Winne Owade first African to get International Young Eco-Hero Award

Nairobi--Ms Winne Owade - a 14 year-old Standard 8 pupil and chairlady of the environmental club at Mbaga Girls' Boarding Primary School in Siaya District in Kenya - has been awarded a third prize in the 2005 International Eco-Hero Awards. Winne Owade is the first African ever getting this prestigious award.

Mbaga Girls' Boarding Primary School is an active member of the Lake Victoria Schools Agroforestry & Environmental Education Network, which is supported by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance (VVOB). Members of this network are promoting and practicing agroforestry in their schools and communities.

As a result of tree cutting around her school, Winne Owada discovered that wild animals, mostly monkeys, had not enough food in their natural environment and were damaging crops in the surrounding farms. So she started a program with her environmental club to collect leftover food from the school kitchen and she set up a regular feeding program to sustain the monkeys. She is also championing the planting of more indigenous (fruit) trees in and around the school so that the monkeys will not remain dependent upon humans.