So, I have realized that unless I get my act together and find a project, that I will quickly get pulled deep into helping the KEMRI labs. That is not entirely a bad thing, but I definitely want to push outside my comfort zone while we are here and take advantage of this amazing place. I sent a few more emails out to NGOs that looked interesting (based on their website) to see if they had any current projects in/near Kilifi. I knew that I did not want to start a project from scratch, mainly because I would not be able to fully complete it in less than 1yr, but I also realized that there are plenty of projects already started (and many funded) that are simply waiting for the right person to push them towards success. Anyway, I actually got a response to an email I sent to an NGO called Practical Action. They informed me that I was “in the middle of nowhere,” but that they knew someone starting a project in Kilifi soon and cc’d him on the email.
Rob Barnett, of Wild Living Resources, Ltd., responded to the cc by immediately sending me the ~50 page proposal. Rob’s company markets products produced by rural east Africans (mostly Kenyans), to tourists, Europeans, and other developed countries. Wild Living Resources markets the story behind the product and the ways in which supporting them helps improve the standard of living for rural Africans. Rob was proposing to start the Wild Living Resources Conservancy project in Kilifi. The project proposes to utilize 130 acres of donated indigenous forest to pilot 11 different environmentally sustainable land use opportunities. The project proposes to demonstrate the proven techniques (things like eco-charcoal, beekeeping, aloe vera farming, wild silk farming, butterfly larvae farming, wild plant product harvesting, chameleon/tortoise/guinea fowl breeding, etc.) and manage them in a profitable manner. Rural Kenyans could then come see the different land use options in practice, learn about them, and train on how to implement them. I was impressed and excited about the proposal and met up with Rob when he was in town visiting from Nairobi.
Rob and I met at Mnarani Club briefly before heading out to the conservancy land for a walk around. Rob is an honorary Kenyan Wildlife Services (KWS) Ranger and is very well connected in the east African environmentally interested circles. He most recently completed a 2-3 year study of the bushmeat industry with ‘Traffic,’ focusing on the causes and possible ways to prevent the overdependence on bushmeat. I was impressed with his businesslike approach and agreed with the philosophy that it would be fruitless to try any of these land use options unless we thought they would actually be profitable. He explained that clear cutting one acre of land for maize farming was more profitable than any one land use opportunity by itself, but that combining two or more of the naturally complementary options would be more profitable than maize farming. For example, beekeeping amongst the guinea fowl raising area, or planting aloe vera in the forest where wild silkworms and butterflies are farmed. The whole idea sounded really cool, Rob seemed like a guy I could really work with, and it was based right in Kilifi! Plus, eco-charcoal (one of my original interests) was the initial land use option that would be proven, since the entire 130 acres of forest was nearly impassible due to the thick underbrush. Our meeting truly was fortuitous and gave me a renewed hope in the possibility of making an impact outside of KEMRI.
From the meeting with Rob, I briefly stopped by the Kilifi Farm Shop for some cold fresh milk, where I met Roy Macenzie. Roy owns and runs a sauce and jam company called The Dancing Elephant. They make some incredible products (Wendy’s favorite is their passion fruit and pear jelly)! Roy and I started talking and in the end he invited me to a rally-car racing meeting, prefaced with the fact that he was looking for a navigator (translate to co-pilot for those unfamiliar)…I was intrigued and immediately realized it was just another example of an amazing opportunity that just does not happen in the US.
From conservancy-running talks with Rob and rally car co-pilot racing with Roy, I moved on to have a conversation with Tim Anderson. Tim is an ‘MIT friend’ of Nathan’s, who was in town for a visit. Tim invented the 3D printer many years ago and has been traveling the world building boats, and other engineering-geeky-things, ever since on the ensuing royalties. He currently writes for MAKE Magazine and is, needless to say, quite an amazing character. During his 10-day visit in Kilifi, Tim built and eventually sailed a boat made of plywood and sweat! Tim and I talked about ideas for ways I could keep busy and he put me on the trail of quite a few DIY projects, charcoal making ideas, and other things he had thought up while traveling. At this point, I was on quite a motivation high and somewhat of an idea overload, but I realized even more than ever that I needed give up perfectionism and start applying myself so that I did not get a serious case of the ‘shoulda-coulda-wouldas’ when we returned home.
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