Preparations for the scaling up of the Schools Green Initiative Challenge are in top gear following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between KenGen, Better Globe Forestry, and Bamburi Cement in June. The KenGen Foundation team has embarked on a mapping exercise for schools in Embu, Machakos and Kitui counties that will participate in the program. 120 new schools will be selected to participate.

Bruno Pescheux-CEO of Bamburi, Albert Mugo-KenGen Managing Director and Chairman of the KenGen Foundation, and Jean-Paul Deprins Managing Director Better Globe Forestry Limited during the signing of the MoU for the Green Initiative Challenge 24 June 2015

The mapping exercise is expected to determine the 40 schools from each will join the Green Initiative Challenge Expansion program. The greening project aims at promoting environmental awareness through participation of students and the wider school community. It involves planting, nurturing and developing small woodlots and forests within the school compounds for environmental and commercial benefits.

The KenGen Foundation’s Senior Programmes Officer Anthony Igecha and KenGen Environment Officer Amos Mbutu are working with the three counties’ Education Offices to gather information and locations of potential schools that will go through the selection process to ascertain their suitability of joining in the challenge.

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“Due to transport, monitoring, and evaluation logistics, we are working towards clustering the schools from each region close to each other. This, coupled by weather patterns in the regions within the three counties, is part of the criteria we are using in mapping and selecting the schools”, says, Anthony.