Self-Help Group Helps Farmers Navigate in Turbulent Markets
A group of dairy farmers pull together to for a self-help group in Mukurwe-ini, Central Province that helps diversify the market for milk and support the cost of education for its member’s children.

New Study Suggests HIV Unchanged In Nyanza Province
A just released survey suggests Nyanza Province had a HIV prevalence of 15 percent in 2007, which is virtually unchanged from the 15.1 percent in 2003. Nyanza district is noted for having the highest HIV prevalence in Kenya.

Community Group Improves Farming and Education in Village Beset by Poverty
Katutuni village in Yatta district (Eastern Province) was stricken with poverty so severe that many kids could not go to school. Hunger and starvation had set in and school was no longer possible. In this article, we see that the village rallied around Makutano Community Development Association (MCDA) to help improve both farming and education in the area. Their work has been a notable success and was supported first by the Safaricom Foundation and then by the Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF). KCDF is a nationally focused grantmaker that focuses on community based organizations, whose endowment has received  major support from the Ford Foundation in the U.S.

Training for 300 jua kali across Kenya, meetings note post-election violence tensions remain
A car company held free repair and maintenance clinics in Kakamega, Kisumu, Kitale, Bungoma, Mumias, Kisii Nairobi and Nakuru to maintain motorcycles. Motorcycles, locally called Boda Boda, are a main form of taxi service in the areas. The meeting also noted high tensions in the Rift Valley as internally refugees (IDPs) from the 2007-2008 post-election violence have not resettled, even after the government’s latest effort called Operation Rudi Nyambani (Operation Return Home).

The Nomadic northern Kenya has Extremely Low Levels of Childhood Education
A shockingly high 70 percent of children do not attend school in northeastern province. Of the 770,000 children that do not attend school, 400,000 are from dessert-like arid northern Kenya. The remainder of those missing school are from slum areas throughout the country. New affirmative-action strategies for the education of nomadic communities was discussed in Nakuru (Rift Valley).

Kenya

10Village Screen Shot

Communities are incredible. If you are part of a community you’re acutely aware of your needs and those around you. This has been the basis for improvements of all sorts - business, charitable, and personal - in every country. In America, we must first admit that we are almost entirely detached from what is happening in communities throughout Africa. 10Villages is an attempt to change that. (more)

10Villages, Covalent Community Work, Kenya

Kibera Soweto, East

The Kibera slum is slowly upgrading its housing from mud, dirt, sticks, and rusted tin to ominous concrete. Above is a view of Kibera Soweto we took while visiting last fall. In the skyline you see the houses being constructed by the Government and UN Habitat; below lay the rooftops of the slum residents that are to move into the new houses.

The idea is that as they move out and into the new houses it frees up more space for the Government and UN Habitat to build more housing under a program called KENSUP, Kenya Slum Upgrading Program. Ideally, the process continues until Kibera and other slums throughout Kenya are no longer a slums. The Government has long claimed that all residents in Kibera – what’s thought to be around a million people – are squatter on Government land. For nearly 50 years the Government has largely abandoned this land and now is beginning to reclaim the land and provide affordable housing for the residents. (more)

Kenya

In a previous post I expressed my shock at that lack of media coverage over deaths in Mt. Elgon in favor of covering the latest scandal within the Kenyan Government. Since 2006, hundreds have been killed at Mt. Elgon and Human Rights Watch raised concerns of war crimes. Now it appears the rein of the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF) rebel group is over due to a heavy military presence in the area.  And with this restored peace, the Kenyan media have begun covering the healing process of this war-torn community in their four part series Caves and Skeletons. (more)

Kenya

With the ever growing popularity of microfinance it is important to recognize that there are other financial mechanisms that have been in existence for centuries. One such mechanism is the Kenyan “merry-go-round”, also known to a few Economists as rotating savings and credit associations (ROCAS). (more)

Kenya

“…And how did the post-election violence affect your family,” I asked.

“We were forced to flee our home for four months. When we returned, all our possessions had been stolen, the inventory in my husband’s shop had been looted, and our house had been burned down. Our grain stores were looted, and by the time we returned it was too late to plant our fields: the rains had already come and gone. But even if they hadn’t, we could not afford seeds and fertilizer anyway. It’s difficult for us to provide enough food for the family now. Our children had to stay behind in school and now we can’t afford the school fees to send our daughter to secondary school, so she’s just waiting around the house until we make enough income.

Oh, and my brother was shot and killed in Nairobi—by the police.”

(more)

Kenya