Heri Za Mwaka Mpya

All of us involved with KCIS would like to wish a

Happy New Year

to all in Kenya and the UK who follow and support us in our work.

Krismasi Njema

On this festive occasion, we would like to wish our readers a

Very Merry Christmas

Next trip to Kenya

It rather looks like I will be returning to Kenya at the beginning of January - and about time too!

As soon as I have got Christmas over and done with, I will be on my way, or at least, that's the plan - probably leaving here on 6th January.

Of course, funding comes into play - I think I have just about enough to get me there and back, and survive whilst I am there as long as I am careful.

I will be going straight to Kisii where I will start setting up the River Cottage and Scrapheap Challenge projects, as well as looking at the possibility of farming Tilapia, a type of fresh-water fish that thrives in Kenya.

Then there is the push to combat malaria. There are many ways to fight malaria and we willb e looking at many of them.

Somehow, I have got to find the time and money to travel across Kenya to the coast to see my significant other and children - it's a tough life but someone has to do it.

Malaria Kills 3,000 Children Every Day

Shocking isn't it? And most of these deaths are in sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya.

And what is just as distressing is that these deaths are unnecessary. Malaria can be controlled. Drugs are available to cure people who have contracted the disease.

Unfortunately, many people cannot afford them, or live too far in the bush to be able to get to a clinic or dispensary.

KCIS is planning a major drive in the New Year to combat the malaria problem, with drugs for those who have malaria, and an education and training program to help control where mosquitoes can breed. If we can control mosquito breeding, we can reduce the instances of malaria.

Our education program, aimed primarily at schools, will make people aware of unnecessary standing water where mosquitoes breed, and eradicate them.

BUT WE NEED FUNDING!

We need funding to buy the drugs, funding to set up dispensaries where they are not available, funding to employ people to work in the dispensaries, etc.

Please, if you can help, visit our KCIS website where there is a PayPal account where you help save the lives of children.

Even if you can only give a few Dollars/Pounds/Euros. If enough people give just a little, it will amount to a lot. If we can get this project started, we ... you ... will be saving lives!

A Friendly name ...

Our newly acquired children's home ... the official name is fine, but it is cold and distant.

This is the last thing we want for a children's home. I mentioned this to Vincent yesterday. I wanted an animal in the "friendly" name. We went through the best-known animals to be seen in Kenya (although I doubt that most of the kids had ever seen them), and eventually settled on the giraffe

Why a giraffe? Because the Swahili for giraffe is Twiga, and I like the word ~ Twiga Children's Home.

So that's it. The KCIS Child Support Centre will be known as the Twiga Children's Home.

New Name for the Children's Home

After a lot of discussion, mainly by email and Skype, we have decided to call the children's home "KCIS Child Support Centre".

As we grow as an organisation, we hope to be able to offer support to children who are not necessarily orphans, for example, those who used as child labour, those whose parents cannot afford a school uniform and therefore cannot attend "free" school, etc.

There are many aspect of child care that are not tackled by orphanages, and we hope to fill that gap.

Of course, none of this will come to pass unless we have benefactors, people who are willing to donate a little money. We are not asking for someone to donate thousands of dollars/pounds (although that would be nice), but if ten people each donated $10 (or £5), that's $100 (or £50) which we can put to good use.

Think about it. Talk to your friends. If between you, you can raise $100, you are helping 38 kids in Kisii and 17 orphans in Watamu (on the Coast).

Or, you can "adopt" a particular child. Take a look at our website to see who is there.

http://www.kcisupport.plus.com/ and click on Child Welfare.

[We have PayPal in the site]

Where your donations could go if you are not careful!

Recently, KCIS was contacted by a church charity mission in the USA, Precious Daughters, who explained that they received a donation to be sent to their branch in Kisii district, Kenya.

Precious Daughters asked us that, as we had an office in Kisii, could we visit their representative there and check out their credentials.

We, of course are always ready to help like-minded organisations, and my friend, Vincent went to visit Precious Daughters, in Kisii district.

It took a lot of finding. Vincent visited churches and other organisations to try and find Precisous Daughters.

Eventually, he found them, a man and wife who said that they were looking after a bunch of orphans. But when asked to produce said orphans, they could not. In fact there was not evidence of children living in their house or anywhere else.

When the schools turned out, the man rounded up a load of kids and tried to pass them off as the orphans that he was looking after.However, the kids themselves denied that they had anything to do with this couple!

Conclusion? These people had tried to dupe an organisation that was set up to help the genuinely poor. They will not be receiving any money from Precious Daughters.

But, it is people like this who make it difficult for us, who are genuine, to raise money to do what is needed.

Merging and Changing

Having set up as a separate entity to African Community Initiative Support, the new KCIS is incorporating the children's home (Mercy Gate Champion Children's Home), which will for the time being, be known as the KCIS Children's Home, although it will have a "proper" name in the future.

This decision has been made for the following reasons:

1. Only one person within ACIS was doing anything for the children's home


2. Mercy Gate, from whom the home took its name, did little or nothing for the home.

The new organisation, based in Kisii, is led by Vincent from the home and David from ACIS, and will be seeking NGO status in Kenya and charitable status in the UK, in due course.

ACIS, in its various forms within Kenya will still continue its activities, as far as we know.

As has been seen in previous posts, David and Vincent are also in business together as Kenanda-Steggall Exports, a soapstone exporting firm, which will be supporting KCIS financially, thereby lessening the reliance on donations - we hope.

As to the name of the children's home, we will be asking the children for ideas as well as the volunteers and trustees.

So, watch this space ...

The Chinese Deal (Pt. III)

So, we have negotiated the prices, the delivery times, the quantities, the means of payment ... etc. etc.

Now, they are asking for samples!

Surely, that should have been done right at the beginning!

And they don't know the logistics of sending a parcel from a small town in provincial Africa!

First, I have to send money out there

Then my partner, using the money has to buy the samples

Then he has to package them up and post them.

This is in hand (I hope) but I don't know how long it will take 1kg of soapstone to get to the middle of China.

Still, if they finally honour their initial order, it will have been worth it.

OK, I give up!

I really thought that trying to earn our own funds rather than going around cap in hands was a good way forward in financing our future projects.

Maybe it is, but after two attempts to get a business off the ground, I have fallen flat on my face and lost a fair amount of my own money in the process.

[I had to use my own money because anything that comes into the organisation goes towards feeding and housing the kids - and that is paramount.]

I am not really going to give up. After all, I have developed websites and sunk money into these projects, so they have to carry on.

But, in the meantime, we are back to going around, cap in hand looking for hand-outs.

Take a look at some of our projects

The Chinese Deal (Pt. II)

I have concluded that the Chinese deal (See Scam ... ? below) is not a scam - until they prove otherwise, so I am going along with them.

But as we are not in a position to pay for notarisation - or anything else - I have sent them a new contract, based on theirs, but making sure that we are not liable for any expense outside of Kenya.

As a sweetener, we have decreased the advance payment (that they offered in the first place), set out a new payment package that favours the Chinese, and sent the contract off for their perusal. That was on 5th September, which of course was a Friday.

I received an email stating that the new, or revised, contract had been received and would be presented to the Board of Directors.

We are now waiting for a reply, five days later. I try to keep the attitude that no news is good news, but expenses are mounting up in Kenya and with the impending failure of the cyber café, I need this deal to go through, just to cover my commitments.

A worrying time. Still, we now have a structured business to sell the product globally, complete with website, and a vision of a way forward.

All we need is a few clients that want to buy our products at wholesale quantities.

Our website - take a look!

Feed the Orphans

It is about time to start an appeal again. The last one asked people to donate their old mobile phones, digital cameras and any other old, high tech gadgets that are lying around in the back of a drawer.

I took all this "rubbish" to Kenya and we sold it on the local market. Every child at the Mercy Gate orphanage, that is 38 kids, got a new pair of black leather school shoes - success!

So I think I will do it again. Maybe the village has now off-loaded their old phones to us already, but I bet there are still a lot out there, gathering dust. So it is worth a try.

This time, I hope that I will be able to raise enough to start a health fund, a pot of money set aside to treat kids when they are ill. Malaria, chiggers and intestinal parasites seem to be the main ailments. They are all treatable, as long as the money is available.

It would be such a relief to be able to take a child to the hospital without wondering who is going to go without what to pay for the treatment.

-oOo-

On another tack, I was reading somewhere that there is a World Blog Day, where people get together to do their bit to help others - or something like that.

This got me thinking. All those in Kenya who write blogs, and all those Kenyans overseas who also write blogs (and all us non-Kenyans who have an interest in Kenya), if we all got together and donated a bit of time [or money] to a central blog-pot, I wonder how much of a change we could make?

Scam ... ?

A couple of months ago, we were approached by the representative of a Chinese company that wanted to buy Kisii soapstone carvings. We sent a price list and a few photos as examples of the work and they promptly put in an order for 16,500 items.

So far, so good. The order was quickly followed by a contract, written in poor English, but which was just about understandable. I made a few minor adjustments as as to make sure there was no loopholes caused purely by the misuse of English. I have to emphasise that this contract was drawn up by the Chinese with no intervention on our part. In it, they state that they will pay 15% of the total as an advance payment - before we do anything!

We signed it ans sent it back, expecting to receive a signed copy from the Chinese.

This is where things started to go a bit pear-shaped.

Them: "The contract has to be signed by your legal representative".

Us: " OK, this is not a problem. We know a lawyer in Kisii."

Them: "No, the contract has to be notarised by our legal representative in China". WHAT?

Us: "Fine, get the form signed then."

Them: "You have to pay the fee."

Us [smelling a rat]: "How much?"

Ch: "$1780.00"

Us: "We can't. We don't have the money."

CH: "Come to China and discuss it, face to face."

So it goes on. I explain that we do not have the money to pay for the notarisation, nor a trip to China.

We are no closer to a resolution after several weeks of to-ing and fro-ing of emails and letters. I have contacted the Dept. of Commerce near to these potential clients, but i can make little sense of what they said.

If we win this contract (if indeed, it is not a scam), this will set up River Cottage Kenya, the orphanage and other community projects, as well as paying a fair price for the carvings. It would be a win-win situation for a little corner of Kenya.

If we win the contract ...

Can the bubble be repaired?

OK, so the cyber café is going rapidly downhill due to the recent lack of pedestrian traffic in our part of town.

So, what do I do with a well qualified IT guy and six fairly modern PCs?

Then I read a blog (don't we all?) tagged as "A Resource Center for Kenya Entrepreneurs. Get the information, step-by-step guides and essential tools that you need to start and build a successful small business in Kenya."

Hey! That's Us!

In a previous life, I taught IT to adults here in the UK. OK, I'm not a trained teacher, but apparently I was quite good. I ran three courses, basic, intermediate and advanced, and the students kept coming back. The college didn't like me much because I was, er, unconventional, off the wall, a loose cannon. But people kept on paying the tuition fees, learned how to use a computer and they were happy. So I must have been doing something right. And I didn't get fired. I left.

So, why don't we do that again? we have the promises, we have the computers and we have the knowledge.

Oh yes. I am stuck in the UK. I knew there was a drawback. Still, with my IT guy there and me here in the end of an Internet connection, it could work.

It just needs good marketing. Keep it cheap. Bums on seats. And somewhere in all that, mention a mzungu, that usually draws them in.

The Bubble has a leak ...

The best laid plans ... and all that. In my last blog, I was over the Moon about how clever we were in funding our community work by opening a business. A good idea in theory, as long as the tide of luck is running your way.

Ours isn't. We are located in a part of town that the council has decided to "clean up". That must be a good thing, you say. And I agree, as long as it doesn't drive the pedestrian traffic away from your front door, which this clean-up has.

I can't blame the council. I have always found Kisii a fascinating place, chaotic, dusty, shambolic even, but it has its charm. A big, new bus terminal was built, but no one ever used it, until now. The council has decreed that all buses, coaches and matatus must go to the station to disgorge their passengers.

So, at our end of town, which was a traditional if unofficial matatu stand is now virtually deserted, and so is our café.

I am not sure where we go from here.

Funding our work II

This was a wild dream a few months ago, a pipe-dream, a silly idea, total rot!

Not so now though. Things are afoot to actually make a reasonable income that will totally fund at least one project, and once that is started, if it is successful, that will help fund another, and so on.

We could be setting a trend. Whereas, many British charities have shops in the UK to raise money for work overseas, we are opening a business in the country where we are doing the charity work and creating employment at the same time.

I like this idea. I like it a lot. Let's hope it works, and that we can expand it!

Funding our work

We are not very good at getting people to donate funds to us. Yes, OK, when we have a specific need, like buying shoes for all the kids at the Mercy Gate Home, we managed it by collecting old mobile phones in the UK and selling them in Kenya. It was very successful and surpassed our best expectations.

But, raising funds to build River Cottage Kenya is a different matter. So, assuming that we are not going to get external funding, I have sunk some capital into starting up a business in Kenya, an Internet café to be precise. Vincent, Mercy Gate's director will manage it and draw a weekly or monthly salary. The rest (assuming there is any) will be put in the bank, and I will use it to start the River Cottage project when I next go over, probably in September. The income will also support two of the kids at Mercy Gate, Jojo and Benta, as I have already said that I will pay for their upkeep.

The actual shamba project itself doesn't need a lot of funding. What I really need is a vehicle to cart the materials to the plot, as well as so get between our three main sites, Kisii, Nairobi and Malindi.

We did have a little Toyota which wasn't best suited to our needs, but it was better than nothing. Unfortunately, someone turned it into a bonfire in January and we haven't been able to replace it.

So, the café has got to work, so that I can get our projects off the ground.

I don't know what an old 4x4 would cost, but it is more than I have.

More Mercy Gate Kids

On the last day of my stay in Kisii, I was introduced to a family of five orphans who were temporarily being housed by Pastor Liston.

As we were going to the plot for a party, the four eldest came along too.

The oldest of the five is Dominic, a very serious-looking boy.

He is about 14 and appears to look out for his younger siblings.

Once at the plot, I made him team captain for one of the volleyball teams, which drew him out.


Next in line is Mary.

She seemed to have no problem in mixing with the girls both younger and older.








Osando and Getembe are the next two.

Osando stuck close to Dominic for a lot of the time, until he felt more comfortable and Getembe was honoured - he was the only child that was allowed to touch Jojo's ball!

Last but not least is baby Kemuma, who did not come to the plot as the weather was a little chilly (by Kenyan standards), so she stayed with Pastor Liston.

Oil on Still Waters

I have seen and read about pouring or spraying mineral oil onto standing water to prevent mosquitoes from breeding, or more precisely, suffocating the larvae.

However, treating water holes with mineral oil sounds less than healthy for the cattle and goats that need to drink from these sources.

Has anyone tried using old cooking oil rather than mineral oil? I would think that animals would find it more palatable and less harmful.

River Cottage, Kenya

In the UK, we are plagued by "celebrity chefs", on the TV in particular.

For those of you who do not receive UK TV, the programmes started many years ago with Fanny Craddock, with her husband Johnny, knocking up braised pheasant with truffles and the like.

These days, the programmes are far more diverse, with a couple of chefs advocating healthy food, "back to basics", fair trade, etc. I have no problem with this. In fact, I passively support the ideals, if only they didn't cost so much more than factory-produced plastic food.

One celebrity in particular, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, started living at his weekend cottage, growing his own fruit and veg, and with the addition of animals, soon became self-sufficient.

He expanded and now has a farm in Devon, River Cottage HQ, as well as a city farm in Bristol.

So where is this blog going? Well, I reckon that what I want to do on my (as yet theoretical) model shamba is pretty much what HF-W is doing in England. So I am pinching the name River Cottage and calling my shamba "River Cottage, Kenya". There is a cottage on the plot, there is a river running past it and it is in Kenya, so why not?

Before HF-W became a celebrity chef, he worked in conservation in Africa, although I cannot find out more details. Maybe he will hear about River Cottage, Kenya. Then he can either ignore it, sue me, or help out. I would prefer the last - but any publicity is good publicity - so they say.

Model Shamba

Part of my remit within ACIS is to find new ways to do traditional tasks that will be less harmful to the environment, but no more complicated.

As an example, finding alternative, readily available fuels to cook on. This will reduce the need to cut wood, damaging trees, thereby helping to prevent soil erosion.

We are presently looking at water purification, methane collection, solar cooking and finding crops that will grow in Kenya that repel mosquitoes.

We are not claiming that all the ideas are ours. What we want to do is to introduce them to rural Kenya together with an education programme, explaining how everyone would benefit from using this technology.

To this end, at our last meeting in Nairobi, it was decided that the best way to raise funds for this work would be to create a model shamba, on the lines of a show home on a new housing estate. When everything is up and running, we will invite the Kenyan press and TV to take a look.

But for this, we need land.

It occurred to me that we have a plot in Kisii, the plot that has been set aside to build the orphanage, but as this will take more funds than we are likely to raise in the near future, we might as well put the land to good use. And the kids could get involved. I am sure that the older ones would find it fascinating - I hope.

Some of Our Kids

Let me introduce a few of the 36 kids who are on the Mercy Gate register.

I will start with the two who I help to support. They are living with Abigael and Vincent, the directors of Mercy Gate.

Josephat (4 years)

Jojo was abandoned at birth by his schoolgirl mother and was left in the care of his grandmother. She was unable to cope with the rather sickly baby and he arrived at Mercy Gate at the age of about 6 months. He is very small for his age, probably due to an intestinal parasite, for which he has now been treated.

He is a lively, active little boy, very confident and with a big smile.

He is attending baby class in a local school, where he is doing well.

He has an enormous appetite and I hope that now he has been treated, he will put on a growth spurt.

Benta (5 years)

Benta is a happy little girl. She is quiet (most of the time) and studious.

She likes to do crafts, and she is a dab hand at housework! I was shocked at first, but then realised that she does what every little girls does, copying her "mother", the difference being that here (UK/USA), a little girl will have a toy vacuum cleaner.

Benta doesn't have one and Abigael doesn't have a real one!

So Benta sweeps the floor, just like Mamma. She also likes to look after Abigael's baby daughter. And she helps with the clothes washing and cooking, just like Mamma.

A perfectly normal little girl, except that she is in the care of the orphanage.

Edwin & Dennis

These boys are brothers, Edwin (left) being the older.

Their mother died and their father eventually re-married. He moved away from the area and the boys now live with their adult sister, who is a single mother.

They are a couple of good kids, but Dennis in particular is mischievous, especially when he is in the company of Henry.

Both boys are doing well enough at school.

Dennis has a problem with chiggers, a small flesh-eating insect, which has infected his feet, the treatment for which is expensive.

The food crisis in Kenya is taking every penny from our funds, just to feed the kids. Medical treatment has become a luxury.

Henry

This 11 year old is as cheeky as they come. He has mischief written all over his face! But he is also active, good-natured and popular.

He is often seen in the company of a younger lad, Davis and also Dennis (above), and when the three of them are together, watch out! Nothing naughty or malicious, but, pranks and jokes are never far away.

This kid can turn any melodrama into a comedy.

Henry was born in 1997. His father died after suffering chest pains. He has a mother and two brothers, Nelson and Eric, who are both older.

Davis

This kid is a walking smile. I have never seen him without one on his face.

Davis has an older sister, Vanessa, also on our register. Their father died in a road accident in 1999 the same year that Davis was born. His mother is unable to look after Davis and Vanessa as she has no income.

Davis works well at school and is developing well.

Vanessa

Vanessa (on the right) is the older sister of Davis. She is about 12 years old. She is also very, very shy.

When the kids get together, she is often seen with her friend Divina. And that is when I have seen her come out of her shell. The two of them like skipping, and they were skipping together in almost perfect synchronisation.

How about that for a new sport? synchronised skipping!

NGOs - What are they for?

In September 2007, I went to the Children's Home in Kisii to meet the people responsible for distributing insecticide treated mosquito nets (ITNs) to children. The home had not received any nets and we wanted to know why.

The meeting with the NGO, Merlin, was very successful and we were promised that the nets would be delivered as soon as possible.

When I returned to Kisii in March 2008, the ITNs still has no been delivered.

What are these people doing?

During the political crisis after the elections in December 2007, Kisii received 3,000 refugees. I was receiving daily reports from Vincent in Kisii and I was told that no aid was being sent to the town.

I contacted all the major charities and aid agencies, but no one even had the courtesy to reply, apart from Oxfam, who sent an email telling me that my email as being forwarded to the appropriate office.

The refugees have now gone, but while they were there, not one crumb of food aid was delivered to them. They relied upon the good will of the people of Kisii.

I know that ACIS is a small agency, but we do have people on the ground, people who can see what is going on. I passed this information on to the people who were supposed to be carrying out the aid programme, but it fell on deaf ears.

Who do these people think they are?

Back in Nairobi

I didn't want to leave Watamu so soon, but I had meetings in Nairobi on the Thursday before Easter. I couldn't afford to return to Watamu after the meetings, so was stranded in Nairobi over Easter.

As a smoker, staying with friend who did not smoke, I took to sitting on the step outside their front yard to pump up my nicotine level. Their road is gated and is therefore safe for kids to play and wander around. Needless to say, sitting there on the step, I soon became the centre of attention. After all, I was the only mzungu in town!

At first, kids would stand on the other side of the road and stare, but some of them soon plucked up the courage to approach and talk to me. And when they saw my camera, they all wanted to be photographed and then see themselves on the viewing screen.

There were three boys who always came over when I was there, Timothy (11), Winston (9) and Ben (5). Timothy is Winston's uncle. Ben is not related to them.

It soon became apparent to me that Timo was no ordinary kid. He was bright, confident, open and intelligent. He spoke near-perfect English and could hold an intelligent conversation. He also has ambition.

It was not long before he was telling me all about his life. He lost his father in 2004, had to move from private school to the local state school and move from a nice house to a little one just big enough for his mother and him.

Timo proved to be very artistic, too. He could compose a good photo and I was soon encouraging him to use my camera - not that he needed any encouragement.

After Easter, I was lucky enough to meet a couple of people who are willing to help ACIS to advance - it is who you know, not what you know, that counts in Kenya.

All too soon, it was time to return to the UK. We set off for the airport in torrential rain - and got stuck in a traffic jam for five hours. Needless to say, I missed the flight and we returned home, tired, frustrated and not a little worried. I had budgeted carefully and now my money was gone.

The following day, I had some money wired to me and I sorted out a new ticket, but I could not leave for another six days!

Timo was overjoyed when he came home from school and saw me sitting on my step.

And I had a few more days to "network" with the people of Nairobi.

My second attempt at leaving the country was successful and I returned to cold, snow, rain and strong winds.

... and on to Watamu

March 2008

As well as the Mercy Gate Home in Kisii, ACIS also supports a school in Watamu, Coast. This is a private, fee-paying school run by Janet and Allan, but it is also home to 17 orphans and vulnerable children.

My visit to Watamu had two goals, to see how the school was getting on, but also to see my girlfriend and her children. We were able to use the visitor apartment at the school during my stay, which meant that our kids only had to cross the school yard to get home, which amused them. It also meant that they could invite all their friends "home", so the apartment seemed to be full of kids after school.

During my stay, I took several photos of the kids living there, candid shots showing them carrying out their chores, playing, etc.. These will be added to the school's website here and our own.

One little boy, Brian, is six and has been at the school for about a month. Due to his family circumstances, he had never attended school before, and spoke no English.

He came up to the apartment after school and I talked to him in English, asking questions that had to be answered in English. The kid was like a sponge. His face showed that he really wanted to learn.

But unfortunately, the time to leave arrived too quickly, and I had to take the bus back to Nairobi.

My Visit to Kisii

It was a bit of a rush to book my ticket, a bit of a squeeze to get everything packed, but eventually I was at Heathrow and on my way. The plane was only a third full and I had three seats to myself, so I spent most of the flight in a horizontal position - brilliant.

Once through the passport and customs, it occurred to be that I was relying on being met by someone I had known for only one day, but I need not have worried. The smiling face of Vincent was at the barrier.

We took a taxi into the city and dropped my baggage off at the office, meeting up with my co-director at the same time. I had to shoot over to see a client while I was in Nairobi.

That done, Vincent and I took a shuttle to Kisii. It stopped once in Narok for lunch then were were on the way. We arrived at Vincent's at about 7pm.

Josephat, "my" 4-year-old orphan, threw himself at me when I walked through the door, yelling, "Bab' Mzungu! My Bab' Mzungu!"

There was a stream of Swahili which was later translated for me. "My white daddy has come. I said he would come." He remained attached to me for the next ten days, or so it seemed. Benta, the little girl I help to support was less demonstrative, thankfully as she is a lot heavier than Jojo.

The following day, Jojo insisted that he was not going to school, but was going to spend the day with his Baba Mzungu. This is fine as he attends Baby Class, which is not obligatory.

Abigael told me that one of our little girls, Evelyn had died. She was three and HIV positive.

We made arrangements to have a party for the kids on Saturday. We bought lots of fruit and biscuits, juice and a load of toys and games, skipping ropes, hula hoops, footballs, table tennis, badminton, chess, etc.

When we arrived on Saturday, many of the kids had already arrived and were sitting quietly in the hut. There were a lot of smiles when I walked in and I recognised several of them immediately - Davis and Vanessa, Henry, Morfat, Boniface, the two Divinas and Rister ...

While Vincent and Abigael sorted out the food, I got the toys and games out, much to the obvious delight of the kids. The rest of the day was spent playing, eating and drinking. We also measured the kids' feet so that we could get them their new school shoes, which was the main object of my visit.

On Monday, Evelyn was buried. Her coffin was so small.

During the week, VIncent busied himself with selling the mobile phones and by the following weekend, had enough money to get the shoes. The sack that they arrived in was enormous!

We took Jojo to the hospital for a check-up. He is very small for his age, but looks and acts like a very active little boy. He was diagnosed with an intestinal parasite and we got the medication for him. He was also tested for HIV - he is negative.

On Saturday, we had another party. This time, we prepared a warm meal for the children with goodies sent by a well-wisher in the USA. The parcel contained lentils, black-eye peas and all sorts of other pulses, and raisins. Surprisingly, none of the kids had ever seen raisins before.

Again, the children had a fun time playing with their new games, and the day was ended with them being presented with their new shoes. They all looked so proud, wearing their shiny black shoes. I felt humbled.

The following day, I left Kisii for the Coast. Jojo was not happy, but he knows that I will return. After all, I did before, didn't I?

Update

I have just received an email from people who run a nursery school here in the UK, offering a bagful of toys for the orphanage, which I have accepted gratefully.

If things carry on like this, I will need my own aeroplane to get everything to Kenya!

Doctor Benta

After Vincent had told me about Benta's ambition to become a doctor, a nursery school here in the UK has offered me some toys, including a "doctor kit" for the kids in Kisii - coincidence, or have they been reading this blog?

I can imagine Benta's face if I were to give her a doctor's kit. And I can already hear the babble of delight. Sorry, to me it is babble, she speaks Swahili and I don't. But it would be delightful babble. I am quite used to African kids getting over-excited and talking in joined-up scribble.

My only concern is that I am collecting rather a lot to take with me. I get the impression that things like my clothes will be at a low priority. Still, who needs a lot of clothes in Kenya?

Weekly News from Kisii

As usual, I had my weekly long "chat", via Skype with Vincent, who runs the children's home.

He was amused earlier this week when he was watching two of the youngest children, Benta (5) and Josephat (4) playing.

Josephat has a small scratch on his hand and Benta was cleaning it up for him

"I am going to be a doctor when I grow up," she announced.

Not wanting to be outdone, Josephat announced that he was going to be an airplane pilot and that he was getting a plane after school. Then he would take all the kids at the home for a ride.

He then ran round the compound, arms outstretched, flying his plane.

Davis has been very constructive. He has built a truck from an old plastic container. Many African kids do this. But Davis's truck was a tipper truck, and it worked. By working a lever, the back of the truck tips up and empties its load. Neat!

Generally, there is no change in Kisii. It is quiet, as always, the refugees are still there, and food is still hard to come by - no change there then!

Pleading to Aid Agencies

I spend all my spare time ploughing through the plethora of aid agencies working in Kenya and email them stating the plight of the refugees in Kisii. So far I have contacted all the big boys, Red Cross, UNHCR, etc. but had forgotten Oxfam.

I fired off an email on Friday, whilst holding a conversation with my man in Kisii, Vincent, on Skype.

An hour later, I checked my emails and Lo! A reply from Oxfam. It didn't say much, only thanking me for my mail and signalling the problem to them. They would be sending my email immediately to their centre in Nairobi, and they would reply.

As I said, it is not much of a reply, but it is a reply, the first acknowledgement that anyone has read an email from us. Cause for a minor celebration, I think. I celebrated with a cup of tea.

No, not really, I would have had the cup of tea anyway.

I also fired off a press release to our local newspaper, praising the people of this area for their efforts in raising emergency funds to feed the kids at the home and also donating their old cell phones, which will provide much needed shoes for them.

Because food prices shot up as transport problems hit Kenya, the "Christmas" fund at the home, usually used to buy shoes, had to be raided to pay for food. So the kids received nothing last Christmas. ever mind, when I arrive, we will sell the phones and every child will have a new pair of shoes.

And there should be enough to get some clothes for those who need them most.

Aid in Kisii

Since the troubles started in Kenya, there have been about 300+ refugees camping in Kisii, mainly women and children.

No aid has been sent to the town and the refugees are being supported by the local community, putting a strain on their resources.

I have contacted every major aid agency in Kenya, bit to date, have not a received a reply from any of them.

Is it that these big international organisations, including the UNHCR, are just too self-important to take any notice of the people on the ground who have first-hand knowledge of the situation and the local people?

Or is it that a mere 300 women and children are just not important enough to worry about. After all, Kisii is off the beaten track to Kisumu and Eldoret, and not quite so easy to get to, although I managed it is a small sedan, so I am sure a 7-tonne truck can do it.

I have even offered to drive a load from Nairobi to Kisii myself! My people there can help with distribution. We are, after all, an NGO. This is what we do, just not on the same scale as the big boys.

Daily Dose

I got my almost daily dose of news from Kisii as usual, by Skype. This is my friend and colleague, Vincent, who, amongst other things, runs the Mercy Gate Children's Home.

As always, little Josephat asked Vincent if Dad Mzungu was coming today, and as always, he was disappointed. Never mind, I will be there soon.

When I met Josephat, a 4 year old orphan, he was recovering from a bout of malaria and to me, resembled an anorexic stick insect. But he is lively, friendly, even to the Mzungu who gave him such a shock, and has a ready smile.

Vincent and I are planning on starting up a business in Kisii, the idea being that I will have a modest income, it will supplement Vincent's income and the rest can supplement the home's food bill, which is now over £600 a month.

I am hoping to find a suitable house to rent. I don't need a palace, but electricity and running water would be nice. Vincent assures me that I can rent a four-bedroom house in a secure compound for about £150 a month. That seems reasonable!

Why four bedrooms? Well, for starters, I would like my girlfriend and her children to move to Kisii (although there is some resistance at the moment), and then there is the influx of OVCs - that is, orphans and vulnerable children. Vincent thinks I could house 3 or 4 if my house were big enough!

So many elderly grandmothers are now finding that they have outlived their children and are the only family remaining to look after their grandchildren. They have no income to speak of, so the whole family live in terrible conditions in dilapidated mud huts.

The family shown here are typical of families all over Kenya - all over Africa even - with the HID/AIDS pandemic taking so many working age adults.

Kids cannot go to school. Although schooling is free, children cannot attend unless they are wearing something approaching school uniform. Most families cannot afford this, especially when there are several kids to equip.

News From Nairobi

I got an email from my guy in Nairobi yesterday. It is rare to get an email from him on a Sunday as he doesn't have Internet access at home, so he was either in the office or a cyber cafe. AS this was unusual, I was worried. Was it bad news?

No. Not really. It was him just being over-cautious and advising me not to go out to Kenya just yet. I sometime wonder if there is a hidden agenda in keeping me out of Kenya. By all accounts, it would be safe enough for me to go, although geting to Kisii, where the orphanage is situated may be more difficult.

In any case, any violence is inter-tribal and it is distinctly obvious from my complexion that I am neither Kikuyu or Luo!

Other people, including Mzungu Chick seem to think that it is quiet for the time being, although I hear that the ODM is likely to call for more rallies. At least they will be "legal" as the "Government" has lifted the ban on public meetings. Oops! I am descending into politics ...


I have to get to Kisii soon though, because I have been collecting cell phones and my man there has already sold some of them. So I have to get there to deliver them. That will give every kid in the children's home a new pair of shoes, replace some school uniforms and probably buy some books.


I hope to spend about a week in Kisii, staying with friends there. We are looking at the possibility of starting up a business from which some of the profit will go towards the children's home. At the present time, with food prices rising, all funds are being used just to feed the kids, with help from the people in villages around here where I live.

So, this would seem to be a good time to say a big "THANK YOU" to the cusotmers of Woolton Hill General Store who have helped to feed our children this year.

And a special thank you to Sue and Raj, who run the store, for letting me plaster posters in their windows, and who were the collection point for the funds and phones.

Help from the UK

Since the start of the crisis in Kenya, Kisii, where the orphanage is located, has been reasonably quiet with only a few skirmishes in the town centre. But it has seen nothing like the violence that nearby towns have suffered.

However, the town has received over 300 refugees from neighbouring towns. These people are now camped out in the grounds of various churches.

Food is in short supply and local producers have raised their prices - naturally. So the orphanage suddenly found that they were struggling to feed the children properly.

So I launched an appeal in my village shop, asking people to put their change into a box.

So far, we have raised £95, which means that we were able to send the orphanage £85 after expenses. This is a lot of money n Kenya!

We are also collecting old cell phones. Not worth a lot here, they can be sold for a minimum of £20 in Kenya, and this money will buy every child a new pair of shoes!

Other people have been collecting clothes for the refugees, but I don't know how I am going to get them out there yet. I am not having a lot of luck with the airlines. One in partcular was very keen to help ACIS, but I can't seem to get any sense out of them at the moment.

And then there is the question of our vehicle, which was destroyed in the troubles. Being such a small agency, we don't have the funds to replace a vehicle at the drop of a hat.

Oh well, I am sure something will turn up.

Mercy Gate, Kisii

The following day, after breakfast and a photo-call, we drove to the site of the Mercy Gate home.

There is no home, just a plot of land, but this is where Vincent and his wife Abigael want to build their orphanage. It is a good plot with fertile land.

More and more kids arrived until there were about 20.

I had brought two frisbees with me and these were gratefully received by the children, who immediately put them to good use.

The children performed a couple of songs and dances for their visitors.

We amused ourselves for a while until the representatives of the Merlin NGO arrived. This was the reason for the trip. Merlin are charged with providing mosquito nets to children, but the home had not received any.

We discussed the problem, and eventually, arranged for the kids to be registered for anti-malaria HIV/AID and opportunist infection drugs. Mission accomplished.

After a lunch of fresh fruit, we set off for Nairobi, taking a rather shorter route through Narok, and arrived home at about 21.00.

My Visit to Kenya [Part II] - Trip to Kisii

The coast of Kenya, or at least the bit where I was, is beautiful. The beach is white coral sand protected from the Indian Ocean by a coral reef.

But it is hot. I could not stand the heat. I had to spend most of the day in the shade unless there was a strong breeze.

Even so, the two weeks passed too quickly and I found myself on the overnight coach back to Nairobi.

Nairobi is soooo cool. Everything is relative.

More meetings, phone calls and business followed. These included arranging a visit to Kisii to see the orphanage that I am representing.

The director of ACIS decided to come too, which meant we could use his car. That wa a blessing - I had seen enough of public transport.

We set off on Saturday after a lot of what I can only describe as faffing around. We eventually left Nairobi at about 10:30. Driving along the New Naivasha Road, we climbed and climbed. The Rift Valley was to our left and the foothills to the Aberdare Mountains on the right. We stopped at a viewpoint and got out of the car.

For the first time since my arrival in Kenya, I had to put my fleece on. It was bitterly cold, but then, we were at 8,000 ft and in the clouds. Despite this, we could see into the Rift Valley, Mount Suswa standing out like a beacon.

We were soon on our way again and descending rapidly into the Valley. It was soon hot and dusty - and the road was atrocious. If this was the New Naivasha Road, what is the old one like?

We passed through Nakuru and made for Kericho. We ate grilled corn cobs on the move as we were running late. At Kericho, we made our first stop. It was fabulous. It had rained recently so the dust had settled, the air was cool. We drank tea and relaxed for a while, talking to the locals.

Then, onto the lat phase of this trip, up to Sotik, then across to Kisii. We were met in the town centre by Vincent, the directo of the home, and he directed us to the home of his Pastor, who was putting us up for the night.

After a wash and a meal, we were taken to an annexe where some of the orphans were living.

As I entered, one little boy, Jospehat, who I recognised from photographs, took one look at me and fell off his stool. Josephat is only four years old and had never seen a close up mzungu.

Still, he soon regained his composure and planted himself on my lap to eat his supper.