From Kisumu High School. (Kenya)
My students and their families are digging deeper into their pockets after to find their only and favorite protein provider. Fish. This has caused concern and so members of our school conservation club., The Sandwatchers.The current chairperson of our school’s Sandwatcher, Lizy Okoth, called for a crucial meeting in early May of all club members to discuss the situation and how it relates to environment and conservation. We have not had many activities in our club due to violence experienced in our country early this year.Just to update you, my school is known as Kisumu High School which is found in Kisumu City of Kenya. Kenya is an East African country. Kisumu is the capital of Nyanza province, on the north-eastern shore of Lake Victoria and is the third largest city in Kenya. It is the commercial, industrial, and transportation centre of western Kenya, serving a hinterland populated by almost four million people. The most famous person from this area is United States Senator Barack Obama Jr. of Illinois. Obama. Currently Obama is the only black member of the US Senate and a Democratic party nominee for this years US presidential elections, was actually born in Hawaii, but his father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born in the village of Nyangoma Kogalo nearby Lake Victoria. On August 8, 2006, Senator Obama, visited Kisumu, as part of his African tour. Obama was greeted by thousand of cheering well-wishers who included my students.
However, things have not been very rosy for residents of Kisumu in the recent past. Early this year, hundreds of protesters took over the streets, and smoke was seen rising across the city. The tension erupted after Mwai Kibaki was named the winner of the December presidential election. Many Kenyans and international observers believe the election was rigged to favor Kibaki, who was first elected in 2002 and is a member of the country's largest tribe, the Kikuyu over main rival is Raila Odinga, a member of the Luo tribe and Kisumu is his homeland. In the most violent protest in Kenya’s history that started on 29th December 2007, people looted shops, burnt government and private buildings and vehicles, leaving Kisumu on its knees.
The impact of post-election violence in Kisumu will be felt for many years to come. The businesses that provided employment opportunities have gone into flames, rendering thousands of people jobless; many children have been left orphans, while the wanton destruction of infrastructure left the economy ravaged. But that is not all. The staple food, fish has performed a disappearing act from the plates of my students. Members of Kisumu High Sandwatcher decided to go to patrol the beaches of lake Victoria to find out why the fish is disappearing. Led by Lizy, we set out with our note pads and cameras to look for the fish and fishermen of Lake Victoria. My students discovered three reasons as to why fish is fast disappearing from our dinner tables in Kenya. First Pollution, Second pollution and third, pollution. Pollution and lack of conservation of our existing natural resources is the source of escalating food prices all over the world. Lake Victoria is at risk of dying off from pollution! At 26,560 square miles (69,000 square kilometres), Lake Victoria is the world's largest freshwater lake, second only to Lake Superior in North America. The lake is shared by East African states of Kenya (6%), Uganda (45%) and Tanzania (49%). The lake with a 3450 km-long shoreline lies at altitude of 1135 meters above sea level, has a mean depth of 40 meters and maximum depth of 80 meters. Lake Victoria basin is used by communities and industries as a source of food, energy, water and transport. The lake is also a sink for human, agricultural and industrial waste.
The Lake provides employment for up to 30 million people. The Lake's catchment area of 258,700 square kilometers has a GDP of US$ 300-400 million and supports nearly one-third of the total population of East Africa. The Lake is the source of River Nile, which is renown for white-water rafting and flows to Egypt through Sudan. Towns of Kakamega and Kisumu discharge inadequately treated sewage in rivers draining into Lake Victoria because of deficient treatment plants. The Sandwatchers visited the Kisumu sewage plant and found a disgusting picture. The sewage plant with a design capacity of 9000 cubic meters now receives 15000 cubic meters of effluent, much of which flows into Lake Victoria without treatment. Clearly, more than anything else, it is the discharge of untreated effluent and the lack of enforcement of discharge standards that are removing fish from my students dinner tables.
The Lake has for along time been a sink to excessive nutrients and untreated effluent that have led to fish die-offs, algal blooms and the spread of hyacinth, a ferocious waterweed. Although mostly eradicated now, the remnants of hyacinth on Lake Victoria deplete dissolved oxygen, sunlight and are an obstacle to water transport. Along the shoreline, hyacinth provides habitat for malaria mosquitoes and snails which habour bilharzia parasites.
The Sandwatchers then decided to speak to some of the fishermen and fishmongers as to how the problem can be resolved. A fisherman by the name Mr Obure, has to brave all the dangers because nowadays the coveted Nile Perch has become hard to come by. It is a tasty, quick growing and massive, making it an ideal staple species for a fishery. The fisherman says finding the massive Nile Perch - which can fetch more than 10 US dollars per kilogram, thanks to its popularity in Europe - is becoming an increasingly perilous game with shrinking returns. The consensus among fishermen in Kisumu is that water pollution, which is exacerbated by a lack of government regulation, has forced the perch to leave. Run-off from the many rivers that feed into the lake is ferrying toxic substances into the water, and industrial and residential waste is increasing. Justine Tindi a top student in my class pointed out to the Kisumu high sandwatchers some of the visual evidence as, fertilizers used by farmers upstream have caused water hyacinth to flourish, pushing some species farther out or killing them altogether. Jacob pointed to the hills surrounding Kisumu which are barren, having been stripped of trees to make charcoal. Rivers once protected from direct sunlight are now exposed and drying up faster, leading to a shrinking lake. This has seen the perch - a hunter that needs clean water to see its prey - move away from the shore.
As the club patron, I reminded my students that the impact of the Nile perch's introduction has been mostly negative on the lake's ecosystem, despite being a boon for the pocketbooks of fishermen. The World Conservation Union considers the Nile Perch one of the world's 100 worst invasive species. Many native fish, including the Tilapia and several species of cichlids have all disappeared. A spot check showed that tilapia, which previously sold at Kenya shilling 150, was going for Sh450. Some outlets have taken advantage of the situation and are selling tilapia at Sh500. Prices of dagaa fish, a popular dried fish delicacy, have also shot up from Sh25 to Sh60. A kilogramme of omena is now selling for Sh120 up from for Sh5. That afternoon, we left the shores of Lake Victoria crest fallen. Our main source of food in Africa is being destroyed under our very noses. We have to do something, anything to save the lake for us and for the future generations. Later that evening I watched on CNN as world leaders sat in air conditioned halls in Rome Italy discussing escalating food prices in the world. I wished I could tell them to stop. Seminars and workshops are important but they may not help us. It is time to roll up our sleeves and get out there and conserve our environment. That is my friend Geoff from Britain travelled all the way to Kisumu and joined my students and I in cleaning the beaches around Kisumu. The world cameras may notice us, but we love what we are doing. Returning fish back to our dinner tables.
By Amunga Peter
Kisumu High Sandwatcher Club. Kisumu.
My students and their families are digging deeper into their pockets after to find their only and favorite protein provider. Fish. This has caused concern and so members of our school conservation club., The Sandwatchers.The current chairperson of our school’s Sandwatcher, Lizy Okoth, called for a crucial meeting in early May of all club members to discuss the situation and how it relates to environment and conservation. We have not had many activities in our club due to violence experienced in our country early this year.Just to update you, my school is known as Kisumu High School which is found in Kisumu City of Kenya. Kenya is an East African country. Kisumu is the capital of Nyanza province, on the north-eastern shore of Lake Victoria and is the third largest city in Kenya. It is the commercial, industrial, and transportation centre of western Kenya, serving a hinterland populated by almost four million people. The most famous person from this area is United States Senator Barack Obama Jr. of Illinois. Obama. Currently Obama is the only black member of the US Senate and a Democratic party nominee for this years US presidential elections, was actually born in Hawaii, but his father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born in the village of Nyangoma Kogalo nearby Lake Victoria. On August 8, 2006, Senator Obama, visited Kisumu, as part of his African tour. Obama was greeted by thousand of cheering well-wishers who included my students.
However, things have not been very rosy for residents of Kisumu in the recent past. Early this year, hundreds of protesters took over the streets, and smoke was seen rising across the city. The tension erupted after Mwai Kibaki was named the winner of the December presidential election. Many Kenyans and international observers believe the election was rigged to favor Kibaki, who was first elected in 2002 and is a member of the country's largest tribe, the Kikuyu over main rival is Raila Odinga, a member of the Luo tribe and Kisumu is his homeland. In the most violent protest in Kenya’s history that started on 29th December 2007, people looted shops, burnt government and private buildings and vehicles, leaving Kisumu on its knees.
The impact of post-election violence in Kisumu will be felt for many years to come. The businesses that provided employment opportunities have gone into flames, rendering thousands of people jobless; many children have been left orphans, while the wanton destruction of infrastructure left the economy ravaged. But that is not all. The staple food, fish has performed a disappearing act from the plates of my students. Members of Kisumu High Sandwatcher decided to go to patrol the beaches of lake Victoria to find out why the fish is disappearing. Led by Lizy, we set out with our note pads and cameras to look for the fish and fishermen of Lake Victoria. My students discovered three reasons as to why fish is fast disappearing from our dinner tables in Kenya. First Pollution, Second pollution and third, pollution. Pollution and lack of conservation of our existing natural resources is the source of escalating food prices all over the world. Lake Victoria is at risk of dying off from pollution! At 26,560 square miles (69,000 square kilometres), Lake Victoria is the world's largest freshwater lake, second only to Lake Superior in North America. The lake is shared by East African states of Kenya (6%), Uganda (45%) and Tanzania (49%). The lake with a 3450 km-long shoreline lies at altitude of 1135 meters above sea level, has a mean depth of 40 meters and maximum depth of 80 meters. Lake Victoria basin is used by communities and industries as a source of food, energy, water and transport. The lake is also a sink for human, agricultural and industrial waste.
The Lake provides employment for up to 30 million people. The Lake's catchment area of 258,700 square kilometers has a GDP of US$ 300-400 million and supports nearly one-third of the total population of East Africa. The Lake is the source of River Nile, which is renown for white-water rafting and flows to Egypt through Sudan. Towns of Kakamega and Kisumu discharge inadequately treated sewage in rivers draining into Lake Victoria because of deficient treatment plants. The Sandwatchers visited the Kisumu sewage plant and found a disgusting picture. The sewage plant with a design capacity of 9000 cubic meters now receives 15000 cubic meters of effluent, much of which flows into Lake Victoria without treatment. Clearly, more than anything else, it is the discharge of untreated effluent and the lack of enforcement of discharge standards that are removing fish from my students dinner tables.
The Lake has for along time been a sink to excessive nutrients and untreated effluent that have led to fish die-offs, algal blooms and the spread of hyacinth, a ferocious waterweed. Although mostly eradicated now, the remnants of hyacinth on Lake Victoria deplete dissolved oxygen, sunlight and are an obstacle to water transport. Along the shoreline, hyacinth provides habitat for malaria mosquitoes and snails which habour bilharzia parasites.
The Sandwatchers then decided to speak to some of the fishermen and fishmongers as to how the problem can be resolved. A fisherman by the name Mr Obure, has to brave all the dangers because nowadays the coveted Nile Perch has become hard to come by. It is a tasty, quick growing and massive, making it an ideal staple species for a fishery. The fisherman says finding the massive Nile Perch - which can fetch more than 10 US dollars per kilogram, thanks to its popularity in Europe - is becoming an increasingly perilous game with shrinking returns. The consensus among fishermen in Kisumu is that water pollution, which is exacerbated by a lack of government regulation, has forced the perch to leave. Run-off from the many rivers that feed into the lake is ferrying toxic substances into the water, and industrial and residential waste is increasing. Justine Tindi a top student in my class pointed out to the Kisumu high sandwatchers some of the visual evidence as, fertilizers used by farmers upstream have caused water hyacinth to flourish, pushing some species farther out or killing them altogether. Jacob pointed to the hills surrounding Kisumu which are barren, having been stripped of trees to make charcoal. Rivers once protected from direct sunlight are now exposed and drying up faster, leading to a shrinking lake. This has seen the perch - a hunter that needs clean water to see its prey - move away from the shore.
As the club patron, I reminded my students that the impact of the Nile perch's introduction has been mostly negative on the lake's ecosystem, despite being a boon for the pocketbooks of fishermen. The World Conservation Union considers the Nile Perch one of the world's 100 worst invasive species. Many native fish, including the Tilapia and several species of cichlids have all disappeared. A spot check showed that tilapia, which previously sold at Kenya shilling 150, was going for Sh450. Some outlets have taken advantage of the situation and are selling tilapia at Sh500. Prices of dagaa fish, a popular dried fish delicacy, have also shot up from Sh25 to Sh60. A kilogramme of omena is now selling for Sh120 up from for Sh5. That afternoon, we left the shores of Lake Victoria crest fallen. Our main source of food in Africa is being destroyed under our very noses. We have to do something, anything to save the lake for us and for the future generations. Later that evening I watched on CNN as world leaders sat in air conditioned halls in Rome Italy discussing escalating food prices in the world. I wished I could tell them to stop. Seminars and workshops are important but they may not help us. It is time to roll up our sleeves and get out there and conserve our environment. That is my friend Geoff from Britain travelled all the way to Kisumu and joined my students and I in cleaning the beaches around Kisumu. The world cameras may notice us, but we love what we are doing. Returning fish back to our dinner tables.
By Amunga Peter
Kisumu High Sandwatcher Club. Kisumu.