Living in Kenya to restore coral reefs - meet Peter Vodegel

What motivated me to emigrate to Kenya?

Several things motivated me to emigrate to Kenya. The main reason was what I was going to do there. I had been asked to help set up a coral reef restoration project. This did not come completely out of the blue because during my master's thesis in marine biology, I had already done research in Kenya on a similar project. So the request to help set up a second project came from the organization of that project, REEFolution. The choice was quickly made - and it helped that I already knew the country.

Covid...

In February 2020, three other marine biology graduates and I were supposed to go to Kenia to conduct a feasibility study for such a project at two sites. Then came covid... Our flights were canceled and we had no idea when we would be able to go again. The resorts that would house us for the study also closed and we could not go there. In September finally the moment came that we could tentatively fly again and the Swahili Beach Resort was willing to accommodate two marine biologists. 

Burn your bridges

So... I left everything in the Netherlands, sold all my furniture, gave up rent, quit my job at Greenpeace and I got on the next flight. By burning my bridges there was no going back and I would do everything I could for the project.

Beautiful Kenya

Kenya is fantastic, the people are nice, it's warm, the beach is beautiful, the fruit is delicious. You can actually always be outside with monkeys and birds around you and you can always snorkel to see some beautiful sea life. It's a paradise. Unfortunately, it's also a paradise that is disappearing due to climate change and overfishing. So I had tremendous motivation to help preserve it.

Day to day life - a big challenge

In Kenya you really live from day to day, which is wonderful and peaceful on the one hand, but makes work sometimes difficult to plan. Because of this way of living, the mentality in Kenya is much more “why do it today if you can do it tomorrow,” which clashed tremendously with my own mentality of getting as much done in a day as possible. This was the biggest challenge for me, and in my opinion a big difference between the Dutch working mindset, and the Kenyan.

Coral reef restoration project for and by local communities

With Guido Paap and in collaboration with Swahili Beach Resort, Wageningen University, REEFolution and many volunteers, we set up Reefo divers Diani. A coral reef reclamation project and education dive base where we train local community members to become REEF Rangers. The REEF Rangers learn swimming, diving, giving presentations, ecology, coral reef restoration, coral and fish identification and even data collection. The intention is to eventually turn the project over to the local people.

Here you see me along with 4 locally trained REEF Rangers.

Leaving...

Finally with pain in my heart, I returned to the Netherlands after 2 years. My savings had run out and the promised funding was not forthcoming. We managed to raise some funds, but this covered training for the REEF Rangers and equipment. It didn't cover our own expenses. We also tried to generate income from the dive base with eco diving. But because of Covid, there was practically no tourism. So eventually this led to the painful decision to move home for a more stable job. 

A boost for my life - I would do it again in a heartbeat

I would do it again in a heartbeat and I recommend it to everyone. I learned more in these two years than during any course or study, and besides that, I had a fantastic time.

Pole Pole - an easy misunderstanding

Kenyans are super cheerful people and always up for a joke. A common misunderstanding came from the words “pole” meaning sorry and “pole pole” meaning calm down. Pole pole is therefore used quite often. But as a punctual and productivity-oriented Dutchman, I am more of the “araka raka” which means hurry up. So often when my Kenyan colleagues, the captain or REEF Rangers, said “pole pole” to me I would say “araka raka” in jest and they always had a good laugh about it. But one time the captain had made a mistake, so we couldn't dive that day and he said “pole pole pole” and I thought yeah hello nothing calm, I have to make up for the whole day now. So I said “araka raka” and then he looks at me funny and I him, until I realized that he said sorry 3x instead of calm down.

Happiness is made and not for sale

What inspired me enormously about Kenya is with how little people can be happy and how they still have time and a smile for you despite all the misery. Whereas in the Netherlands it is often a lot about individualism, money and consumption, in Kenya I saw how little that actually matters to be happy. At the same time, I saw in Kenya how they suffer from the consequences of our overconsumption and our search for “happiness” through money. Our consumption, CO2 emissions and mega-trawlers are endangering the future of their reefs. I wish I could impart that experience to every Westerner so that we can all live much happier and more sustainable lives.

Word of thanks

From the Netherlands I still support the project. In particular I would like to put Guido Paap in the spotlight, who has been volunteering most of his time to Reefo Divers Diani and educating local communities for over 4 years now. I would like to thank our Captain Ali and the REEF Rangers, the volunteers and our partners/sponsors.

Interested?

Are you also interested in doing something for the ocean or do you want to learn how to restore coral reefs? You can learn this in Kenya, but we also have a partner in the Netherlands, Discovery Divers. They teach the same coral reef restoration course with which we train our REEF Rangers, and I usually help out one of the two course days. So this way I can still continue my work a little bit in the Netherlands.

Are you interested in the project, the course, or just a question? Then contact me via linkedin or call or send me a whatsapp: +31638217486.