{"id":2646,"date":"2017-02-16T14:50:25","date_gmt":"2017-02-16T11:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/?p=2646"},"modified":"2017-02-16T14:59:53","modified_gmt":"2017-02-16T11:59:53","slug":"what-its-like-to-be-a-gic-monitoring-and-evaluation-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/what-its-like-to-be-a-gic-monitoring-and-evaluation-officer\/","title":{"rendered":"What it\u2019s like to be a GIC Monitoring and Evaluation Officer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The heavy dust behind the motorbike hangs in the hot dry air long after the rider manoeuvres through the dry riverbed in this part of the semi-arid county of Embu.<\/p>\n

Despite the mid-morning scorching heat, James Mwaniki, one of the Schools\u2019 Green Initiative Challenge (GIC) Monitoring & Evaluation Officers, is donned in a thick jacket and scarf to protect his chest from the windy ride. He\u2019s on his way to assess the survival rates of tree seedlings in one of the 120 schools involved in the afforestation competition.<\/p>\n

\"James<\/a>

James at one of the schools participating in the afforestation challenge. The M&E Officer plays a crucial role in implementing the tree planting project.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0GIC Steering Committee Field Trip To Assess Project<\/a><\/p>\n

At KenGen Gitaru power station, his counter part Julius Mwanyalo is hunched over a laptop computer, punching figures into an Excel spread sheet. He seemingly gives up the task and grabs his helmet before jumping onto his motorbike and roaring off to Machakos County. The bike\u2019s carrier has a pair of secateurs and a pruning saw, common tools of the trade for a trained forester. He\u2019s on a mission to<\/p>\n

demonstrate woodlot management to one of the schools engaged in the tree-planting project.<\/p>\n

These two officers play a crucial role in monitoring the success of theGIC project, a unique partnership between the champions of dry-land forestry – Better Globe Forestry; the experts of habitat restoration \u2013 Bamburi Cement Ltd; Africa\u2019s biggest geothermal energy producer – KenGen; and KenGen Foundation.<\/p>\n

The project, designed as a competition between participating schools, aims at greening over 500 acres of the semi-arid counties of Embu, Meru, and Machakos with drought resistant Terminalia brownie<\/em>, Senna siamea and Melia volkensi <\/em>tree species. The project currently incorporates 120 primary and secondary schools from the 3 counties and aims to raise the awareness and participation of school children in environmental conservation activities.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a02nd Green Initiative Challenge Capacity Building Exercise Reviews Project\u2019s Progress<\/a><\/p>\n

A typical day for the M&E officers starts with a briefing session with KenGen\u2019s Environment team at Gitaru power station. It is also here that some of the project\u2019s seedlings are produced, stored and distributed to the participating schools.The rest are at Better Globe\u2019s afforestation station at Kiambere, Embu County.<\/p>\n

\"Julius<\/a>

Julius demonstrating to ‘Green Teachers’ the proper way to plant a seedling. The M&E Officer offers hands on training to the participants during the GIC capacity building sessions.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cOur work requires a lot of patience and people skills\u201d, says James, while keenly inspecting a particular seedling at a school woodlot in Embu County. \u201cThe harsh weather conditions make the competition even harder for certain schools, and it\u2018s not surprising to receive several phone calls in a day from \u2018Green Teachers\u2019 who are worried that their trees are dying\u201d.<\/p>\n

At a school in Machakos, Julius is passionately showing a group of students and their \u2018Green Teacher\u2019 the delicate process of pruning a young seedling. He slowly and carefully saws through a branch, explaining the need to be gentle with the delicate plant.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s better to water the tree-seedlings early in the morning so as to ensure better water retention\u201d, he explains as he softly arranges mulch around the base of the plant. \u201cBesides increasing the plant\u2019s survival chances, such innovations are also considered when tallying the data that will determine who wins the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sustainable management of tree nurseries and woodlots will provide the participating schools with a renewable source of wood fuel thus reducing pressure on surrounding vegetation and forest resources.It also accords the schools an opportunity to diversify their income through the sale of timber & non-timber products<\/p>\n

In addition, the M&E officers mobilize and assist in conducting capacity building exercises for \u2018Green Teachers\u2019 at the three counties in collaboration with the KenGen Foundation, and environmental officers from the Kenya Forest Service, and National Environmental Management Authority.<\/p>\n

Back at the office, the officers key in the data they\u2019ve collected from the field trips. They resolve discrepancies and once they\u2019re sure data are as accurate as possible, produce monthly reports that the project partners can use to plan interventions and adjust activities.<\/p>\n

The work is, however, not without challenges.\u201cThe rough terrain is a real test between man and machine. Poor cellphone reception can be frustrating at times, but the real danger lies on the roads where speeding \u2018muguka\u2019 proboxes and sand harvesting lorries ignore all road safety rules in their rush to make their deliveries\u201d, says James, with a forlorn look in his eye.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe weather can also be unpredictable\u201d, adds Julius. \u201cI remember while distributing replacement seedlings in March 2016, an unexpected rainfall shower caught me by surprise, turning the usually dusty roads into muddy sludge that made the bike skid and throw me off several times!\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0Nakuru County Next Frontier for GIC<\/a><\/p>\n

The GIC project is entering its third phase, and will incorporate 99 more schools this year. The M&E officers are always ready to take up the challenge to ensure the successful delivery of the project.<\/p>\n

James says that what he likes most about his work is outreach and knowing that strong, accurate M&E data can be used to upscale and improve the project. \u201cI am very proud of this work and our role in such an ambitious project,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd it is very nice working to conserve the environment . . . we are making changes for the lives of the students as well as the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an officer, I\u2019m proud to interact with people, and get to change their lives. I\u2019m happy to help them change their behavior and make them advocates for a greener environment\u201d, adds Julius.<\/p>\n

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

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

The heavy dust behind the motorbike hangs in the hot dry air long after the rider manoeuvres through the dry riverbed in this part of the semi-arid county of Embu. Despite the mid-morning scorching heat, James Mwaniki, one of the Schools\u2019 Green Initiative Challenge (GIC) Monitoring & Evaluation Officers, is donned in a thick jacket […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,4,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646"}],"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=2646"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2653,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646\/revisions\/2653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}