Much of our work currently involves providing on site training for students, teachers, community leaders and others here at Elsamere, and it’s strategic location on the shores of Lake Naivasha has an important part to play, together with the eco-friendly site with its tree nursery, rainwater collection, biogas production, permaculture demonstration and much more. CES trains about 150 East African teachers each year in groups of 30 to 40 and during their course they all develop action plans of how they intend to implement conservation activities and projects in their schools.
For 25 years we have been running our Eco-School Programme with the aim of creating enjoyable learning opportunities in the school environment where children can become involved in practical ‘hands-on’ ways of ‘caring for the Earth’. We encourage the formation of Elsa Clubs, the development of school ‘eco-codes’ and the establishment of eco-school projects, particularly the greening up of schools through tree planting, establishing tree nurseries and tree labelling. In some schools we help with agro-forestry gardens, ‘peace zones’, fish ponds, bird feeders and waste management including composting. The progress achieved by our EcoSchools is closely monitored by the Centre and assisted by appropriate conservation partners in their respective countries. In Kenya the centre partners with African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW) and Wildlife Clubs of Kenya (WCK), in Uganda with the Wildlife Educational Centre and Wildlife Clubs, and in Tanzania with the MaliHai Clubs.
We are also involved with Community Outreach where we help create environmental awareness and encourage communities groups and members to care for the environment in practical ways including regular clean up campaigns, agro-forestry and renewable energy demonstration.
We attach great importance to follow-up and continuing support to our target groups. We already provide this through our extensive network of children, youth, educators, community groups and community leaders, using social media such as facebook, and ElsaNews and we intend to strengthen this support by providing information and educational resources page on the ‘Useful resources‘ page of this website.
To recognise and reward best practice, we organise Elsa Competitions annually and over 50 schools and community groups submit their entries. The winners are able to showcase their work during our Open Day every September when they are presented with their awards.
