David's childhood was characterized by the sight of butterfly,trees and clean stream water. Today that childhood is no more as climate change continues to disrupt nature. To build back,David is promoting ecosystem recovery methods in Kenya. In this interview with Project Inspire Africa,David shares about his work at The Polly Foundation
Can we meet you?
My name is DAVID OLUOCH DIMO, I am a 20-years-old Kenyan citizen. I love nature walks, playing football and listening to music.
Tell us briefly your childhood experience.
As a young village boy, I used to admire the beauty of butterflies as they flitted around stagnant waters while my mother washed our clothes. My ambition was to grow up faster and have butterflies around me when I washed my own clothes, to the point where I could mix soap with water and pour it on the ground to attract butterflies. When I was older and capable of doing some labor at home, we used to move my grandfather's cattle to the field and we used to drink straight from the streams in the countryside, and everything was just fine. We used to jump from one tree to the other with a delusional thought that we were onboard on an airplane. On the trees,we saw different types of nests and species of birds.
When I started school, there was an event of excessive precipitation, and most of my neighbors' properties were destroyed by the resulting floods, and this is where I developed an interest in climate and heard the term "climate change." By the time I finished high school, there had been a lot of discussion about climate change as a result of the occurrence of adverse weather events and climate crises in the North Eastern region of Kenya, as well as other parts, such as the flooding Kano plains and Budalangi, both in Kenya's western region.
When I could wash my own clothes, there were no more butterflies, and the stream waters in the grazing meadows were no longer safe to drink since they had been extensively contaminated, and no one could survive the poisoning that can be induced by drinking tainted stream waters. And I was worried by the fact that things were changing at a breakneck pace, and nature's beauty was diminishing.
What’s your educational background?
Educational Qualifications
2019 – Present: Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (Main Campus) - Bachelor of Science in Computer security and Forensics
2015 – 2018: Ranjira Mixed Secondary School -Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education 2007 – 2014: Onong’no Primary School -Kenya Certificate of Primary Education
Other Educational Trainings/ Programs
2022 March: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Climate Smart Agriculture Innovation workshop 2022 (9 weeks): Oxford Climate Society Hilary Term 2022 School of Climate Change
2021 (3 months): African Group of Negotiators Expert Support Climate Governance, Diplomacy and Negotiations Leadership Program
2021 (12weeks): ACWICT Network infrastructure and security
2019 – 2020: Lake Hub Business incubation program (entrepreneurship) 2019 – 2020: Hult Prize Innovation and Entrepreneurship
What are your contributions towards making your country a better place?
I am the co-founder of The Polly Foundation,a community based initiative located in Siaya county, Kenya. We are determined to work hand in hand with the community to solve some of the numerous problems that we face in our societies today.
We advocate for ecosystem recovery through tree planting activities and environmental conservation campaigns
What steps did you take to bring your vision to fruition?
I began by identifying the issues facing our local community issues and brainstorming on local solutions.I collaborated with the likeminded people to carry out activities that were geared towards ecosystem recovery, environmental conservation, youth empowerment and climate change advocacy
What have been your achievements?
Since our inception we have carried out several community engagement activities that Trains the communities that we work with on best practices of sustainable organic farming and afforestation.
Our organization participated in the drafting of Kenya Youth Position Paper presented at COP26 during the Local Conference of Youth in Nairobi.
We have won The 2021 Go Green Award for Ecosystem Recovery. We have planted mangroves on the shores of Indian Ocean to aid ecosystem recovery and several other trees across different parts of the country
We have also trained over 100 farmers on organic farming and organized a successful climate strike in Bondo, Siaya.
What motivated you to do what you are doing?
Environment is an integral part of a living being and without taking necessary action human race is at risk. All I am doing is to play my part to keep the earth safe.
What has been your major challenge since you began your nonprofit?
Resources to implement some of the activities are scarce.Grants and donations from other organizations are unreliable and the midst of all these,we still have to deal with high expectations from the local communities we work with.
How have you been able to raise money to implement your ideas?
At the beginning,we self-funded. But as time went on,we have been able to get funding from a few organizations
What are your prospects in the next 5 or 10 years?
We look forward to more collaborations/partnerships to help speed up the implementation of the community based solutions/interventions we are working on. Also I hope that in the years ahead,our work can provide financial reward for our young people.
What do you think is the major cause of unemployment in Africa, and how can we get over this?
The major cause of unemployment in Africa is the mechanism of “one size fits all”. We the youths are facing this challenge and 9/10 times we have the solutions. We are not involved in the decision making tables, most of the people occupying this decision making positions are elderly who are not flexible to the constant dynamics of the younger generation and their perspectives are tied/fixed to the obsolete ancient technique of homogeneity/one size fits all (they think they now our problems and they have the solutions)
Many of the African youths have world class business venture ideas/innovation but why don’t the leaders and our governments invest in our ideas? Because they are used to producing what they don’t consume and consume what they don’t produce.
If you had an opportunity to speak to presidents in Africa, what would be your message?
I would tell them that Self-conscious is the most important thing that they should have. If all African presidents can become self-conscious, then Africa can realize her potential. When someone wants to control the other, they make them forget who they are and deprive them of recognizing themselves.
Thank you for reaching your story with us.
it is my pleasure!
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