Destination & Introduction to Reserch

Friends and family, 


I’ve decided to re-open my blog for my time in Kenya over the next 3/4 months on my research project. Too often research is shared within a small community of academics, or between professors and students severely limiting the benefit of the discoveries, and observations in general. My hope is to at share some of my findings with you, and if these are too boring to at least share some stories. 


Perhaps I should open up by sharing with you the scope and purpose of my research. I have spent since the start of August reading and preparing for my time in Kenya where I will be situated in a community by the name of “Kisayani” just NE of Kibwezi which lies along the highway between Nairobi and Mombasa. In 2000, the Kisayani Community Christian Development Programme (KCCDP), a local community based organization formed back in the early 90s to improve living conditions in Kisayani, decided to make a safe and reliable water system a priority. With the help of World Vision, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, and a few other organizations along with the Kenyan government, the KCCDP brought flowing water to their community. 


However, in 10 years a lot can change. 


Back in 2001, my professor (Dr. Harry Spaling), who I am working with, helped the community carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which was a new requirement set forth by the government in Kenya to all new development projects. For those who do not know, EIAs are used worldwide to identify potential impacts (+/-) of a given project on the natural environment, economy, and society in order to mitigate negative impacts and ensure sustainability (social, ecological, and economic). Dr. Spaling assisted the community by conducting an alternative method of an EIA which allowed for greater participation from the community in identifying risks and then eventually giving them more responsibility in management. Since then, he has revisited the community many times in following up on the project and the community. It is under his research that I am conducting the follow-up study and will find an introduction into the community. 


So my work is as a research assistant gathering data, compiling interviews and writing a report on my findings to address my research question is essentially 'what conditions of promoting sustainability (set out by the EIA) were effective' and 'what new changes have arisen that could have an impact on the ongoing sustainability of the project'. 


A study was done previously on the impacts on the water project, which indicated many positive environmental, health, social and economic impacts, thus, the community and myself included hope this project will succeed and remain beneficial and reliable in a time of drought and famine in the country. Moreover, we hope that the source of the water can be conserved and protected in order to support populations in the future and the natural biodiversity of the area.  


So far I have identified 3 main areas of change that need specific attention: 

• Biophysical changes (a changing climate, a water source that may be at risk of depletion) 
• Political changes (new changes to the Kenya Water Act which manages water resources) 
• Social changes (capacity within the leadership of the community to successfully manage the water system and adapt to all sorts of challenges including the rapidly increasing demand for water).

I will be meeting with various NGO representatives, government officials and consultants regarding the factors above over these initial weeks. I also hope to be introduced to Kisayani and visit the Umani Springs (the unique source for the water project-something I will elaborate on later). My brief observations thus far affirm that many changes are occurring and have occurred. The complexity of these are concerning and my hope is that I will be able to untangle and begin to understand them better in order to support the community and future similar projects. I hope to unpack this further as I go along. 

Thanks for reading!


------


The community of Kisayani is about ~8km NE of Kibwezi town, and will be where I am spending the majority of my time. If you look SW of Kibwezi you can find the Umani Springs within the Kibwezi Forest Reserve. (I only wish it was this green at the moment).


 
View Larger Map