The Tea Fields of Kericho
‘Karibu county 035’. A signboard read on the side of the road.
Maina’s parents had just moved to Kericho for his father’s new job.
They were out for a picnic at the Chagaik Arboretum, a beautiful park surrounded by luscious green hills of tea plantations.
His mother placed a shuka on the ground for them to sit on and removed the yummy food from the picnic basket.
“You brought tea too?” Maina asked his mother incredulously.
“Of course, having a cup of tea is the most common tradition in every household, especially in Kericho,” his mother replied.
“See those tea plantations, they produce Ketepa tea, one of the largest producers of tea in the world,” his mother continued with pride.
Suddenly, a monkey ran past them trying to grab Maina’s banana.
“I did not know there were monkeys around!” He exclaimed.
“Yes, it probably came from the Tagabi Monkey Sanctuary that’s around here,” his mother replied.
“I better put this sugar away and hold on to my mandazi,”his father added amused by the bravado of the monkeys.
“No, they aren’t that bad, they are friendly, we should take a selfie with the next one that comes around,” mother responded.
They all burst out laughing at this idea.
“Why don’t we go for a site seeing drive?” Maina suggested.
So, after thirty minutes of basking in the sun with their little tea picnic, they left for their tour.
“Look at all those trees, is that the monkey sanctuary you mentioned?” Maina asked.
“That is one of Kenya’s few remaining indigenous forests called Chebulu Forest, it has 400 year old trees!
“Unfortunately, Chebulu Forest as well as Mau Forest which covers part of Kericho, are slowly dying out due to deforestation,” His mother added and sighed.
No forests means a dying environment, or the water cycle being disrupted which then translates to no water and how do we grow our food? Maina thought worriedly.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of water. It was River Chebulu that flows near their home, and this gave him an idea.
Maina decided that he would plant a tree to help the environment since he did not know how to stop adults from cutting down trees.
