Tree Nursery Training

Last Friday and Saturday, Mumbaya Youth Group, as well as other community members, received training on tree nursery development from trainer Dickson (left) of Trees for the Future.

Back in early February, I helped my fellow members of Mumbaya Youth Group to plant moringa tree seeds which I had previously received from Trees for the Future, an American-based NGO who came to speak to us at our Peace Corps In-Service Training in December. Unfortunately, chickens destroyed all but four of the seedlings, but the group seemed excited enough about the prospect of a tree nursery that we began planning together to take the effort a step further.

On Sunday, April 14th, our group constructed a small plot for our new tree nursery to be used during the upcoming training. Here, Omundi and Topher are each tilling the soil for the seed bed using a 'jembe', the traditional hoe used in Kenya.

We then constructed some fencing out of gathered tree branches. This was to prevent primarily 'kuku' (chickens), but also other animals, from damaging the emerging seedlings. A lesson learned from our moringa tree planting activity in February. Unfortunately Dickson later told us that due to excessive width (seed beds should be a maximum of 1 meter wide) and improper orientation (seed beds should be aligned perpendicular to the sun's path), we will have to redo this plot.

I reached out to Trees for the Future to ask if they would be willing to come out to Budalang'i to train my youth group on tree nursery establishment/management and agroforestry techniques. They agreed to send one of their two employees here in Kenya, Dickson, to make the long trip out here to train over two days; Friday, April 19th and Saturday, April 20th. Seeing that we are basically in Uganda, it was the farthest he had travelled to train such a group, but he did a great job.

Dickson demonstrates proper nursery establishment and seed planting techniques to the trainees.

I was disappointed in the turnout. We tried to mobilize all of our 14 members to attend. 5 members attended both days of training, as did my counterpart Edwin and other interested members of the community. For those members of our group that did not attend, 2 were well outside the area due to work or school. But the other 11 members had no such excuse. Sure, they had their excuses, with most claiming sickness or work obligations, but generally I would put it down to a lack of commitment.

During our group meeting on Sunday, one member who attended the training actually raised the issue of 'motivation of members who attended the workshop' as an agenda item. They were speaking of giving a small amount, a 'sitting allowance', out of the group's account to those who attended. The argument was that setting such a precedent would 'motivate' more group members to attend future group events. I spoke our hard against this.

I hate those words: 'sitting allowance'. The thought that in order to attend anything, even which is only of benefit to you, you must receive payment. This is why there is such a level of dependency here in Kenya. Even though this training was only to benefit members of this group, to teach them skills which can then be used to generate income in the future, Kenyans generally do not want to attend such an event if they don't get an immediate financial benefit. Learning is not valued.

A 'sitting allowance' indicates something a member has done above and beyond what is expected of them. Is attending a group training really above and beyond? Shouldn't this be expected? Giving a 'sitting allowance' not only is unnecessary, but it sets a poor precedent. The fact that this term is part of their culture is not their fault. It didn't originate in Kenya. It originated in the poor operations of various international NGOs decades ago. But it is time to work to change this culture.

I explained how it was an embarrassment that we couldn't even get a 50% attendance rate for an event in which the trainer travelled for nearly a full day only to help us for free. Penalizing those who did not attend with a fine would make more sense. They seemed to get the point, and unanimously dismissed the idea.

Trainees listen to Dickson intently as he explains agroforestry techniques which can lead to a more sustainable and productive environment.

Moving beyond the attendance issue, all people in attendance were engaged, active, and afterwards spoke highly of the information and skills they will take from the training. We were given specific guidance on how best to prepare our nurseries, and beyond that, the uses and applications of each tree species. Trees for the Future also provided our group with a wide array of tree seeds and potting tubes for use in establishing our nursery. This has the potential to really move our group and its members forward.

A group picture of our group following training on Saturday.

Unfortunately, I only have 2 more months remaining in my service, but I'm pushing our group to move quickly on this project. It would be nice to leave with a well-established nursery, maintained by a dedicated membership.

During yesterday's meeting, we decided to break our group into three sub-groups, each of which will be responsible for establishing their own section of the nursery. By doing so, each group will be responsible to plan for themselves when exactly they will work. This should hopefully curb the attendance issue. At each weekly meeting, we'll set goals which each group must attain prior to the next meeting. By our next meeting on Sunday, April 28th, our goal is for each group to have completed preparing their seedbed and fencing. The week following, we plant!