WATER! WATER! WATER!
Have you ever taken a second of your precious time to wonder about Water? #Water is the only thing that covers 71% of all the earth and only 1% is fresh water while the rest is salty water in the oceans and seas. Water is one of the natural resources in the environment that is essential for the survival of all living organisms. It is said that the next world war will be about water and fresh water will soon be scarce to find. This is because there are many threats facing water either reducing its quantity or destroying its quality. Water is such a precious resource that we cannot afford to waste any drop. There is great need therefore for people to understand this and think of how we can conserve water for sustainability.
It is on this light that we decided to have water as our theme for the #Environmental Education Expeditions we had recently in Bamba and Marafa areas of Kilifi County, Kenya. These are areas where water shortage has been a challenge. We visited 11 primary schools in Palakumi and 7 in Dakatcha. How about mentioning the names of these schools? In Bamba we had Mariani primary school, Palakumi, Kirimani, Darajani, Katofeni, Mwenge, Mwapula, Mbonga, Vitsapuni, Tsanzuni and lastly Migumomiri Primary school. Now in Marafa we had Mulunguni primary school, Kirosa, Boyani, Chamari, Adu, Masa and Nyamalasinene primary schools. It was a great adventure moving around these schools most of which are far apart using a motorbike.
We managed to conduct two lessons with the members of the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya in each of the schools. The first lesson focused mainly on the life history of a rain drop, in other words, the water cycle. It was very interesting getting kids to understand forms of water, importance and how water moves from the earth to the at
mosphere and back in the water cycle. This was made much easier by the water cycle song which summarized it all. The second lesson focused mainly on water conservation. This touched on the threats to water such as pollution, deforestation among others and the various ways of conserving water like collecting rainwater and storing it, reusing water in a kitchen garden, using drip irrigation, practicing mulching, building a tippy tap among others. It is always inspiring to see children who are eager to learn. Both lessons were very interactive and the students participated actively. The students promised to apply the skills learnt not only at school but even at home.