A Dream Supported, A Community Served at the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project
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A story on how access to the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project's educational bursaries enabled a young student to overcome financial barriers, pursue a medical career, and return home to strengthen healthcare services for his people.
By Noah Tingide
Imagine a life-or-death situation where you need immediate medical care, but there is no doctor to provide care.
Historically, this was the reality in the majority of health facilities across the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project area. Many facilities had very few health officers compared to the large number of patients, which was largely due to limited access to education within the community. There were few trained professionals from the area, a situation made worse by inadequate funding for students willing to pursue medical careeers.
To curb the situation, the government was forced to source medical professionals from distant parts of the country, yet they were still ninsufficient to meet the demand. Today, however, the story is different. Through the community-led bursary program, students are now able to pursue medical training and, upon completion, return to serve in their community health facilities.
At Bamako Health Center, situated within the Kasigau Corridor project area, 27-year-old Pascal Kiboko Mwavuo now serves as a nurse at the facility thanks to project bursaries that helped fund his education.
Pascal’s education journey would have been in jeopardy were it not for the Kasigau Corridor bursary program. Born into a humble background, growing up in Kasigau was challenging. He attended Kajire Primary School and later joined Voi Boys High School. It was during his secondary education that he experienced significant financial hardship, and he was sent home many times due to a lack of school fees.
After completing high school in 2016, Pascal wanted to become a medical practitioner, a dream that seemed out of reach because of his family’s financial situation. He attempted to join the military, making several attempts until 2018, when he gave up and decided to take a step of faith in pursuing his passion for medicine.
His father, a subsistence farmer, recognized his son’s determination and took a loan of Ksh 80,000 from a microfinance institution to enable him to join the Kenya Medical Training College campus in Lodwar, northern Kenya.
However, this amount was far too little to sustain the demanding medical course. It was at this point that Pascal heard about the Kasigau project community-led locational carbon committees who allocate funds specifically for bursaries that he needed The Kasigau Project’s bursary committee recognized his passion and awarded him continuous bursary support until he completed his course in 2021.
After graduation, Pascal was licensed by the Nursing Council of Kenya in 2022. He then secured his first job at Equity Afya, a medical facility in Lodwar where he served until 2025.
In 2025, Pascal got the opportunity to return and serve his own community after securing employment with the county government, which marked his first posting in the area.
“I have always loved serving people, and I have always seen how my community has suffered due to the lack of enough nurses and medical practitioners. That is why I have come back to serve my community,” Pascal said. In addition, Pascal is a recipient of the staff housing at the Bamako D
“The Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project has been of great help to me and many other students.If it were not for the bursary program, completing my nursing course wouldn’t have been possible. Additionally, through the partnership with the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, we have witnessed success in many projects bringing access to water, education, health, food security, environmental conservation, and wildlife protection,” he added.
“I appreciate the successful partnership between the project and our communities that has brought all these fruits because without it, our community would be far behind,” Pascal concluded.
The Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, in partnership with landowners and communities in the project area, allocates funds received from the sale of carbon credits to fund health, social and economic development for over 100,000 community members.
Through this partnership with ranches and local communities, the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project has disbursed more than KSH 307 million (USD 2.4 million) in bursaries since 2012. The partnership continues to ensure that the community benefits by advancing environmental conservation and wildlife protection.
The Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project initiative is supported by landowners from the ranches of Rukinga, Taita, Kambanga, Washumbu, Dawida, Amaka, Sagalla, Izera, Maungu, Kasigau, Mgeno, Choke, Kutima, Wangalla, and Ndara.
