We’re delighted to share news that Eva Jefa (our women’s empowerment group facilitator) and Esther Kombe (Chair of the Boré Green Umbrella) are about to embark on an important journey. They’ll be heading upcountry to complete a 10 day Permaculture Design Course with Josephat Barasa of the Practical Permaculture Institute of Kenya.
The course will cover a broad variety of permaculture topics. Both women will gain a certificate at the end, marking their achievement. Then, they’ll return to their tree planting friends and family in Coast Province, to turn their knowledge into active projects.
Women’s Empowerment in Action
We are delighted on so many fronts. Not only will Eva and Esther’s new skills boost the Boré community with knowledge about permaculture, but we need to celebrate a significant, remarkable achievement for two tree planting women from a rural town in Coast Province, too. Women in Kenya rarely get opportunities to further their education in adulthood. In fact, if you read our earlier posts, you’ll see many women from the area were denied the chance to complete their primary education – it’s a similar story across Africa.
Permaculture Plans
Ahead of the course, Josephat (left) has kindly come to Boré for a few days to meet key members of the community to share some of his knowledge and experience.
He’s focused on identifying the best places for permaculture projects to take place, upon Eva and Esther’s return.
Our Project Manager, Alex Katana (right) is facilitating meetings over the coming days. We’ve just received word that everyone has had a great afternoon and they’re optimistic about what they’ll be able to achieve, as a team.
Permaculture provides such an incredible framework for thinking, living and growing; if you’re interested in exploring it in the UK, you’ll do well to start at the Permaculture Association.
Working with organic methods, in association with the natural planet and its challenged seasons, is not only going to help the earth to heal by mitigating climate change but it’ll also help the people of Boré to gain more food and water security too.
We believe the best people for our Kenyan communities to learn from, are Kenyan experts who understand the challenges they face.
Josephat brings a wealth of permaculture experience. We are delighted to hear he arrived safely in Boré earlier today and is resting well. He certainly has a busy schedule ahead of delivering the course. We look forward to bringing you more on that in the coming days.
More on Josephat:
He was a primary school teacher of 20 years in the Kenyan primary school system. Then, Josephat met Michael Nickels, from Seven Ravens and decided to become a trainer of teachers for permaculture. He lives in the Butler District of Western Kenya with his family of 6 on a 3 acre farm. It has now become an incredible example for small scale farming.
In 2013, Michael and his team helped Josephat establish his own Permaculture Teacher Training Centre. He now trains primary school teachers throughout Kenya and his permaculture consulting business takes him all over East Africa, installing exciting new projects, including the latest one with our team in Boré.
More soon!
The Team
