High rate of crime, unemployment and a poor state of the environment characterize the populous low income neighborhoods of Mombasa.
Against this backdrop, Big Ship was founded by young people who wanted to change the negative status of their community by providing socio-economic solutions and environmentally innovative initiatives as a means towards that end.
Why the environment? The fulfillment of the right to a safe, Clean, healthy and sustainable environment is important towards attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)..
Big Ship focuses on facilitating implementation of local solutions to the root causes of environmental degradation and poverty among the urban forest-adjacent communities with emphasis on youths and women.
We believe that addressing these factors will contribute immensely to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 1, 5, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17.
Supporting youths and women as agents of change towards poverty alleviation and environmental conservation.
To promote sustainable development by empowering local communities in environmental conservation.
With increasing global rural-urban migration patterns, the UN projects that 68% of the world population will be living in cities by 2050. The coastal city of Mombasa has a high rate of population growth (3.8 P.a) resulting in more settlements of the urban poor.
Due to the prevailing Climate Change, and now exacerbated by the #COVID 19 Pandemic, fighting poverty eradication is an urgent humanity call.
In order to achieve SDG 11- Sustainable Cities and Communities – Big Ship CBO focuses on building the resilience of urban poor communities by diversification of the human potential through training, mentorship and knowledge integration.
Rapid urbanization comes at a cost. In the case of Mombasa one of the manifestations of this cost is poor waste management. Waste generation is ever on the high but the waste management infrastructure is playing catch up. The result? Of course, most of the urban waste mushrooming into illegal dumpsites. Eventually all of this waste materials, including plastics, drifts its way into marine zones and degrading the ecosystem. With Mombasa dependent on its tourism and the urban poor communities dependent on marine resources for livelihoods, the entire population is becoming more vulnerable to Climate Change and now #COVID-19.
To stop waste from the source, we focus our engagements towards creating community awareness on best waste management practices and promoting the circular economy culture.
Mangroves are home to a host of biodiversity. They protect the coastline from wave energy. They provide a source of food. They are breeding grounds for fisheries. They absorb pollutants from the atmosphere etc, just to mention a few. In the ‘concrete jungle’ of Mombasa urban development, the Tudor creek mangroves serve as the lungs of the city. Yet the Tudor creek has lost the biggest chunk of its mangrove mainly due to anthropogenic pressures owing to its proximity to urban settlements. As an organization, we are determined to see that mangrove restoration and conservation is happening for the sake of protecting livelihoods and developing climate resiliency.
The Tudor creek is located in the northwest of Mombasa Island and extending 10-15 km inland with two seasonal rivers, Kombeni and Tsalu. Along the creek is a mangrove forest, extending over 1641 hectares and composed mainly of the Rhizophora mucronata, Sonneratia alba, Avecinnia marina and Ceriops tagal species.
The creek is bordered by five of the six administrative units in Mombasa County. It is surrounded by low-income villages whose communities are struggling with poverty and poor waste management. Human pressure on the forest is causing degradation of the marine ecosystem.
As one moves westwards away from the mouth of the creek, they are met by a bridge close to the Technical University of Mombasa, an old institution dating back to 1940, originally known as the Mombasa Institute of Muslim Education (MIOME).
Past the bridge, the creek splits into a river-like feature, beautifully cutting through a thick belt of mangroves. Towards the tail end of the creek is an old Methodist church (built in the second half of the 19th century), and which bears the echoes of the slave trade. This area is also the home to the Wajomvu, an old Swahili community (historians have dated back to the 16th century or earlier) and the Rabai Communities that host among the well preserved Kaya Forests of the Mijikenda. The creek tail joins with river Kombeni at Rabai in Kilifi County.
Our campaign is geared towards promoting recovery of Tudor Creek mangrove ecosystem #BringBackTudorCreek
Aconservationist, social entrepreneur and a human resource & business management professional.
A social and community development professional. Trained in project management and purchase & supplies.
An economist and finance graduate
M & E expert and a human resource graduate
Research associate with BSc. in natural resource management.