We Are Almost There!

----GVI Volunteers Enjoy a Tour by Joseph and Emmanuel---

When I first came to GVI as a volunteer in July of 2008, I spent one week in Kidong village on the border of Tsavo West National Park helping ex-poachers make plans for a proposed eco-tourism project. At the site of the eco-tourism project there were two small huts for tourists to sleep in and a larger hut which was going to be the information centre. Oh, and a long drop toilet about 100m from the site with a food-aid bag as the door. I feel in love with the people in Kidong and the work that GVI was doing with ex-poaching communities on the border of Tsavo West. When I was in Kidong I thought a lot about the eco-tourism project that the villagers were planning and just how far they had to go before they were going to be anywhere close to opening the project for business.

---Kidong Restuarant----

It’s now 2010, and a lot has changed! I am now GVI’s Tsavo West Sustainable Development Officer responsible for running all of GVI’s community development projects in the Taveta region. More importantly, the eco-tourism project is almost ready to be opened for business! With the support of GVI and the World Society for the Protection of Animals, the ex-poachers of Kidong have significantly developed the eco-tourism project over the past two years. The site now has a restaurant, an information centre with information boards outlining the transition of the Kidong people from poachers to protectors, flushing toilets, six huts for tourists to sleep in, a kitchen, store room and a water recycling system which allows them to irrigate a small plot of land to grow produce for their restaurant. The major infrastructure is all in place. And so too are the people needed to run the project.

---The First Meal was Served in Kidong's Restuarant---

Two years of hard work by GVI volunteers training the people of Kidong on how to run a three hour tour for tourists around the eco-tourism centre and up Kidong Hill, has certainly paid off. I just took part in the whole tour for the first time ever and at the end of it, I was lost for words. I was greeted by a friendly group of ex-poachers, walked through the information centre learning about the poacher’s history, took an engaging walk up Kidong Hill and then returned to the restaurant for a drink and some delicious food. I actually felt like a tourist visiting the eco-tourism project – not an easy thing to achieve given that I have spent the past two years working in Kidong with the group of people who were serving and guiding me. A few final touches are still required to complete the centre, including tables and chairs for the restaurant, but for the first time in two years I can see this project being opened in the very near future. Congratulations to the people of Kidong who have successfully transformed from poachers to protectors, and, have built a sustainable income generating project in just a few years! If you are coming to Kenya later this year, you might just find the Kidong eco-tourism project is a stopover point on your safari!

We Are Almost There!