The drought situation in the Maa communities of Kenya is worrying, but for 22-year-old Anita Soina, who grew up in the community, that was a normal occurrence until she came to the realization it wasn’t.
Now a passionate environmental advocate with four years of experience, founder of Spice Warriors, graduate from Multi Media University, and political enthusiast, Soina is intentional about educating the masses about conservation while leaving no one behind.
Taking advantage of the digital spaces, the 22-year-old shares conservation information in a language easily understood by all, which has also transitioned into the book, “The Green War.”
The Green War
She says, “The thing that discourages many people, especially those who don’t have the environment conservation background, is the terminologies used to convey information,” she says.
Based on this background, Soina put together her first book, which is basically to communicate to people why they all need to participate in the war against climate change. The book is also written for the next generation to assure them they are not alone, just in case, they find the climate change war still ongoing.
The Spice Warriors
With the realization that she could not achieve the climate agenda on her own, the political enthusiast launched Spice Warriors in 2018, and most members have no class knowledge of conservation.
“This way, I try to open people to the fact that they don’t have to leave their careers to pursue environmental courses to be environmentally conscious. When I was starting, I didn’t have a conservation background. I took time to educate myself,” she notes.
Through her Spice Warriors tribe, Soina has planted over 6000 trees and, through her network of coordinators in counties, has inspired many people to plant trees.
“Our focus is on impact. To ensure that when we go to communities to plant trees, we leave them with the culture of tree planting, and it becomes a ripple effect,” Soina states.
Even as she pushes the climate agenda, Soina faces some challenges, a major one being the lack of environmentally conscious leaders in parliament. This is why she decided to vie for the Member of Parliament Kajiado North on a Green Platform.
As she notes, she sees the need to address some crucial environmental issues, but most leaders she approaches don’t see the seriousness in the matter, so it is left unaddressed.
“The other issue has to do with resources. Many of us are trying to do environmental projects with little or no resources, yet we see a lot of misuse of resources happening, whereas many grassroots projects need to be supported,” Says Soina.
Even so, her efforts and spirit are not dampened. She looks forward to expanding her reach in other African countries. Her organization already has a presence in South Sudan and Tanzania.
Her dream is to see that every country has at least a team of environmentally conscious people who have not studied anything close to conservation to create a generation of leaders in the climate space.
“I am in talks with many environmentalists in Uganda and Germany who have run on Green Platforms before so that we can see more voices for the climate going for political seats to change the narrative within corridors of power,” she states.
In conclusion, she says that climate change is real and is no longer a 2070 thing.
“This should serve as a wake-up call for young people to fight to make the world a better place for all of us to live in.
