Eco-walks in the Robertsport rainforest - Getting started

Photos courtesy of Tamar Losleben.

We're looking for an ecology and community tourism intern to help Robertsport Community Works set up eco-walks in the coastal rainforest. The job posting on Idealist is here, if you're interested...

Here are some photos of the 'bush walk' we took with Ben and company when our sisters were visiting. It's worth noting that Nate and I have been planning to do this walk for months. It took the insistent presence of both of our sisters to get us out of the water and into the forest--even though the forest is, obviously, pretty awesome. Hence, the need for an intern to help us set up the project. We're realistic in what we expect of ourselves.
You can see, in this clearing, how tall the forest canopy is. Although it was the middle of the day in dry season, characteristically one of the hotter times of the year, we stayed nice and cool in the shade.

Ben is a natural in the forest, just like he is in the water. Here, he and Samuel are collecting kola nuts that fell from the tree. Kola nuts are a natural stimulant and appetite suppressant. You crack them open, take a little bite and chew it while it permeates a bitter dryness throughout your mouth that makes me wince. After, though, a sip of water tastes like sugar dew, so it's kind of worth it.
Here, Sameul--Alfred's little brother--holds kola nuts they way they fall from the tree. Samuel and Emmanuel brought along socks to stuff with kola. I think they planned to sell what they didn't eat to the grownups back in the village.
There were some pretty cool looking trees in the rainforest. this once looked painful. Ben explained that you can chop off the pyramid spikes with a cutlass, remove the thorn and bore a hole in them to make jewelry. Below, a close-up.
Gnarly, right?
Here's Emmanuel, who you may have seem in other campsite pictures because when he's not in school, he brings us fresh coconuts to drink in exchange for notebooks, pens and now a set of watercolors he requested after seeing my sister paint. Emmanuel was a perfect forest guide, stopping to let us catch up with the others, pointing out flowers, mushrooms, trees and all kinds of useful things to know--and eat. Actually, Emmanuel's knowledge of the forest is so thorough that the walk became more of a culinary tour than a nature walk, complete with tastings of 'dog' something-or-other, 'bush ground-pea', just-picked kola, and water that you could drink from the bottom of a freshly-chopped vine. We might not be able, because of sustainability issues, to include all the snacks on the locally-guided walks. When Emmanuel, who just turned 13, gets a little older, he'll be a great guide.

Here are some more shots. I look forward to welcoming our future intern and to announcing the commencement of the walks over the summer. We hope that starting community eco-tourism will increase visitors' appreciation of the rainforest and aid in larger conservation efforts.

Robertsport Community Campsite in the NYT Travel Section!

Photos courtesy of Sean Brody and the New York Times.

Last Sunday, the Robertsport Community Campsite made the Travel Section of the New York Times. The article, written by 'The House of Sugar Beach' author and NYT correspondent Helene Cooper, focuses on the nascent tourism industry in Robertsport and the growth of local surfing by following the life of Benjamin McCrumuda, who has also recently been profiled in Surfers' Journal. Ben, who usually stands in Alfred's shadow, is going to be chuffed to get copies of these this weekend, that's for sure. There's also a shout-out to RCW Board of Directors member Magnus Wolfe Murray, whose expertise and involvement you'll be hearing about more this year.
I'll let you check out the article, with a few caveats. The waves are not actually 20 feet, you can't surf from Shipwrecks to the campsite cotton tree, and Benjamin remains a fisherman and a surfer. Enjoy!

November 2009 project and budget update

To all you faithful followers of these updates, we've changed a few things that you might find interesting. I've explained them for each of the applicable projects. Also, it looks like we might have some grant money coming in over the next few months. We'll update you on this very exciting news!

Robertsport Community Campsite
We've seen enough sustained income from the campsite that we wanted to reward the work that local surfers Alfred Lomax and Benjamin McCrumuda have been contributing the project.

Alfred Lomax is now the official Manager, responsible for setting up hammocks, tents and lanterns, keeping the pit latrine freshly ashed (to keep the smell and bugs down), welcoming guests and collecting campsite fees. Those of you who know Alfred personally know that he's a hospitality natural, and it will be no surprise that he's doing an excellent job. Alfred gets a $2 commission from each $5 camping fee, so that's why the numbers might look a little different this month.

Benjamin McCrumada is the campsite's Groundskeeper, responsible for building small benches, upkeep on the thatch around the latrine and shower area, and keeping paths and the parking lot brushed of bush grasses. He's paid a monthly salary of $15 for this--about the equivalent of the piecemeal work he was getting to do the same jobs, but now a steady a reliable source of income for him and his family.

Thanks to the magnanimous generosity of RCW Board Member Magnus Wolfe Murray, we've been renting his small ($10/night) and large ($15/night) tents to help raise funds for the campsite and the Community Fund, which provides the seed money for our microenterprise projects. As you'll see, now that it's dry season and thanks to the Nana's Lodge Sports Festival and Family Fun Weekend, we've had a good month.

Expenditures
Ben's salary: $15
Paying security one weekend because management didn't collect fees from the campers (it won't happen again): $60

Income
Campsite fees: $72
Tent rental: $75

Sub-total: $72

Community Beach Cleanup
Expenditure
New gloves for community members (30 pair): -$40
Sub-total: -$40

Women's Sewing Cooperative and The African T-Shirt Company
The Women's Sewing Cooperative did a good business going into the Christmas season, selling bags online through The African T-Shirt Company and at the US Embassy's Christmas Craft Fair. To make sure we had enough in stock, we expanded the Coop to 12 young women, diversified our product line to include yoga mat bags ($15) and hand bags ($10), and made some strategic scaleup and management decisions I'll blog about later. Based on good feedback from the bags, we've raised the price of the beach bags to $15. Because of the increased revenue and the new setup, we raised the amount of income coming in from 5% of profits to 10% -- an investment that will help make the project more sustainable. More about this in a future blog.

Income from Women's Sewing Coop bag sales: $48
Entry fee to sell Coop products at the Craft Fair: -$10
Transport and $10/day stipend for Bendu to come to Monrovia and sell at the Craft Fair: -$30

Our fundraising arm, The African T-Shirt Company, sells t-shirts--most of which we design ourselves, some of which we sell for friends. Three of our t-shirts fundraise directly to project areas:

Surf Liberia: These profits from these shirts goes to the Surf Liberia Scholarship Fund. In addition to paying half the school fees for our sponsored local surfers (they earn the other half by working on or running microenterprise projects), we also mentor them personally and professionally, helping them create short-term and long-term goals both for their surfing and their larger futures.

We held the 1st Annual Surf Liberia Contest this month and gave away
Income for Surf Liberia project from shirt sales and surf contest: $189
Expenditure for Surf Liberia t-shirts for local surfers in the contest: -$48
Travel and $10/day stipend for Solomon to sell Surf Liberia contest shirts in Robertsport that weekend: -$35


Cotton Tree: The tree that wraps around the front and side of this shirt is the ancient cotton tree on the Robertsport Community Campsite -- the historic tree that the boat carrying first President of Liberia Joseph Jenkins Roberts to Liberia was tied to. All profits from this shirt support our environmental programs--projects like beach cleanup and the community eco-walks in the surrounding rainforest.
Income for conservation projects: $45


African Women = Power: These shirts fundraise for gender-based violence programs in Liberia run by the American Refugee Comittee. All profits go to safehouses across the country where women and girl survivors of rape receive medical, legal, justice and psychological services. More on this in a future post.
Income for the ARC's safehouses for women and girl survivors: $36

Sub-total: $169 + $36 for the ARC


Project Summary
Robertsport Community Campsite: $72
Community Beach Cleanup: -$40
Women's Sewing Coop and African T-Shirt Company: $169
Total: $201

Budget Summary
Community Fund as of October 2009: -$711
Community Fund as of November 2009: -$510

Thanks to everyone for your support, suggestions and for helping us make this work.