineers who showed them around the plant.<\/p>\n

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St. Martin Kaewa students feed resident giraffes at Bamburi’s Haller Park during their trip to Mombasa.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The GIC winners next visited the world-renown bastion of conservation, Haller Park, which our project partner Bamburi Cement<\/a> trans-formed from a quarry wasteland to an environmental park with diverse plant and animal species. Today the park stands as a beacon of successful environmental management and land reclamation with a high score of corporate social responsibility.<\/p>\n

The students also visited Fort Jesus, the main tourist attraction in the Coastal city with a rich history of the colonial and slavery period, and the famous Mama Ngina drive, which boasts a picturesque scenic seafront, measuring about three kilometers, long and is one of the most breathtaking parks found in the humid Mombasa Island. <\/p>\n

The students enjoyed an opportunity to taste the Madafu (fresh coconut juice) and kashiri (cassava crisps) from one corner of the public recreational facility where sweating and discomfort is alleviated by the fresh breeze from the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n

Their itinerary also included the Bamburi Nature Trail commonly known as the Butterfly Pavilion, which summed up the environment trip. The pavilion is home to more than 16 species of butterflies and students got to see the breeding house.<\/p>\n

The second runners up, Mwea Primary School, Embu, were treated to a trip to the Olkaria Geothermal power plant, capped with a visit to KenGen\u2019s Olkaria Geothermal Spa, Naivasha, where they enjoyed the warm therapeutic waters of the swimming pool.<\/p>\n

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Mwea Primary School students enjoy the warm waters of KenGen’s Olkaria Geothermal Spa. The students later enjoyed a game drive at Hell’s Gate National Park as part of their GIC awards.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The students accompanied by the District Education Officer, Mbeere South Ms. Grace Mutero, the school\u2019s environment club patron Agatha Munyiri, the Headmaster Mr. Boniface Ngaru, and KenGen\u2019s Environment foreman Patrick Nderitu, later went on an exciting game drive at Hell\u2019s Gate National Park, and spent the night camping at Fisherman\u2019s Camp, located at the shores of Lake Naivasha to the grunting of foraging hippopotami, an experience that will be forever etched in their memories. <\/p>\n

Makutano Primary School, Embu, emerged the third runners up, and was rewarded with an excursion to Gitaru power plant, an eye opening experience on how power is produced for the thirty students and their teachers. They were later treated to lunch and swimming at Matendeni Club, Kamburu.<\/p>\n

The Green Initiative Challenge project, currently in phase II, was launched in October 2013, with 81 schools in the 7- Forks area with the aim of addressing massive deforestation in the semi-arid areas of Machakos and Embu Counties through a rural schools-led initiative.<\/p>\n

The project aimed at promoting environmental awareness through participation of students and the wider school community. It involves planting tree seedlings and nurturing them to develop woodlots at their institutions for environmental and commercial benefits.<\/p>\n

The winners of the Green Initiative Challenge phase I were also rewarded with water tanks, cash prizes and certificates for their exemplary performance in the afforestation competition, despite the challenges mainly attributed to the harsh weather conditions of the semi-arid counties.<\/p>\n

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Students of Makutano Primary School at KenGen’s Matendeni Club, Kamburu. The student were treated to an en excursion at Gitaru Power Station and later hosted for lunch by the Foundation<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI really thank the KenGen Foundation and the Green Initiative Challenge programme for making our day\u201d, said the school\u2019s headmaster Mr. Robert Mutua. \u201cMakutano Primary School has something to smile about as we head home from this trip\u201d. <\/p>\n

The Green Initiative Challenge Phase II expansion project will involve over 900 schools in growing woodlots within their compounds with the drought resistant Muveshi and Mukau tree species over the next ten years. The expansion has introduced passion and paw-paw fruit trees for the first time.<\/p>\n

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Follow us on Twitter through\u00a0<\/i>@KenGen_Foundatn<\/i><\/a>\u00a0and like our\u00a0<\/i>Facebook page<\/i><\/a>\u00a0for more updates.<\/i><\/p>\n

–Ernest Nyamasyo<\/a>, Communication Officer<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St. Martin Kaewa Secondary School, Machakos, beat their rivals to emerge the winners of phase I of the schools Green Initiative Challenge and win the coveted prize of a fully paid for educational trip to Mombasa. The three-day trip saw 30 students and their teachers visit our very own Kipevu Power Station, the largest diesel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[72,74,73,68,67,45,46,79],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2050"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2050"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2551,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2050\/revisions\/2551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}