International Coastal Clean-up Day, September 17, 2016
On Saturday September 17, 2016, Friends of Takaungu Creek carried out its 5th Monthly Cleanup. This month volunteers participated in the International Coastal Clean-up Day coordinated by Ocean Conservancy. Teams of helpful and enthusiastic volunteers were out and about on the beaches and reefs to the north and south of Takaungu Creek to pick up the plastic, nets, diapers, flip-flops and any other 'taka taka' littering our beautiful beaches.
A total of 158 kg of beach waste was collected by 16 children and 29 adult volunteers - all recyclable waste was delivered to Mombasa recycling agents. THANK YOU to all volunteers and coordinators for participating and to Watamu Marine Association, who have gathered the data along the Kenya's coast and waterways.
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." Helen Keller
Monthly Beach Clean Ups March 2016 The first monthly clean-up was held on 19th March 2016. Vuta Kaka Primary School, the fishermen at the Beach Management unit (BMU), VDFCC Mangrove Restoration user group, and members of the broader community all took part.
April 2016 The April cleanup was held on April 23, 2016 -Earth Day. Members of the community and school children from Takaungu Primary School and Kivukoni International School joined in to clean the paths, shoreline and paths along Takaungu Creek.
June 2016 On June 4th a large amount of rubbish and plastic was collected and deposited into the new segregated bins for recycling, waste and compost. July 2016 On Saturday the 9th of Julywas another successful effort, but it has become clear that there is no system in place to handle the village waste in a long term sustainable way. Friends of Takaungu Creek decided to develop a strategy to address this with the village leadership.
Takaungu Village Clean Up
In close collaboration with the village elders, Friends of Takaungu Creek will be tackling the problem of waste disposal in Takaungu and the 7 dump sites that are seeping into the creek.
Two sets of colour coded bins have been installed on both sides of the creek, There are 3 compartments: recyclable tins and plastic, non-recyclable waste and organic waste. Not an easy or cheap task - but an essential one to keep our creek clean!
Creek Guardians - the eyes and ears on the Creek! The guardians have planted 400 mangrove seedlings since June, they are monitoring 6 beehives, collecting rubbish from the mangroves and spending time with fishermen observing their catches and gathering insight into how we can ultimately work with fisher folk to change some of their fishing practices for the long term well being of the creek and the community.
Information Boards Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. Albert Einstein
Sharing information with the residents of Takaungu Creek and enlightening them on the extraordinary wonders of nature that they pass everyday is an exciting part of what we do! Every month we work to introduce readers to the amazing world of something natural in our environment, the threats and what we can do about it. So far we have presented the amazing world of mangroves, coastal birds, the threats of plastics and now we are sharing the magic of trees. It is always shocking when we realise how very little the national curriculum covers the intricacies of nature. Our 3 notice boards are sharing some of these with passer-bys! A monthly competition follows each board presentation!
Happy to Serve
Happy school children worked with the community members to clean the streets of Takaungu. Many hands make for light work!
Takaungu School's Art Competition
School children and communty members were invited to enter pieces of artwork and poems following the theme of the month - "Our Marine environment - Protect Our Creek". Many entries came in - all excellent. Here are a few examples of the talent that abounds.