Enonkishu Conservancy

Enonkishu Conservancy,  (Maa for ‘place of healthy cattle’) located in southwestern Kenya, is one of the newest Savory Hubs.  Designed to demonstrate the attributes of managed grazing in a challenging environment and to encourage local community involvement.  The young couple who have pulled this endeavor together to qualify as a Savory Hub and move forward with implementation have indeed set a challenging yet heartfelt mission before them.

Their stated mission:

“REGENERATIVE GRAZING

Enonkishu Conservancy is committed to sustainable rangeland management that allows space and resources for all people, cattle, and wildlife. To achieve this it seeks a balance between conservation of the ecosystem and appropriate enterprise for the resident Maasai communities. Enonkishu is adopting a unique approach to conserving land by creating a viable livestock enterprise through a Holistic Management (HM) Approach. Through HM, Enonkishu intends to improve productivity of the livestock in the region, improve livelihoods and maintain heritage.”

The desire to improve the land, livestock, and wildlife is admirable, but no more so than the commitment to lift up the lives of the local people by finding ways for more children to seek formal education and to put more dollars in the pockets of families.

‘Regenerative’ is the new buzzword and thinking to replace ‘sustainable.’  I think it’s a good change.  Why sustain something that is in decline or degraded?  Regeneration of poor soils is tantamount to improved lives.  From the dust of the earth was man created -Genesis 2:7.

However, offering and encouraging education in holistic management or any other ideology must be introduced with gentleness and respect into a culture and society which may push back with decades of ingrained practices and customs.  Even in our rural county in Missouri, USA with one of the premier managed-grazing schools at our fingertips, there is little adoption of the regenerative practices.  To form a cooperative of producers willing to allow their comingled cow herds to be managed as one mob by someone else on comingled land would not even be considered.  Yet this is the simplified explanation of one component of what is happening with Enonkishu Conservancy and the Mara Training Centre.  With any new organisation, family or business, there are growing and learning pains.  Rookie mistakes, which should be avoided by heeding advice from those who have already made them, creep into any undertaking.  One of the key elements of Allan Savory’s management courses is defining goals and testing objectives.  Good, basic advice for anyone at any point in their lives.

Admittedly, i’m glad i don’t have to manage the massive number of mega wildlife that Lippa and Tarquin do – no worries about lions, leopards, elephants, zebras here in north Missouri.  Wow!

Dallas and I recently (July 23, 2018) returned from a 9 day stay on Naretoi Estate at the House in the Wild accommodation.  We traveled with Trey Shelton, who owns Denizen Global as our TD and along with four other like minded travelers (now good friends) and offered through Savory Institute Journeys.

We learnt so much on this wonderful expedition – not only did we meet great travel mates, hosts, servers, and leaders, but we enjoyed safari and game drives, superb meals prepared by Chef Purity and graciously served by Godfrey, guides who surely have no equal, and opportunities to enjoy local life.  More on all that in future entries.

Journey on!!!

tauna

Our ‘estate’ at House in the Wild

My bedroom with full ensuite behind the bed.

Two hours on that sort of gravel road was the last of our five hour drive from Nairobi to House In the Wild.  I’ll not complain about gravel roads in Jackson Township, Linn County, Missouri, USA again!

Beautiful cooperator cattle on Enonkishu Conservancy.

Another enterprise or ‘holon’ of the Conservancy is the Mara Training Centre at which young people and adults from around the world come to learn about managed grazing.  Camping and dorms are available for long term stays.

Even though the soil is much better covered on the Enonkishu Conservancy, despite the massive amounts of wildlife (which continues to increase because of better forage), there is much work to be done.  My observations are that the cows are the forward grazers and receive the more mature grasses.  This, of course, challenges them to maintain body condition.  I don’t know what the conception rates are.  I asked about how the wildlife are managed and the comments was that oddly, the wildlife seems to follow the cattle.  This is no mystery as to why they do this!  The wildlife are getting that coveted second bite, the one that shouldn’t be taken until the grass has had adequate rest.  This is one point that many graziers differ with Allan Savory’s grazing management.  He says that the amount of time grazing is the most important, whereas many of us believe the amount of time rested is most important.  The key is to move the stock before the blades can be grazed too short- often this is one bite, then move on.  However, time grazing and time resting will vary with seasons and weather conditions.  For example, in my operation in a typical fast growing cool season forages spring, the cows will be in a paddock no more than three days, then that paddock should rest at least 30 days.  However, if the rains don’t come, this rest period could easily extend to 60 or 90 days.  This would require longer stays in paddocks and possible herd reduction.

Anyway, my point is that the wildlife on Enonkishu are fat grazing the creme of the grass crop and quite likely slowing down the regenerative process.  However, tourism is a huge part of the income and goals, so this must be taken into consideration and balance.

The boma is a mainstay amongst cattlemen and shepherds in conservancies of southwestern Kenya.  Stock must be corralled each night for protection from serious predators like lions, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, and other wildlife which like beef as much as we do.  Bomas are designed to be easily set up and taken down and the overnight dunging by mobbed stock can improve soil structure and productivity very quickly IF the area is allowed to rest for along time after use.

This photo clearly shows the great improvement in soil production where the bomas were located.  These areas are indicated by the circular areas of thick green grass cover.

The Enonkishu Conservancy as a new Savory Hub is doing a smart, yet difficult thing.  Mistakes in management have been made and I hope that leaders will continue learning and talking to people who are not only ‘experts’ but also producers, those of us who put these ideas to practice.  We’ve already made the mistakes and most are glad to share our failures and successes.

Wishing them all the best!

tauna

County Rest Home Provides Shelter for Many Oldsters

Here is an article written by Lena Green Rogers and published in the July 28, 1953 edition (Volume LXX, No. 59) of the Daily News-Bulletin, Brookfield, MO about a rest home that was located about a mile west of Linneus, MO on Hwy B. Many of you may remember it as the Infirmary on Infirmary Hill.

Please share this story around and i want to encourage you to add stories and photos to the comments area of this blog.  It would be keen to gather more details of this historic, yet long-gone, institution which provided homes to many who had nowhere else to go.

Huge thank you to Tom Morris for having a copy of this article in his desk drawer! (i have, by and large, left the sentence structure and punctuation as it was published in the paper).  I plan to visit with his parents, Bill and Crystle Morris in the near future to collect more info.

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A contract was signed on November 1, 1948 whereby the State of Missouri agreed to furnish financial aid to the homeless and aged of Linn County, providing the county, which retrained ownership, would still be responsible for the upkeep of the 28 acre tract of land and all buildings thereon.  Thus “the County Farm” sank into oblivion and the Linn County Rest Home, located one mile west of Linneus, Missouri, the county seat, came into being.

The patients are housed in a two-winged, grey stone building which contains ten private rooms, four wards, and five bathrooms, as well as a spacious dining room and ample kitchen space.  It was constructed in 1898 at a cost of $10,000.  However, at today’s prices its estimated value is $100,000.  (2015 dollars would be $879,446).

The superintendents, Mr. and Mrs. Vern Turner, are not strangers in this community as they once lived on a farm north of Brookfield.  They are the parents of four children.  That they are not amateurs in this great humanitarian work has already been proven.  They operated “the farm” three years previous to the state-county operation, which, this fall will make a total of eight years they have been there.  Certainly they merit the praise of every resident of the county.  Periodically they visit other similar institutions and compare methods.  They have sought and received much valuable information in the matter of handling border-line mental cases from the management of State Hospital No. 2, at St. Joseph, Missouri.  So far very few patients have become so unruly, they have had to be sent away from the rest home.

At the present time, fifteen women and sixteen men, whose ages range from 39 to 90 years, are being cared for.  Of that number , five are bed patients and two are sightless.  The oldest on record is a man who passed away in 1948 at the age of 95 years.

“I have the best group of women to be found anywhere,”  said Mrs, Turner, “they are just like children — will do anything I ask them to do.”

Those whose health will permit, assist in light tasks such as washing dishes, making beds, and preparing vegetables.  A great deal of canning is done.  The largest amount that was ever “put up” was in 1950 when 1400 quarts of fruits and vegetables awaited consumption — that winter.

Of the men, Mr. Turner said: Most of them are quite feeble. “They’d help if they could,” then after a pause he added this information, “as a group our patients are from fairly good families, and with one exception, they all have ‘next of kin.'”

Most of Them Keep Busy

That one exception is Charles Overjohn, who at one time was Brookfield’s beloved blacksmith.  But never let it be said he does not pay his way.  He is now 78, but continues to fire the not-too-good furnace with as much punctuality as he did when he started 28 years ago.  He likes to “figure,” too.

Last week he reminded Mrs. Turner that, at the present rate, she will have prepared 33,945 meals — just for the patients alone — by January 1, 1954.  No doubt he is right, because all except the bedridden have excellent appetites.  Practically all vegetables are raised in the farm’s two large gardens, five cows supply the dairy products.

The interest the Turners take in their “girls and boys” as they call their patients, is almost unbelievable.

For instance, after they took over, they burned every piece of old bedding in the place and replaced it with new which they purchased themselves.  And that isn’t all.  They purchased new dishes, towels, and table coverings.

Religious services, while always welcomed by the superintendents, are not held with any regularity with the exception of The Assembly of God, of Bucklin, Missouri, which sends a group out twice a month.  Occasionally, a group of entertainers breaks the monotony.

Because of the lack of help and the many duties pertaining to health, food, and shelter, birthdays are only celebrated by the addition of some special tidbit.

Speaking of health, four times each year a nurse from the state health department accompanies the state inspector to the home and all cases are reviewed.  If any changes are indicated their instructions are carried out to the letter.  Other than that, all medical attention is in the competent hands of Dr. Roy Haley, of Brookfield, the Home’s physician.  He responds readily whenever he is needed.

Life Has Lighter Side

Primarily, the Home is a place of shelter, but there is also a lighter side of life for those forgotten men and women, who, due to their own personalities, enliven things  One patient, who weighs only 90 pounds is a Czechoslovakian.  She speaks English fluently except when she is visited by her relatives.  Then she rattles away in her native tongue and immediately puts on a “swing your partner” dance for which in her day she always used to capture first prize.

Another woman patient, claims the privilege of helping unload the supply truck on its arrival from town, but last week she was stymied.  Before the attendant could stop her she had broken the seal on a can of condensed buttermilk.  After rubbing her face and hands with it, she put some of it to her nose and said: “Golly, I don’t know what that stuff is!”

Life’s ebb and flow determines the number to be cared for, naturally.  A little over a year ago two extra beds had to be set up to accommodate the number seeking admittance, but right now the home is not filled to capacity.  The superintendents have the say-so as to whom shall be taken in, but, so far, they have never refused to admit anyone who has no other home to which he can go.

Visitors are always welcome on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons from one to five o’clock.

The guest register (which Mr. Turner calls his hobby) now contains over 8000 names.  Among last year’s 972 signers was a young man from Venezuela and a woman from India.

Yes, you may make a gift to those unfortunate people, such as candy, fruit, or cakes.  Many are received each month from individuals and organizations alike and all are highly appreciated.

Useable clothing is always in demand, but lawn chairs and benches and rocking chairs are especially needed at this particular time.

The inmates of the home are only children of yesterday who have “come to the end of the end of the long, long road,” Do not forget them!

And to those of you to whom life has been kind, I recall to your minds the words of a well-known hymn…. “Count Your Blessings, Name Them One By One.”

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Notes:

Mrs Vern Turner is Nellie Stevenson

Their four children are:

Crystle Turner Morris

Bill Turner (deceased)         twin brother, Bob also deceased

Donald Turner