Asset Based Community Development

Short video of KASFOOC breakout Group

Here's a video of one of the many singing breaks. I mean, you gotta sing while learning business right?

 

This Saturday was the first of a series of training sessions for a new group with Alex Omino.  Another group, also funded through our Canada to Kenya efforts, has been working with Alex since October and have made great strides towards forming a co-operative.  They should be in full swing before we leave.

We had a successful turnout for this new group -- too successful really -- with 102 participants.  A group of 70 would have been ideal, but I was having familiar fears of a roomful of empty seats, so I invited too many, being sure that many would not come.  Well, they almost all came!

Waiting for training to begin

Like what I'm hearing so far

Hmmm, we'll see...

This group on Saturday was sitting right where the first group was three short months ago, unclear as to what to expect from the training.  I am curious to see what path this journey will take them on.  When Alex asked for their expectations, these were some of the responses:

• Education
• To be identified to our seniors and supporters of the group
• How to run the groups better
• To know the moral support we are going to get -- He called them on this one... "you mean material support, isn't it?"
• To know as a group how to grow... so that we are assisted.

Come on, be honest... Who came hoping for some material support.

After some coaxing he was able to get out of them that, yes, they were there in the hopes of getting some support.  This is the mindset that is killing Africans.  Kenya has been receiving Aid since 1963.  Alex asked how much has been done to alleviate poverty... "Very little.  According to me... none.  In 48 years, there is Nothing Going On -- N.G.O." 

Alex Omino

Alex went on to talk about the bleak state of the world and it's direct impact on the world's poorest countries, Kenya being among them:  Global Warming, World Economic Crisis, High Ranking Poverty, Deep Rooted Corruption.  The state of the European Union has a impacted aid to Africa as European efforts are directed away from Africa to serve their poverty within, especially in Eastern Europe.  "If Africans cannot change from becoming beggars, they will die."


The approach of NGO's in Africa has been that of charitable donations to the needy -- Participatory Rural Appraisal.  The well meaning mzungu asking the poor African to tell them their struggles.  The focus is on community needs and problems in order of severity.  Sounds reasonable enough.  They give some money where they feel it will do some good and walk away feeling like they've done a little something good.

This is exactly what I was doing just two weeks ago when I visited women's groups.  After a song and a prayer ;o), the group would tell me what they are doing and what they are struggling with and what they want.  This approach seemed better than me, the all knowing, all powerful mzungu coming in with answers.  I was curious, asked lots of questions in an effort to learn from the women.

Patience Group Song

What Alex is teaching, and what he believes is the only answer for Africa, is Asset Based Community Development.  What are you STRENGTHS and how can you build on them?  What RESOURCES are available to you right now?  What are your COPING STRATEGIES?  This is what some of the groups came back with:

Patience Group -- a group of retired professionals.

• Most of the community has small plots and undertake small scale farming
• Poultry, Fish Ponds, Bee keeping
• Maize/vegetables -- subsistence farming
• Farmers have formed a co-operative for sale of milk

 KASFOOC -- Kakamega Supporting Families of Orphaned Children (our fish farm widows)

• Kufanya biashara
• Ukulima (farming)
• Miradi kwa fmawo

Unfortunately this one was in Swahili, so I'm not exactly sure what they said... But, the gist of it is that they support the needy.  The question Alex posed was, with whose money do you support the needy?

Faith Women Group

• Helping one another in problems
• e.g. funerals, sickness, famine
• Helping one another in ceremonies
• Merry Go Round (each member contributes 50 /=
• Helping needy people in the community 
• e.g. sick people, bringing for the water, firewood
• Small scale farming

Faith Women Group

 Mulakha and Bidii Groups

• Small scale farming
• Small scale business
• Merry Go Round
• Table banking

You get the idea...  Two groups shared what they were doing in the way of small scale business, and also included the "But..." listing some of their challenges and what's stopping them from going forward.

Alex wrapped up with an emphasis on PRODUCTION.  What can you produce that will support you?  He used volunteers in skits to demonstrate what it is like supporting the needy.  Piggy backing, blindfolded person leading a sighted person, etc.  It brought lots of laughs and I think helped to drive the point home.  He also talked about who is the NGO... not a big corporation, but individuals, with families, children in school.  These are the people who are bringing the donations.  And they are going to get tired.  "Can't we let Tanya come next time as a tourist, not a well wisher."

He stressed to me, I need these lessons perhaps more than the participants, and to the group that there is an appropriate time for a donation, or an investment, but ONLY as a boost to efforts already in motion.

The answer for the group and for Africa:

1. Create wealth
2. Build unity

Stay tuned for session two which will cover:  Resource Analysis, Economic Analysis, Production and Value Addition, and Building a Strong Group/Organization Profile.
 

Long day!

Big Pig

Ok, hands up: who ran by a guy walking a black, very loud, huge 300+ lb, oinking pig this morning down the middle of the road?

I did. Complete with oinking.

The motorbike (piki piki) dropped me off about 5km from home.  On a 13km frisky run (4:35/ km on the rare flat, non technical sections) through tea fields and trails behind thereof. The pig and his owner were on the "main" road which makes the road out to Zeballos look like the Transcanada high way.

Exciting day of entering the names of all my waypoints and reading my GPS manual cover to cover.  Tanya got our accounts up to date on an Xcel spreadsheet. We have spent.... what we thought we have spent.  And that is good.

Sorry, no picture of the big pig; the light was all wrong...and he was too big to ask to turn around.

Protected Spring Before+ During Photos

Today was a filing day.  All the paperwork, receipts, reports, videos and pictures are piling up and needed to be sorted or lose all value.  Below is a 'Before' and 'During Construction' photos of a protected spring.

The Rotary meeting last night was good in that we made some decisions about releasing money to contractors.  Basically the first 18 springs are 80% complete but only 30% paid for.  So there was some catching up to do, we released some funds today.  We have 2.4 million shillings ($30K CDN) over the next 6 weeks so we need to have a system for moving 400,000 Ksh/ week,which is tricky the way banks work down here.

 Enough about money, here is some photos:

Emulakah PS#13 80% done Jan 26

Me and Jackson- back-filling and fence behind this wall to be completed

Alot of digging required to ensure water is filtered and spring not flooded

Emulakah PS#13 Before construction Jan 9

During Spring check came across another Rotary water project

Just back from a spring check up.  It was about 4 hours of walking (short video here), the springs are getting close to completion, but the fundis say they need more money.  So far we have only paid about 30% up front (21,000Ksh or $258).  The unskilled workers get $3 per day and have not received full pay yet.  I will update the Rotary club at our meeting tonight.

As we walked by a school Jackson mentioned that Rotary had done a water project there.  They had built a borehole pump and plumbed the roofs with water catchment pipes and tanks. This looks very similar to a proposed project that I am looking into in Navaisha (7 hrs away) for the Rotary Club of Campbell River Daybreak.  This is a VERY low income school.  The tanks are dry (no rain in a long time), but the borehole still provides water.  The head teacher was dying for us to stay and talk to teachers and students, but we had to keep going.  They think RC Kakamega was behind the water project, I will find out tonight. Here's a 2" video of school.

Amongst the kids is a water pump. In behind you can see the black water tanks and pipes coming off the roofs

Rotary rain catcher tanks and plumbing at a very poor school in the boonies- note kids do not have uniforms, very rare.  Good national results at Elufwahfwah Community School. 220 kids.

In Your Face

We started the day by heading out on two piki pikis to visit Esembe Spring to record the progress in a video Terry is putting together to present when we get home.  Terry had told me it was a pretty gnarly ride, but I didn't want to be left behind.  I won't pretend I wasn't nervous, but we`ve been getting a lot of Praise Gods since we`ve arrived, so I figure we must be in good hands.  So glad I went.  Without the thought of what could happen if we crashed, there is no nicer way to travel.  Wind in my hair, cool breeze, bouncy ride... just being part of it all is so fantastic.

I think that's what I love about this place... it is so in your face.  At home, partly because of the cold and the dark, but mostly because of... I don't know what... we are so isolated; in our cars, in our buildings, behind doors, beneath our helmets.  Here, whether walking, on a bike or a motorcycle, you share the path with neighbours, children, animals, food, goods for sale of all kind just strewn out on the street -- everything from undies to text books, to mangoes, to pad locks and tools and solar lamps.  It`s all just right there.

More later...

Rotaract Meeting &Tilapia

Tanya and I just returned from a Rotaract  meeting at the local university.  The club is just starting its semester with 20 members and a full plate of activities planned.  President Anathasius and Secretary Abraham led a good meeting.

Short video of Rotaract meeting HERE

Feb 4th there is Kakamega clean up. Their motto this year: "Everyone is blessed to be a blessing to be a blessing to others".  Saturdays they visit Rotary High school to give talks, tutoring and organize games (kids got o school on Saturdays but not all day).  They will also visit childrens homes.  Last year they volunteered at a Womens maternal Health clinic. They were touched by one 18 year old girl who had 5 kids and a 24 yr old with 6 kids.  They want to continue with adult education.  They also plan on sending a few students to the annual Rotary leadership conference in Nairobi March 14th (RC Kakamega usually sponsors 2, but they hope to send 4 first year students (because older ones have exams and it sows seeds for future Rotaracters).

After that we met with Nahn Nygeun from Houston who has alot of info on tilapia.  He is keen to do aquaponic fish farming. We met him through our neighbours Sanford and June.  He gave me a much needed feed table for tilapia showing feed rates in % bodyweight per day for various size classes (ages) and water temperatures. I have spent hours unsuccessfully googling for this format.  Fantastic. He gave me a great tilapia aquaculture meta study I am eager to review.  He has a great story of being born poor poor in Vietnam and coincidentally Rotary sponsored his family's escape from Viet Nam in 1980.  Now here he is, like me, with a fish fetish and a whole country dying to farm fish.

During the day I met with a local hatchery operator.  She, Joyce, is new to the game and somewhat self taught, so I think I will get fingerlings from Kisumu.  But she is independent woman fish farmer and willing to teach our widows what she knows, and she does have the real -world experience and the tilapia economics down pat.  She is also on the committee to bring a fish processing plant to the area, so she is an excellent contact for marketting our widows fish.

First 18 springs almost protected (video)

Just a few more days...

Video of Tanya and Terry visit to Isembe, Spring # 1, 9 days after start

A Day of Fish Farm Training (video)

From a Rotary District Community Grant 26 fish farmers were given a full day 0800-1700 of technical training. We rented two minivans, filled with 14 passengers each, no seat belts headed out along terrible roads to get instruction from nearby fish farmers recommended by local government.

Two instructors joined us, extension fisheries officers they are called.  The take home messages for me was 1. "Ponds are not dug, they are constructed",
2. They must be 300m2, "kitchen ponds" will not make money
3. Use all-male fish and,
4. Feed, feed, feed.
All these topics were gone into in great detail.

This Saturday we have business training for 80 people.  This training is provided by Tanya's NGO Tembo, eg Norm O, Jon F, Wayne C, Cathy C, Bent H, Chip R, Carole M, Lee C., Lance T, Catherine P, Al B, Leeanne R, Wendy L, Carol P, Christine H, Richard C, Dona H and many other pals who donated. Working cooperatively is the emphasis.  After this we will do one more round of technical training, followed by Virtues training which teaches the "spirit" of cooperation- the paradigm shift.  You will be honoured this Saturday at 9am at the Social Hall that you rented.  You also supplied lunch and boda boda money so our widows can get home afterwards.

It was a long dusty day.  I have some video which I will insert below as soon as it is uploaded.

Video 1
Video 2

New Normal

Things I don't love so much here:

• Corruption
• Dust
• Cacophony of dogs howling and barking all night
• Feeling of constantly being ripped off for being white (i.e. rich)
• Feeling constantly like I should pay more because I am white (i.e. rich)
• Burning garbage 
• Arriving for a 9:30am meeting, to be told at 11:20am that madam will not arrive until 2pm
• Hearing that madam has been delayed because one of the staff members who had been sick in hospital was given acid to drink by her husband who didn't know how he would pay the hospital bill

Things that are becoming our new normal:

• Hearing stories like that everyday, told with a smile 
• Sleeping under a mosquito net
• Boda boda rides to town
• Piki piki for three (driver and me and Terry... no helmets)
• Locking the padlock at night
• Bars on windows
• "How are you?"
• Power outages (conversations don't even skip a beat as the room goes from light to black and back again)
• Questionable toilets

Things I love here:

• Sequins and satin and fancy hair-do's that are more than the dusty roads call for
• Hand claps and songs to welcome and appreciate guests
• Handshakes and smiles all around as a greeting
• Karibu!  (Welcome in Swahili)
• Herds of scruffy cows, or goats, or chickens that pop up out of nowhere
• The scurry of geckos as I approach the front porch
• The song birds that are our constant companion
• Purple and orange and hot pink shops
• Mangoes, paw paws, passion fruit, and sweet bananas
• Ground nuts
• Hot sun and cool breezes
• Lush, green hillsides
• Faces that tell a thousand stories

Village Enterprise

We are starting a new group through business training with Alex on Saturday.  It will be a bit of a mad dash getting everyone together, but I am confident (she says a little hesitantly) that we can pull it off.  We are inviting 100 people and hoping for 80.

I met with Grace from the Kakamega Rotary club this morning to talk about the women's groups that she works with.  Grace is a retired Head Teacher and a dynamo volunteer with Rotary and in the Community.  Since 2008, Grace has volunteered for an NGO based out of California, Village Enterprise.  This group provides grants to small groups of 3-5 members to start small businesses.  Volunteers like Grace, visit rural communities and identify groups that may be eligible for a grant.  The groups fill out a detailed application form, which includes a home visit for verification, to determine their living situation.  Some of the questions on the application are:

How many dependents do you have?
How many meals a day do you budget for?
How many times a week do you have meat? 
What is your house built out of (mud, cement, bricks, etc.)?
How many towels in your house?
How many mosquito nets?
Do you have an iron?

The groups that are selected are put through training in how to choose a business and location, how to get and retain customers, how to convert profits into savings to keep the business going, book keeping, etc.  Then, each group puts 1,500 Ksh in and Village Enterprise gives them a grant for 7,500 for a total of 9.000 to start a business.  The groups are monitored to see that they are keeping good records and the business is continuing.  After three months of good standing, the group is given another 3,750 Ksh to boost their business even further.  After another three months of monitoring, groups that are excelling are given a bonus 5,000 Ksh for their business.  Grace says there are only a few that qualify for this bonus.

New groups chosen every three months.  Grace says that most of the groups are still going strong, even after 3 years.  She has seen people rise out of poverty with even this very small start.  This is not microcredit.  These are grants.  Village Enterprise also pays their field volunteers like Grace a stipend of 1,000 Ksh per group application, and another small stipend for the training day.  The training is free, Village Enterprise provides lunch for all of the participants and pays their fare to the session. 

Grace says I can come with her to the training session in early February for the most recent approved groups. 

We had a good discussion about training with or without the promise of money for business.  The training that we are providing through Tembo lead by Alex is focused on starting from where you are and NOT waiting for a western donation.  Grace believes that without start up capital, training is meaningless -- certainly for the client group that Village Enterprise is targeting. 

We also talked about the very African idea of paying volunteers.  As mentioned in a previous post, this has been an issue that has come up with the Rotary Grant.  The Rotarians with the Kakamega Rotary Club do not think that KASFOOC should be paid for the work they are doing in co-ordinating the Protected Springs Project.  Rotarians are not paid a stipend, so neither should the CBO (Community Based Organization) that will be benefiting from the project.  They believe in pure volunteerism... which is all very well in theory, but as Grace pointed out, when she is working for this NGO, it means she is not able to work to put food on her table. 

Terry and I have found money for KASFOOC (I'm not sure which pocket it will come out of) because we know the incredible time and energy that they have put into this project.  It just doesn't seem fair to us that they not be compensated in some way.  We also didn't want to put up a fight with the Rotary Club, so we just gave them a small amount to keep them going.

It will be good to see training from two different schools of thought.  Nothing is black and white.

ICC rules against Kenyan leaders

As I type a couple Kenyan locals have come by to watch the TV news (in swahili) regarding today's ICC ruling that 2 Kenyan presidential candidates (this is an election year) will have to go to the Haig to face charges of crimes against humanity for the 2007 riots (following last national election).  Trouble could take place-the closest MP is 3 hours away in Eldoret. They vow to stand for election irregardless of the ruling.  Two other ministers were also charged.

Fish farm update

 Esters' ponds above are the best I have seen so far- actually have economic potential. Most are too small and we must expand.

Yesterday was touring the last of the KASFOOC fish ponds and a few protected springs.  Today is prepping for tomorrow: a field trip, technical training day for our fish farmers led by local Min of Fisheries extension officers.  I will give a "rousing" talk as well.  We have 2 mini-vans rented and will visit 3 fish farms- one is a tank farm.  That will be new to me- not sure what to expect.

I have a RAS (recirc aquaculture system) expert from USA to talk to, he wants to introduce hydroponics into tilapia farming here.  That will be fun to hash over as I have licensed a couple of those in BC, but I think a bit of a reach for here.  He has contacts with some big money (?), USAID?, we'll see.

I have been doing the math and these women should be able to make Ksh150,000 ($1700 CDN) profit every 8 months from a 300m2 pond- that's huge money.  Depends on good feed, good fingerlings and good husbandry (do NOT feed fish feed to the chickens!  Do not give all your fish away to the neighbours etc).

Here is a video of what we do not want to do.  Only 86 fish were harvested, 42 of any size were sold for a paltry 150Ksh (2$ CDN)

Lazy Sunday

I'm having my first lazy day since we arrived.  I was tempted to go with Terry today for a fish farm harvest, but I had promised myself a much needed day off, so here I am.  Sundays are filled with the sounds of birds singing (every day is filled with song birds), cows, drumming and music from the hillside...  oh, and really angry sounding preaching.  I've got to hand it to the Christian Missionaries.  Kenyans around here are crazy about God!

Fredrick and Josephine are coming over today (they are an hour late so far).  I have hired Josephine to clean our house.  Terry is a little reluctant, assuming that she has never cleaned a house like this and won't know what to do.  I'm not worried.  I trust her, their family needs the money, and this will be an easy way for her to earn a few extra shillings.  And I get my floors washed and some time with Brenda and Emmanuel!  Fredrick sent me a text message last night when I asked if Josephine wanted a job once a week cleaning house --
  
"Yes she can, even if 2 times, although me am not happy.  I have worked for somebody from Thursday up to now (Saturday) he has paid me 300 and on the way to home the byscle break one of it's spair so hes money i can not buy food and make biyscle that's why I don't like working for people."

On Friday I went with Sanford and June (our neighbours) to speak at a high school that Sanford had started.  Sanford wanted to motivate the students and tell them that we love them.  The students didn't quite fit in the assembly hall, so a few put their chairs close to the windows outside the hall so they could see.  As the kids (Forms 2 to 4, Grades 10-12) were settling in, there was lots of laughter and chatter.  This is the first time I have seen kids relaxed in a school setting, it was really nice.  Sanford and June told their stories of growing up in Kakamega, going to school with no shoes, and eventually achieving a scholarship to Alliance (the Harvard of Kenya).  Even with the scholarship, Sanford could not afford the living expenses of Nairobi, so he did his post secondary education at Moi University.  The take home message was that you can do anything, regardless of your home situation.  Most of these kids, probably all of them at this little rural school, come from very poor homes.  Fifteen graduates from this little school have gone on to achieve university degrees and a number of them have made it in the U.S.

 I told them about my first trip to Kenya in 2009, when on our first day in Kakamega we were swarmed by the street boys -- I didn't expect such a big laugh at this story!  I told them I saw so much struggle here that I thought it was hopeless.  And then I asked to see Kakamega through God's eyes (the G word is a good hook); and on day two I fell in love with the strength, courage, and generosity of the people here.  I read them the story of The Little Hummingbird (one drop of hope, I'm doing what I can...).

They asked lots of questions, in a voice louder than a whisper (also very rare in Kenya).  June and I were talking after about how soft spoken Kenyans are.  It is a sign of respect.  When June went to the U.S. she had to learn to yell at people.  Some of their questions were:

What are the salaries in America compared to Kenya?  How do I go to a university in America?  How does land inheritance work in America?  If you love Kenya, why did you leave?  

Our 30 minute scheduled talk stretched into 2 hours.  Sanford had arranged to bring sodas in for all the kids. As we were leaving, one of the boys had quietly asked Wen (Sanford's friend who was with us) if he could pay his registration fee.  Wen didn't know how to answer so he told the boy to speak to the principal.  June and Sanford both went on about how courageous it was for the boy to ask, and they will find out his name to be sure his fees are paid.  Huh.  I guess you've got to take every opportunity that comes along, but it seems a little opposite to "You can do anything with God in your heart."  Anything, including asking a mzungu to sponsor you.  Sigh.

Terry and I have this conversation almost daily.  Are we doing more harm than good by helping.  A wise friend has said many times, the money is better spent here than at Starbucks or Walmart, so we can't go wrong.  Another wise friend reminds me to go by my feelings.  That one is tougher.  I would be quite broke if I went by my feelings! 

Entertainment Consumed in Kenya

Thought it may be time for a non-humanitarian post.


Just back from an excellent run 1;10 Sunday morning run, joined a boy named Marcel for a couple kilometres, he was late for church and did not speak,just answered my 2 questions breathlessly.


Just found out about a huge international cross country meet in Eldoret (3 hours from here by bus), with lots of Kip Keino's athletes competing- today! If only I had another days notice. Lots of international stars, Indias team for example, are going to test their legs here after a couple months of pre Olympic training in Kenya. I'll have to go seeking autographs when I get there; I would think for the next few months the running superstars will be buzzing around.

They are fixing the roads near Nairobi so that the Kenyan hopefuls can train on London-like roads,because the Swiss cheese tarmac and dry-riverbed roads that are the norm here are not conducive for training.


Kinda funny to go bed 11am your(home) time, then wake up at 6:30pm your time. The internet keeps us quite connected to home,mentally.  There's no TV here worth watching.  The news , on 3 channels that we get, is a commentator reading the newspaper  most of the time. Lots of soap operas and music videos shot in video. About 5% of homes have TV and the stations are no doubt govt-run.  Virtually zero commercials.

So far I have 'read' (audiobooks) Ayn Rands "Atlas Shrugged", Bart Ehrman's "Jesus Interrupted" and Christopher Hitchen's "Hitch 22".  They were all great.  There is something intriguing about listening to atheist audiobooks while rubbing elbows with the most intense Christians I have ever met. 

Tanya and I are watching "Prison Break" at night.  There are many episodes.  The story is dumb, ugly and the acting is mediocre.  But there is something sedating about zoning out on US drama-action after seeing so much real-life chronic, tedious drama of poverty all day.

I am about a 1/4 of the way through Tolstoys' "War and Peace".  It is excellent.mostly because it was written in 1860 about 1805.  I just cannot get over how cool that is.  Being in Kenya where so many people walk and have not travelled more than 5km from their hut in their entire lives brings it home.  Many people living out in the rural area lead very quiet, slow lives, much like a Russian peasant from 200 years ago I imagine.  Checking Wikipedia I have now read, in my life, 5 of the top 20 longest novels ever written.

Saturday on the Rotary-sponsored fish farms

Today I joined KASFOOC to watch a pond being harvested.  It was not pretty I am afraid to report.  Only 86 fish harvested. No money from previous harvest profits has been put aside for the next order of fingerlings or feed. I had a long talk with the farmer about kiloes of feed in, kiloes of fish out.  We want the farmer to get 8ksh return on 1Ksh every 8 months. 

I spent the next 3 hours hiking around visiting fish farmers and discussing inputs, outputs.  The good news is that all are keen to attend the training on Tuesday.  My hope is that they are there to learn and not to receive a hand-out.  They will be disappointed if they are there for the hand-out.  These ponds are about 1/3 to 1/2 the size they need to be to be to be economical.

This Tuesday we have arranged a full day of technical training and field trip to nearby fish farms that have been sponsored by the Kenyan government.   This is training given by local extension officers that I met with last week at Zachary's harvest.  It will be a rare  opportunity to have all the Rotary sponsored farmers in one place.  One of the objectives of the Rotary District Community Grant is to convert these independents into a cohesive group that share labour and pool capital.  We have two mini buses rented for the day for 28 farmers for $100.  The trainers are free.

Meanwhile, a couple kilometres away from the ponds, the construction of Protected Springs continues and is going well.  Today's big decison was what signage to put on the springs.  I chose the cheapest, simplest most permanent option: "Rotary & KASFOOC 2012" etched into wet cement.  The metal plates we put on the last springs are great and have the name of all the supporting Rotary Clubs, but will not last more than 5 years.

Self Help Groups

On Wednesday, Bibiana and I headed out in a little matatu to meet some of the groups that have been organized in her community.  Just when I thought the roads were better, this trip was more like the Kenya I remembered from 2009, with roads more like riverbeds.  Nissan should shoot all of it's ads from rural Kakamega!  Most of them are pretty beat up, after the bashing they take it is amazing they keep running.

Our first stop was Mulakha Group.  We met at one of the members homes and were greeted with a song and a dance.  Bibiana and I were each presented with a garland lei (you know, the shiny stuff for Christmas Trees) and introduced to the members of the group that were present.  Mulakha is a registered group with 26 members who meet twice a month.  They practice "table banking" whereby (they love saying whereby here) at each meeting every member brings 200 Ksh.  That money is put on the table for anyone that may have a need to borrow it.  If someone chooses to borrow some or all of the money, they first pay 10% interest and leave that for the group account.  They have one month to pay back the full amount of the loan.  With the 10% interest from table banking, the group has managed to save 10,000 Ksh. 

They started a joint project of keeping poultry.  They started with 2 chickens and now have 12 that have just hatched.  Some of the challenges they are having are:  the feed and treatment for the chickens is expensive.  They are hoping if they had a machine to crush the feed, they could make it themselves and sell some as a source of income.  They also require a structure to keep the chickens (timber, iron sheets, poles, wire mesh, etc.).  And some training in how best to keep poultry along with bookkeeping and business training.  They do have very nice uniforms though.

Bibiana decorated with garland... with Mulakha Group & their chickens

It was a short walk in the dust to visit the next group, Bidii.  This group really touched me.  They are very small, they were 5 members, but one could not manage the weekly contribution they agreed on, so now they are four.  They meet weekly and contribute 150 shillings each. 

Bidii Group

Of that, 100 Ksh goes to one member to start a small business (selling tomatoes, onions, or small fish in the market), and 50 Ksh goes into a group bank account.  Of the members, one is a widow, one is separated with 6 children, and one is has been caring for her sister's child who is an orphan.  These women have agreed to make a meal for the two youngest vulnerable children in their group to take to school. 

When we say small business, we mean small.

Bidii Group has also started keeping poultry, but they doubt that it is viable for them.  They each put in 250 Ksh to buy two chickens, and now have 10 chicks (some have died... I couldn't quite get it straight).  For poultry to be viable, they will need training and definitely some assistance with a structure and feed.  They have managed to save 5,400 Ksh so far.

10 chickens live here?  I think they need a better plan for poultry.

The next group was a crazy matatu ride away.  This group is involved in table banking and poultry (do you see a theme here?).  Shikhambi has been a registered group since May 2009.  The advantage they have is that their chairman has electricity, so they have a dream for a machine for chick management (I think they were referring to an incubator).  They have had project training in how to raise poultry, so from what I could see, they were doing quite well. 

I asked about their bank account.  The treasurer hesitantly gave the report.  In December they had accumulated 11,000 shillings, but "they developed the culture of Christmas eve."  They decided as a group that it would be nice if each member could enjoy a nice meal for the festive season, so they divided the money up between the members and had a good Christmas.  I can't say that I blame them, but 11,000 shillings would have gone a long way toward purchasing some of the things they would like to grow their business.

Shikhambi Self Help Group

Finally, after another long, dusty walk, we met the Courageous Women.  They are a fairly new group, having been together since June of last year.  This group has been through all three trainings -- Virtues Training, Poultry Project Training, and Business Training.  Each member contributes 150 Ksh per meeting, twice a month.  100 Ksh goes to the owner of the house who is hosting the meeting and the remaining 50 Ksh is pooled together for the group to discuss how they would like to spend it.  They have two projects -- farming vegetables (they have leased a plot of land for 2000 Ksh per year; but there is no water, so during this time of drought, the vegetables are not happy), and ... da da da daaaa... Poultry!  Kakamega is a bit famous for poultry, so they tell me.  So far they have not accumulated any savings.

Bibiana (right) with Courageous Women

Bibiana and I were quite tired by the time we reached this group and I think Bibiana must have been a little grumpy.  She fell into Preacher-mode and spoke to the group as if they were school children being scolded by the teacher.  When it was my turn to speak, I asked BibianaBibiana's translation lasted well over 5 minutes with lots of animation.  "Madam," I interjected, "I don't think you are translating what I said."  She assured me she was just driving home my message.  Hmmm... somehow, I doubt that.

My favourite part of this stop was chatting with the gentleman of the house, who had recently been hit by a piki piki, and is recovering from a broken hip and collar bone, and playing with the little girl who was quite fascinated with my hair and my skin.

Highlight of my day!

Rotary-suppported boys boarding school

Just got back from Musingu High School for Boys. My Rotary Club sponsors 2 students there: Mathias in Form 2 and a Form 1 boy soon-to-be-chosen. The form 1's dont start school until Feb. We also met with Moses a one-legged boy (lost through a series of infections he is still dealing with) whose significant medical bills are paid by Michael Pontus from RC Strathcona Sunrise. And we met Brian who is a boy supported by our daughter club Cumberland Centennial (I wish I knew how to put names on pictures). all students are boarders there. It now costs $700/ year. Prices have gone up, so our club will have to pony up more money or we will have to look for a cheaper school. It was only $500/ yr 2 years ago and we have budgetted for $600/ yr working our way towards having 4 boys in school per year.

The stories are just terrible, drunken fathers, orphans. I'll let Tanya tell that part. The boys are very quiet, asked for nothing. We talked to them, but they were very shy. They were told Rotary works hard to raise your school fees, therefore you must work very hard to get good grades, and, we they love you.

Hats off to KEEF for handling the beaurocracy and confusion. It is far, far more than writing a cheque to select these boys and fight through bad parental units, no phones, bad roads and beaurocrats to get them into school. Musingu is a very good school, but may be getting to a point of unaffordability. Alot of KEEF's sponsors are individuals where $500 was alot never mind $700 per year.


L to R is Alinda, Mathias (RCSS), Brian (RCCC), Moses et moi.

 Marie (from KEEF) & Tanya talking to the boys. Tanya and I haven't met the boy we support through KEEF yet because he does not go to Musingu HS.

Highlight

Yesterday I took a boda boda from the junction at Yako to Nakumat, about a 30 bob trip.  In the course of being here I have been charged everything from 30 bob to, "even a thousand is o.k."  I only had a hundred note, so as my rider was looking for change, I told him, that's o.k., it is a tip.  "It is a ?  He looked at me laughing.  No, no, it's o.k., it is a tip.  More laughing.  A gift, it's for you, an offer.

Laughing quite histerically now.  "At least let me give you something small".  More laughing as he handed me a 50 note.

There is hope after all! 

Kinda Scary Spotcheck

I hired a couple dirt-bikes (w/ drivers Mark and Robert) to take us (Matano and I) out to the protected springs to do a "surprise visit" / spot-check. Its been 4 days since they started and I wanted to see the progress, make a video of the "during" part of the building and generally learn more about the stages and construction. Also, we just issued our first payment from the Rotary account and I wanted to make sure I knew where the money was going...AND remind communities to pitch in with lunches and materials, see if any problems ETC. So for $10 I hired two bikers for a four hours.

It was well worth it. And everything checked out well. We rhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifeached 5 springs. We got lost a couple times, the dirt-bikes had some trouble http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifspots. Usinghttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif the GPS worked out well, I knew when we were close, but it was tricky to find the right path. You can see how gnarly the terrain was from the video below.

The lady pictured is carrying sand for the spring with a basket on her head.


Video of my surprise visit for Spring number 1, Isembe ("caught" everyone working hard):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJlB52TYagI&context=C3041569ADOEgsToPDskLF3UsSD8kWZ4MIqGmtdwEe

Bonus farm catfish video (90 seconds) from our trip to Kisumu the other day.

Fish Farm Hatchery & Hippos

Tuesday was fun, we hired a car and driver to take us to Kisumu.

1. Tanya was to meet with a trainer for business education. We want our fish farm widows to understand the concepts of running a business. The Kenyan way is to give money to whoever asks for it whenever you have it; otherwise you are considered greedy and may not gethelp when you need it. This makes saving and growing a business impossible.

2. The other reason is because I am a fish nerd and want to learn everything about aquaculture wherever I go. The hatchery was awesome full of wandering cows; completely opposite to the hospital-like conditions at BC salmon hatcheries. I giggled constantly. A 70kg bag of feed costs $20 and a male fingerling 3" long costs 10 cents (volume dependent,transport not included).

3. I wanted to make contact with suppliers of fingerlings and quality feed so that I know what we are getting when/ if we make make some purchases for our widows.

While waiting for Tanya I wandered to the shore of Victoria lake and saw that for $20 a guy in a very rickety boat would take all 5 of us out to look at nearby hippos. It was very neat. We saw soo many species of birds and creatures.

The videos are very short to give you a taste. It was a very long day, but also very productive. Thank goodness the roads have improved, it would have taken 3 days to cover this much ground last time.

tank of tilapia broodstock:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t1Y5GjQAb0
hippos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HPYYu6N2LY&feature=related
male tilapia (what we want to farm):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DwWYYUUvWI&feature=related

Who told you Africans don't have money?

"I hate it when people say there is no money.  Who told you Africans don't have money?  Many people hate me for this."

Alex Onino is fighting for Africans... for change.  At the beginning of his training session on Saturday, after a prayer and a song of course, Alex addressed the group, "You think the mzungu will bring you money.  The African mindset was damaged from the donations from the Western world.  We have to change it.  If you are sitting here thinking of money, you can go out."

Energizing with a song -- When Jesus says yes, nobody can say no!

I sat in on Saturday with a group of 12 who is has been through four "business skills" training sessions lead by Alex Onino.  Patricia had told me that Tembo had found an excellent trainer, but the day delivered so much more than I had expected.  Alex is a master trainer with a mission of changing Africa from the ground up.  And I believe he will do it.  What he is teaching truly empowers people to break the cycle of poverty... from within... together.  I intend on putting my energy into seeing as many people through this training as possible.

The training with this first group has gone like this:

Two training sessions of 80-100 people (mostly women and youth, though men are included as well) held two to three weeks apart.  These first sessions focused on an attitude adjustment and driving home the message that YOU can do it YOURSELF -- with the help of your community.  You CAN NOT rely on mzungus to succeed for you.  Alex brings a sense of humour to his trainings and expects a lot from his participants -- he is a gifted facilitator, not a lecturer, which has been the African way with the teacher standing at the front of the class writing notes on the blackboard and the students copying what has been written.

Working together in small groups

The next two sessions, also held two or three weeks apart, are for designated leaders of smaller groups within the original large group.  Sixteen were identified (by the members, not by the facilitator or Tembo).  These sessions focused more specifically on leadership, co-operatives, and some specific project analysis.

At the fifth session, 12 were in attendance and this is where things are really starting to happen.  The group had decided in the fourth session that forming a Co-operative, a legal entity, was the way to go for the best shot at continued success.  The leaders had been tasked with going back to their groups to get consent from their members, choose projects or income generating activities they were interested in or already performing, identify available resources (financial, agricultural land, skills, knowledge), objectives, goals, etc.  It was quite an assignment, but they came back prepared.  At the end of the day, the group had selected an executive and 10 promoters who will see the co-operative come to life.

Tanya with Rod & Patricia and the newly elected Co-Op Executive

Today I met with Alex to discuss next steps.  We will follow through with this group for several more training sessions until they are on their feet.  These will include Management Training, Project Specific Training (i.e. poultry, bee keeping, rabbits), and Resource Mobilization (i.e. fundraising).  Alex believes that after all of this training is when donor dollars would be appropriate to boost the success of all of their work and planning.

We are also going to start with a new group which will include KASFOOC and our fish farmers.  I can't wait to see the growth of the original group and the birth of the new group!  I have high hopes.

Terry is at home with fish, I am at home with people!  Life coaching African style.