We send you all our good wishes for a happy and blessed Christmas. Thank you all for your continuing prayers and support. This is the time of year that we miss you all, especially our family.We will be back with you in the New Year

As the anniversary approaches, there is tension in the air

At this time last year the country was preparing for a General Election. We all know what happened in the aftermath. Since March 2008 there has been an uneasy peace held together by a hastily assembled coalition. We avoided outright civil war by a hair’s breadth. Since then nothing seems to have improved. There are still thousands of IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) and now there is hunger because of gross mismanagement and a growing rage against the government.
The most recent fiasco about selling the staple maize meal at two different prices has misfired as we suspected. Certain people will be making millions of shillings, paid for by the tax payers–who do not include the MPs.
President Kibaki was heckled and jeered this week at a Jamhuri (Independence) Day celebration in his own Central province where he has long been revered as a demi-god. This would have been unthinkable just a few short years ago. Odinga, who rode in on his white horse a year ago to become Prime Minister, has been revealed as self serving as the rest once in power.
In a latest manifestation of ineptitude a Bill has been passed giving the government power to close down media outlets, seize equipment and even dictate what they are allowed to convey to the public. There is outrage at all levels. People were arrested this past week for protesting and even for wearing T shirts with slogans indicating support for all Kenyans to pay tax.
I have never seen such newspaper articles. The general belief is that the senior officials have grown embarrassed by the insistence on prosecution of those responsible for last year’s troubles and the implementation of the Waki report as well as the exposure of parliamentary corruption.
Another Bill, a Constitutional amendment, devised to dismiss the bungling Electoral Commission, might be vetoed by the president. Some believe the fear is that the Commissioners, if dismissed, would in retaliation reveal too much about last year’s shenanigans.
I don’t have a good feeling about all this. It seems things could explode again. I don’t believe people want the same kind of turmoil we experienced a year ago, but when they try to demonstrate peacefully (just by wearing a T shirt), they are arrested and roughed up.
No healing and reconciliation programme, however powerful, can withstand this kind of provocation.
Yesterday we went to the market to buy five woven baskets (less that $1 each) We will fill these with a bag of flour, sugar, tea, margarine, cookies, jam and a phone card for each of our three instructors to share with their families. Johnstone, who has a birthday on Dec 26, gets a new pair of shoes. He has resoled his existing ones three times and they won't last any longer. The fifth basket is for the young man Sammy, the shamba boy, who lives in a small hut, looks after the animals and always opens the gate for us with a big smile.
On Wednesday we leave for our Christmas break. I have an appointment at the Canadian High Commission on Thursday to present a proposal for a Local Initiatives grant. It is submitted by the Virtues group on behalf of the local Task Force set up by the Provincial Commissioner who is very supportive of the work we have been doing in Western. The Province has seen a decline in violence in the schools where we have trained and we are now beginning community workshops. We desperately need solid funding to continue and the Canada Fund is one possibility. We will also meet some other potential donors on the morning of 19. We fly out to India on the afternoon of 19, returning on Jan 1.

some wells in progress

Uganda experience

The Anglican Church in Mbale, Uganda, about an hour across the border, requested a Virtues workshop to train some of their members. I was reluctant to go, since I think we have our plate full with everything developing right here in Kenya, and I feared the costs that might be incurred, but I allowed myself to be persuaded on the promise of adequate fees being paid by participants to cover fuel, copies etc.
I made copies, loaded the laptop & projector and we left Monday, Rod driving our vehicle. He dropped us at the border crossing at Malava, which is just as chaotic as the one at Busia. There were close to 1,000 trucks lined up waiting to cross (this is the only road from the port of Mombasa into the heart of Africa) We saw that a trailer truck had overturned right in the customs area and was causing the back up.
The organizer of the workshop met us and was positive I didn’t need a visa. I have been across before without a visa, but only for a few hours at a time. However, I didn’t really want to pay $50US either. We took a back way and drove to the town and were taken to quite a nice hotel. So far, so good. We had been told to expect 15 or so people and had made copies for 20. There might be 30, we were told, but there was a copy shop close by. On the way to the hotel we passed by the hall rented for us, a huge place, but we decided we would use a stage at one end and white sheets would be tacked up for a screen.
It turned out that Monday was Eid, a Muslim holiday, and recognized in Uganda. So all banks etc were closed, leaving us without Ugandan currency until Isaiah managed to find a street money changer.
However, we had a pleasant dinner in gardens across from the hotel and were told breakfast started at 7 am. That would be good since we wanted to be setting up around 8. The breakfast room was in complete darkness and locked at 7, but by 7.40 there was food available. Of course, no one came to pick us up until nearly 9. At that time it appeared that some ‘officials’ in town wanted to meet the organizer and Isaiah, the Kenyan coordinator, to find out what we were doing. That sounded a bit strange, but since we have been dealing with government officials in Kenya, who have supported the programme we weren’t too concerned.
About 10 I agreed to start the teaching alone. There were about 15 people by then and some 10 more wandered in over the next 2 hours. I couldn’t give them all handouts. Isaiah and George, the coordinator, did not reappear. I soldiered on, not knowing what arrangements had been made for refreshments, lunch etc. There didn’t appear to be any provision made at the hall.
After four and a half hours of teaching with only a 15 minute break, Isaiah came back and took over the last part, thank goodness. We finished the workshop, had a meal (about 4 pm) and learned the bad news. Most participants had not paid the full agreed fee and there would be no money for copies or fuel, although the meal and our hotel could be covered. I was not surprised. Then we learned that there is a supposed law in Uganda that any ‘international’ project must register and pay a hefty fee in order to operate. Of course the name of the programme is ‘Virtues International’ and no amount of arguing could persuade them that we had no funds, we were unpaid and totally volunteer. George was threatened with arrest. The first fee they wanted was $700US but it reduced to $400 by the end of the afternoon.
It became apparent we could not leave without paying, or promising to pay, and I did not have a visa.
In desperation on Wednesday morning I took my bank card to Barclays to withdraw the *** money and get out of Dodge, only to find the Ugandan banks are not on any international system such as Cirrhus and I couldn’t withdraw anything.
Isaiah then went to write an affidavit promising to pay and we decided to set off for the border again. There was some difficulty taking the car through the gate and we thought they might ask to see our passports. So we loaded our bags & walked through with the crowd. Rod was waiting for us. The smiling Kenyan Immigration officer put a reentry stamp in my passport and said ‘Karibu tena’-- "welcome back"
While were driving I asked George how the officials knew we were there. After all this had been a private arrangement with a church group, not publicized in any way. It seems that in Uganda there are hundreds, if not thousands, of ‘security’ informants in plain clothes who report directly to the President. They monitor all rentals of space for group meetings. George hastily told me, as the driver listened, that all Ugandans were grateful for being kept so safe and well looked after.
On Thursday morning in Kakamega I withdrew $400 US and Isaiah traveled back to the border to meet George. There is some money in the Virtues bank account, so I am hoping to be reimbursed since cash is getting low as we start the second part of our stay.
This was a very good lesson in two ways: we have to have a deposit of some kind before we travel, not just empty promises of fees to be collected. Secondly, we need a guarantee from organizers outside Kenya that we will be able to operate legally.
Personally, it will be a long time before I agree to any more such undertakings.

Some of this, a little of that.

Tomorrow I will travel to Uganda to do a community Virtues workshop, so will be away for three days. In the past week or so we have run a community workshop in Kakamega and one for teachers. At the latter the Provincial Education Officer came in person to tell the participants that he is entirely behind the project and expects all schools to be compliant. He told them of the reduction in serious violence we have seen and reiterated that it will spread through the province.
Our rutted and potholed dirt roads in town have been graded because the President came on Thursday to preside at the graduation ceremonies of the university.
Today we visited the three wells we have going. Tambua and Lirhanda are going well and should be finished next week. We will organize the official handover in January. Ingidi had more problems. They hit rock twice at the spot we had designated, so moved to the other side of the compound. At first I was concerned about the proximity of pit latrines to this site, but we checked it all out, taking into account the slope of the ground, and they just squeak by for distance between the latrines and the water hole. I’ll try to post a couple of pictures when I come back from Uganda.
Here’s what’s keeping us talking:
The government has adopted the tried and true way to stall decisions by proposing a tribunal (commission) to look into the issue of MP taxation. Even if the result is what people want, laws will have to be rewritten. Not likely that anything will happen until a new government in 2012.

After vehemently protesting the implementation of the Waki report to bring instigators of last January’s mayhem to justice, there has been an about face and the government is setting up a tribunal, rather than see the whole affair handed to the World Court in the Hague. Two of the judges must be foreign and one Kenyan. The prosecutor must be foreign. A Dutch lawyer who is a World Prosecutor has arrived in Kenya on her way to Uganda to work in the prosecution of the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army. She also served in the court that condemned Saddam Hussein. She says "something is wrong" with the way Kenya is handling the local tribunal issues. She warns against those who were opposed and are now advocating the tribunal. They may be attempting to frustrate the process.

Subsequent to the outcry about the cost of maize meal, the government came up with two brilliant ideas. The first is to decree a reduction in the price of flour, ordering farmers to sell at a new (lower) fixed price. The second was to make two prices for the 2 kg bags: one for the ‘rich’ areas and another (about half) for the ‘poor’ areas. Of course there is no indication of how this difference in sale price will be controlled or administered. If you were an MP and had lost some revenue on your stock of meal because of the enforced reduction in selling price, where would you buy your new supply?

A new regulation will force teachers and civil servants to take home 33% of their pay. Many have bank loans to service that eat the whole of their monthly cheque. Thus they are constantly stretched for money and looking for odd jobs to make ends meet, neglecting their classes. An example shows a typical pay slip of 18,000 or so shillings ($300) of which the teacher takes home about 2,000/- ($30) Question is, why do the banks and credit unions loan this kind of money to begin with?

The Electoral Commission of Kenya is on its way out. That’s the good news. The jaw dropping news after all their incompetence earlier this year and the confirmation that they were at least partly to blame for the turmoil, is that they have requested severance packages which would total about 500 million shillings (close to $1 million)

We hope a senior police officer (Chief Inspector) is facing jail. He arrested a suspected rapist of an eight year old girl last year, but let the man go after three days. He then asked the father to accept money from the man to drop the case. When the father refused, he was arrested and charged with giving false information with the alleged rapist a witness in the case.

A big case of land grabbing has come to the fore. This one has a certain irony. The Ministry of Lands had a plot of ground to build a new head office. The employees of the ministry faked title deeds and divided the plot into six, which they were preparing to sell. In Eldoret alone 54 fake documents have been issued.

An MP has been in the Cabinet for two years. During that time he has managed to acquire a small aircraft which he uses to visit his constituency. A rough calculation will show that even his bloated salary would not enable him to operate the plane and care for his ordinary living expenses. Being in Parliament is the door to unheard of wealth. It sees the Anti Corruption Commission has given no indication of interest in this example.

The government, supposedly annoyed that the newspapers are keeping certain issues (like MP taxation, Waki report, EKC) front and centre, is trying to introduce a bill that would give more presidential control over the media.

In all this we are humbled by the indomitable spirit of the people with whom we live and work. Hunger, unemployment, disease cannot dampen their faith and optimism. Why else would we have so many giving time and money to attend our workshops in the hope that this will help bring about societal change? They love their country and hate their government. They continue to hope that one day strong, honest leaders will appear.

Not so happy Christmas

December is traditionally the time for the "Cut" in most societies in Kenya. Boys are circumcised just as they start to reach puberty It is a time of celebration in the community. Boys spend a few days in isolation after the surgery and emerge as ‘men’. The dangers in this practice are dirty instruments and infection and also the transmission of HIV from the poor hygienic practices. A boy this year died from excessive bleeding and could not be taken to hospital because of the tradition of isolation after the cut.
In general terms I think there are many such rituals all over the world. The bonding with one’s ‘age mates’ who all undergo this at the same time is extremely strong. Amongst the Masai, a traveling ‘warrior’ can ask shelter from his age mates in the new community. Failing any such, then his father’s age mates must offer hospitality.
All this sounds very reassuring. Girls do not fare as well.
A couple of years ago I wrote an article on FGM (female genital mutilation) which I won’t repeat here. Suffice it to say, that although the practice is illegal in Kenya many tribes still gather together their young girls at this time of the year to undergo the cut.
This week a father was arrested for attempting to force his two daughters, aged 8 and 9 to be ‘circumcised’. Of course if your only hope of acquiring more cows (ie wealth) is to obtain the bride price for your daughter, and if you cannot marry her off because she has not been ‘circumcised’ there is strong compulsion to follow the cultural norm.
Child rights activists have rescued more than 200 girls who were being forced to undergo the ritual. The girls are aged 10-15. At least one was found with hands and feet bound.
In another area a 32 year old woman is fighting for her life after being forcibly circumcised over the weekend. She had somehow resisted for over 20 years but sustained serious injuries and suffered from severe bleeding. She underwent a 3 hour reconstructive surgery and blames her mother for secretly organizing the cut.
I am happy to say that the Luhya, amongst whom we live, practice the male cut but do not 'circumcize' their girls.

Sunday School conference:

On Nov 25 I taught as usual at the Sunday School teachers’ conference at the theological college. I always like to do something very active with them that they would not be able to do otherwise. For three years I have taught cooperative games and they always clamour for more. We have so much fun.
This year I wanted to depart from the tried and true so we did the Lord’s Prayer in sign language. Such concentration as they all tried to follow the gestures and did a pretty good job!
Then I distributed small packs of beads (photo) I had put together in Canada to make Anglican Rosary beads. We went outside under the trees because there was more room than in the conference hall and it gets pretty hot in the afternoon. I had visions of all the tiny beads spilling out so I gave out paper cupcake holders to tip them into. I had brought for just about 95 people and I think there were about 5 more needed. I had some spare beads & crosses, but unfortunately a couple of people had to go without. This is always so difficult. I gave away my own set to someone almost in tears because she had arrived late and missed the distribution.
We finished with the usual cheers, thanks and enthusiastic songs and we received some nice colourful cotton wraps.
I don’t think they really missed the cooperative games, but I did leave them with one to play that needs no equipment.

Is this obscene or what?

The big concern in the country right now is the price of food in general and maize flour in particular. I have mentioned before that the staple food (called just ‘food’ in most places) is ugali which is a thick, pudding-like starch which fills the belly and lasts for hours.
A short while ago it sold for 60 or 70 shillings for a 2 kg bag. Then there appeared to be a shortage and prices shot up to 120 shillings and more and stores imposed rationing.
Why the sudden shortage?
It turned out that certain MPs had obtained (who knows how) special letters of permission to buy from the cereals board in large quantities. They bought and held on to the stocks, driving up the prices, watching while people cut their food intake more and more. Many eat no meat, even once a week. Children get a thin gruel or suck on sugar cane. If a day labourer is fortunate to earn 130 shilling a day and pays rent of 2,000/- per month you can see how much is left.
The newspapers are full of bitter hatred for the MPs who still steadfastly refuse to consider paying taxes on the salaries they set.

Hudson's autobiography

I have been so busy this past week that I had no chance to write of post the blog entries. I’ll try to catch up over the next couple of days.

Many of you support our work by helping various young people go to school.
This was sent to many by Marie, our Kenya Liaison
KEEF INFOMERCIAL

The situation in Kenya is not good. The August harvest of maize was significantly reduced due to poor weather and the fact that many farmers could not afford fertilizer when they planted. The cost of food has risen three fold and many children will not only lack school fees they will go hungry.

After reading the following I hope all of you understand how much your support means to the Kenyan students.

Autobiography

Born 24 years ago, Hudson Wereh Shiraku are the names I was assigned. Wereh is my father’s - so they said, but he declined responsibility. Being only sixteen, mum could not get a job as she had dropped out of school in standard four – this was because grandpa did not value educating a girl-child. It was also said that am not the first born as I think; at fourteen, mom conceived and aborted a baby girl. Given her status; age and level of education, mother could not take care of us - herself and I.
One day, it is said, she set off with me and went to Kakamega town. Here, she left me on the street and went to stay with a relative for six months. She then went back home and when asked where I was, she said I was dead and buried. – She hoped I’d either die or land in some good custody. She feared seeing me suffer. So I became ‘past tense’ in these people’s mind. Fortunately, while strolling in town, a neighbor recognized me playing amongst my fellow street kids. He took me back home and life continued as normal with no step being taken against her.

On another occasion, she wanted to kill me and commit suicide but her plot was foiled. She wanted us to die like rats do after taking poison. It was at this point that an aunt took me. That’s her sister. Having lost face, Mum left, never to be seen again. I remained at my relative’s. I joined a local primary school and coupled as a herd’s boy. Despite my irregular visits to school, I can hardly remember missing among the top five. It was because of this that they became insecure – it is said that here that if you stay with a child full of problems, he/she takes blessings from your children. They believed this because their own children were not performing well in spite of having all the literature. They had to act and fast enough to salvage the situation; I was thrown out of the home.
I landed at my paternal uncle’s who was equally hostile but compelled to accommodate by the fact that he was the only son in the home and was the one charged with the responsibility of taking care of my mother plus her luggage – me. In fact he’s the one to blame for my mother’s waywardness. Here, they were too poor to own a cow but this did not mean no working for me, many are the times I went to tend crops while my cousins ‘ate books’ but this did not deter me from showing them dust at school.
In standard eight’s KCSE; I missed by only nine points to scoop all the eighty four points. But another boy who got 72 pts got 555/700 against my 545/700; he had more marks than me while I beat him with points. Up to now we haven’t agreed who was really number one. We had two number ones, so we agreed. I thank God for this situation for it is the one that landed me at ACCES. When he went to seek a scholarship, this other boy -Edwin, whom I owe a lot, had trouble telling Nora exactly what his position was. So he had to talk about one leading in points and the other in marks. Nora asked if I had managed to go to secondary school – because only one student from a rich background at my primary school had managed to, and the next thing is, we were at the gate the following day at 6am – having ridden on one bike for 20Km. At the gate, we had to cheat our way in because the gate keepers had been instructed to let in only college students. The next thing I remember is going to Shikunga High School by myself to ask for a chance to school there, - I had been called to a provincial school but no one was willing to take me there.
One year after other students of my class had joined secondary; I also did the same after acquiring some skills as a barber. (I have one year experience.) At this point I had acquired some autonomy and therefore I moved to another relative who seemed more understanding - during the holidays this is where I could go. They only gave me a place to sleep and for the other stuff I depended on the little money I saved from my pocket money – this was partly because of the wayward notion that Mzungus give lots of money to people. These problems did not discourage me from performing well but rather they motivated me.
I qualified to join university. My friend – Edwin fell out with ACCES and is now languishing in the village, I thank God I made it this far.
At this point people started appreciating me and pretended to be friends, but when grandpa was dying, he partitioned a piece of land for me, uncle was not ready to see me posses it. He decided to go against grandpa’s dying wish for his selfish interest. This was like an eye opener to me. I have tried on several occasions to locate my father but all my efforts have been thwarted by his reluctance to see me. As I say now, I’ve never set eyes on him. After staying in darkness with regards to my mom’s whereabouts for all this time, I recently learnt that she’s actually here - in Nairobi.
I managed to locate her and she’s not doing well. She is sick. She is living in some slum here called Kibera where she has found solace in illicit brews. I forgave her when I found her and am trying to help her and I forgot all to do with my father.
Right now, am staying by myself, - during the holiday I rent a room in Kakamega where I stay doing some odd jobs. Am really focused on my future and am planning well for it.

Hudson

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH KENYA A FEW COMMENTS.

Luhya (the tribe Hudson belongs to) children belong to the father which is why his paternal uncle was forced to take him in.

I first met Hudson when he came to the ACCES office with Edwin Endoshi looking for help to go to high school. Both boys had been out of school for a year because of lack of fees. ACCES did not take high school students at the time so Nora Harrison sponsored the two through the Unitarian Church.
I remember well when Hudson received his marks from the KCSE exams which determine if you will go on to University as a government sponsored student or have to find your way privately. Hudson had the required grade B but he lacked one mark! He was devastated.
Fortunately the universities lowered the requirement and he was admitted to Environmental Sciences. Throughout his term at Kenyatta University he has been sponsored by the Wilsons though KEEF.

Hudson and my mother have a special bond – I gave him one of my late father’s watches when he was in high school and he wrote a lovely letter to my Mom to thank her. He never misses an opportunity to ask about the health of “granny”. She in turn sends him sox and other necessary items!

It is getting close to the time that fees will be needed for students in High School. The Kenya school year starts in January.If you have not already sent your donation please try to do so soon as we like to be frugal and send only one money transfer. Cheques should be made payable to KEEF and sent to Margaret KlesnerSuite 9042135 Argyle AvenueWest Vancouver, B.C. V7V 1A5

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.


Marie

Who would have imagined?

This is adapted from an article by Charles Onyango-Obbo in today's newspaper.
Tanzania has been in the news recently for the horrific murders of albinos for their body parts. In that country there is a widespread belief based in superstion and witchcraft, that these body parts can help a politician win an election, allow a businessman to multiply his capital 100 times, and ensure a rich man's wife or mistress becomes pregnant with triplets.
This year alone there have been 30 gory murders of albinos and 50 witchdoctors are being held as suspects.
It seems that in Europe and N America albinism affects 1 in 20,000; it is far more widespread in E Africa. In Tanzania it affects 1 in 4,000, much higher than in any other E African country.
Some researchers believe the reason for this is that the source of the albino gene can be traced to Africa's east coast.
Reports say that 'businessmen' from the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as others from Burundi, Kenya and Uganda, have descended on Tanzania looking for albino body parts. On Lake Tanganyika a fisherman apparently tried to sell his albino wife for $4,000. An albino hand sells for $2,400.
In the DRC the albino population has been almost 'hunted' into extinction.

This and that

Our newspapers are full of the serious, the bizarre and the tragic.
MPs have totally rejected the bill to tax all their income. According to them, this is illegal, and besides, they are mortgaged heavily to pay for houses, cars and businesses and would not be able to keep up payments. One’s heart bleeds as the price of maize flour (the staple food for everyone) has doubled in the past few weeks, exceeding the daily wage of a labourer. Grain distribution is highly regulated, but apparently some MPs managed to acquire authority to buy cereals at a reduced price and then resold high, driving up the prices and reducing the supply. We have difficulty understanding why one commodity can devastate the economy (can’t they switch to potato?) But the culture is not ready for this. Meanwhile the ‘traders’ have pocketed millions of shillings and ensured hunger in some parts of the country. We seriously fear food riots.
In Mumias, about 50 km down the road, two Ugandans are being held by police for allegedly administering a concoction which made three people collapse. The three took the mixture to help them identify criminals who killed a trader in the area last week. According to the ‘miracle workers’ the killers of the businessman were supposed to start eating grass immediately the three drank the concoction. They are still undergoing treatment in hospital.
There is an ongoing attempt to resolve many of the issues from the violence at the beginning of the year. One that is proving very difficult is the rape of women by police and army officers who were supposed to be restoring order. This week there was a mock tribunal to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. There have been many tragic stories and I have chosen not to post them here. Nevertheless, here is one presented at the tribunal:
When three men forced their way into Mary’s house, she pleaded with them to spare her teenage daughter. "I told them to spare my daughter as she was only a student, and to take me instead."
All three men took turns raping her.
Although she seems fine, her daughter still worries and asks if she is in pain or if she got infected with HIV.
"I lie to her, but the truth is, I got infected."

I have news of the Sunday School conference, our water projects and the Virtues progarmme. I will post them soon.

Life and death

Life and death
Death is so much present in the lives of people around us. We are often asked for 'help' for the costs of a funeral. We give a few hundred shillings, thinking of it as if we were sending flowers or a card. A good friend, Florence, a young woman whom we have known now for seven years has just lost her mother. She often told us how her mother's hard life, struggling to educate her children and start them on a better path, inspired Florence to work with women to try to alleviate their poverty. Florence has just married (she told us how happy her mother was to see her settled) and now lives away but over the years she has helped with the small micro credit schemes we have set up. Her enthusiasm and encouragement was always inspirational to the women.
Her mother was a tea picker in Kericho (where Brook Bond tea started) As you drive through the fields around the town, acres of tea bushes look like smooth green fields. Florence's mother had work and a place to live, but they often went hungry and without shoes.
A couple of years ago she wrote her story. She is now finishing her studies and has the strong support of her new husband, a teacher. They are expecting to move back to Kisumu next year and we hope to meet him. Here is her story in her own words.
****
My story:- FLORENCE IMINZA
I am a Kenyan woman aged 29 years
I was born into a family of seven, and am the fifth born in the first family. I never got to know nor see my father as I was told he died while I was too young. My mother remarried and had some other two children in the new family who are my stepsister and brother. My mother laboured in the tea plantation estates in order to bring up her first five children. We were privileged to access good primary education, small cramped housing and casual medical facilities as the company incentives to the employees. The meager income of my mother was always supplemented by my elder siblings absenteeism from school to pick tea. They never performed well in school. All of them left school at elementary level. They lead a miserable life since they cannot secure paying jobs. It’s been 19 years since I saw my two elder brothers!
I was smart at school. I remember being the first girl in my class. I also went to school very early; I knew how to read English and write at grade two. I hated the way my mother struggled to bring us five children up. We went to school with tattered clothes, no shoes and no lunch. The camp life where I lived exposed me to women suffering either in the hands of cruel husbands beating or hard labour to raise children on their own after divorce or death. I remember saying to my mother that when I grow up I will not get married.
I always hoped that I can change this lifestyle. I wanted to be a nun when I grew up. My mother did not like this idea-- she wanted me to get a well paying job. As it turned out later this was never to be. The government paid part of my fees at high school because I was a bright, needy student. My mother struggled with the rest. After high school I won a scholarship with the Canadian organization (ACCES) to study Accounts and Computer application packages. This I did for three years, 1998-2000. I secured a job with one of the leading companies in the western province in Kakamega town as a junior Accountant. I also worked with the Non Governmental Organization ACCES as their Book -Keeper. I had a good pay check and life was to some extent what I never dreamed it would be. BUT MY HEART NEVER FOUND SATISFACTION. For three years I was discontented. As a Christian I sought more. In 2003 I had an answer clear and straight that I was meant to be in the Christian ministry. Louise Pollock, a Canadian friend, accepted to pay my Seminary fees at Friends Theological College. I quit my job, something that many people thought was crazy. I have never been the same since my heart has found peace. I have since served in the Anglican Church as a lay minister.
I have specifically found interest in the ministry with the women. I know most of the time I had with my Christian mother I have seen her through her struggles. I see most of the women struggle. They need to be uplifted in their faith as a result of the changing roles in society. I can't wait to bring hope through all the possible means I can. I have finished my diploma in theology and after working in Uganda as a missionary for sometime I realized that I was lacking in the methodology approach of the complexity of the issues with women since it is not just preaching and following that homiletics procedure, it is more. I would like to specialize in Women’s Studies and so I proceeded to the St. Paul's University in Limuru near Nairobi.
Here I have had the support of my good friend Prof. Esther Mombo who has the conviction that women must be brought in the theological institutions in large numbers in order to address the women’s sisterhood that is in travail out here. She has tried to do the fund raising for women with a call into this ministry. Yet she is only able to pay the tuition of 120,000 One Hundred and Twenty Thousand per year ($2,000). The rest (accommodation, materials and other incidentals) amounts to 160,000/- ($2,600) and has been an on-going struggle. Some good friends like Patricia and Rod Crossley give in some money, which I use to pay rent and travel to college.
The church accounts are not doing well and this I understand because the Diocese is located in poor economic area (There is need to initiate development projects ) I can always see their willingness to put in some effort but I realize the inadequacy. Another way I have been able to survive is to rent outside the campus in cheap and humble conditions and which mostly have poor security (I trust that there is God's protection and yes, it has worked). I also cut on food expenses and submit my assignments in handwritten form, a situation which the lecturers dislike leading to lowering marks.
Yet I can't believe I have already cleared the first year! I have two years to finish. I know there is always a price to pay to serve God and I am determined to go this way. By being at the university I have been able to address development as an evangelical tool. I have even learnt the skill of proposal writing as well as original biblical languages (we do Hebrew and Greek) and been able to reinterpret the scripture in the African context and through the woman’s lenses, to liberate the wailing poor. I have met strong willed women with the same conviction I have and so we have made a circle of friends and networking has been possible. For now I have relied on the Good will of Prof. Esther Mombo for my continuity, which is not a guarantee.
I hope one day I will sit back with a sigh in my heart that I have lived to the call God put in me when I was still a young girl. Florence Iminza
****
Kenya inspires tears one minute and laughter another (often on the same topic) Last week on our way with our 'medical' student to fetch his certificate we passed a boda boda (bicycle taxi) with a coffin strapped across the passenger seat. We decided it must be empty but didn't ask. "Coffin alley" leading to the hospital has several casket makers, strategically placed. They have been asked to keep their wares inside their sheds but the gleaming coffins, often garlanded with tinsel and with very fancy linings, are clearly visible.
This morning we passed a pick up truck with passengers in the back, all lined up sitting on a coffin like a bench. No idea if it was occupied.

We have lined up two new wells. One will be in Tambua at a Polytechnic school only a kilometere or so from the Rift Valley boundary. The school teaches tailoring, carpentry and masonry and has boarders as well as staff quarters. It’s in beautiful country in the Nandi Hills and the people are a mix of Nandi and Luyha. The Chief wrote to the Kakamega Rotary about a year ago asking for assistance. There is a spring about half a kilometer down a steep slope which dries out in the long dry season. The Chief told us women go out to look for water at 2 a.m. and are often attacked in the darkness. The funding for this well will come from a donation by Father Murray Ames, a retired Anglican priest in Victoria.

The second new well is in Ingidi in Maragoli, not so far from Kakamega. It will be on the grounds of a primary school and also serve the community. The have a protected spring about a kilometer away, but the children are sent for water at least twice a day. The proximity of a clean supply will keep them in class and will improve their health. This well is funded by the San Bernadino Rotary Club in California. This will be the second project they have done with us.

I spoke of the other well at Lirhanda. This is a rehabilitation of a collapsed borehole, also on the grounds of a primary school. This is funded by the Esquimalt High School Interact Club and by funds from Rotary Clean Water.org

A fourth project is to build protection for a spring in Shisilachi where we installed a well on the school grounds. This is working well, but the spring will serve more people for irrigation and watering animals.

We were at a 'goat roast' yesterday with friends from the Vihiga Rotary Club. With our visists to well sites, it is ironic that people are concerned about the heavy rains persisiting into what should be the start of the dry season. There are floods all over the country, with many deaths. Vegetables here are being washed away by the downpour, dirt roads are slick with mud (like driving on ice) and torrents cascade down the roadside.

A taxing time

Now the saga of Obama has died down we have returned to the preoccupation with the country’s politics.
Kenyan MPs are amongst the highest paid in the world (and amongst the least effective) Their average monthly income is 800,000 KSh (about $12,0000) which includes all kinds of housing and travel allowances which are tax free. They pay tax on 200,000KSh (some $4,000). It was proposed that all their income be taxed but they objected strenuously, citing the demands on them as philanthropists and nurturers of their communitties. That is to laugh, as they used to say in Montreal. The MPs threatened to boycott the passing of the Finance Bill (needed to keep things running) and thus bring the whole country to a halt. So the Finance Minister backed down on the taxation bill.
The famous ‘list of shame’ handed to Kofi Annan is wreaking havoc Many are running scared and insisting there be no follow up to the report on the murders and ethnic cleansing carried out last January. A statement from the International Criminal Court has scotched that idea. Kenya must do it or the international community will.
The PM’s party is subject to internal strife and there is considerable unrest as the Kalenjin (Rift Valley) are stirred up in traditional hatreds by their powerful leader, Ruto, who seems unable to co-exist within the PM's party. (The present governement is an uneasy coaliton established by Annan during the "Peace process."
The Kriegler report on the election called for the dissolution of the Electoral Commision, but the members of this body are refusing to step down, all the time continuing to draw allowances and stipends. Today it was revealed that over 100 million shillings (almost one and a half million dollars) has been mismanaged (or vanished) by the ECK.
It has been a month since the Waki report was handed to the President (& the famous envelope to Annan) but still the President has made no statement except to piously hope that any follow up will be tempered with forgiveness.
Ringera, the head of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, has handed in his annual report stating bluntly that he has not been able to get to the bottom of the Anglo Leasing scandal some two or three years ago, where Kenya lost millions of dollars. He claims to have been blocked at every turn by Wako, the AG, and the judiciary. Wako has been AG for nearly 20 years and has never brought a case against anyone for corruption.
The letters to the newspapers and the editorials could scorch a hole in the page. Everyone detests the politicians with a deep hatred, but no one seems to know what to do to change things. They would dearly love to see an Obama and I secretly wonder if Uhuru Kenyatta might be grooming himself for this. He’s the right age, intelligent and well educated and has the 'right' kind of background (father in government, business experience, very little political experience) However, he was the protégé of the dictator Moi and his family is far from squeaky clean. He is very much tainted by the past and his present associates. He would need time and distance.

Birthdays, water and light

Today was the birthday of Ben, our computer school chief instructor. We picked up some samosas and something that resembled Black Forest cake. Together with warm soft drinks, we wished Ben many Happy Returns. Then we set off for a small community not too far away where we had received a request to rehabilitate a borehole that had collapsed on the grounds of an elementary school. We met with the committee and took pictures of the present water supply. There is water in a protected spring which seems reliable and reasonably clean, but it is about one kilometer away down a very steep slope (picture) The children are sent three times a day for water, so lose a great deal of class time.
Yesterday was the last morning of national exams, so the children were all leaving after lunch for the end of year break. They will return the first week of January when the work on the new well will be underway.
In the evening we attended the Rotary meeting in darkness in the 'best' hotel in town. It seems that the water company has not paid its electricity bill (apparently owing over $60,000), so the power was cut off, stopping all pumping as well as lights. Rod went to the washroom accompanied by a fellow holding a candle which he refused to relinquish. Obviously he had been instructed to hold the light for clients.

Our power is still intermittent because of the storms and we get water about every three days, so we are expecting to have problems once the rains stop and the water people continue to owe a large sum.

A day to remember

We were out and about early today since our ‘daughter’ Isabellah was arriving from Nairobi. We had promised to take her to her home village about 20 km outside Kakamega. An orphan, she was brought up by her grandmother who is now well over 80 and growing frail. The old lady has said she wanted to see us ‘before she died’ because we have put her granddaughter through high school and now employ her grandson at the computer school. We also send him to Business College. isabellah is also finishing business studies. These two are the hope of their family.
We heard that Isabellah would be late because her overnight bus ‘had a problem.’ The 400 km journey from Nairobi took sixteen hours!
At ten, we had arranged to meet Robertson, a Rotarian, who teaches in the local medical training college to ask about the possibility of Johnstone, another of our ‘boys’ registering for clinical medicine in January.
To our surprise Robertson informed us that they had a new course with a delayed start. They were just finishing their student list and he thought there might be one or two vacancies. To cut a long story short, Robertson verified the availability with the Principal, but only if all the paperwork was in order and fees were paid by 4 pm when the Principal would carry the class documentation to Nairobi. We bounced out to Shikunga (Johnstone’s secondary school) to pick up his official certificate (this involved getting signatures from all and sundry to ‘clear’ him), swung by Isabellah’s home to drop her and greet the family and the grandmother, returned to Kakamega to withdraw money, paid the fees, completed the application, bought Johnstone’s uniform including lab coats and set him up to be in class tomorrow morning. All before the bank closed at 3 pm and the Principal left at 4.
Amid all this, I suddenly realized we hadn’t even asked Johnstone how he was feeling about this sudden change in his life. I posed the question. Answer: I feel great! Me: Just a little bit scary? Answer: I am a man! He’ll be ok. Although a shy boy he has a subtle sense of humour, which is coming out more as he feels more comfortable with us. By what has happened today he has saved almost a year in the waiting time for registration in such a course. He told us he finished his leaving exams on Nov 11 2007. Nov 11 2008 he is on his way to becoming a rural doctor.

so many needs

We have just about finished distributing the remaining contents of the container. All the furniture and books have gone and there remain a couple of computers. I won’t give them to schools with no computer literate teacher, so this is an incentive to at least one of the staff to take some training.
I have been able to give a maximum of two computers to each school that asked, but this is very little. In the poor areas, they can hardly believe they are stepping into today's world.
We have been overwhelmed with thanks. One school where we went this past week had no office furniture at all and the headmaster worked off a small table about one metre by two. He now is the proud owner of a large office desk with drawers.
Most schools received at least 200 books from the cartons shipped from Victoria. The school where we were yesterday said their ‘story books’ had been read and re-read over and over. The teacher told us she had already seen an improvement in written and spoken English. It takes so little to make a difference.
I wonder if we can figure a way to send more books. They don’t incur duty and are of much better quality and variety than available here. We have so many discards in Canada. If anyone out there could research the costs for freight (other than a container) and if there is any way to swing it, many children would benefit.
I have begun to ask for input for Victoria Rotary “Adopt a Village” project. The school where we were yesterday is desperately poor. So many of the little ones are in rags with bare feet and showing the red hair of malnutrition. I met with the Assistant Chief, the school administration and the chair of the school committee and have asked them for a proposal of priorities for assistance. I will also approach one other community and then will come the hard task of choice.
If you have any thoughts on this you can email me or answer through the 'comments' of the blog.

No holiday for us

Obama mania hit with a vengeance on Wednesday. Since we only have a shortwave radio and no TV we were among the last to know the final results. In fact, on Thursday we didn’t even know the President had declared a public holiday, so went about our business as usual as did most others in the town. We were not impressed by the holiday. The last thing Africa needs is another day with no government or business operations. Our view has been shared by many Kenyans both here and in the States. They wonder why the US voters don’t get any time off work yet Kenyans do.
Optimism is high for increased tourism, as Americans will supposedly come to see Obama’s roots. The fact that he was born in the US, had no contact with his father after the age of two and only recently met most of the relatives seems to have little effect. Eleven babies born in Kisumu on Tuesday night are called Barack Obama, roads and schools are having their name changed.
His father, who worked under President Kibaki, who was then Finance Minister, had at least three wives, so there is a mob of half siblings, ‘step’ mothers, aunts, uncles and cousins who have appeared.
They declare they will all go to the US. The ‘home’ village has suddenly become the centre of attention and electricity and water are being installed and the road paved. All overnight. It is supposedly in the name of security for the family and the hundreds of tourists expected to descend.
All this aside, there is no denying the tremendous lift this has given Kenyans, mired as they are in their own political mess. The importance of a black man earning such a position is inspiring. What some people don’t understand yet is that he put in many years of training & preparation. As one columnist said, he did not rely on his clan, or even his color, to fast track him to political power. It will also take time to sink in that a politician such as he will not be able or willing to shower the family with largesse. Already the aunt in the US illegally for the last four years is a potential embarrassment.
Articles quote the deputy PM who has pointed out that Kenya cannot expect Obama to express pride in his heritage if the country continues to employ corruption and refuses to be honest and transparent about the civil strife earlier this year. If the feeling lasts and takes root in high places, there is hope for the system yet.

Children's voices

Yesterday was filled with children’s voices. In the morning a VERY long church service was dedicated to Sunday School and many children recited or sang. The sermon was long, unfocused and repetitive, but we really enjoyed the young people. There are 450 children in Sunday School and most of them were there with their families. We had a set of RE books in the container, so I presented them to the teachers.

In the afternoon we went to Shisele. This is a small village where we put in a well at the primary school but had to leave last February before we could formally hand over to the community. We told them to go ahead and use the water. When they heard we were back they contacted us for celebration. The well has been working well and they say they are experiencing many benefits (mainly saving time and reducing sickness) The children sang and danced for us. I took a box of books also from the container as well as some art supplies. I wish I could upload one of the short videos, but we have to be satisfied with stills.









This morning I had an interview with the Provincial Education Officer. He is the one mandating the teaching of the Virtues in all schools in Western Province. He was happy to tell us that during the year Western suffered very few school problems such as strikes and riots compared with the rest of the country (only 8 incidents compared to 200 elsewhere) and he affirms it is because of the Virtues training. Of course, everyone is looking for more money to implement further but I explained that all over the world the Virtues is supported by government money directly or indirectly. The type of training we are doing in Positive Discipline is responding to a very deep need and has been missing in the educational setting.

At the beginning of December there will be a big training session for about 200 teachers in the Kakamega area. After that we will go to Kampala for an information and training session. In mid-Dec we will be visiting the UN and others in Nairobi to talk about the project and hopefully engender some interest in funding. After Christmas we will go back to Nairobi for a week of information sessions. In February there will be an intensive follow up seminar for Western Province Educators.

Nov. 1 - Politics and justice

Things could turn bad again. All the MPs in the Opposition ODM, which is headed by the PM, have rebelled and voted to turn down the report on the violence that is supposed to bring the perpetrators to account. The PM is left swinging alone. The members are obviously terrified that their names appear in the sealed envelop held by Kofi Annan (6 Cabinet Ministers and 5 MPs are supposedly named) They have demanded to see the names and to scrutinize all the evidence held for safe keeping at the UN. Good luck, guys! There is not one commentator we have read who supports the shelving of the report. In any case, since this was done under the power sharing agreement and foreign members served, it has the force of law.

I have some harrowing accounts fromt he Waki report about the 1300 people killed, the thousands displaced, the homes and businesses lost. And some have the temerity to suggest it should all be put aside in the interest of 'national unity'.
The fact remains, however, that certain politicians are enormously powerful and violence could erupt again if the favorite son is brought to court. Only serving to prove what the indictment would say! We are hoping and praying that sanity will prevail.

Computers and micro credit

We delivered two computers to Ebusyubi primary school yesterday. I will try to post a picture with the headmaster and you can also see one of the tables that was in the container.They were very excited by the donation (we had hordes of kids peering in the windows as we demonstrated the machines.)In addition to checking out the machines & reloading the operating system I loaded one machine with learning games for elementary. The school has just received power and the teachers have been charged with learning to use the computer during the school break in December.

I was able to see the poultry project we set up a couple of years ago in this school. It has had its ups and downs but they have learned a lot and it seems to be recovering. They are now selling some eggs as well as young male birds, so are able to buy feed.
Margaret was there and repaid quite a large sum on her loan. She told us about the young cow she bought with her most recent loan. It will be serviced soon and then she will begin to make money on milk as well as selling the calf.
The two other women are both called Rose. One is in charge of the poultry and also cooks in the school. The other has undergone a transformation. When I first met her she was in rags and seemed to have some difficulty in organizing her thoughts for a business, although she was obviously very intelligent. She dropped out of the micro credit scheme for a while, but has come back in. She is on her second loan and is better dressed and looks much more confident.
I asked all the women to tell me how the business had affected their lives. They all said it had made big changes for them. Margaret is our star but the two Roses are catching up, inspired by her example. Rose the cook is dealing in maize but the margin of profit is very small at the moment. So she took an additional loan to sell telephone scratch cards. This could be quite profitable and we’ll be interested to see how it goes. The other Rose is making and selling charcoal. She is obviously skilled at this and took another small loan to expand the business by buying an additional tree. She says she can sell all she can produce.
While we were chatting, this second Rose broke in with “because of the loans I have a goat!” She said this with great pride and a big smile. Apparently she bought a good quality goat that bears two kids (indigenous goats only have one offspring at a time) She has already sold two kids and is expecting more.
It is most encouraging to see these women start to take charge of their lives and nurture ambitions they never dreamed of. To refresh your memory: I start with about $15 each and we have lost a few. The second loan is about $25 and once they have a good record of paying back I don’t expect them to have completely repaid the first loan before taking more. Margaret went through $15, $25, $80 and has repaid almost half of the $150 for her cow.

The other microcredit group is in Emuhaya. I stopped in and spoke to the chairlady of the group. She says they are doing ok but need to think of other more profitable items to sell. Some were dealing in maize and struggling. A bag of maize is wholesaling for 2,200/- (about $35) and selling for 2,340/-. So the profit right now is very small.
I have posted a picture of the microcredit ladies at Ebusyubi. Rose who sells charcoal is holding the eggs. Margaret is in the red dress.

efficiency?

Our friend Isaiah who runs the Virtues Project now phoned me last night. He had received a message from the Registrar of Societies that he wanted to meet Isaiah urgently in Nairobi. Does the man even know that Isaiah is a day's journey away? How urgent can anything be? My first reaction was to suggest a phone call, at least to find out the problem, but the Registrar ‘might not like that.’ Fairly typical of the arrogant attitude of most civil servants. So Isaiah left on the 4 a.m bus today. Although Nairobi is only 500 km away, the roads are so bad that it is likely to take twelve hours. He may have to stay over night. Have these people never heard of phones and email? A friend (a Rotarian) was complaining last week that for the past year or so everything seems to have to go to Nairobi and anyone wanting any kind of government service has to go for a face to face meeting. Is there a security reason behind this? if so, it's hard to see. We have to go personally to Nairobi for our work pemits although our identitiy cards are issued in Kisumu. But they are only good for two years and out permits for three. So we seem to be visiting government offices every few months.
We have spent most of the day loading software for the computers to go to a school tomorrow. This is a village where I also have a micro credit group, so I will be taking Magdalene with me to talk to the mamas, encourage them, take in loan repayments and hopefully give more loans.
At supper time we heard a fusillade down in the town. Our first thought, conditioned as we are by the violence earlier this year, was a gun battle. But then we remembered it is Diwali–the Hindu festival of Lights and we were hearing fireworks. A celebration of love and joy which is very welcome.

Intense debate: impunity or justice?

Everyone will remember the violence that broke out after the elections at the end of last December. Kofi Annan brokered a peace deal and the two contestants for President eventually agreed to a power sharing arrangement with Kibaki as President and Odinga as Prime Minister. Although everyone breathed a sigh of relief and most tried to pick up the pieces of their lives, there was still considerable unrest because of the unresolved lootings, burning and murder. Several thousand people are still in camps unable or unwilling to return to their homes.
But all the while two commissions were working. One, headed by Kriegler a South African, was charged with looking at the vote itself. He laid considerable blame on the Electoral Commission (ECK) whose members still refuse to resign. Kriegler stated he was unable to say there had been a clear winner because there was tampering with the vote counting on all sides.
The second commission was headed by a Kenyan Judge named Waki. He presented his report in summary to Kibaki about ten days ago. The paper has been printing harrowing stories and pictures that came out during this inquiry. There are hundreds of pages of interviews with over a thousand people, many of whom testified under witness protection. There seems to have been a lot more going on and the situation was much more dangerous than we even thought at the time.
Waki has named sitting Cabinet ministers and MPs as major instigators and direct plotters of the mayhem last January. (One of the submissions is that some meetings were held in State House itself to plan some of the ethnic reprisals) BUT these names are not in his report. They were handed in a sealed envelope to Kofi Annan to avoid the people in question from interfering with any investigation. .
What is more, all the evidence is in a safe at the UN and only Annan has the key and the combination, both of which are needed to access the material.
The terms of the report are these: Kenya has until the end of February to set up a tribunal and initiate a prosecutorial investigation. If it does not do so, the sealed envelope and the documentation will be handed to the International Criminal Court in the Hague for follow up, an indication of how serious the accusations are.
The debate is intense. Certain key politicians (who likely feel they are named) are trying very hard to discredit the report. Everyone is fearful because we all know that indictment of powerful regional leaders could trigger more violence.
The President himself at Independence Day last week seemed to hint at ‘forgiving and forgetting’. However, the tone of most articles and discussions seems to be that Kenya must end the cycle of impunity which has endured over forty years since independence.
One commentator says: "There is a real opportunity for us as a nation now to say a resounding ‘NO’ to ethnic violence by trying and punishing those who planned and perpetrated it. But the signs are not good.
Already there is political game-playing and horse-trading going on. And we are hearing the usual noises about why implementing this report would be such a bad idea.
... We are talking about people who masked themselves, formed mobs and then went out to attack others in cold blood. They hacked them like bits of meat, they raped them. They destroyed their livelihoods, they mutilated them...
Can we really look away and pretend none of this happened? It would be to our shame as a nation and would be our undoing. Justice exists for a reason, and we must exercise it to the fullest when faced with crimes of this nature. And let us detach justice from amnesty, guilt from forgiveness."
One of the delaying tactics may well be that a new Constitutional amendment will have to be passed to allow the investigation and prosecution to be conducted in Kenya. The tribunal to be formed will have Kenyans sitting but the majority will be foreigners. (Naturally there is already opposition to the concept of non-Kenyans passing judgement)
Most people seem to have reacted with incredulity when the University of Nairobi awarded Honorary doctoral degrees last week not only to Kofi Annan, but also to Kibaki and Odinga for the peace deal. Seeing that the Waki report seems to blame these two if not for instigating, at least for allowing the violence in January, they appear to be poor choices for honours.
It is most interesting to be observers at this evolution in the political structures of the country.

in the news

I am thankful not to be a newspaper editor. Our daily news has so many top stories fighting for space. There are pages devoted to the US Presidential election. The fact that Obama has Kenyan roots adds greatly to the interest. When he was elected Senator, there was jubilation in his father’s home area because in the tradition of Kenyan politics the family and clan of the incumbent receives great largesse. They were soon disabused. Nonetheless, the hope that Africa in general will figure more highly in Obama’s policies still runs strong.
Many more pages are devoted to the current political turmoil regarding the consequences of the violence earlier this year. More of that later.
Form Four high school leavers have just begun the national exams. A student’s whole future hangs on these exams which are a one shot deal for future education. We support a girl who sat last year and received an A- average. But we still don’t know if that is good enough for her to receive a government bursary for university. She has a chance of being accepted at medical school but without government subsidy the fees will be unreachable. Although she would like her second choice to be engineering, she was not allowed to put that on her bursary application, since Engineering and Medicine are separated, so has settled for Education as her second choice. She will hear in August and if successful will then scramble to register for September.
Back to this year’s exams. Just before they started there was a major announcement that all possible leaks had been sealed and there was no chance of anyone procuring the exam papers ahead of time. There were dire warnings that any papers for sale would be fakes and purchasers as well as vendors would be prosecuted. Despite this there are now many stories of real papers being leaked as well as false ones. Teachers, printers, policemen (who guard the papers during transit and invigilation) and others are all possible sources. Add to this the students who are still in IDP (internally displaced persons) camps and who have missed instruction and proper facilities. The newspapers are usually full of ‘feel good’ stories at this time of year about prisoners sitting for their certificate and other adults who have returned to school, but these are lacking this year.
The other big story is corruption in the UN in Nairobi. The Nairobi office was slated to be upgraded and expanded to be on a par with Geneva. An audit has found that some ten billion shillings (about $150 million) has been ‘lost’ in procurement and administration. The money is supected to have been stolen by employees who colluded with suppliers. Some contracts were inflated over negotiated prices. Some were awarded to employees’ family members without tender. Some were given to non-existent organizations. The current audit could scuttle the efforts to elevate the Nairobi office. At the present the UN employs about 1,660 Kenyans and nationals of other countries.

October 18

We finished checking the remains of the container and most of the electronic equipment ready for distribution.
We met Ben, a student we sponsor, who is finishing at the Medical Training Institute to be a Clinical Officer (rural doctor) There are only 2,000 medical doctors in Kenya (pop 34 million) so Clinical Officers are highly prized. Ben told us that his15 year old brother who was epileptic died suddenly in July. Epilepsy and cerebral palsy from head injuries and birth trauma are very common amongst children. Ben’s dad had to borrow money to pay for the funeral, which has stretched the family finances even more.
One of the Secondary schools in the diocese had received water from us as well as computers over a couple of years and started a rudimentary computer programme. Because of this initiative they were successful in acquiring a government grant for a new computer lab but had no furniture. On Thursday we were able to donate 12 tables (for two machines each) and some chairs as well as a filing cabinet and books from the Rotary container. They scrambled all evening to set things up for the official opening on Friday. There was a great celebration of the whole community to which we were invited and Pat did the ceremonial ribbon cutting. They hope to open the facility to former students and probbaly the whole community. It is a very nice centre with an efficient and knowledgeable teacher.
The government has produced e learning packages for the Math & Sciences curricula. We are hoping to help to supply language packages for English and Swahili. In such a rural area the students have little opportunity to practice English. They are therefore at a serious disadvantage in their school leaving exams which are all set in English.
PS I have tried several times to attach a picture to this post but without success. My connection is just too slow. I'll keep trying

October 13

Still no internet connection! Even by Kenyan standards, this is very poor service. We have decided to cancel the contract with our internet service provider & try Safaricom, the mobile phone company. Fingers crossed!
Politics here continues to be interesting with tribal squabbles still rampant. There seems to be a growing impatience with the performance of MPs (still not making the quota in the House to pass important bills) and even calls for the President to be subject to a performance contract.
There are still thousands of people in camps, displaced by the violence early this year. The genuine refugees have been joined by a host of pretenders who hope to receive the food allowances and monetary compensation yet to be finalized by the government.
Insecurity in the camps and in certain regions is very high. Both neighbours on our small lane were broken into and vandalized. Our landlord keeps dogs, so that might be a deterrent. One of the Rotarians was invaded twice in Mukumu where he occupies a house on the grounds of the Secondary School in which his wife is a teacher. Fortunately the thieves were looking only for money and electronics they can easily sell. So the couple are looking to move into Kakamega, in a more secure area.
Rod is trying to revitalize the computer school, suffering from lack of money in the town. The Virtues Project for all schools in the Province is continuing. Pat taught a full day last week to a group of guidance counselors.
We are still checking the goods and computers left from the container and hope to deliver everything by the end of the month. With extensive power failures and poor communications it is a slow job.
Reports from the micro credit groups are good and the poultry project run by a group of women now seems to be flourishing after a rocky start. The young woman looking after the groups has left for University in Nairobi at last and Pat will be setting up another girl waiting for college to take her place. It is essential to have someone who speaks the local language to talk to the women.
On Saturday we will be meeting with our well contractor and setting up visits to sites asking for water. We put in three wells in villages in Julius the jeweler’s area and they are working well. Because there is plenty of rain right now, there is ample water, but a couple may need to be deepened after Christmas in the dry season.

October 5

Oct 5
We have arrived in the short rains. "Short" usually means that rain starts in the afternoon and lasts three to four hours. However, the past couple of days and nights have been wet and overcast, and very cool. Not much different from Victoria!
While we were away a pipe burst in the roof of our apartment and flooded the bedroom and hallway. Our friends dried everything out, but we have now joined most Africans with variegated brownish stains from water damage on the ceiling. Not esthetically pleasing, but at least there is no lingering odour. Our landlord had to borrow money to fix the pipe, so we won’t hold our breath for new paint or ceiling boards. Pumping water up into our holding tanks is still an issue, but manageable as long as the city water is running. It was off for one day. We have had numerous power outages because of the weather. We are always glad to be cooking with gas.
The road from Kisumu is even worse than when we left, making the usual hour and fifteen minutes stretch to nearly two hours. Of course accident rates increase as drivers swerve to avoid the worst of the potholes. Rod had to drive into Kisumu yesterday to have some work done on the vehicle. About halfway there, he saw three geese on the roadside, one of which was swimming in a small pond made by a deep pothole in the road surface. Unfortunately he didn’t have a camera. For those who know Kakamega, you will understand where I mean when I mention the road in front of most of the stores, including Fomat. That road was very bad six months ago, but is now virtually impassible. A small lake now spreads from one side of the road to the other.
We haven’t done much since our arrival on Thursday except unpack. Virginia, the Queen of Clean, was able to come to us on Friday and Saturday and has removed most of the accumulated dust and muddy stains from the flood. Sunday we were in church and saw many old friends. This coming week we will meet the Bishop, check up on the programmes we left running, and begin to sort the computers that came in the container.
We reactivated our internet service when we arrived on Thursday, but so far (Sunday) we are still not connected. We are hoping a technician will appear on Monday. You will know if he comes, if you receive email from us or check the blog!

our first glitch

It's a wonderful, sunny day here in Victoria but there's a small cloud on the horizon. Last night I checked into BA to get a boarding pass: no second leg London-Nairobi showing. Please don't tell us we have to retrieve our luggage in London where we have an overnight because of the flight schedule!
Another shock: our baggage limit for each of us is 3 bags at 51 lbs, not the 70lbs we were told. So we were up at 6 am this morning repacking.
Fortunately we have spare weight to spread around, but our one bag reserved for the overnight in Nairobi now contains other stuff.
The BC Ferries have been experiencing delays because of engine problems, so that hurdle remains to be tackled as we leave for Vancouver at noon.
Why would we expect it to be easy? We left for our first six months in Kenya on Sept 14, 2001 on one of the first flights rescheduled. It can't get worse than that!

Almost ready to leave

We leave Canada on September 29 and will arrive in Kakamega on October 2. We know we will have a great deal to do when we arrive. All the computers that were sent in the container must be checked and training sessions organised. Then we will deliver to the schools.

The Virtues Project has been running at full speed in the whole of Western Province and Pat will need to catch up with what is happening. She will be taking some fresh materials for the Kenyan team.

The micro finance groups are also waiting for her to bring news and more money!

Pat's Rotary Club in Victoria has sponsored a new project we are calling "Adopt a Village." We are very excited about this and will be talking to a couple of communities before choosing a location and setting priorities for needs. We'll keep you posted.

It goes without saying that we will also be putting in some more wells.

Then we will meet the students we sponsor in school and know we will have a lot of praise for their hard work.

We're hoping this blog will be a good way to keep in touch with everyone--provided our internet connection will allow us to use it.

feel free to pass the address on and to add any messages to us. We will check it as often as we can.