Thank You for the Rain - Feature Documentary by Kisilu Musya

The Wangari Maathai Institute (WMI) hosted a seminar which featured screening of a documentary dubbed “Thank You for the Rain” by Mr. Kisilu Musya and Julia Dahr. Kisilu Musya is a farmer from Kitui county while Julia Dahr is a Norwegian filmmaker.

For five years Mr. Kisilu used his camera to capture the life of his family, his village and the impacts of climate change. He filmed floods, droughts and storms but also the real human costs of the crisis. During one violent storm that throws him and Julia together, Kisilu loses his home. He then embarks on building a community-based movement of farmers fighting the impacts of extreme weather. Mr. Kisilu takes their message of hope all the way to the UN Climate Talks at COP21 in Paris, France. Here, amid the murky cut and thrust of politics at the biggest environmental show on earth, this father and community leader transforms into an activist on the global stage.

Mr Kisilu was present during the screening of the film. He narrated the meaning of climate change from a farmer’s perspective. He noted that different regions are faced with different challenges of climate change and that there is inadequacy of professionals at grassroot level to spearhead climate change action campaigns and awareness, thus prompting him to take the initiative. Mr Kisilu’s efforts in the fight against climate change have benefited the local farmers in his area through the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies such as ecological farming that have increased farm yields.

Prof. David Mungai, Director, WMI lauded Mr. Kisilu’s efforts and noted that the seminar demonstrated WMI’s key strength which is experiential learning. He pointed out that the Institute is in the process of identifying a criterion of recognizing people who are doing exceptional work about the environment. Also present was Prof. Rose Nyikal, Principal, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences.