Dephence Mdamu’s work at the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project spans data management, wildlife tracking, and changing local attitudes about conservation. Learn how her role is helping both the environment and her community thrive.
When she is not in the office managing data, Dephence Mgoi Mdamu accompanies the research team in the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in conducting transects, either during the day or at night.
The mother of two is a Data Clerk and Research assistant at the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project. What does she love about her job? “It fascinates me how data from a tree is collected, converted, analyzed, and eventually taken to the buyer of credits until it brings food to my table,” she says. “The value of that tree doesn’t talk, but its existence changes your life,” she adds.
Dephence joined the team just when the REDD+ Project was starting to form. Born and raised in Kasigau, part of the project area, Dephence had taken up the job of a housekeeper in Germany after completing her secondary education. Her encounter with Wildlife Works was in 2011 when she was queuing for water at one of the local water points in Kasigau. “I remember it was during the drought season and the Chief at the time, the late Pascal Kizaka, requested the community to attend a meeting, requesting them to suspend the water collection for some time. “Officials from the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project had visited the area, sharing information about the incoming REDD+ project and how community welfare was the core of their focus,” she remembers.
Dephence had volunteered to record the minutes and recognizing her initiative, the Chief requested an employment opportunity on her behalf. Her application was then submitted to the Chief’s office and she was later asked to report to Kasigau headquarters for an interview.
Her first assigned task by the Vice President of Operations, Rob Dodson, was to fill in the details of all the visitors to the project that day. She started to work as an Office Assistant, and during that time, the company needed someone to key in data in different departments such as students who had been sponsored through their education and inventory for the greenhouse. Back then, the biodiversity and social monitoring team had just started to take shape. “I was joining different departments in their fieldwork activities like the greenhouse when conducting the reforestation program,” she says.
She joined the biodiversity and social monitoring team when she was presented with the opportunity by Mr Rob Dodson. “They wanted to know if I could manage working in the bush and if I was able to wake up very early,” she recalls. Dephence said yes to the opportunity, not knowing what lay ahead.
The instructions were very clear. While being in the car with the research team, she was instructed to spot anything and alert the team be it birds, mammals, or reptiles, even if she didn’t know the name. “That is when I came to learn about spotting wildlife,” she says.
In 2013, she had her first experience with bird ringing in Kasigau which involved safely securing a bird to record their species, age, sex, and other particulars.
“I have learned a great deal and appreciated that biodiversity is a big thing, from trees to small mammals. You can cut a tree and make certain species completely disappear,” she says.
Since joining the Biodiversity and Social Monitoring team, she has since changed her perspective when it comes to farming and conservation.
“My father apportioned me land which I had initially planned to utilize for timber production. But now, people in my community are changing perspectives and leaving the trees intact,” she says.
Looking back, Dephence reflects on the changes in her community thanks to the REDD+ project. “When I was looking for a job, I was queuing for water. Today, I no longer wake up at 3 am to queue for water because of the different projects in my area which have increased access to this precious commodity.”
Apart from being employed, Dephence is a direct recipient of the project’s funding of health, social, and economic development for communities in the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project. “I no longer have to take my child for vaccination in a faraway place because the project is renovating health centers and constructing houses for health staff,” she says. “The project has completely transformed the lives of my community and our perception of the value of a tree. My take is that if you take care of a tree, it will take care of you,” she concludes.
