Friends of River Ezava-Forezava

For the better part of this week, I have been crunching numbers. Not for a spreadsheet or a government report, but because I believe that when we communicate numbers honestly and clearly, we can finally share a truthful vision for a better country. One figure has been running through my mind constantly: 15 billion. That is the number of trees the Kenyan government aims to plant in the next few years. It is an ambitious target, a headline-grabbing commitment to fighting climate change and restoring our landscape. On paper, it sounds like a green revolution in the making. But after running the math from my own small corner of this country—a tree nursery struggling to survive—I have to ask a difficult question: Is this campaign truly planting forests, or is it wasting futures? The Economic Promise Hiding in Plain Sight Let us begin with the vision of what could be. If we approach this target with honesty, the economic potential is staggering. Consider the value of a single tree seedling. ...

When I look back at where this journey started, I don’t see a success story. I see a young, brilliant social entrepreneur who was full of passion but had no map. Like many of you, I had the ideas and the drive. I wanted to change my community. But I quickly hit a wall that felt insurmountable: I couldn’t access the funding or the learning opportunities I desperately needed to grow. For years, I worked in the dark, letting my lived experiences guide me. What started as a small spark back in 2015 has, through sheer stubbornness and a lot of hard lessons, slowly become the cornerstone of my work and ambition today. But the road here wasn't smooth. It was paved with rejection slips. I will never forget 2019. That year became a brutal classroom for me. I was so hungry for a breakthrough that I wrote over 150 proposals. One hundred and fifty. I spent countless nights researching, typing, and praying over these applications. And one by one, they came back as rejections. It wasn't unti...

Power, Comfort, and the Quiet Exclusion of Vihiga’s Youth There are moments when public outrage is not born of shock, but of recognition. When a story emerges and citizens respond not with disbelief but with a tired nod— of course —it signals something deeper than a single incident. It signals a pattern. The recent reports concerning the use of KSh 5,000,000 of county funds on a house-warming event at the Speaker’s official residence in 2023 have provoked such a response in Vihiga County. The matter, already entangled with other unresolved audit questions surrounding the same residence, was later addressed before the Senate Committee on Accounts . Yet the explanations offered by the county administration felt incomplete, carefully worded, and ultimately unsatisfying. They answered around the issue, not into it. This was not an isolated concern. In the same breath, questions were raised about KSh 6,000,000 used in a manner inconsistent with the law to facilitate car mortgage arrangemen...

We have recently witnessed a worrying pattern of criminal incidents that deserve the collective attention of all residents and security stakeholders. Within a short span of time, a boda boda rider was murdered in Lunyerere and his motorcycle stolen, followed by a similar incident two days later in Chavakali. Yesterday, two bodies were retrieved from a septic tank in Mbale, and an attack was reported at the Vihiga County Assembly, with claims that the assailants escaped with a stolen weapon. Photo Credits:  These incidents, taken together, raise serious concerns about the safety and security of our communities. While investigations are ongoing and facts must be allowed to guide conclusions, it is clear that heightened vigilance and cooperation are urgently needed. As residents of Vihiga County, security cannot be viewed as the responsibility of law enforcement alone. Community members are often the first to notice unusual movements, unexplained behavior, or emerging threats. Reporti...

Just like years past, we have collectively held our breath. Names are checked. Mean grades are compared. WhatsApp groups explode. Headlines scream about who “made it” and who didn’t. And once again, the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results for the Class of 2025 have given us plenty to talk about. At first glance, the numbers look impressive. Nearly 270,000 students scored C+ and above, qualifying for direct university entry. That’s an increase from last year — a genuine achievement. Even more encouraging, girls slightly outnumbered boys, continuing a quiet but powerful trend toward gender balance in national exams. For a system long criticised for leaving girls behind, this matters. So yes — credit where it’s due. 👏 But after the celebrations settled, I found myself less interested in the top scorers and more curious about everyone else. Here’s the figure that rarely trends on social media: More than 350,000 students scored D+, D or D-. That’s over a third of all ca...

As 2026 unfolds, I find myself returning to this timeless call—not as a slogan, but as a personal challenge. This year is a moment to redefine our collective responsibility in the face of climate change, environmental degradation, and the urgent need to unlock opportunities for young people. The global context makes this clearer than ever. With growing unilateralism, major geopolitical shifts, and decisions such as the withdrawal of the United States from dozens of UN agencies, resources for climate and development work are tightening. Programs are shrinking. Priorities are shifting. But crises have always revealed something important: waiting is no longer an option. This is the moment for proactive citizenship—where individuals and community-led institutions step forward, not to replace governments or global systems, but to complement them with action rooted in place, purpose, and accountability. Turning Commitment into Practice For me, 2026 marks a clear turning point in how I seek t...

As the calendar turns to 2026, it’s the perfect time to pause, reflect, and celebrate the highs, lows, and lessons of the past year. 2025 was a rollercoaster for Forezava—a year of collaborations, growth, challenges, and renewed inspiration. We kicked off the year in January with an energetic collaboration alongside Lusengeli Secondary, hosting a handball tournament that drew nearly 25 schools and over 300 students from across Vihiga County. The excitement didn’t stop there—we proudly supported the Sabatia Constituency winners, Lusengeli and Vokoli High School, as they competed in the Regional Kenya Secondary School Handball games. Sports, as always, proved to be a powerful way to connect, inspire, and mobilize youth. February opened doors for dialogue. The Siaya Youth Network invited us to contribute to discussions on youth issues, bridging gaps between young voices and government decision-making. Our contributions—both in-person and digital—helped shape actionable memoranda to inform...