Our Chairman's Visit to Africa

This year I (Rino Solberg) decided to spend some more time in Africa than normal. I was able to devote my time to Kenya at the turn of the year and, with the help of our Management Team, conduct thorough planning for the coming months. We reviewed the company accounts, discussed budgets and we also dedicated some time to socialize by having barbecue party at our headquarter in Nairobi. On that occasion, I gave a motivational seminar. From the reactions, it seemed like our team had fun and got some extra motivation; ready to meet new challenges.

While in Kenya, with my wife Julie this time, we focused on the Nyongoro project. Out of 19,000 mango seedlings, about 2,000 were successfully grafted and are now hardening prior to planting.

During our trip, we also met with the Witu District Educational Officer and the teachers of all 17 primary schools in the area, where our planting field is located. The result of our collaboration is the arrangement of a tree planting program to the schools based on our donation program. This will also be supported by an educational and motivational program for the pupils, their parents and their teachers. Our efforts are also supported by the Forestry Zonal Manager and the Educational Director of Lamu region.

Better Globe Forestry has a leased contract of 15,000 hectares land with Witu Nyongoro Ranch, which had their annual general meeting. Jan Vandenabeele (our forestry expert and Executive Director in Better Globe Forestry) was in attendance as observer to answer questions from the general meeting and to inform about the progress around our tree planting. The Management of Witu Nyongoro Ranch was reelected unanimously and our afforestation project received wide acclaim. Better Globe Forestry also signed an MOU with the Witu Health Centre for the storage and use of an anti-snake bite kit. The company takes health and safety very seriously and has regular meetings in this regard both on the sites and in Nairobi.

We were looking for an international acknowledged auditor, to review our activities under an international perspective to match our kind of operations and ambitions. We therefore visited the well-known international auditors Deloitte. Our financial team and I are looking forward to their professional advice and reviews, to make sure we make the right economical choices.

In Kiambere we were visited by Dr. Ben Chikamai, who among other things is:

• Current Director of KEFRI
• Current Executive Secretary for The Network for Natural Gums and Resins in Africa (NGARA)
• Regional Coordinator of the Commonwealth Forestry Association (CFA) in Africa
• Coordinator for the Association of Forestry

Dr. Ben Chikamai and KEFRI's interest are into the shared trials to study and develop the different tree species acacia senegal and acacia seyal. KEFRI are sponsoring half of the cost of this very important research for our future gum Arabic project.

In recent news, Jan Vandenabeele attended the East African Tree Improvement Strategy Conference. This is an important international forum of specialists in the area discussing tree breeding techniques and results.

Our soon-to-be built in-vitro laboratories must be capable to multiply our Mukau, but also to modify the characteristics of the tree to make it both stronger and more profitable in the long run. In this respect, Better Globe Forestry is seeking partners with knowledge, to share development costs and reap common fruits. Better Globe Forestry is already in process of getting an MOU with the University of Ghent in Belgium, that can provide us with additonal useful resources and knowledge. In regards to seedling improvement, we visited the laboratories of the University of Nairobi, the oldest and most reputable University in Kenya.

Jan Vandenabeele is a technical advicer in the board of GreenLine, and represents Better Globe Forestry. GreenLine is a "green tree ring" around Nairobi. GreenLine has already planted thousands of trees in Nairobi National Park as a green buffer from adjacent industries.

Last but not least, publication of Miti no# 17 marks the magazine’s 5th year anniversary which we are proud of.

Child Africa in Uganda

February was a very active month for Child Africa in Uganda, as our Executive Director Rosemary Søyland from Norway was in Uganda the whole month. She organized a visit with two teachers and two students from a sponsoring school in Norway, who came to see how Child Africa had used their sponsored money to build a sport and activities park in Kabale. The entire school, guests, and Government representatives were there to witness the opening ceremony of the park. Football, high and long jump were on the agenda in addition to volleyball and netball. The result was great and everybody was impressed with what the Child Africa children were able to do.

Julie Solberg invited the celebrity singer HASA, who sing songs with and for children. The children were of course very excited for having HASA showing up. Julie had brought a video crew in order to start a video production of HASA's Child Africa song. You will soon see and hear the result from this work. HASA will assist Child Africa to produce songs and videos for marketing purposes. All in all, we had a very active and prosperous start in the new year.

Make it a great day!

Rino Solberg
Chairman/CEO
Better Globe Group
P.O.Box 410
NO-1502 Moss, NORWAY
Phone: (+47) 6925-0001
Email: rino@betterglobe.com
Web: www.betterglobe.com

If you want to feel good, do something for others at www.childafrica.org