New Honeyguide member graduates from Mweka

Honeyguide Foundation congratulates our very own, Lomayani Komolo Simel, for graduating from the Mweka College for African Wildlife Management on November 2.

“I feel extremely grateful,” said Komolo, who graduated with a Diploma in Wildlife Management. “Many people and organisations supported my education, and I am happy to already be a part of Honeyguide.”

In August, Komolo joined the Honeyguide team and started running our Mobile Cinema Unit (MCU) in the villages of the Enduimet Wildlife Management Area (WMA). Besides showing villagers films about the WMA, conservation, and wildlife, Komolo also leads community discussions about such issues and collects survey data from village members about their concerns and perceptions.

Funded by Touchstone Trust and Idea Wild, the MCU has already proven to be a valuable tool in raising awareness about WMA structures and objectives and about conservation issues in general. Post-screening discussions and surveys have proven useful in gathering information about communication gaps and community outreach needs.

Born within the Kitenden Corridor along the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Komolo himself comes from the Enduimet WMA in Longido District. He said that the WMA made a contribution to his studies at Mweka, and he raised the most funds through his family and through donations from individuals at the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF).

“I enjoyed community-based conservation courses at Mweka the most,” said Komolo. “Community-based conservation will assist to educate communities directly about the importance of protecting natural resources.”

On a bright Saturday afternoon, Mweka held its 49^th graduation ceremonies over its verdant campus in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. With distinguished guests, such as Tanzania’s Minister of Water, Professor Jumanne Maghembe, and Acting Director of USAID, Daniel Moore, the event also included a fundraiser to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the college, which was founded in 1963 just two years after the independence of what was then known as Tanganyika.

In East Africa and Tanzania today, Mweka remains the premiere institution of higher learning for studies related to wildlife management, conservation, and tourism. At Honeyguide, the college has become a veritable training ground for several of our young talented team members. Two other Honeyguide members, Meleck Laizer and Kateto Kashe, also graduated from Mweka. (The Sokoine University of Agriculture comes in as a close second in terms graduates on our team.)

We don’t only have young guns, however, from the prestigious college. Honeyguide’s board chairman, Ole Kirimbai, graduated from Mweka in 1973 and, after working as an anti-poaching ranger for Tanzania’s Wildlife Division, he went on to teach at the college in 1981-82.

“I congratulate our young Komolo for graduating from Mweka,” said Kirimbai. “It’s a remarkable achievement.”