We knew if we tried to interfere with this in our Community Conservation programs, that we would not be allowed to work with the women and the children at all. The most we could do is to help shine the light of education on them, and as a result of this one day the girls would free themselves. And that day is upon us. When we were in Kenya in 2009, at a celebration held for us, 2 girl students recited this poem for us. They were demanding to be free as the boys, to learn and live as equals. They spoke up in front of their elders, protesting the “Cut,” female circumcision, and demanded to be allowed to pursue an education.

It was stunning.

This is what they recited to us:

YES WE CAN

Yes the girl can do better, so we deserve equal access to education.
But society is trampling on our rights, our birthrights.
Early dropping out of school, early marriages and even forced labour,
We must say no, because the girl can do better.

Yes we MUST say no, no, no
To all forms of girls discrimination

A girl can make a better doctor, a teacher and even a pilot.
We say what a boy can do better, a girl can do best.
So you must educate a girl, to build a strong society
So we must say no, because the girl can do better.

At tender age, girls are dropped from school.
They are forced to go through the cut, against the law of the land.
They are forced to early marriages, against their wishes and plea of help.
So we must say no, because the girls can do better.

Good engineers, permanent secretaries and even ministers.
Whether in government, private sector or even up in the corporate ladder.
The results are there for all to see, yes they can do better.
So we must say no, because the girl can do better.

Why we ask? Why does society destroy girls hopes?
Destroy its own bright stars, and its hopes to ever grow stronger?
Injustice to girl children is injustice to whole society.
So we must no, because the girl can do better.

Yes we MUST say no, no, no
To all forms of girls discrimination

In 2012, our President Reute Butler created the forward program for FOC. Thanks to a generous grant from Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy (AKP) we are well underway with these AKP funded projects now:

For the FOC Schools Environmental Education Program:

• 2 FOC Students/Patrons Workshops – 2 day workshops for 90 attendees, 2 students & a FOC Conservation Club patron from each of 30 schools. They work on Club plans & help to identify areas of conservation challenges which need action.

For the FOC Community Scouts Program – FOC’s Community Workshops provide useful grassroots education for adults:

• 6 FOC HIV AIDS & Sanitation Awareness Workshops – 120 attendees each: these workshops deal with issues as HIV infection, and transmittal of all disease throughout communities
• 6 FOC Wildlife Conflicts Mitigation Workshops – 120 attendees: provide instruction in strategies to reduce conflicts with wildlife, encourage communities to report sightings of predators, & any illegal activities
• 2 FOC Conservation Enterprise Training Workshops – 100 attendees: provide enterprise development training for the FOC Community Scouts and their communities
• 4 FOC Community Forum Workshops – 100 attendees each:encourage local people to organize themselves into community environmental forums to share ideas, & address environmental challenges
• 1 FOC Masai Mara Stakeholder’s Workshop – 60-80 attendees: this annual workshop which has been conducted for many years is to further build the capacity of local people to manage sustainably any wildlife on their land

From AKP we also received a year’s salary for each of 2 Scout Section Leaders, which will give our 11 man FOC Community Scout Program excellent support and the ability to expand. They will report directly to our FOC Community Conservation Officer, Stephen Kisoto, who administers our projects in the field under the able direction of Haji Ogle, our FOC Adminstrative Director in Nairobi. Haji works directly with Reute in the U.S. and Stephen in the field.

For a Beekeeping Pilot Project: AKP granted us funding to start a pilot project in this fabulous and sustainable business. The purpose of the project is to train local women in beekeeping and to establish 10 beehives in the Talek area. FOC has a successful track record in beekeeping.

Biogas Project Maintenance – a readily renewable resource: AKP has provided us funding to maintain this project which FOC built 3 years ago in the Talek are of the Masai Mara. It turns cow manure and water into cooking gas providing energy for cooking and heat, and helps eliminate both the serious deforestation that occurs from using wood as a main energy source, and the constant time consuming & dangerous search for firewood. The incidence of lung and eye disease caused by smoke from the cooking fires within the huts is also greatly decreased.

The grant also provides funding in 2012 for: Community Scouts’ Mobile Phones and Airtime for Report Collection; salary support for our Community Conservation Officer, and other expenses related to the carrying out our our projects.

Our sincere thanks to AKP for these funds that will help us continue our
education and conservation work in the Mara. To make a donation of your own and contribute to protecting one of the planet’s most spectacular and precious natural ecosystems, please visit our donate page.

The event was hosted by Reute Butler, who was joined by Chicago’s own Zoraida Sambolin and renowned wildlife expert Jim Fowler (of Wild Kingdom)! Jim brought a number of lovely animals for guests to learn about and take pictures with.

Find photos of The Conservation Ball 2011 on our flickr page.

Once again this year, our guests were very generous with donations in support of Friends of Conservation. These funds will be essential as we prepare to face new challenges in 2012.

All of us at FOC wish to extend our heartfelt appreciation to everyone who attended or made a contribution toward the success of The Conservation Ball. Your continued support is changing lives for the better and helping to safeguard one of our planet’s most precious ecosystems.