Week 2 in Kenya

MONDAY

We left Molo at 8 am en route to Nyeri. We briefly stopped at the equator, and at Thompson Falls where we met some cool chameleons (I named this one Chameleonaire).

We then visited the Mutitu B Water Project in Kieni, a town that relies heavily on farming for subsistence. However, this town has been in crisis since the Karmeno river (their primary source of water) has been dried almost completely due to climate change and overpopulation. This has left no water for the people, their crops, nor their livestock.

The lack of water has caused incredible tension between the residents who live near the mouth of the river and those at its base. To make matters more dire, the town hasn't seen rain in over a month, and most of its inhabitants do not utilize roof water harvesting, a tool for sustainable water catchment. The community is working towards alternative sources of income like beekeeping, but due to lack of government assistance, they are fending for themselves and all interventions are funded by the community members. This method proves very difficult, because the out-of-pocket expenses are exorbitant for those struggling with poverty as it is. As the chairman of a local water group pointed out, many people in the town go to bed hungry every night. NECOFA assisted the association by writing a grant proposal for monetary assistance from Slovak embassy which is still pending. 

After a night in Nyeri, we visited the Kenya School of Agriculture. We learned about how they train community members to increase crop yields and market access through contemporary technology, which they subsequently share with their respective communities. They also dedicate one day a week for drop in questions where the farmers can come directly for advice on specific issues, always resulting in nearly 100% turnout from those they invite. Additionally, the school has a department working on alternative energy sources which they hope to offer at an affordable cost to reduce the burden of resource accumulation for Kenyan citizens. These alternatives include solar energy, biogas, and jikos (energy saving stoves). This additionally helps combat deforestation, a significant issue for indigenous trees and a depleting tree cover.

On Wednesday we spent the day in Kachuru, a remote community in an arid region that relies mostly on livestock rearing for income due to the inability to grow crops. As pointed out by NECOFA's director and founder, Samuel, this is a place where Muslims and Christians coexist very peacefully, and represent a fairly even portion of the population. 

Until a few years ago, they did not have a school for the local children. Thanks to a generous donor from the US, they now have a primary school, but they are looking to expand because the three classrooms serve nearly 200 children from preschool to grade eight (although this number varies due to a highly nomadic population). Depicted here is the early childhood development center and some of their pupils.

This community is burdened by the fact that the majority of their children are unable to move on to secondary school due to lack of funds, and furthermore, lack of an accessible secondary school, with the closest one being over an hour away without regular public transport. Only five girls from the town have been able to get a high school education. The school and the police station are the only structures in town with access to regular electricity, and their access is very limited. Another challenge faced by this community is a lack of government assistance due to the fact that they are on the very outskirts of Meru county and only represent a small fraction of the voting population. Over the years, NECOFA has participated in several interventions in Kachuru including a school feeding program and a grant from the Community Development Trust Fund to construct a borehole for steady access to potable water. However, this is still a challenge for the community because the water contains a high level of salinity deemed unhealthy for human consumption. NECOFA is currently looking for a low cost and effective method to desalinate the water.

The most recent intervention was the building of a health dispensary for the community, desperately needed for lack of access to care, with the nearest hospital being located more than 75 kilometers from town. We were so excited to be there for the clinic's grand opening, and so proud to see NECOFA's name boldly displayed on the front as a key sponsor. We were honored by standing among Meru's governor as he ceremonially cut the ribbon and officially opened the clinic to the public.

On our way to Meru, we visited two students who have received scholarships secured by NECOFA at the St. Stephano Girl's Secondary School. They were shy to be among the principals and staff of NECOFA, but very bright and dedicated to their studies. Caroline and Maurine's soft smiles lit up the room, and we could tell how proud the school was of their accomplishments, as they have both come from very humble backgrounds. Caroline aspires to become a teacher, and Maurine intends to become a doctor. 

That night, we spent time in Meru town amidst rolling hills of lush green forest, a surprisingly stark contrast from the dry and dusty Kachuru we visited that same morning.

On Thursday we made the eight hour drive back to Molo. Along the way we caught a beautiful view of Mount Kenya, rising out of the clouds at just over 17,000 ft.

We also got to meet some beautiful rhinos, accompanied by their egret friends, which eat the ticks and other parasites and help protect the rhinos from disease. What a breathtaking manifestation of symbiosis in action!

Friday and Saturday were spent in the office creating spreadsheets of donor information and updating NECOFA's Global Giving page. For those of you interested in supporting NECOFA's dedicated work to vulnerable communities in Kenya, July 12th is one of Global Giving's Bonus Reward Days. From 9 AM to 11:59 PM EDT all of your donations to NECOFA will be matched by 50% and all new recurring donations will be matched 100%. You can view/ donate to NECOFA's Global Giving page here: 

https://www.globalgiving.org/donate/1523/network-for-ecofarming-in-africa/  

When we weren't inside working on the computers for office logistics, we got the opportunity to get down and dirty in the demonstration gardens. These gardens are planted so that visitors to NECOFA can see their agricultural techniques and technologies in action, complete with diagonal planted plots, kitchen gardens, and organic compost production. In the diagonal planted plots, we had fun planting spinach and kale, which we will harvest in three weeks' time. The seedlings were purchased down the street in a seedling garden nestled into downtown Molo, a quiet escape from the bustling shirt shops and street-side fruit stands navigated by noisy motorcycles and bustling Matatus (public busses). 

As always, if you have any questions or comments, leave us a message below or email us at emesselstyn@gmail.com. Thanks so much for tuning in, and we can't wait to describe our adventures next week as we head off to Ogiek and Mariashoni for traditional beekeeping methods, and waste management techniques, as well as an excursion to the Masai Mara national park. Kwaheri, tuonane baadaye! (Goodbye, see you later!)

At about 5:30 AM Nairobi time, our plane touched town onto the tarmac and chills went down my spine. The moment we four had been waiting for was finally here, and it took all my self control not to claw my way out of the plane to go running into Jane Karanja's arms. Over the past week, we have learned countless lessons, one of the most lasting being the way in which Kenyans treat their visitors- with such a warmth and kindness that I have never before experienced.

Our drive from Nairobi to Molo was peppered with excited and nervous chatter about our upcoming days, things we noticed on the side of the road, and several questions about Jane's life. I stuck my head out the window for almost the entirety of the three hours, and observed baboons, zebras, condor-looking vulture things, some sort of antelope, flamingos, and seemingly millions of cattle, sheep, and goats, accompanied by sunbathing farmers and skipping children. On the way, we stopped at the beautiful Rift Valley Viewpoint, looking over several peaks and featuring a road stretching all the way from Cairo to Johannesburg.

 The drive was around three hours total, and upon arrival, we were welcomed into our wonderful home - a two bedroom apartment complete with a kitchen, furniture, running water toilet/shower, and my favorite amenity- a deck on which we can observe our neighbors and beautiful community.

The next morning we started with a meeting at the NECOFA office with many of the staff. We had a quick crash course in Kenyan customs including the importance of greetings, starting meetings with a prayer, and signing in visitors books everywhere you visit.

Our first project visit was to Olenguruone D.E.B. Primary School. We were greeted by Madam Nancy, Madam Caroline, and several other headteachers, as well as hundreds of smiling faces in brilliant red sweaters. First, we were ushered into the headteacher's room for mursik, a traditional milk drink flavored with the ashes of an indigenous tree. It was a little peculiar with the first few sips, but after we got over the unfamiliar taste, we gulped it down! Mursik tastes like kefir drinks that you can find bottled in the dairy aisle. We took our mursik outside and watched around 25 of the students perform a traditional song and dance, with a call-and-response style that highlighted the lead singer's beautiful, strong voice. Their outfits were traditional Kalenjin wear, in shades of yellow with many beautiful bead embellishments.

We took several pictures, and then went back in for lunch - ugali, chapati, sikuma wiki, cabbage, potatoes, and goat stew.

Then, we went into another classroom where we introduced ourselves to all 528 students, and at Jane's request, performed a wince-inducing rendition of the YMCA. Our final activity was a tour of the school garden led by the incredibly knowledgeable 12-year-old Ronald. He explained all about how the crops grow and what the cultivation process is. 

As far as NECOFA's involvement with the school, they have been partnered since 2007. Together they started a school garden growing mainly potato and maize, which they sell locally to benefit the 4-K club. They have also started a pen-pal program with a school in Scotland and the teachers of each school have gone to visit one another. They are currently trying to save enough money so that one day the students may visit each other as well. The teachers rave so much about Jane and are endlessly grateful to her for making them "global citizens". They feel so much more connected to the world and believe that this is an unparalleled experience for their students that will grow their self-confidence and leadership abilities. Additionally, NECOFA sends a representative about once a month to teach the students life-skills including female empowerment, sexual education, self-worth and much more.


On our second full day we toured the Kiptagich tea factory. We saw the whole process, from fresh leaf to dried grounds and got to do a little tasting as well. The drive up was spectacular, rolling hills covered in bright green. (NECOFA isn't involved with this organization, they just thought it'd be fun for us to learn about Kenya's main export!)

Madam Nancy, through her connections to other schools in the area, led us to Olenguruone Secondary School. Here, we got to dine with the principal and headteachers over ugali, lentils, pilau, sikuma wiki, cabbage, and goat (a standard Kenyan meal) while we discussed the prospects of their students. Olenguruone Secondary has some of the best students in Kenya, with a high percentage going off to university to study business, medicine, and government policy. Some of the subjects they offer there are: Kiswahili, English, Math, Physics, Chemistry, Christian Religious Education (CRE), Geography, and Social Studies. We were then ushered into the performance room where we were introduced by the Principal and Deputy Vice Principal, followed by a lovey emcee from rafiki yenu ('our friend' in KiSwahili) and a series of traditional and modern dances. One student particularly stood out to me- she discussed how thankful she was for our visit making their school one step closer to the global community, and stressed the importance of hard work to find success, similar to the kind we have had through a university education in the United States. These students are ambitious, hard working, and ever so welcoming to us outsiders, and I will never forget the lessons they taught us of valuing education and always looking to a brighter future.

On day three, we went into the home of Madam Salome to pay a visit to the Furaha ('happiness' in Kiswahili) Womens Group. They taught us about the importance of community involvement in developing sustainable business practices, and discussed how they implement a loaning program called 'table banking' in which women can take out microloans to get on their feet. However, these loans are only given to women seeking to buy things that will replenish the income - for example, buying cattle or goats for animal products, or seeds for planting. There is a 10% interest rate, and these loans are carried out by pooling women's group members' money on the table - hence the tell-tale name. We then toured her 5 acre farm and her personal garden, complete with potatoes, peas, maize, cabbage, avocados, strawberries, and several other nutritious and indigenous plants. Madam Salome makes her own organic pesticide through an indigenous weed concoction, emphasizing the importance of natural and organic foods - the true "Slow Food" way! They fed us amply with traditional Kenyan foods, and taught us how they pump fresh, clean water, and how they grind dried stinging nettle products to sell for tea-making at the local markets. Through this experience, we learned the importance of sustainability and how crucial farms are for women to empower themselves through income generation and group support. For Salome's efforts, she has acquired several high accolades, from the local Kenyan government all the way to awards honored by the United Nations women division. She is the definition of a strong and independent lady, and I hope to grow into half the woman she is. 

On Friday, we visited the Community Forest Association, Molo division. Among their 4 divisions they have nearly 2500 members, including a community council which they make sure to balance based on gender, age, and disability. Their two main focuses are environmental conservation and community needs. For the former, they are aiming to get 10% forest cover in Kenya (the international standard) and are currently at about 8.6%. For the latter, the forest provides an innumerable amount of resources, and 98% of Kenyan people rely on wood as their main source of energy. We then stopped at the community tree nursery where locals come to replenish the resources by cultivating seedlings. Dozens of members came to watch us learn the process of reforestation and plant our very own trees. We finished with a walk in the beautiful Koibatek forest where the CFA protects indigenous trees and habitats for local wildlife.

Saturday, we were picked up by our trusty driver Lawrence at 10AM to head to two slaughterhouses where we saw the importance of sanitation and community involvement in the construction of a new facility. Afterwards, we headed west to Elburgon where we met with the Karunga Womens Group. Beatrice, their chairwoman, led us through a tour of the machinery they use to create textiles. Their main products were felted/knitted animals, the kikoi scarf, and thanks to the help and donation of machinery from NECOFA, they also produce different colored sweaters to sell for local school uniforms. They have a thick sweater machine, a thin sweater machine, a loom, and a few sewing machines, donated through the help of NECOFA and the Friends of Kenya School and Wildlife. These women emphasized the way that the group helped them pay for school fees for their children, and that they took great pride in their work. We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with these inspiring women, and we are eager to see what new projects they undertake in the coming years, hopefully to fulfill their dream of building a second workshop.