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April 2019

Earth Day 2019

BLOG / Earth Day 2019

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Jeremiah Kuria

Co-Founder, Kenya Director, Tribe Elder

My little positive action can impact the environment in a great way.

It was only four decades ago when everything around me was so lush and the weather was predictable. But now things have changed and it’s painful to watch our environment deteriorate daily.

Growing up from a humble family meant that our livelihood was supported by farming. This meant spending most of our time connecting with nature. Growing everything organically and keeping a few sheep to support the family.  There were benefits of eating healthy and staying connected with mother nature. I will always have great memories of those days and our experience with the environment.

I remember going through the thick Kijabe forest to access our farm in Maai Mahiu was always an adventure. Tall trees, thick bushes, lots and lots of wild animals inhabited our neighborhoods.

Remembering Maai Mahiu then, we have nothing to compare to it today. We have lost all the trees and the beautiful shrubs that are known to grow in this region. There has been massive deforestation and use of lots of chemicals that have polluted our environment in a short period of time, not to mention the replacement of trees for concrete.

We have many people who are aware of what they are doing but they selfishly continue to harm our earth for a moments gain. The policymakers have been bribed for trees to be cut down and have done no replanting whatsoever. We need visionary leaders to aggressively protect our earth today.

The banning of plastics is a great step as we all agreed that plastic is a menace to our environment.  However, the alternative to plastic that was presented did not seem like a well-thought-out idea. Now we have another ban on what the citizens thought was an answer. We need working systems that will protect our earth, solutions that will be sustainable and bring back the glory of our environment.

Discussions about the pollution by chemicals remain just that, year after year but the damage continues. There is not much thought about future generations and what they will inherit from our uncaring attitude.

I feel the need to bring intensive awareness to this region for many people have no idea how to make a difference in their own way. Many are ignorant and continue to harm their environment for lack of knowledge.

What happened to the call by our government to plant two trees for every one we cut down?

I am thankful for what Ubuntu has done.

We have restored the glory of the ten acres of land we own in Maai Mahiu. We have planted over 7,500 trees since 2012. 

The change that has happened on this land shows that we can transform our environment in a very short  period of time. We need others with the same passion to take a step and start replanting and caring about the land as well.

We now have shade, birds are back, the ecosystem is slowly coming back and we are so proud.

We now have many people who find a reason to stop by at Ubuntu and enjoy the space that is becoming lush once again. We are consciously farming in an organic way. We are dedicatied to teaching sustainable farming to our younger generations who will one day take over this land.

As we do our enterprises on the land, we committed ourselves to be intentional in helping the children in our program to participate in making this world a better place.

Our children all who have special needs not only enjoy this land every Friday while playing games outside but they also have helped plant trees and flowers every year during the rainy season. They are actively learning how to make this land better than how we found it.

In our garden, we do what we call farming God’s way.  We do not use any chemicals on our soil only compost. This has made it fun to eat at our cafe. Having the assurance that what we eat is healthy and chemical free for our families and our esteemed customers.

We have a team that takes care of the land every day tending to our garden and our trees.

I can’t wait to see this beautiful space in the next five years. We hope to inspire people so there will be more spaces like Ubuntu’s land. Let’s do the little that we can wherever we are and before long we will improve our lives and the lives of our children and future generations. 

Thanks, 
Jeremiah

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Sandy Garcia

April 22, 2019

We love the sustainable work you’re doing- and a Leela loves the smiling kids!

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