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March 30, 2004
March 30, 2004
I am exited about some news I got today. I talked to the CDTF office (Community Development Trust Fund) today and learned that two of my community water project proposals have made it through the first step of appraisals. That means the next step is them coming to the field to actually see the proposed projects sites and assess them before deciding if they will be presented to a selection committee. Unfortunately, one of the projects may not be field appraised though. They say too many projects made it to this stage in Samburu District and mine had a low score, even if it passed the desk appraisal. But the other one had a high score, as well as being in Marsabit District, which had fewer proposals, so will definitely be looked at in the field. I have been talking to them about their visit and am trying to promote them to look at both projects as they are only 15 kilometers away from each other despite being in different districts. My work area lies directly on the border of the two districts. They seem open to the idea so I am hopeful for the chance of both being looked at and funded. One project is in Lebendera where the US Embassy project is almost finished. Four different sources had been identified and the Embassy developed one of them. The CDTF proposal is for another. While the first project will help a lot in Lebendera, it is not enough for the entire water need of the community. If the CTDF proposal goes through, it will be a great help. The other project is in the community of Siangan which I haven’t done much with to date. That is the project on the Samburu side and would have not made it through for sure if CTDF hadn’t decided they want to visit Lebendera. Now that they are making the effort to come all the way up here, I will make an effort for them to visit Siangan, too.
At the moment I am in Nairobi. I have been here since Thursday evening last week. I came down to facilitate a workshop on the resource database I am compiling for SNV. It was really fun. I have worked together with a computer technician to develop an easily used database that includes contact details and information about donor organizations, as well as organizations that can assist with other support like information, skilled persons and material gifts. The participants were very happy with the results so far and see the database as a great tool for communities and small community based development organizations to use in their search for support for their work.
Also this week, 2 of the women from my Salato Women’s Group in Ngurunit, along with my field assistant, have come to Nairobi for a leather tanning workshop. We have gotten quite far in our efforts to develop a small environmentally friendly tannery in Ngurunit to help the women generate more income from their local resources, but felt we needed a little more expert assistance in finishing the leather and developing marketable products. So, the 3 Ngurunit people, as well as 4 other participants from some other communities in Northern Kenya, are working at the Leather Improvement Center of the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute for one week. I stopped by yesterday and am very impressed by the things that they are learning. I think this is the boost we need to start making the tannery a very viable enterprise.
For the dairy, I am in the process of searching for an affordable solar powered refrigerator. Their kerosene fridge sort of blew up before Christmas. All the coolant leaked out and it is the type that is illegal to buy in Kenya so there is no way to fill it. Besides, we were finding the kerosene fridge a big drain on the profits as it could use a lot of kerosene each month, not to mention the drain on the earth’s resources. So, solar is the way to go, but very expensive. I am at the moment following up on a possible used solar fridge box that someone is willing to almost give away except for the cost of repairs. That means we would only incur expense for some new solar panels and batteries. Tomorrow I will get a final answer on this fridge’s availability.
March 22, 2004
March 18, 2004
Boy how time flies. Can’t believe it is over three weeks since writing anything down. Seems just like yesterday. Since then I have been to Nairobi to pick a friend from the airport in Nairobi. She has come over from Wisconsin to stay with us for 2 ½ months. I was so excited to see her. We started University together in Madison, Wisconsin 20 years ago and lost track of each other about 15 years ago. We have found each other again and when we met, it was like we had just parted a few months ago. She stayed in Maralal with us about ten days and we built a playground for my kids. They have a blast on the slide and swing set. Then, last week, the Self-help fund coordinator, Marian, from the US Embassy came to Maralal to assess some projects in the North for funding and go with me to Ngurunit to see how the Namare and Lebendera projects were going. Several words can encompass the whole trip. One word is ‘car trouble’. My vehicle decided to stop working in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately the US Embassy people came in two vehicles and was able to tow mine to the nearest town, Baragoi. We left it there and continued on in the others. As Marian was continuing on another route back to Nairobi, it left me and some other people stranded in Ngurunit waiting for Reuben to come pick us to return to Maralal. Much to my surprise, Reuben showed up a day late in another borrowed vehicle. Turns out our other car, which we had loaned out, was in an accident. Noone hurt but the car is now in a repair shop. So with one car still stuck in Baragoi and the other in a garage in Maralal, I am on foot. Good exercise.
Some other words to describe the trip to the water projects are hectic, amazing and fun. We all had a really good time but found it really tiring. Due to the car problems, didn’t reach Ngurunit till late Friday night. Then, Saturday, went to Lebendera first to climb up the mountain and see the different sections of the project. Very impressive. Almost finished. Though a few pipes short that we are now trying to get. Acquiring materials up in the North has always been a challenge. Then we went to Namare and found the tank almost down. Despite the problems with the government water people concerning the tank plans, it has turned out really good. The only thing left is to put in the water collection system off the rocks and wait for the rains to come. After Namare, we went to a place called Korr. The visitors were very surprised to see that place after Ngurunit. Korr is quite desolate and barren compared with the oasis paradise environment of Ngurunit. We saw a few people and then returned in the evening to Ngurunit exhausted. We roasted a goat and sat out under the stars telling stories, playing guitar and singing. Beautiful. Sunday morning, I took everyone for a well deserve R & R (rest and relaxation) to the streams up in the mountains above Ngurunit. The swimming and sunning on the rocks was so wonderful. The US Embassy visitors then left in the afternoon to return to the Korr desert to meet some other people and assess some other projects.
The rest of us stayed in Ngurunit waiting for our ride. I had a meeting with the basket weaving women about the successes of marketing their baskets in Nairobi last month. They were very happy. Especially with the income some of them got. I was given some more baskets to take to Nairobi with me end of the month.
So that about does it for the last few weeks. Now a day of rest and then I’ll launch back into work.
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