Ripples International partners with a seasoned biker to push for action against climate change

Meru,

Monday, October 9, 2023,

KNA by Dickson Mwiti

Ripples International, a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) based in Meru that

protects and promotes respectful rights of women and children, has partnered with a seasoned

biker in the country to push for actions against climate change.

The NGO’s aims at raising awareness of the negative impact of climate change on

children’s lives.

The organisation runs a home for girls rescued from abuse, and also sponsors education of several children in Meru, Samburu, Tharaka Nithi, Isiolo and Marabit Counties.

On Saturday, the NGO received Mr. Sammy Mwongera Kiumbe, a pastor and a seasoned

biker who rode all the way from South Africa, a distance of about 5,500kilometres across

several countries, seeking to raise awareness about the negative effects of climate change on

children.

Speaking to journalists at a ceremony held at Meru National Polytechnic and marked with planting of trees, Kiumbe, an adventure rider, said that during his cause, he was

advocating for climate action for the sake of children’s education, health and other issues in

their growth and development. 

“As an adventure rider, I connect with nature a lot. When I have been riding in the forest in the recent past, I have noticed that the forests are changing; trees are gone, places that I used

to go for nature, I can no longer go there. So, I was prompted to ask Ripples International, who went through drought last year and started a few programmes to mitigate it, whether we could partner so that I can ride all the way for this cause,” he said.

Kiumbe started his ride from South Africa on September 28 and arrived in Nairobi on

October 6. Through the journey, he said, he faced various challenges including wild animals as well as harsh weather conditions, but all through, he was keen on inspiring people to plant trees and participate in other climate change mitigation actions, for the sake of children.

“I chose to ride a bike in this campaign in order to attract the attention of people, create

awareness and a call for action for everyone,” said Kiumbe.

He has encouraged Kenyans to be cognizant of the environment not only as a local but also an international challenge.

“As Ripples does this programme for children, you can partner with them in your own

capacities and if you can’t, there are many other ways you can participate in bringing the

change that we want,” said Kiumbe.

He called on the government to make use of the bikers as well as boda boda riders, who have a huge network in the country, to advance the agenda of achieving a target of five billion trees by 2032.

Ripples International Director Mr. John Baidoo said climate change has become a major

threat to children’s education, nutrition and other areas of development hence the need to

draw the attention of people to the matter, which they are doing through Kiumbe’s awareness

drive.

“We are trying to do some form of advocacy which we think is critical for everyone to know that the little actions that we take go a long way to give us a cooler planet,” said Baidoo.

He added: “We want to transition more into renewable energy including solar, wind, and

hydropower and would want to see people transitioning, though slowly, to this space.”

He said they were also looking at re-afforestation where they can participate in planting more trees to replace the ones that have been cut down or grown old.

“We can’t discuss all this without talking about sustainable transportation that will reduce

carbon emission into our environment. We are envisaging a future where we can have electric

cars and motorcycles which will go a long way to reduce the amount of carbon in the

ecosystem,” said Baidoo.

Awareness about all these things, he said, is very critical and this was the reason the Ripples International had to do some form of education and tell the world that the little things that they do, including planting a tree would go a long way in giving us a better planet.

He said this would also be enhanced by putting in place government policies and laws geared to ensuring that everything being done towards mitigation of

climate change comes to fruition.

“Climate is not just an environmental matter but a human rights issue. At the moment we

have many children who are not attending schools due to the effects of climate change. We do

school feeding programmes in many schools because of consistent drought that has led to insufficient food,” he noted.

“Meru is one of the leading counties when it comes to the number of children getting pregnant. Some of the girls, as they look for food, have ended up in prostitution and we can all see the results,” said Baidoo.

Courtesy; KNA