Author: Mana Omar
My name is Mana Omar. I am the founder and CEO of spring of the arid and semi-arid lands {SASAL}; an NGO registered in September 2020, whose mission is to work with the ASAL communities to improve climate resilience.
My target is to cover all the ASAL counties of Kenya through SASAL. Our first county of operation is Kajiado.
Mana
Our main activity/project is “Greening the ASAL’s.” Started in February 2020, in phase 1, we planted 300 trees in Olkiramatian primary school and established a nursery of 500 seedlings.
In phase 2, we planted 300 more and expanded our nursery with 900 more seedlings.
The reason behind establishing the nursery is to ensure our project’s sustainability since our organization has not acquired any funding yet.
As an individual, I have been on conservation since the year 2014, planting trees at home, attending events that involved conservation, enlightening the pastoral communities on the importance of conservation, etc.
I am also fighting plastic pollution and have conducted cleanups and awareness creation campaigns for this.
My target is the pastoral communities of Kenya who mainly live in the ASAL’s. Coming from a pastoral community, I understand the impacts climate change has had on our main source of livelihood (Livestock keeping) and hence my target of building climate resilience and adaptation through greening the ASAL’s.
A meteorologist by profession
I am a meteorologist by profession. While beginning my degree course at UoN in 2013, I was less interested in the course. However, one year down the line, I started relating whatever I was learning in class to what my community was going through in terms of weather and climate.
That’s what motivated me to start an NGO and help my community understand climate change and its dynamics to lead a more resilient life.
While mitigating climate change might take longer, adapting and building resilience towards it is quicker and helpful.
Since taking my projects to the grassroots, more people are gaining consciousness on conservation, climate change, and more people supporting my cause. The community who I work with avail themselves during tree planting and even in taking care of the already planted trees even in my absence.
Challenges are inevitable. However, determination and resilience are what matters. Some of the challenges I have encountered include lack of resources and a few volunteers.
NATURE IS UNFORGIVING!
My message to everyone out there is, the environment, however voiceless it might be, has a way of speaking for itself. Nature will retaliate, and it will do so in a way we cannot survive. If you cannot help in adding to its beauty, the best you can do is not to tamper with it. NATURE IS UNFORGIVING!
I continuously grow my connection to nature. I feel fulfilled replenishing it, and I also feel pressured in conducting my project on #greeningtheasals, for I know that is the hope for our pastoral communities.
As a scientist, we can be able to change the micro-climate of an area by greening it. I am happy and proud to be a woman is conservation; I am excited to have found my cause in Climate action.
