A First of Its Kind in the World
The East Africa Snakebite Center of Excellence

The venom laboratory and connected milking room is a daily hotbed of action on the farm. Built to international compliance standards, this is where venoms from all medically significant snakes from East Africa are collected and processed by the Kenyan-led team for research and for GSI’s antivenom improvement project. The adjacent snake house (serpentarium) is where the more than 400 farm “celebrities” are properly housed, awaiting their turn to provide their life-saving toxins.

It’s a great pandemic story too! When Kenya went into lockdown, the normal flood of tourists to the farm stopped. The loss of daily admission revenue forced the obvious decision to lay off the dedicated farm staff of educators, community snake rescuers and those caring for the health and well being of the animals. But GSI had an idea! After receiving generous funding to construct the new lab and serpentarium, it was decided to keep everyone employed and put them to work… as the actual builders! No one was let go and the pride every staff member had in building the farm’s future, from ground-break to move-in, was heartwarming to witness. Knowing we helped staff continue to provide for their families during global uncertainty was a wonderful thing. (Check out the gallery to see the buildings in progress and the joyful party they threw upon laying the massive foundation!)

Guests are now enthralled to watch daily snake milkings from behind the glass. For the team, the building provides for a new level of visitor education to understand and visualize the antivenom crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa and why collecting good quality venoms are key to the eventual improvement of life-saving products.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam pellentesque volutpat semper. Vestibulum condimentum odio in neque rhoncus, vitae posuere augue sollicitudin. Etiam vel sodales sapien. Maecenas faucibus leo diam, quis suscipit erat gravida semper. Aliquam malesuada augue vitae ligula ultrices aliquam. Phasellus dapibus ante sit amet hendrerit egestas. Sed scelerisque tellus quis odio tempor, vitae accumsan arcu finibus. In consectetur odio vel ipsum luctus bibendum.

Ut et vulputate magna. Morbi vel dictum nunc, sed vestibulum risus. Praesent tincidunt tellus ac feugiat ornare. Aenean pharetra nulla sed lorem blandit dictum. Maecenas tempor dignissim lobortis. Quisque facilisis tempor varius. Quisque consequat pretium nisi, eu pellentesque urna convallis sed. Proin dictum, ligula nec dictum feugiat, tellus libero auctor lorem, vel varius tellus felis non arcu. Nunc vel laoreet erat. Morbi odio diam, elementum non elit vel, pulvinar laoreet metus. Mauris neque mi, egestas id ornare quis, tempus a lectus. Morbi a ligula eu arcu feugiat euismod a ac eros. Phasellus magna metus, mattis a tincidunt at, porta venenatis massa.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam pellentesque volutpat semper. Vestibulum condimentum odio in neque rhoncus, vitae posuere augue sollicitudin. Etiam vel sodales sapien. Maecenas faucibus leo diam, quis suscipit erat gravida semper. Aliquam malesuada augue vitae ligula ultrices aliquam. Phasellus dapibus ante sit amet hendrerit egestas. Sed scelerisque tellus quis odio tempor, vitae accumsan arcu finibus. In consectetur odio vel ipsum luctus bibendum.

Ut et vulputate magna. Morbi vel dictum nunc, sed vestibulum risus. Praesent tincidunt tellus ac feugiat ornare. Aenean pharetra nulla sed lorem blandit dictum. Maecenas tempor dignissim lobortis. Quisque facilisis tempor varius. Quisque consequat pretium nisi, eu pellentesque urna convallis sed. Proin dictum, ligula nec dictum feugiat, tellus libero auctor lorem, vel varius tellus felis non arcu. Nunc vel laoreet erat. Morbi odio diam, elementum non elit vel, pulvinar laoreet metus. Mauris neque mi, egestas id ornare quis, tempus a lectus. Morbi a ligula eu arcu feugiat euismod a ac eros. Phasellus magna metus, mattis a tincidunt at, porta venenatis massa.

The snakebite education theater will be an essential component of the center’s community education experience. We believe the most impactful way to instill snakebite prevention, first aid and proper health-seeking messaging to at-risk visitors is to SEE it in practice! The space will give guests a respite from the heat to watch short prevention films in various local languages and have interactive discussions with farm staff. These films have already been produced thanks to a collaboration with the Lillian Lincoln Foundation and GSI, and are already used widely by farm educators in community outreach programs throughout Kenya.

This indoor space will also be used for frequent snakebite-related meetings, seminars and for healthcare worker training sessions until the center’s training clinic is constructed as part of our future phase work.

And we couldn’t leave the outdoor wall just brick! The exterior also enhances the visitor experience with an exciting Agama lizard habitat.

The nocturnal snake exhibit will be an amazing space to connect visitors up close to the great variety of species that roam at night. Prevention messaging to members of the community at risk of a nighttime bite will be centered around measures to take, like using a well-tucked-in mosquito net (to prevent snakes from biting while sleeping in a bed or on the ground) and using a torch and wearing footwear (when using a latrine away from the home).

The habitat also provides visitors a chance to learn about nocturnal snake behaviors and the effects of the venom carried by these nighttime creatures. An exterior facing, glass cage display offers guests with additional viewing of a variety of snaky and non-snaky species found throughout Eastern Kenya.

GSI’s outdoor venomous snake exhibits will be the highlight of the East Africa Snakebite Center of Excellence experience! Visitors will meander thought a series of seven world-class “wildlife park” buildings, displaying all of the species of snakes found in sub-Saharan Africa and the various settings where they’re found.

This sizable space will not only modernize the guest experience (and the Watamu Snake Farm itself), but will primarily support hands-on community education, where those at risk of a snakebite can learn about co-existing with venomous snakes, preventing snakebites, and the proper first aid and health-seeking behaviors to adopt in the event of a bite.

Rich multimedia displays, in multiple languages will also be prominent throughout the habitats.

The dormitory at the East African Snakebite Center of Excellence will provide free-of-charge accommodation for visiting health workers during their residential, in-service skills training at our next phase Snakebite Treatment and Training Clinic. The dormitory will also provide accommodation for traveling herpetologists, researchers and visiting guests taking part in snake and photography safaris.

The dormitory will provide accommodation for up to 12 people and feature a kitchen, eating area, bathrooms and showers, as well as a meeting and relaxation space.

As part of GSI’s next phase development of the Center of Excellence, we will construct a new model Snakebite Treatment and Training Clinic. This fully self-contained, emergency primary care and referral center will be a two-bed facility, equipped with everything needed to ensure patients can be quickly diagnosed, stabilized, treated with antivenom, and if needed, be safely transferred to larger facilities for further care during recovery and rehabilitation.

The Center will also provide health workers from Kilifi County, surrounding counties and throughout Kenya and East Africa with opportunities for residential, in-service training; working alongside expert trainers to learn how to treat snakebites, while at the same time being taught new clinical skills.

We strongly believe this first-of-its-kind-in-Africa project will not only serve patients in the region, but will greatly improve the capabilities of health workers who have long pleaded for hands-on skills training. In the end, the Center will strengthen the overall health systems throughout the region and health workers will return to their places of practice with the confidence and competence to achieve better outcomes for their patients.

As a compliment to our Snakebite Treatment and Training Clinic, GSI will deploy a fully-equipped and staffed retrieval ambulance, modeled after the successful system in Papua New Guinea.

This mobile intensive care vehicle, along with a trained health worker or paramedic will be essential to reach the most remote, inaccessible and isolated communities challenged often by lack of transportation or a variety of physical land barriers. The goal is to stabilize the patient at the point of contact and safely transport to our Center or existing health facilities.

Once a part of the system, this service will build confidence in communities, as it did in Papua New Guinea and quickly make the difference between a life of misery or a life of productivity.