Message from Wasini Island

Wasini island, a small jewel in the Indian Ocean, one mile from the great continent of Africa and kissing the Kenyan/Tanzanian border. Every evening, a spectacular sunset. Every evening, our banda is visited by tens of enchanting hermit crabs and even the very rare coconut crab. This really is a special place.

Wasini island consists of 2 villages (Wasini and Mkwiro) with a confirmed population of about 5000 persons, whose livelihoods depend mainly on fishing. However, the fish stocks in the area have been steadily declining up to a 70% during the last two decades.

However, kids top everything else in this island, with their bright eyes and huge smile, plus their Kiswahili songs with which they welcome you every time you enter the village.

We have English classes with the local kids, who have therefore the opportunity to learn from native English speakers. Our objective is improving their pronunciation and grammar skills throughout all primary school levels. It is a challenge keeping the attention of these young and restless minds, and hence we have to be creative and interactive with our classes. However, it is always a nice thrill to leave the classroom knowing that the children have learnt something.

Our 10 week expo is close to an end. And it has been such an incredible experience so far! Dolphin surveys and coral reef snorkeling transects to study the impact of tourism in the ecosystem, forest conservation focused on colobus monkeys, teaching in the schools in Shimoni and Mkwiro… Bring on next expo!!!

Message from Wasini Island