Salvaged Mida Creek wins hearts of Kilifi

A group of women is reaping big from the fruits of their conservation efforts in Mida Creek, Kilifi county, after struggling for more than a decade, planting mangroves in the ecosystem that was under threat due to destruction.

What started as a women's group for conserving the environment is now becoming a major ecotourism enterprise, attracting hundreds of tourists local and foreign.

Bidii Na Kazi women's group members started by setting up mangrove seedlings for sale to conservation organisations and government agencies to cover up the area destroyed by the community.

Today, the women, most of them illiterate, are the proud owners of an ecotourism restaurant at the tail end of the famous Mida Creek boardwalk.

Apart from running it on their own in shifts, the women also own canoes for excursion of tourists who visit their dhow house restaurant, enjoy the natural ecosystem full of unique bird species, and go through the magical channels within the creek.

Their founder, renowned award-winning conservationist Arafa Salim, died two years ago, but that did not pull them back as they have since moved on and are prospering thanks to massive support received from the National Museums of Kenya.

Group vice chairperson Sidi Baya said they started out by planting vegetables on the farms at home and mangrove seedling nurseries.

“Before the Covid-19 pandemic hit us, we were getting many clients buying the mangrove seedlings,” she said.

"After the pandemic, the market went down. Luckily, we had received funding to establish the restaurant, and the project has really helped us grow as the mangrove business was not bringing anything."

We visited them to check on their progress and found they have really developed. Since they are illiterate, they have recruited a local girl who finished secondary school to manage their restaurant and ensure their accounts are properly done.

FORTUNES CHANGED

Baya said savings from their restaurant business are used to offer loans to members. They share the savings at the end of each year, but in between, if a member has a problem, she can take a loan.

“Just recently, my child had completed school and was to join Form 1. I needed additional funds to take her to school,” Baya said.

“I talked to members. They gave me Sh10,000, and I supplemented it with other funds I had and took her to Barani Secondary School.”

She said they were poor and going through tough times but now, despite being illiterate, life is going on well.

To her, even the husbands who used to be sole breadwinners now have got relief as some of the basic needs are handled by the wives.

“My husband is now happy to have a wife at home because I'm no longer a burden to him but we help each other,” she said.

Baya said the late Arafa Salim, who was the founder, played a major role in the development of the group.

"We remember her and still believe she is with us in our hearts even though she died, she really brought us from far,” she said.

Through Salim, she said, they managed to get funding for the resort and media coverage to highlight their plight on the mangroves, when they had 500,000 seedlings with no market, and they got clients.

Further, she said, they initiated a butterfly project, bee hives, which are now sources of income for the group.

Baya herself learned how to do photography despite being illiterate and can now take good photos.

“I did not go to school but when I get hold of a camera, I am able to take good photos. Many of them are online, and I'm the one who took them. So I'm happy. That's the knowledge I got from the sponsorship of National Museums of Kenya,” she said.

RECORD KEEPING

New group member Eunice Shariff said she joined them to help them keep records of their project because they are illiterate.

She was asked by her mother to join the group since she is literate after completing high school as she plans to go to college.

She keeps records of the sales at the restaurant and the other projects they are doing, such as beekeeping, vegetables, canoes, fish traps and mangrove seedlings.

“Anything they get from their projects is what I keep on record, and it's long been voluntary work that I am doing for them,” she said.

She said many youths do not want to volunteer for such activities because they want jobs that will have money as a reward for them easily.

Shariff has been volunteering for months until recently, when the women began paying her Sh3,000 monthly after seeing her efforts bearing fruits.

Her ambition is to further her studies and use the knowledge to take the group's project to greater success.

Shariff said the women are so generous and know how to handle clients at the restaurant.

“Our restaurant is strategically located and attracts guests because of the nice scenic view. There are unique bird species here at Mida Creek. That's one of the attractions here,” she said.

TRADITIONAL DISHES

The dhow house restaurant cooks traditional dishes, which have good taste.

One client confessed that her husband could easily divorce her because of the kind of food they cook, Sharrif said.

Fish sold at the restaurant is fresh as the women have their own fish traps and fishermen, in addition to vegetables that come directly from their organic farm.

“We do not buy fish from the butchery. They are fresh from the ocean. What we buy from outside is rice only,” she said.

When clients visit the restaurant, they are taken around the creek in canoes to see the unique birds, mangroves and channels within the creek before they come for their meals.

Despite its strides, the group still has challenges as the kitchen is small and there is no electricity at the restaurant.

Sharif said they have to carry water from the mainland to the restaurant, which is hectic.

Group secretary Gladys Kadii, who also acts as a cook at the hotel, said she has benefitted a lot from the group as she got a loan to pay school fees for her child.

Her child’s fees was Sh7,000 and she got a loan of Sh5,000, which she topped up with personal savings and managed to take him to school.

After clearing the loan, she took another loan to do farming, and she is now happy to have got a bumper harvest on her farm.

“I am happy because I harvested maize and it is a result of the money I got from the project,” she said.

With the loan of Sh2,500 she took for farming to hire a tractor, she has managed to harvest six sacks of maize, which can last up to five months.

At the hotel, she said, they depend on bookings from clients and prepare what they order.

Kadii said they have specialised in sea foods such as ugali and fish or coconut rice and fish stew. Many guests like fish stew.

Kingi Karisa, a tour guide at Mida Creek, said they give tourists information on what they do. This includes canoe rides, a restaurant for youth and another one for the women's dhow house.

Karisa said they benefitted from the women's project because they are the ones who built the restaurant and are now working for them.

"When guests are many, they are referred to the dhow house. When tides are full, there are canoes that take guests to the shores,” he said.

With such initiatives, the community is embracing conservation and their lives are transforming for the better. At the same time they have become aware of conserving the ecosystem and the maritime cultural heritage.