Troon Ombongi

Alfa Network (Nairobi, Kenya)

Today’s Date: 17 July 2008

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

Hen, especially cock when I was young my grand mother gave me a present of a chick, I reared it until it was big and started laying eggs, there was a big cock of one of our neighbors, usually our poultry are reared in free range system, so I tied a rope to my hen and I was collecting the chicks together, the hen mother was making a lot of noise so the cock came running it scratched me badly on my legs peaking me and remember I was wearing a very small short up to date I have the scares in my leg. I ran to the house and closed myself fearing for more scratches from the cock.

2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?

Our near by school field we used to organize with other friends and we could go there play football, we made the ball by ourselves, we collected plastic paper bags and tied with ropes to be the shape of a ball.

Now? Game parks, I really like seeing animals and other new things in my life.

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?

Hen, I don’t eat any meat except chicken and eggs, I was born like that and the only meat I can eat is chicken and it’s eggs, I started rearing hens while I was young and I used to sell eggs which gave me money, though it wasn’t a lot but during that time, I was the young star in my village who can buy other friends a cup of tea in our local hotel.

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

The environmental challenge we have is destroying our forest which as caused a lot of soil erosion and reduced the soil fertility, which result to poor productivity of farming product.

5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

I like to advice people to be reasonable since we are the ones using the natural resources in a bad way and we are the one to suffer in the coming days equally to the environment