Dear all,

In the build up to the CoP 17 meeting in Durban, different countries are involved in in-country activities to welcome and flag off the Trans African caravan of Hope. The caravanites will be coming to Kenya on the 13th-14th November. They arrive in Nairobi in the wee hours of the 13th morning and leave on 14^th morning.

To this effect, the Kenya Climate Change Working Group, the Kenyan host of the caravan has activities lined up to ensure that the caravanites have a memorable event here in Nairobi. There will be various activities before the caravan gets to Kenya which will be culminated with a Gala night to flag off the caravan.

We encourage members to give us updates on events they are involved in that we can engage in towards CoP 17.

SCHOOLS AND CAMPUS PETITION DRIVE
In collaboration with the Green Africa Foundation (a KCCWG member and recently the 2011 MDG award winner in the category of Environmental conservation), KCCWG will have a petition drive in schools that will seek to educate young people on issues of Climate Change, what the talks in Durban are critical for their survival, sensitize them on the caravan. There are also volunteers within PACJA that are carrying out petition drives within different campuses. They will create a social media event on face book in which campus students will sign the petition online

COMMUNITY VISIT

The team in Nairobi will, before the caravan gets here, visit a community to access the impacts of Climate Change. This will happen on the 3rd and 4th November.  They will capture powerful images and other relevant facts on Climate Change in this community to share with other Kenyans and the Trans African Caravan of Hope. They will be in support of the OXFAM team of local and international journalists, which is working on a documentary of the Late Wangari Maathai at that community. Both teams will plants trees at the community in remembrance of Wangari Maathai.

THE MAU STOP-OVER AND TREE PLANTING

Baraka Agricultural College another KCCWG member and partner has been working with other stakeholders in the rehabilitation of one the largest Kenya water tower, the Mau forest. They have purchased 21.5 acres of land for rehabilitation and have already planted a total of 25,000 indigenous trees to serve as a water catchment area and the introduction of biodiversity.

The college has also set aside a “Wangari Maathai corner” and a degraded ravine near the college for planting of trees in commemoration of the late Prof. Wangari Maathai. In preparation for the participation in the Cop 17 in Durban and in welcoming the caravan in Kenya in style, BAC proposes a tree planting
activity in the three sites mentioned above in this section of Mau water tower. The caravan team from Nairobi will visit the college and have a tree planting session of 1,000 trees planted as a commemoration
as they await the caravan. During the stop-over at Nakuru these caravanites will join up with the
Burundi, Rwanda and Ugandan participants and travel to Nairobi.

THE GALA NIGHT

As a culmination of all pre-caravan activities and flag off activity for the caravan, KCCWG will hold a gala night that will showcase different items on the efforts in combating Climate Change in Kenya. It will compose of the caravanites from the different countries, High level guests such as Members of parliament and the Diplomatic Corps, the civil society and students. The gala night whose venue will be confirmed later will have activities such as:-

1. Film & Photography - This will include the filming of the award winning environmental film ‘ You Live , I Live’ by John Wambugu amongst others
2. Poetry/spoken word on Climate Change- Poetry on concerns over Climate Change by young people in the slums
3. Music - Unique and special music on environment by different artists that will resonate with a theme on climate justice
4. Dance- Creativity will spell out the night as guests will be entertained in dance that aims to tell a story on Climate Change
5. A statement from the parliamentary Network on Renewable Energy and Climate Change (PANARECC) by Hon. Wilbur Otichillo
6. Symbolic Flag off of the caravan by a senior Government official

The nights’ theme will resonate with the caravan’s clarion call ‘Our Africa, Our Climate, Our Right’

Kindly do e-mail me on ces.mueni@gmail.com with your ideas, inputs and suggestions on how we can make the Kenyan chapter of the caravan worthwhile.

Regards
Cecilia Mueni
Projects Assistant,KCCWG
Logistics team
Trans African Caravan of Hope