OUT OF KENYA

On right, enjoying a Tusk Beer as we leave Nairobi on Ben's 30th birthday.

On Saturday we raised funds to buy mosquito nets for a village in western Kenya. Malaria is still a greater killer than AIDS. The village is 8 or 9 hrs from Nairobi, the nearest town is Siaya about 15km away. There is no running water or electricity & when Margaret Briggs and I visited there we stayed in a modest mud hut & sent our phones into town to be charged so to notify our families of our whereabouts.
The project is the Mboro Village Developement & our good friend Ben is a great leader & supporter of several projects in the Mboro division. We first met Ben when we heard him speak on a sponsored trip to Queensland Australia. He told us of how his brother, Winston, had died in his arms from a Mamba snake bite, unable to get to medical attention. And from what l saw of the medical attention there, it would not have saved his brother's life. Ben then promised his family that he would make things better for his community. When Margaret asked what his priorities were, he replied,
 "Our needs are many, but malaria is killing my people."

So Margaret immediately put into place many fundraisers to raise money for mosquito nets. Since 2010, over 1500 nets have been purchased & handed out to Ben's ever extending community. The bulk of the money has been raised by Margaret Briggs herself from selling tickets in raffles. Each net costs $10.

 Everyone we met in Kenya had suffered from malaria to some degree. And they continue to suffer their whole lives with bouts of fevers. The mosquito nets not only protects them from the deadly disease or on-going sickness, it allows them to sleep at night. Any of us who have complained of a sleepless night due to one annoying mosquito, can comprehend the distress of every night hearing the children crying from mosquito bites. Each family is given one net and the whole family sleeps under it. Grateful of a good sleep & protection from malaria. The women are immeasurably pleased at the improvement to their skin. Due to poor hygiene because of a lack of clean running water, the scratched mosquito bites quickly become  infected, further lowering their immune systems and leaving nasty sores & scars on their skin.


On my first visit to Kenya, l was impressed by the hard work being done by Mblori Women's Group. With the help of money from Ben's brother in Queensland, they had paid for a mill to crush their staple food, the cassava. Now anyone working within the community has free access to the mill. And they are charging a few shillings to others for crushing & are making a profit which has given them hope for bigger plans to buy a tractor. There is now hope in their eyes.

I have seen extreme poverty in other parts of the world but in Kenya I witnessed  hunger. I met people that had not eaten for days.
I have seen the despair of hopelessness and l have seen the face of hope. I believe one of the the greatest gifts to give someone is hope

On my second trip, accompanied by Margaret, there were several self sustaining projects implemented by Ben within his community The hard work of the women of Mblori were a shining examples to the youth group there who had begun a chicken farm. Each family supplied one chicken & the eggs produced were shared amongst the community. A fish farm was hand dug by another group of village members.  Fish were farmed after one year with enough to provide some food to the community and some to be sold. A reasonable profit was earned & donated to orphaned children. How good it must have felt for them to be able to donate & help those less fortunate in their own community!
Another project was the tree & seedling project where they are growing plants for food, shade & medicinal properties. Margaret had done some hard-arsed fund-raising & supplied enough funds for a water-pump to water the trees, otherwise done by hand. She also provided funds for fish food & fingerlings for the fish farm. Plus extensions to other projects, school supplies, sporting equipment and food parcels as well.


Margaret & I bought the supplies in Nairobi & travelled to Siaya by night bus. Which remains one of  my top 10 worst night trips of my life! The combination of a bus devoid of any suspension on a road that was more pot-holed than tarmaced,  resulted with Margaret cracking a rib! Fortunately we were carrying some much needed medical supplies and managed to strap her rib.
Life in rural Kenya is simple and for some extremely difficult. Washing water is pulled up from a near-by well. Drinking water is pumped up from a water-table that is sometimes contaminated  and Ben advised us to drink only bottled water. Mixed occasionally with some Johnny Walker for good measure.

The school was less than basic with no fresh water & very few latrines for the 700 children. One very satisfying & less glamorous project was raising funds for more latrines. Many thanks to the Buderim Theosophical Society for their generous donation. Margaret is now working towards raising funds for a water pump & bore for drinking water at the school and would greatly appreciate any donations, or help, or ideas in achieving this majorly important goal.

Margaret intends travelling back to Kenya later this year. If anyone is interested in joining her or helping in any way, please contact me. We were well looked after by Ben & his family and thoroughly recommend anyone going for a first-hand, life changing experience of Kenya.
But it's not for princesses and conditions are basic. The people are very hospitable & generous with the little that they have. And surprisingly pleased that anyone would care enough for them to travel so far to donate their time or money. The women of the community sang us songs of gratitude in their unique African voices. And like l said, there is no greater gift than hope.
Anyone prepared to get their hands dirty will be well rewarded by the experience. The opportunity of going on safari will be optioned in. Costs will be kept to a minimum. Any profit will be utilized by the project.
Anyone wishing to contribute or donate $10 to supply one family with one mosquito net, please reply on fb, blogger or gmail.

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