Kenya's First Lady Margaret Kenyatta led hundreds of Kenyans to launch the registration for the second edition of First Lady's Nairobi Half Marathon at Karura forest in late October.

The next half-marathon is planned for March 2015. The series of races intends to raise awareness and funds for enhanced maternal hearth care.

The occasion was marked with a three-kilometre fun-run led by the energetic First Lady herself following Zumba and aerobics warm-ups.  There were kids' activities and music from some of Kenya's leading artists. Free health checks were provided.

First Lady picks up the pace to the finish line of the 3.5 km run in Karura                                     (Photo: L. Njoka)

In her speech, the First Lady explained, "Beyond Zero is a campaign that seeks to raise funds to increase access to better healthcare through the provision of mobile clinics to less fortunate Kenyans."

Her first half-marathon in March attracted over 30,000 runners and raised funds for twenty mobile clinics of which seven have already been commissioned in parts of the country with the highest maternal and child mortality rates.

Said the First Lady, "But our marathon is not over. We still need ... support to purchase twenty-seven more clinics to provide one  clinic in each of our beautiful country's forty-seveb counties."

Her goal is to see every Kenyan woman who gives birth being able to bring up her child to maturity and enjoy life like others elsewhere. "We must run until we go Beyond Zero. We must run until there are no more preventable deaths of mothers and children," she added.

All of Sigiria Declared 'On-Leash '

 

What would happen if a rogue state were to detonate a nuclear device, say, over the South China Sea? Answer: some sixty countries around the world, including Kenya, would detect the explosion as quickly as the speed of sound: low-frequency sound, that is, so-called infrasound.

Kenya has two stations as part of the International Monitoring System to assure compliance with the 1996 treaty under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation. One is PS-24, a seismic station located in a cave at Kilima Nyati (Ol Donyo Sabuk) near Thika.

The other is IS-32, the 32nd of 60+ worldwide InfraSound stations, and its components are located deep in Karura Forest.

Arrays of pipes detect low-frequency sound waves

If you have ever strayed (accidentally, of course!) off Karura's designated trails, you may have stumbled across one of the seven arrays of sensors comprising IS-32. Secured behind alarmed fences, the strange-looking pipe-work 'spiders' are linked to micro-barometers that detect the changes in air pressure that comprise sound.

The sound signals are transmitted via radio to a control station located between junctions 14 and 15, and then sent via satellite to the CTBTO global headquarters in Vienna for analysis.

If there is an explosion or volcanic eruption or large meteor impact, sound waves radiate from the source. Infrasound travels particularly far, and the IS stations around the world register the sound. Computer algorithms analyse the rate and magnitude of sound waves that impact on each micro-barometer and calculate the exact location and intensity of the explosion.

Karura-based control centre beams infrasound data to the International Data Centre in Vienna

Back in the Karura control centre, clever software filters out background noise of leaves rustling or animal sounds. But, as Prof Norbert Opiyo, IS-32 Station Manager, says, "Very loud music from events, especially the booming base notes, must be filtered out."

Prof. Norbert Opiyo

Prof. Opiyo is responsible for the National Data Centre housed in the basement of the University of Nairobi's Geology Department. The NDC also receives data from PS-24 and provides facility for training. Prof. Opiyo manages all aspects of both the infrasound and seismic stations ensuring that they maintain constant streams of high-quality data that have been flowing since the stations were commissioned in 2004.

Prof. Opiyo has a small team of two field assistants who check each station every day. "Since 2009 [when FKF was established and the forest was fenced] vandalism and thieving of fence material from the stations have completely stopped," he said from his Chiromo campus office.

The stations also provide early warning of natural disasters. IS-32 and PS-24 were among the stations that detected the Indonesian volcanic eruption that caused the 2004 tsunami. The Kenya data were combined with those from other countries to calculate how the wave would promulgate through the Indian Ocean.

Kenya's vital contribution to the test ban treaty compliance and natural disaster monitoring is one more reason to keep Karura secure and serene, and as quiet as possible.