Roseanne and her husband Jonathan made a visit to the Olkiramatian and Shompole conservancies to meet the community scouts and donated some field equipment for the scouts work. She was accompanied to the scout’s base by the Soralo coordinator Mr. John Kamanga who later handed her over to the conservation manager a Mr.Lenaimado.
Mr.Lenaimado then conducted a Guard of Honor mounted by the scouts from the 2 conservancies in respect of the visiting donors. Roseanne was requested to inspect the Guard of Honor. After the inspection, the scouts were allowed to sit under a shade and introduced to Roseanne and Jonathan.
The two donors also introduced themselves to the scouts and informed them of their interest to support the South Rift scouts programme. The conservation manager briefed the two donors how the scouts system started and what their work is and how the scouts operate. He went on ahead informing the donors that the main work of the community scouts are,
• To carry out Anti poaching patrols in the conservancies
• Monitor wildlife on daily bases especially the endangered species e.g. elephants, lion, cheetah, leopard to mention few.
• Environmental protection
• Mitigate human wildlife conflict cases and create awareness in the general South Rift.
He also went ahead to brief the donors on the challenges facing the scouts while implementing this programme citing examples such as,
• Lack of field equipment like patrol car, radio equipment, uniforms, rations, GPS, cameras to document field reports etc
• Capacity-Training, out of all the 36 Soralo scouts, only 16 have attended formal training at KWS Manyani Training for 3 months. The remaining lot also needs to undergo the same to enable them handle the challenges of conservation in their area of jurisdiction and country at large.
• Human wildlife conflicts-Mitigation measures are required and therefore have to work hand in hand with the stakeholders.
• Funding for salaries, the list is endless.
Conserventures.org a U.S. based organization through Roseanne and johathan donated the following equipments,
• 4 Bushnell 10x42 Binoculars
• 6 Garmin Etrex GPS and Batteries
• 5 Camping tents.
Roseanne husband Johathan demonstrated to the scouts how to pitch the tents, the use of the binoculars, the GPS application in the field and general maintenance of the equipment.
