When word started to get out about the successful snake awareness trainings provided by Upendo Conservation Area in western Kenya, I started to receive messages from people all across Kenya wanting to know how they could get this training. There was not enough resources to transport the Upendo team to other communities, so I began to think that another solution was needed.
I got the idea to create a Snake Awareness Training Manual that would be available free on the Internet to anyone interested in snakes and teaching communities about snakebite prevention. In order for this to happen, I had to first create a website for the Upendo Conservation Area where the training materials could be posted. I also created an app that contained much of the same content as portions of the training manual, including photos for identification. Photos were generously provided by Steve Spawls and Robin James Backhouse with permission to use them for educational purposes. If you are interested in seeing the training manual and other training materials I developed, you can visit the website for Upendo Conservation Area.
The stage was set for people in Kenya and other parts of East Africa to begin training in their communities. I continued to receive messages from people asking for training so that they could become community trainers. The first person that contacted me was Samuel Ndangaru Gitau, a young man working for Ol Donyo Sabuk National Park. Then came Lea Kavuna Chiko (“Kavie”). I worked with Sam and Lea for awhile, using WhatsApp as the vehicle for me to train them. I gave them funds to copy the training manual and other training materials. The training lessons included quizzes on snake identification. Before long, both Sam and Lea were ready to start training small groups of people. They started with “street talks” – walking along the street with some training materials and meeting with small groups of children or adults that they came across. Doing these talks helped them develop confidence in their training skills so they could later start training much larger groups.
Soon, the two became 12, and the 12 became 30. When we started getting bigger, and had many training resources available, we decided to work towards registration as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Kenya. We decided to call ourselves the Snake Community Action Network – a network of people working with communities to save lives – of both people and snakes. Our motto became: “Reach them however we can, wherever we can, with whomever is at hand”. We began to speak at much larger venues, such as churches and schools, sometimes speaking to hundreds of school kids at one time. But I also encouraged people to just have one on one conversations with people wherever they went.
It became apparent that one thing that was badly needed was people trained to remove unwanted snakes and relocate them to safe areas. We received enough donations to send 5 people for training at the Watamu Snake Farm, and then later another person went for training. Not long after being trained, Sam was called on to rescue a black-necked spitting cobra from a farmhouse, which he did successfully.
Then we began to encounter snakebite victims, many of whom were children. Our first was Pili, a 9 year old girl who was bitten in her sleep. One of our trainers, John Maganga, lived near the girl and the hospital where she was taken. He spent much of the next month assisting the family, helping them get through this traumatic event. We were able to raise enough money to pay for the family’s medical expenses.
One day when visiting Pili, John Maganga and Mary Mumbi encountered another snakebite victim named Joseph, who was 10 years old. He had been bitten by a puff adder several months earlier, but the wound never healed and now it was infected. John again followed through with this family to make sure Joseph got the treatment he needed.
Not every snakebite ends well. Mercy and Zablon worked with an 80 year old woman named Luciana who was bitten by a boomslang. Boomslang venom makes you bleed excessively. Luciana got to the hospital relatively quickly, but she continued to worsen because the hospital did not have the correct antivenom. She passed away 24 hours later.
There are many other stories I could tell, and I will share more in other blogs. As we continue to work towards registration, the Snake Community Action Network is making a positive impact on the communities where we are working. Our training programs are well received. And people are slowly changing their habits and behaviors so they can avoid snakebite.
The work continues …
Tending To the Garden 
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