Friends Theological College

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The Friends Theological College campus is located in the Kaimosi Forest, a small remnant of the equatorial highland rainforest that once spanned the continent of Africa. A great deal of the forest around Kaimosi has been cleared for farming, but a large remnant remains near Kakamega, with a small pocket of the same forest in the Kaimosi Friends' mission area. This larger remnant, the Kakamega Forest, is where Rondo Retreat Centre and Kakamega Environmental Education Programme (KEEP) are located.

Indigenous trees are protected in Kenya, and in May, 2005, FTC students and staff planted nearly 100 indigenous seedlings on the campus in areas adjacent to the mission road. The college hopes to raise ecological awareness among students who are Friends' leaders, along with others in the Kaimosi community. The plantings will increase the habitat for birds and wildlife unique to the area, including: the black and white colobus monkey, the red-tailed monkey, the black and white casqued hornbill and Ross' turaco.

Indigenous trees in Kenya form a canopy about 150 feet high, and they promote ample rainfall for subsistence farmers nearby. Among the trees planted are:

Olea capensis (Elgon teak),
Ficus exasperata (sandpaper tree),
Albizia gumifera,
Croton megalocarpus,
Maosopsis emenii (mutere),
Celtis africana,
Prunus africana (with curative properties for prostate cancer).

Trees were selected and purchased at the Kakamega Environmental Education Programme (KEEP), with the advice of the center's director, Wilberforce Okeka. KEEP has had a long relationship with Earlham College, and FTC is grateful for this vital link with the local community.