Environmental Mentorship for Increased Activism

Colonialism was a battle of blood to liberate the nation against the cruel and inhumane British colonial rule that made Kenyans live on their knees in their own country. It was a challenging fight that won Kenya her independence with guerilla fighters such as Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi paying the highest price.

It is without any doubt that the national freedom was won collectively by the sacrificial contribution of all Kenyan tribes. In the same spirit, Dedan Kimathi Foundation creates the need for collective environmental action to conserve the environment that continues to be degraded as time goes.

Human activities such as alarming deforestation and green house gases emissions into the atmosphere through burning of fossil fuels and improper waste disposal and management continue to pose health risks placing the nation at the losing end. Temperatures are hitting highest of levels causing reduced agricultural production, human and animal irritability, rising sea levels, flooding, unpredictable weather patterns among other effects of climate change are no longer new to us.

For this reason, Madam Evelyn Wanjugu Kimathi, takes environmental activism as a personal duty to protect nature in full knowledge that nature does not forgive. Since 2018, she has walked the environment conservation path by involving the more than 35,000 freedom struggle remnants and their families registered under Dedan Kimathi Foundation to grow more than 4 million trees in 35 counties.

In the advantage of the knowledge the young generation has to tackle climate change issues, Evelyn Kimathi has mentored and continues to offer a platform where the youth especially tertiary students get to contribute to environmental action by sensitizing the public against climate change, conducting clean ups in towns and river lines, producing tree seedlings and growing trees in public spaces. Through this, she keeps a good percentage of the unemployed youth engaged in nation building activities indirectly reducing crime rate and drug and substance abuse caused by idleness.

From the foot of the Aberdare ranges, she dreams of a day when all citizens will be environmentally friendly; disposing waste properly, growing trees voluntarily, sharing environmental knowledge freely, utilizing natural resources sparingly and sharing the little they have amongst themselves with love.

Her support to the government of the day to achieve 30% tree cover by 2032 to mitigate climate change negative effects remains steadfast.