A life saving mission

By Suleiman Chacha, Mukuru slum news

 

Trees breathe life into our lives and everything we do revolves around these unique but often ignored beauty of nature, but have you ever wondered how the world would have been or would be without tress? Well Kalahari desert should ring a bell.

The picture of a lifeless and totally deserted land should give us a glimpse of how important trees are to mankind and all the habitat of the entire universe, but we are humans and as humans we often take important things that make our lives easy for granted.

But one man is determined to make sure that the environment is never short of trees and the balance of nature is intact.

Mr. Famau Ali an assistant chief in land-mawe sub-location has vowed to live a legacy and just like president Kibaki the current occupant in the house on the hill and his legacy of the new constitution, Mr. Ali is surely doing it in an even bigger way.

In a country where nature has been deprived off trees, he has taken it his responsibility and priority to restore the lost beauty of nature by planting over 5000 trees.

He might not be doing it the Great Wangare Maathai’s way neither does he derive inspiration from her but he believes that the world would be even a better place if people emulated Wangare Maathai’s work.

Now, for a man who has graced the national papers for fighting illegal brews and many other vices in his area of jurisdiction, his love for nature might come as a shock to many.

“I love nature and I believe its both our personal and collective responsibility to make sure we conserve our environment”, he says humbly.

However he is reluctant to take all the credit and accolades and is quick to point out that the tree planting exercise in Mukuru slums would not have been possible without the input of the locals, his boss area District officer and of course the National Environment Management Authority. (NEMA)

“Through NEMA and the Kazi Kwa Vijana initiative we are able to recruit manpower though not enough, to take care of the trees”.

“The government has played a major role in making sure that the area youths are involved in nation building process through initiatives like the kazi Kwa vijana thus preventing them from engaging in unlawful activities” he says.

This humble civil servant never wanted what he was doing for the community to be known especially by the media and mukuru slum news had a hard time convincing the highly religious man to succumb to an interview.

“I don’t want people to mistake this for publicity because I personally believe that this is not about how many people get to know what you doing or how rich you become but its about your concise. I do what I do because that’s my desire and only God can reward me”, he says with satisfaction.

He has so far managed to plant over 10000 trees along Ngong River, which runs in the heart of Mukuru slums and hopes to reach a set target of 5000 in the next 3 years.

However, other parties who want to join hands and continue his efforts, though still in the early stages have already noticed Mr. Ali’s endeavors.

The Barclays bank industrial area branch has pledged to donate books from class 1 to form 4 to two of the resource centers in Mukuru kayaba slum.

“This is a good sign that we are doing something positive for the community and I really thank the Barclays bank for their support and I hope other potential donors will follow suit. If what we are doing can put a smile to someone’s face, the better’” he says with a smile of contentment.

“As for me am just content with planting trees cause they give me the satisfaction I crave for and in fact they salute me whenever they notice my presence,” he says jokingly.

Mr. Ali has also pledged to combat food crisis in Mukuru slums through the garden in a sack project.

“It pains me to see families here go to bed without food and are too dependent on the Government.  I’m already working on my next project to tackle this and will give you details soon,” he says.