By FrancisOntomwa

Vihiga, Kenya;When entering the gates of Goibei Girls High School, in Vihiga County, one is welcomed by the freshness of the scenic cool environment.

Tucked in a serene learning setting, the ambience stands beguiling. A feel of Mother Nature guides your way through. Right inside, you begin to appreciate why environmental conservation is noble cause.

A walk through the School’s forest zone, loaded with various species of indigenous trees, is the eye catching langstroth beehive.

Here, commercial bee keeping takes place. The scenic greenly experience is astounding.

The school, which started in 1952, has managed to build a strong reputation in environmental conservation. Its concerted efforts received both national and international recognition.

Lifesaving mission

A rare cooperation between the School and the community is evident and a hatful of evidence attests to this. “We have built a tradition ‘environment’ that has successfully become our brand, when you hear of Goibei, you quickly associate us with our love for environmental conservation and this is our trademark,” states Linnet Khabongo, Goibei Principal and a strong supporter of the course.

The noble task is under the auspices of an active environmental club popularly referred to as the eco-club, which has a membership of over 70 students.

Working in collaboration with the Water Resources Management Authority and the local community, the School has set out in a lifesaving mission.

They are spearheading the rehabilitation and conservation of the depleted Goibei Springs, adjacent to the School, which has been feeding locals and was heading faceoff.

“We saw the calamity that was awaiting and we decided to step in. Through the help of our students and members of the community we protected the area around the spring, fenced it and dug a drainage ditch to carry away surface runoff and waste,” explained Boniface Aluvanze, the Eco-club patron.

The group further planted native trees near the spring to prevent erosion, making the place more pleasant to collect water and move around. They also cemented the area and placed a water pipe for to assist in tapping the commodity.

The results have been amazing as locals attest: “Goibei School is a friend of ours, they have challenged the entire society here that indeed environmental conservation can be observed,” observed Faith Nekesa who hails from the region.

“The spring was heading to its death bed when their initiative, reversed this and we now still using the waters in our homes.”

Lake Victoria North Water Services Board coordinates the school-community partnership. Five locals have been included in a 14 member eco-school committee that oversees projects within and around the school.

waste management

Additionally, Goibei Girls has partnered with a German organisation, Paul Gerhardt-Schule since 2002 in solid waste management. The Club coordinates the collection, sorting and disposal of solid wastes that include organics, plastics, polythene, glass and metal.

Through pilot solid wastes disposal structures, segregation has been done, followed by the recycling process.

 Interestingly, in Goibei Girls kitchens, biogas energy is used in cooking food. “We have an elaborate biogas production unit where we tap the fuel for our cooking, the idea here is to reduce firewood consumption which consequently shields us from cutting down trees,” notes Khabongo. Paul Gerhardt-Schule Organisation pumped over Sh400,000 in to the biogas project with the School supplementing the remaining amount that ensured the school sufficiently feeds its 720 students.

In 2006, the School won the National Environmental Management Authority award at both the District and Provincial level for a special contribution in environmental conservation and education.

Later in 2008, the School scooped the top national award sponsored by the Kenya Organisation of Environmental Education for the best environmental practice in the entire country.

This feat hoisted the School high, elevating its status to a model eco-school. Since then, various school from near and afar have visited the school to learn the ropes. Last year, Ruth Njoki and Branice Saitoti currently in Form Four, participated in environmental related essay writing competitions.

 They won in their respective categories and represented the country in United Kingdom in environmental forum. “We had an eye opening experience; it was a moment with destiny for us and we are glad that what we learnt in the UK we have piloted that to our country,” 17-year-old Njoki told Business Beat.

“The much hyped Vision 2030 can never be achieved if we fail to do the basics in environmental conservation.”

The School wants to scale up their efforts and this year. They are targeting to set up yet another project of harvesting rainwater.

“We are always on the steering wheels to set the pace; we plan to initiate a rain harvesting project to ensure that we capture as much rain water as possible, this is rainy area and if we can manage to tap this water, we shall save a lot,” observes Khabongo.