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About Us
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RAE
has developed a committed and well-trained staff and management
team. Most of the RAE team are long term residents of the
semi-arid Baringo lowlands. RAE was registered in Kenya as a
Charitable Trust in 1993. The Trust was established on
request from the communities of the Baringo lowlands, upon completion of a bilateral
project started by the RAE team in 1982. The
RAE Trust provides both material and human
resources to donor funded projects defined
by community development needs.
| The Trust collaborates
with local, national and international organisations and
partners, as well as working closely with government
institutions and personnel. RAE's
overall strategy is to respond to the
dynamic needs of the community, and have the flexibility to change
directions based on lessons learnt. Although
RAE's participatory approach has produced
significant results, it has also shown that
achieving sustainable development is a long
term task. |
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The RAE Trust team
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The
RAE Trust Board of Trustees heads the
organisational and institutional framework
of the Trust, followed by the RAE Management
Team, based at RAE Headquarters located in
the Baringo lowlands. The following is a
brief description of RAE's organisational
modalities, and roles and responsibilities
of different management tiers.
Board
of Trustees and Advisors:
The RAE Board of Trustees and Advisors is made
up of national and international experts
with relevant knowledge of dryland development.
The RAE Board is
responsible for policy decisions, as well as
the
overall direction and administration of the
Trust. The Board meets with the Management
Team regularly to review and assess RAE
strategies and progress, and set objectives
and goals.
On-Site Management Team:
The on-site Management Team at RAE
Headquarters is responsible for the proposal
and execution of donor funded projects.
Senior Management, the Executive Director
and Social Scientist, have overall coordination,
administrative and financial responsibility
for the implementation of donor funded
projects. Junior Management are in charge of
five departments: 1) Office Operations, 2) Community
Extension and the RAE Clinic, 3) Field Operation,
4) Nursery, and 5) Maintenance and Repair.
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RAE Personnel:
Each departmental head supervises personnel
and the implementation of activities related
to their department. Departmental Heads work
closely with Senior Management to ensure
coordination between departments and the
various office,
field and community activities. Senior
Management and Departmental Heads review
progress and set broader and personal targets on a
quarterly basis, while daily activities are
planned on a bi-monthly basis. Detailed
daily plans are reviewed and adjusted by
Junior Management each morning coordinating
with Senior Management as necessary.
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RAE personnel processing grass
seed
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Consultancies and Collaboration:
Specific expertise is called on to fulfill
short-term contracts as required. Partners
and collaborative links with other national and
international non-government and government
organisations and institutions facilitate
the successful implementation and expansion
of the wider RAE programme.
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The
on-site RAE Management Team is headed by Kenyan born Murray Roberts, a range management specialist and Dr. Elizabeth Meyerhoff, a social anthropologist with comprehensive knowledge of the local people.
The RAE Trust was founded because of their personal concern for the welfare of the
Baringo environment and its people. The dedicated team at the RAE Trust has made a long-standing commitment to the people and land of
Baringo. The following brief biographies give further background into the people who make RAE
unique and effective. These biographies do not represent the entire skilled team, only the most long-standing and influential players.
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| Murray
Roberts:
Murray Roberts, born in Kenya and brought up on the
shores of Lake Baringo, founded the original bilateral
project in 1982, through his personal concern to combat the
advancing degradation of his environment and the siltation
of Lake
Baringo. At that time, Murray saw the
pressing need to provide fuelwood for local people, and
fodder for their livestock. Murray's perseverance and
willingness to adapt to changes have made sustainable
development an achievable goal.
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Murray Roberts & Elizabeth Meyerhoff
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| Murray's long standing relations in the area, and Murray's in depth understanding and first hand experience have helped to create the unusual relationships of trust that form the basis of RAE's success. His knowledge of the local situation and communities is invaluable to all Trust activities. In addition to
administering and supervising the overall management and implementation of Trust activities, Murray's particular expertise lies in the technical aspects of rangeland
management and reclamation. His ability to develop
appropriate reclamation techniques and methods for
different eco-zones stems from his comprehensive
technical knowledge and deep understanding of the
land.
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Elizabeth Meyerhoff:
American born Elizabeth Meyerhoff, is the social scientist and co-director of the RAE Trust. She has worked with the Trust since its inception in 1982. She holds a PhD in social anthropology from
the University of Cambridge, UK. Prior to joining RAE, she spent six years of intensive field work with Pokot (Kalenjin) near her current home in Baringo. Elizabeth's comprehensive socio-economic knowledge of Baringo's ethnic groups, and her ability to speak several of the local languages, makes her contribution to RAE unique. |
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Elizabeth Meyerhoff (far right)
with Paul Parsalaach (far left) |
| One of her tasks with RAE is to comprehend local perceptions and interface with local communities, evaluating and
prioritising their varying needs. Elizabeth is responsible for
coordinating and managing RAE's extensive research programme,
coordinating office and field activities, and producing
RAE reports, material and publications. She works particularly closely with local women and women's groups to promote activities that improve their lives, and runs the RAE health and family planning Clinic.
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Paul Parsalaach:
Paul Parsalaach, an Il Chamus resident of the Baringo lowlands, has seen first hand the slow and continuous pressure being inflicted on
his homeland by increasing population and livestock. Paul's local knowledge of the people and lifetime of experience managing rangeland in the Baringo area has proved to be a great asset to RAE.
His knowledge has been expanded through training
programmes, including one with Reading University, UK,
and exchange visits to other development projects in
Zimbabwe and India. |
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Paul Parsalaach |
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first started working with RAE in 1987 as a field
assistant. He is now the Field Operations Manager,
overseeing both the personnel and technical equipment
necessary to continue RAE's work. Like many RAE staff, Paul has applied the
same skills and techniques developed by RAE on his own
land, restoring a highly degraded and eroded plot to a
productive field. His reclaimed field has become an example to the surrounding
community and a great source of personal pride. |
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