From Struggle to Stability

Peninah’s Journey with Tsavo Trust

At 54, Peninah Kamene Wambua from Kamungi Conservancy has turned hardship into hope. After losing her husband in 2016, she struggled to provide for her six children. “Life was very difficult,” she recalls. “We depended on charcoal burning and bushmeat poaching just to survive. I would sell a 90-kilogram bag of charcoal for KES 800, while 1 kilogram of bushmeat earned me KES 100.”
Everything changed in 2018 when Tsavo Trust employed Peninah as a water attendant and permaculture assistant at Ngiluni borehole in Kamungi Conservancy. Her duties include issuing water to the community members, maintaining the permaculture farm, and managing the community meeting area.

Photo 1: Peninah Wambua tending to a permaculture farm in Kamungi Conservancy, March 2025

Over the past seven years, Peninah has made remarkable progress:

• A safer house: “Before employment, my house was made of mud and grass. During the rainy season, we
  could not sleep because the roof leaked. Now, I have a two-bedroom brick house with an iron sheet roof,
  and I no longer worry when it rains.”
• Education for her children: “I have been able to provide for my family and pay school fees. Four of my
  children have completed secondary education.”

Beyond employment, Peninah has benefited from Tsavo Trust’s initiatives, receiving a 3,000 litres water tank, a dam liner for a water pan, an energy-saving cooking stove, training in climate-smart agriculture and
permaculture, and human-elephant conflict mitigation through the 10% fence plan. Her son has also secured
employment, further strengthening the family’s stability.
Her job brings her deep fulfillment: “Water is a challenge in this community, and I love waking up every day to issue this essential resource to my people.”

Peninah encourages others facing struggles: “To my fellow women and widows, never give up. Keep working
hard, and God will see you through.”

Peninah believes conservation and community development can go hand in hand: “Without Tsavo Trust and
Kamungi Conservancy, we would have wiped out wildlife in this community and destroyed all our trees.”
Her story is a powerful testament to resilience, opportunity, and the impact of community-driven conservation.