{"id":3265,"date":"2018-03-07T16:37:23","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T13:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/?p=3265"},"modified":"2018-03-07T16:54:43","modified_gmt":"2018-03-07T13:54:43","slug":"schools-green-initiative-challenge-welcomes-100-new-schools-as-phase-ii-winners-recognized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/schools-green-initiative-challenge-welcomes-100-new-schools-as-phase-ii-winners-recognized\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools Green Initiative Challenge Welcomes 100 New Schools as Phase II Winners Recognized."},"content":{"rendered":"
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The road leading to Mashamba Primary School, Embu County, can best be described as a cattle track. The surrounding environment appears barren, devoid of any vegetation.<\/p>\n

Under the scorching sun, sparsely scattered lone trees, stripped off their greenery, and covered with the area\u2019s red soil, paint a picture of desperation. Cattle and donkeys with empty containers on their backs lead their masters in search of water.<\/p>\n

But Mashamba Primary School is different. The school\u2019s compound is in stuck contrast with the surrounding environment.<\/p>\n

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Mashamba Primary School Green Teacher Paul Kiilu showcases the school’s woodlot during the launch of Phase IV of the GIC.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Boasting of a healthy 0.5 acre woodlot, the school was also the location of the launch of Phase IV of the Schools\u2019 Green Initiative Challenge (GIC) on 28 February.<\/p>\n

100 new schools joined the tree planting competition, KenGen Foundation\u2019s flagship environment project, during the colorful event that also saw winners of Phase II of the GIC awarded prizes after two years of intense tree growing, despite the harsh climatic conditions.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0KenGen Scoops Best Corporate (State Agency) Tree Growing And Forest Conservation Award<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking during the event, out going KenGen Foundation Managing Trustee Mike Njeru welcomed the new schools to the afforestation project, and lauded the winners of Phase II while encouraging them \u201cto continue with the innovative measures you [sic] adopted over the last three years to maintain the beautiful woodlots that you now have\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Outgoing Managing Trustee Mike Njeru urges the participating schools to continue in nurturing their woodlots even after the GIC competition ends.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Thua Primary School led the pack of 120 school involved in Phase II of the competition to emerge the winner with a score of 84%, while the host, Mashamba Primary School, followed with a score of 77%. Tulimyumbu Primary School, from Machakos County clinched the third position with a mean score of 75%.<\/p>\n

The KenGen Foundation, in partnership with the champion of dry land forestry Better Globe Forestry, and leader of habitat restoration Bamburi Cement Ltd., implements the tree planting competition within targeted schools at the semi-arid counties of Embu, Kitui, and Machakos.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ:\u00a01st Capacity Building Workshop Sets Agenda for GIC Phase IV<\/a><\/p>\n

Designed as a challenge due to the harsh climatic conditions, schools are awarded point for the seedlings survival rates at the end of a two-year period. Other factors include innovations such as individual tree adoptions by students and teachers; mulching; fencing; and drip irrigation among others.<\/p>\n

Present at the event was KenGen\u2019s Operation\u2019s Director Eng. Solomon Kariuki who reiterated the Company\u2019s continued investment \u201cin long-term sustainable environmental conservation programs with GIC targeting schools and their surrounding communities\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is worth to note that this unique program encourages environmental consciousness and conservation awareness among school children right from an early age to encourage and sustain their enthusiasm in caring for their environment as they grow to adulthood\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n

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Eng. Solomon Kariuki, KenGen’s Operations Director, plants a tree at Mashamba Primary School to commemorate the event.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Since inception in 2015 with an initial 81 schools from Embu and Machakos, the GIC has grown to involve more than 300 schools inclusive of Kitui County. The afforestation project targets the greening of over 500 acres of semi-arid land as a way of mitigating climate change and providing wood fuel and alternative income opportunities for the local communities.<\/p>\n

Susan Maingi, Bamburi Cement Ltd. Director, Corporate Affairs,\u00a0Communications & Sustainable Development\u00a0said \u201cBamburi is proud to be playing its role in environmental conservation and restoration, and mitigating the impacts of climate change through the GIC partnership\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we launch Phase IV today, we remain committed to working with the communities through such collaborations with like-minded organizations, to jointly reverse the climate change effects in arid and semi-arid Areas in Kenya\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n

Jan Vandenabeele, Executive Director Better Globe Forestry said:\u00a0\u201cWe wish to encourage all those involved in the GIC to adapt their individual successes at their homesteads, as environmental conservation requires our collective efforts. We are proud of the winners and welcome the new schools into this noble initiative\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Schools Green Initiative Challenge incorporates three of the 17 recently unveiled UN Sustainable Development Goals namely Quality Education, Climate Change, Clean Water & Sanitation. Best performing schools stand a chance of winning education trips, scholarships, water tanks, infrastructure development, cash prizes among others.<\/p>\n

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Susan Maingi, Bamburi Cement Ltd. Director, Corporate Affairs, Communications & Sustainable Development, presents Thua Primary School with the winner’s cheque during the event.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Speaking during the event, KenGen\u2019s Director Dr. Musa Arusei noted that it was \u201ccommendable that thousands of school going children are learning valuable skills of planting and nurturing trees, which they will spread to their homes and communities\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is with this in mind that the company continues to invest in long-term social investment programs such as the GIC, which is dedicated to environmental conservation by promoting a tree planting culture with particular emphasis to the school children, who are indeed the best transformational agents for a better environment\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n

MORE ON THIS: New M&E Officers for Phase IV of Schools Tree-planting Competition\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Her Excellency Margaret Kenyatta recognized KenGen as the Best Corporate category during the inaugural Tree Growing and Forest Conservation Awards 2017, with the GIC project contributing enormously to this award.<\/p>\n

The GIC is set to expand to other counties where KenGen has operations, with tree planting activities planned for Western Hydros, Olkaria, Mombasa and Turkana Counties.<\/p>\n

Currently, tree seedlings are being distributed to the new schools in order to take advantage of the ongoing rains.<\/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

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

The road leading to Mashamba Primary School, Embu County, can best be described as a cattle track. The surrounding environment appears barren, devoid of any vegetation. Under the scorching sun, sparsely scattered lone trees, stripped off their greenery, and covered with the area\u2019s red soil, paint a picture of desperation. Cattle and donkeys with empty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":3342,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,53],"tags":[72,74,73,66,68,67,71,45,81,70,59],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3265"}],"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=3265"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3487,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3265\/revisions\/3487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kengenfoundation.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}