NDANDINI GETS FIRST COMPUTER & MP'S ATTENTION

It is hard to believe that my time here this week in Ndandini is almost over.  Tomorrow morning at 8am Duncan and I get picked up to go back to Nairobi where we will be attending the Nairobi Industrial Area Rotary Club meeting  I am sure that they will be most interested to hear first hand about the project and plans for the celebration/dedication day on September 5th.

Our day started with the well inspector arriving from the government water department.  A formality in order to get our final extraction permit.  Mostly it entailed him taking a GPS reading to identify the site location for government records and taking the meter reading and serial number (so the water tax guys know the initial reading and make sure we don't swap meters).

While the inspector did his inspecting, we set up our laptop in the kiosk and caught up on emails and updated the blog.  The network response time is quite slow (compared to high speed internet at home) so we often had time to enjoy the view.

Then we were off to the Ndandini Primary School to finish off some minor work on the solar wiring at the Ndandini Primary school.  It was interesting to see that the teachers have already discovered that a benefit of working at the primary school is that you get to charge your cell phone.

We also had an interesting day as we unwrapped a BIG SURPRISE.  We had brought along a laptop computer with a Safaricom cell phone datalink!  We first demonstrated it to Kimali, the principal of the Kyaithani Secondary School and the chairman of the Water committee.  

Then we took it over to the Ndandini Primary School to show to the headmaster and the chair of the parents group.  Disbelief is probably an understatement.  Everyone is so excited that they will be able to introduce computer learning in the community!

It will definitely be a bit of a challenge to balance the use of the computer between the needs for email between the chairman of the water committee and me (as we begin the critical operational phase of the well), email between the deputy headmaster of Ndandini Primary (who is responsible for getting the greenhouse project underway) and me, email between the interested folk at St. Hilda's (who have donated the greenhouse for the school and are interested in building people to people links between the church and the school)  and the teachers and student at Ndandini Primary who are so interested to learn more about the computer and the internet.

Just so it isn't all about email, I took along a 5 DVD set of the BBC Planet Earth documentary that the teachers can use to augment their lessons on nature.  If only we had a projector so that these could be realistically shown to an entire class at once.

Already the teachers are talking about the need to share the solar classroom (with a power source for the computer) between all the schools - something that has never been done before. 

So we had quite a "computer day".  It actually started quite early (4am) as I tried to get caught up with my laptop in my tent.

Today we also opened up discussions with a landowner near the Ndandini Primary School about land for the community garden.  We hope to have an answer from him by September 5th when we return for the dedication day about his willingness to part with some of his land.  There may be an acre available.  That would be enough land for the community to eventually install 8 greenhouse kits like the one at the school.

All in all, I think we have made really good progress this week.  Most of our work to get the well to the operational stage is now complete.  The only physical work left to do is to fence the well site and install some sort of fencing around the greenhouse and garden at the school.

After three years of work on this project It is really hard for me to comprehend that very soon the number of emails every day to/from Kenya will decline and the concerns about deadlines and dealing with remote vendors and suppliers will be over.  I keep hoping that the work done to date to groom the water project management committee will be fruitful and that they will turn this project into much more than just a source of potable water for what is now several thousand people.  I truly believe that they see the possibility of this being a starting point for real community development.

On a final note for today, we received a phone call form the Member of Parliament for the constituency. They were inquiring to ensure that they would be welcome at the village on dedication day and also requested that I provide them with a report about the well and its ability to provide water for the neighbouring village of Kyaithani so that they could use it to back up a request for federal funding for a possible pipeline to that village.  It is much too early to have too much hope in federal grants but it certainly is better than disinterest or rejection!

We took one last look at the setting sun

and did a quick photo slideshow for some of the local kids that are so interested in everything we do.

There will not be many more blog entries until we report on the September 5th village dedication day.

Once again - thank you everyone for your encouragement and support throughout this project.  We could not have done it without everyone's help and involvement.

Terry

MICRO BANKING COMING TO NDANDINI

The full moon here has been quite incredible.  The sky is so clear without the pollution and all the diffused lights of the cities in places where most of us live.

When we were here in May we were amazed at how green the vegetation was.  We had never seen it like that in all our prior visits.  See below:

This is how it looks now only 2 months after the short rainy season ended.

A couple of the schools have water tanks/cisterns to catch rainwater from the roof but even those are already empty.

Today, Tuesday, we had arranged to be taken by Kimali, the chairman of the Ndandini Water Project Management Committee to Kitui town (about 1.5 hours by car) to meet with the lady who manages the Jamii Bora branch there and would service the Ndandini area.  So shortly after 9am Duncan and I left the wellsite in Kimali's car.  You cannot begin to understand how bad the "path" is to get to the wellsite!

Everytime someone comes here in a vehicle I shudder.  It was bad enough for the big drilling rig (which you saw on the blog) but for a little passenger car, it is definitely not something that i would do.  I wouldn't even want to do it in our Jeep.  About 200 feet from the tanks we got stuck.  So we all bailed out to see the car sitting there with the one back wheel about 2 feet off the ground and the other 3 wheels in various positions on the deeply rutted path.  I am amazed that Kimali was able to get the car backed up and then reposition the approach so that he could drive the car through the rutted area - even if the car was on a terrible tilt.  We had other similar events along the way, but I won't bore you with them here.  You should come and experience this for yourselves!

Anyway, we picked up others along the way so that by the time we arrived at Jamii Bora we had Kimali,the chairman of the committee; Andrew, the principal of Ndandini Primary School; and Japheth, the sub-area chief along for the meeting.

I had briefed them a little about the great things that the Jamii Bora Trust (micro-finaince bank) does.  Not only providing micro-finanance loans to very poor people, but also offering them an affordable health care program.  They were quite excited to hear more.

Our meeting did not disappoint!  Zipporah the manager of the branch had been out to Ndandini to present to the village in January 2009 so she understood a little about the Ndandini area.  She was very impressed that we had a new management committee and with the quality of the three men who had come.  Everyone hit it off very well and I believe that a lasting bond was established.  A bond which will pay great dividends for Ndandini over time.

Once a villager becomes a member of Jamii Bora, They must save a mimimum of 50 Kenyan shillings each week.  That's about 75 cents each week.  After 6 weeks they can then apply for a small loan of up to twice their savings account balance.     But even more valuable is that a member can immediately start paying a health care premium of only 30 shillings per week (about 45 cents) and get free unlimited in-patient medical coverage for one parent and up to 4 children.  Even pre-existing conditions are covered!

Tomorrow a baraza has been called for the Ndandini/Kyaithani area.  It was originally called to talk to the community about the well and the coming September 5th celebration/dedication day.  As a result of today, these gentlement are also going to talk to the entire community about Jamii Bora.  The members of the water project management committee are going to become members of Jamii Bora as examples to the community (and also because they were so impressed by what Jamii Bora can offer even to people like them who are much better off than most people in the area).

I am so excited that today happened.  It has been a year and a half since I found out about Jamii Bora and tried to get it started in the village.  Finally it looks like the great benefits will be taken advantage of by some villagers and I know that with the encouragement of the committee, it will quickly spread.  

The benefits of much needed affordable health coverage are within their grasp!  And without any donor having to build a local health clinic with all the operational costs and difficulties that entails.

As well, the committee will be opening a savings account with Jamii Bora in the name of the Water Project Management Committee.  This is where the income from the well will be kept.  Using Jamii Bora for this will provide a means of ensuring proper documentation and accountability for funds received from the small water fee per jerry can and the money received by charging people's cell phones.  We expect that water will cost about 2 Ksh per 20 litre jerry can (3 cents) and 

I am so pleased to see the committee eagerly decide that this is what they wanted to do!

We had over 3 hours in the car together and it was a most enjoyable day.  We talked about a very wide range of subjects and especially about community development ideas.  The sky is the limit - limited only by the committee's ability to catch the dream and inspire and motivate the village.

Here's an example.
Problem:  students have trouble completing homework because of lack of light at home at night.  There are some 200 students at Ndandini Primary School from 50 homes.

Possible solution:  from proceeds of the greenhouse, the school buys 50 D-Light solar lights at a cost of about us$1000 and provides one to each home that has a registered child at the school as long as they have a child at the school.  Duncan has tested this light for about 6 months and after leaving it exposed to the sun, can use the light for 5 or 6 hours each night.  The light is enough to light a whole room.  Alternately, a family could get a Jamii Bora micro-finance loan to buy one light and pay off the us$20 cost over 6 months.

Result:  students grades improve, money spent on kerosene for lamps is eliminated, and the air in the hut/home is much cleaner leading to less health problems.

There was also much discussion about ways to get the water from the well distributed to more people.  The largest population centre is some 4km from the well and that is very long way to carry a 20 litre jerry can.  We talked at some length about the idea of a community owned fleet of donkey carts to carry water and the employment opportunities that could be offered to men of the village to operate this service - men who currently have no employment opportunities.  The committee would own the carts and employee men and their donkeys.  The water would be delivered to schools, other potential storage locations and even individual homes for a slightly increased cost to cover the costs of the service.  Imagine the benefits of women having more time to tend their gardens (and improve harvest yield) and train their children; imagine the extra time that students would have for homework because they are not sent to fetch water every afternoon after school.

By 5pm when we got home everyone was very excited but also quite tired from the heat of the day and the mental stimulation.

We are all looking forward to tomorrow's baraza.  And after that I will be meeting with the entire Water Project Management Committee.  No doubt I will be tired after that.

Stay tuned.  I promise great news tomorrow!

Terry        

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

Monday was a day spent at Ndandini Primary School.  Our goal was to finish the solar wiring.  We succeeded and are happy to report that there are now two lights in one of the new classrooms and another light installed in the teachers room.  The teachers and Andrew the principal were very excited and always trying to offer their help.

The school children are off on a break but there were some extra classes being taught today so lots of kids around as well.  Sometimes the four windows of the new classroom were totally jammed with kids trying to watch what we were doing.  We also installed a wall receptacle so that sometime in the future they will have a power source in the classroom to run a big screen projector so that everyone can see the images on a computer screen or perhaps watch an educational DVD.

Terry took a few minutes to check his email with his laptop inside the new classroom - just to prove that we can indeed do email and web access from the school.  Hakuna Matata (no problem).

While the solar stuff was exciting and satisfying, the really big benefits of the day were the opportunities that we had to talk in depth with Andrew the headmaster and Eric the deputy head master of Ndandini Primary School, Kimali the principal of Kyaithani Secondary School (who is also the chairman of the Ndandini water committee), and Japheth the sub-area chief.  Being able to talk to each of them individually for an extended period of time allowed us to talk in depth about the opportunities that the committee and the community can make real as long as they work together as a community and have strong and motivated leadership.  Each of them said that the day was very informative and useful and we all agreed to get together tomorrow as a group to talk about some of the ideas that we raised.

We are continuing to investigate possible locations for the community garden.  There is no doubt that the community garden "idea" has now become a village objective.  Certainly the installation of the drip-irrigation greenhouse at the school has made the community garden concept very real in everyone's mind.  Below is a photo of the headmaster Andrew, and the deputy headmaster Eric (above) and teachers Titus and Richard.

The more we talked today the more they all began to understand how everything can work together to help the community develop and for Ndandini and Kyaithani to become a model for village development.  They told me that the district government and the federal government are taking note of what is happening.  The Management Committee has extended invitations to all the various levels of government to come to the September 5th gathering.  I continue to encourage them to catch the attention of their government officials while they can and while there are exciting things happening in the village.  It is very rewarding to see them begin to become "people with a mission" and so focused on how they can help develop their community.

Some of you may have heard me talk about the Jamii Bora micro-fiinance bank and how they will send out a banking person to remote villages to encourage villagers to save money and help them advance by offering micro-loans.  We had the local manager from Kitui go out and present to the village some 18 months ago but despite lots of interest, nothing really happened following that meeting.  Well, today the key members of the Ndandini Water Project Management committee decided to go with me to visit Jamii Bora tomorrow to investigate how they can get Jamii Bora to begin serving the Kyaithani village and Ndandini area.  They want to start by having every member of the Water Management Committee become a Jamii Bora member (to be an example to the community), and by opening an account for the water project so that the income from water sales and cellphone battery charging can be easily deposited in an account and ensure that proper records are kept.  They are also really interested in how they can encourage the villagers to become Jamii Bora members so that everyone can participate in the Jamii Bora Health Insurance plan (which provides free health care for one parent and up to 5 children, even if one or more of them are already ill).

We live in very exciting times!  For the first time these village people are seeing real opportunities that can make a difference in their own lives and the community.

We have water from the kiosk -  each of the taps can fill a 20 litre jerry can in just 20 seconds.

And we have solar power at the kiosk for light and to charge cell phones for additional revenue for the well.

And this week it is a full moon making for beautiful nights to be sleeping in our 25 year old 25 tent at the well site.  While I am here, Jan and a group of ladies from British Columbia are climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.  They too were looking forward to having this beautiful moon to light their way.  The summit of Kili is over 19,000 feet, and they are all hoping to make the summit early Thursday morning.  They will start the last leg of the climb at 1am under the bright light of the moon in order to reach the summit just as the sun comes up around 7am.  On Monday at noon, they had just stopped for a lunch break after what Jan called "an unbelievably hard steep climb".  With the oxygen getting thinner as they get higher, it gets harder and harder to breathe, to take each step, and even to think clearly.  We are all wishing each of them well and admiring their determination.  Yet another example of people setting a goal and putting out the effort needed to reach it!  Go ladies!!  And Go Ndandini!!

Keep watching.  There's more to come!

Terry   

SOLAR FOR NDANDINI PRIMARY SCHOOL

Today, Sunday August 22, we walked the 2.5km to the Ndandini Primary School - carrying the solar panels, charge controller, inverter, 40m of wiring and plug, switch and light fitting for 3 lights.  We decided that we would leave the large 12v solar battery and have it brought by motorbike (I could barely lift it much less carry it 10 feet).

Doing installations in remote areas like this is quite a challenge.  No matter how hard you try to plan ahead, there are always things that come up and you don't have quite what you need - so you improvise.

With some help from local villagers we got the solar panels assembled and a roof mount built and the panels securely attached to the roof ridge.  That took a long time.  

Then we managed to complete the wiring from the panels to the charge controller and on to the battery and 240v inverter.  (I forgot to mention the bit about having to chisel a hole in the brick wall to get the wiring through into the small oom shared by the headmaster and all 7 teachers.) 

We were glad to have this done just in time for our 5pm meeting with Kimali, the principal of the Kyaithani Secondary School who is also the chairman of the Ndandini Water Project Management Committee.

By the time we had done the solar work, we had quite a crowd of local villagers sitting and standing around watching.  Most adults who arrived made a point of coming over to shake hands and welcome Terry "the electrician".  Everyone is SO excited about having a solar system at the school.

We spent a long time talking with Eric, the Deputy Head Master of the Ndandini Primary School.  Eric  is also the school's designated teacher to be responsible for the school greenhouse and garden.  It is great to see more and more educated and qualified people getting involved with our project work.  It is very encouraging for the sustainable future of the village and its much needed community development.

Also by 5pm we were really happy to see quite a large group of people assembled on the school playground and playing a very active and vocal game of volleyball.  In talking with Eric, he mentioned that everyday from 3 to 4 there is outdoor sports class.  The only problem is that they have almost no sports equipment.  So in order to teach soccer, they make paper soccer balls.  Its not only things like toilets and computers that the schools here need, its almost everything including basics like pens and paper to soccer balls and volleyball equipment.

Then we met with Kimali for the first time - although we feel like old friends after our recent emails and "conversations" about the responsibilities of the Water Project Management Committee.  We covered lots of specific and detailed topics relating to the well and the school, but also took time to talk about philosophies regarding various issues.  Kimali is very supportive of what we have done to date and will play a key role in getting the local community organized and committed to things like the community garden, the operation of the well, and the support of the drip-irrigation greenhouse and garden at the Ndandini Primary School.

Wednesday he has called another village baraza (meeting) to talk about the well and the upcoming September 5th visit by the donors.

So the next three days will fly by.

Stay tuned for more exciting things which are going to happen.   

Terry

BACK IN NDANDINI FOR ANOTHER WEEK (AUG 20,2010)

So here it is, only six weeks after returning from Kenya where we oversaw the successful drilling of the borehole in Ndandini Village.  And now we're taking those two long flights again to return to Kenya.

After about 18 hours in the air and an overnight in Amsterdam between flights, we arrived to a surprisingly chilly evening.  Very strange to have left home in British Columbia where the daytime temperatures were in the 30+C range to arrive in Kenya to "refreshing" weather.  We hoped to get a good sleep (which did not happen overnight in Amsterdam) but the 10 hour time zone change takes some adjusting and it seems that it is most noticeable when you try to sleep and your body thinks is mid-morning - so another restless, almost sleepless night.

We knew the routine so had planned for a rest day in Nairobi before we headed out:  Jan to lead a group of ladies from BC on a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, and Terry to go to Ndandini Village to oversee the almost final things to do for the water project.  Trouble with a rest day in Nairobi is that there are too many things to see and do.  So for our rest day we left the hotel at 9am and didn't get back until 9pm!  Everyone really enjoyed our visit to the Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, the Giraffe Centre and Kazuri Beads.  The Daphne Sheldrick charitable organization does fantastic elephant rescue work for baby elephants who lose their mothers due to poaching, or by perhaps falling into a well and becoming separated from their mother.

The Giraffe Centre, also a charitable organization, works to help restore the rare Rothschild giraffe population as well as teaching young Kenyans about the importance of wildlife preservation.

At Kazuri Beads, this charity employs almost 350 women, mostly single mothers, in making beautiful beads from scratch which are then made into earrings, bracelets and necklaces - most of which are now exported.

Friday morning came very early with Jan and the group of ladies heading off to the airport at 7am to fly to the Kilimanjaro airport.  Terry headed out at 7:30 for the "exciting" (as in dangerous) drive to Ndandini.  The large speeding trucks heading for Mombassa on the narrow roads which are in very bad shape with huge sections of pavement totally missing and everyone weaving around to miss the holes and each other!

Terry was very anxious to get to Ndandini.  This has been a very active week at the village with many exciting things happening.

Last Friday (August 13) our Project Manager Duncan picked up the Amiran Farmer's Kit drip-irrigation greenhouse and garden package and accompanied it to Ndandini.  The technician from Amiran arrived late Saturday and construction began in earnest on Sunday at the Ndandini Primary School.  Everyone was so excited.  During the course of erecting the greenhouse, Duncan was helped by the assistant head master of the school who turns out to have a degree in Agriculture!  Needless to say, he was very interested in the project.  Needless to say, we are very glad to have his interest and knowledge!

The 8x15 metre greenhouse and outside irrigated garden were complete by Thursday - just in time for the arrival of the installation team from Davis & Shirtliff where we purchased the pump and generator.

Everything for the installation went according to plan.  The plan also being to have Terry arrive around noon on Friday to oversee the completion of the installation and the start of test pumping of water from the well into the three large storage tanks.

We are very pleased to report that the pump does pump almost 19,000 litres of water an hour - that's 300 litres per minute.  And when we connected the pump to the pipes that lead to the three 16,000 litre tanks, we completely filled all the tanks in 2 hours and 40 minutes.  The kids were so excited to see the water pouring out of the overflow pipes at the top of the tanks - they just wanted to stand under it - no doubt their first-ever "shower".  The only person more excited was Terry!

It's hard to tell you what a flow of 300 litres a minute looks like.  Just think about a fire hydrant being open and you are close.

Today we did a test.  We took a 20 litre jerry can and filled it from the shallow well using the hand pump.  That took 60 seconds of hard pumping.  Then we walked over to the water distribution kiosk which has 4 taps.  We opened the tap and filled that same 20 litre jerry can in only 20 seconds.  So if we have all four taps in operation, we could fill 12 jerry cans every minute.

Now its time to work with the Ndandini Water Project Management Committee on getting the water system into meaningful operation.  That means setting up procedures for operating the generator, setting up procedures for recording water usage and collecting the money for the water that is put in the jerry cans, and getting the proper people to work at the well.  These are significant times and these essential things must be done successfully if the well is to operate on a sustainable basis.  We hope that Terry's time at the village this week will be well spent.

As part of the pump and generator installation, we have also installed the village's first solar system.  The solar panels are installed on the roof of the water distribution kiosk and power a light at the site and enable us to offer cell phone recharging services.  People in Kenya pay 20 Ksh (about 30 cents) to have their battery recharged.  Money raised in this manner will go towards the operating costs of the well (for things like buying diesel fuel).  We can also use the power to charge laptop computers so for the first time it is now possible to consider having a computer here in the village.

Speaking of diesel fuel - the generator consumes about 4 litres of diesel per hour.  So to completely fill the tanks with 48,000 litres of water we consumed less than 10 litres of diesel at a cost of about 80 Ksh/litre (about $12.)  So the cost of diesel fuel is about 1/3 of a shilling per 20 litre jerry can (about half a cent).

Stay tuned to the blog - we will have lots more to report as the week progresses.

We will be returning to Nairobi next Thursday in time to attend the Nairobi Industrial Area Rotary Club to report on the success of the project - and to thank them for believing that we could successfully do this project and for becoming our host Rotary Club.

Terry

Mid-august Donor update letter

Below is the August monthly update to the major donors of the Ndandini Water Project:

Here we are less than one week until Jan & I head back over to Kenya. While there, we will oversee the installation of the pump and generator, the commissioning of the operational well and the long anticipated day of dedication by the village of the well on September 5th.

I hope that everyone has been keeping up to date with our progress and photos this past month on our blog www.ndandini.blogspot.com . We have been adding photos of the hard work that our project manager Duncan has been doing to get our project complete. Without Duncan's dedication to our project and his personal sacrifice involved in spending many, many days out at the village and many, many nights sleeping in his tent, this project would never have come to a successful completion. I know that all of you join me in a very big "thank you" to Duncan. I can heartily recommend Duncan to any Rotary club (whether in Kenya or overseas) that is looking for a project manager in Kenya.

This month's update letter covers off the following:

1. Status of our site work preparing for the installation of the pump & generator.
2. New members of the Water Project Management Committee.
3. Plans for the Drip-Irrigation Greenhouse at Ndandini Primary School
4. Links to new YouTube videos of our last trip during the drilling of the boreholes.
5. Potential additional follow-on projects?

Well Site Preparations

As far as the well is concerned, I am really pleased to report that everything on site is ready for the installation of the pump and generator. This is now scheduled to be done August 18-20. I am planning to be on-site for the completion of this work. To this point, we are also running within budget and do not see any overrun.

The dedication of the well is scheduled for Sunday September 5th. We are expecting many villagers from around Ndandini and the neighbouring town of Kyaithani. There will be a group of 8 people attending from Sechelt BC and we also expect several Rotarians from our Nairobi Industrial Area host Rotary club. There may also be some other Rotarians from some of our partner clubs.

New and improved Water Project Management Committee

I reported last month that because of the 18,000 liters/hour that we were able to pump during the testing, we were approached by the sub-area chief inquiring about whether we would provide water for the next village, Kyaithani. And I had indicated that the water would be available as long as it proved out that there was enough.

I also asked the sub-area chief to assist us in augmenting the composition of the Ndandini Water Project Management Committee to add more experienced local people and some with demonstrated leadership skills and who had respect from the government. I am very pleased to confirm that he has done this and we now have as chairperson of the committee the principal of the secondary school for the area (located in Kyaithani) and the headmaster and one teacher from the Ndandini Primary school are also on the committee. Both the principal and the headmaster have opened up email accounts (even though they have to travel some 25km by motorbike to the nearest cyber cafe) to enable better communication with them for longer and more detailed correspondence. I have also set up a system for almost instantaneous exchanges of shorter text messages to their cell phones. Since they have joined the Committee we have made great progress, due in large part to the improved internet communications, and I am very encouraged that the well will be a sustainable venture.

Plans for Installing an Amiran Farmer's Kit at Ndandini Primary School

Last month I mentioned that beyond the scope of the Rotary Matching Grant project, we had also received a donation of almost $5500 from St. Hilda's Anglican Church in Sechelt to be applied towards water for Ndandini. While these funds were originally collected with the intent of helping to meet the shortfall in project funding due to TRF's lack of grant money. St. Hilda's has now agreed to apply their donation towards "maximizing the benefits of the water from the well". They have agreed to fund the installation of an Amiran Farmer's Kit (drip irrigation greenhouse and garden) at the Ndandini Primary School. This project is being assisted by the Belleville Ontario Canada Rotary Club through their charitable organization. The Amiran Farmer's Kit is scheduled to be delivered on August 13th and to be completely installed by August 18th. We are expecting that the improved crop yields from this new technology, the first in the area, will significantly increase the food available for the school meal program and also provide some much needed revenue for the school. We hope that this first installation at Ndandini Primary school will be a model that can be replicated in each of the other primary schools and at the high school with either government support or by donors. We are also hoping that we will see the implementation of a larger Amiran Farmer's kit as a volunteer "community garden" to help offset the costs of operating the well.

Links to YouTube Drilling videos

Here are some links that you will find interesting. The first two videos document our experience in late May/early June when Jan & I were in Ndandini while the boreholes were drilled. We have tried to give a bit of a chronological experience so that you can share with us in the anticipation, the concerns and worry, the ultimate success and also share in seeing the future hope for the drip-irrigation greenhouse.

To watch the Ndandini Drilling Part 1 click on the following link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEqJOKp3F4A

To watch the Ndandini Drilling Part 2 click on the following link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ReBDc2NrOk&feature=related

To read a recent article in our local paper click on the following link
http://www.coastreporter.net/article/20100702/SECHELT0604/307029993/-1/sechelt/local-man-146-s-determination-delivers-a-well

Possible New Projects?

I received a couple of expressions of interest after last month's update email, about possible future projects to help the Ndandini area. In order to get a much better description of the kind of things that are on the "wish list" of the teachers and head administrators of the area schools I have asked them to provide me with their wish list. I am very pleased to tell you that not only have I received the wish list, but two very informative and well presented letters from Kimali, the principal of the Kyaithani Secondary School which will give you some insight into the difficult situation and great needs existing in the community. I encourage everyone to read these letters, share them with your club members and give serious consideration to how your club (and perhaps others in your area) can help this desperately poor area of Kenya. We have established a great working communication link to some qualified people within the Ndandini area who can help the community to help itself with a little bit of help from us, their friends. The well has been a great success. Let's try to follow it up with another outpouring of our "Service Above Self" actions. I thank you in advance.

Here are the two wish list letters sent to me by the principal of the Kyaithani Secondary School:

Jambo Terry

I am glad that Kenyans have overwhelmingly endorsed the New Constitution after peaceful campaigns during the August 4th referendum.

I am also impressed by the concern with which you have dedicated your precious time and resources to turnaround the lives of so many people in the village.

I strongly believe that education gives the learners the ability to fit in the society and to exploit the opportunities in the environment for personal and social progress.

It is my wish that you allow me to digress and tell you about the task bestowed on me by the Community to spearhead the provision of quality schooling to the young learners in the village.

I joined Kyaithani Secondary School in July 2009 as the Principal and I began exploring ways of improving the academic standards in the area. As a long-term measure, I conceived the idea of forming the Kyaithani Cluster composed of five Primary Schools that form the catchment for Kyaithani Secondary School.

The Kyaithani cluster has been fully operational for the last one year with tremendous initial results. The cluster mobilizes the management, teachers, parents and pupils of Kyaithani, Ndandini, Muusini, Ndunguni and Nthilani Primary Schools.

The main objective of the cluster is to improve the academic performance in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams by instilling the spirit of competition among the learners. The cluster has put in place measures, to achieve the set goal, such as:

I. Administering joint exams for all the learners right from class one to class eight;
II. Preparing a merit list and awarding the top performers in each class and
III. Organizing Guidance and Counseling sessions at which the learners are advised on strategies to improve discipline and academic performance.

We have set in motion the above measures and held several public Barazas to educate the community on the importance of supporting the education of our children and the response so far has been impressive.

As the Patron of Kyaithani Cluster, my dream is to provide the learners with an environment suitable for full exploitation of their academic potential.

It is at this point that I truly welcome your input in all material and possible ways to enable the Cluster turn its dream into a reality for the benefit of the learners.

I can now present a list of two items that each of our primary schools in the cluster can make good use of to facilitate proper teaching and learning of the pupils.

(i) An Administration Block.
All the primary schools in the Cluster lack this important structure and so the teachers have no ample space to carry out their duties effectively and efficiently.

The provision of furnished Head teacher’s Office, the staffroom and departmental offices would go along way to improve the productivity of the members of staff.

(ii) Modern Latrines.
The compounds are littered with collapsed or filled up traditional structures that served as the convenience rooms.

The construction of modern exhaustible latrines can provide the learners with a clean and stench- free environment for answering to the calls of nature.

It is my humble request that you encourage your Group of Donors to give a positive consideration towards alleviating the state of neglect and despair in the Kyaithani cluster Primary schools.

Your presence in and association with the community as well as the enormous financial input in the projects is an investment that will ultimately rescue the local people from the dehumanizing state of under – development.

Once again, I wish to give a firm commitment that any resources provided to the schools for the projects will be put into the intended use prudently utilized and accounted for up to the last coin.

I am looking forward to your consideration and positive response to our wish list.

See you when you land at the village on August 20th

Sincerely
Kimali



KYAITHANI SECONDARY SCHOOL
MOTTO: AIM AT THE BEST
P.O BOX 339-90200
KITUI

Jambo Terry

RE: APPEAL FOR FUNDING

I am truly pleased to have received your message of hope concerning the items our local High School would put on its wish list.

Before I put down the facilities necessary to facilitate effective teaching and learning a brief history of the school would be quite in order.

Kyaithani Mixed Secondary School is an upcoming teaching and learning Institution just started in the year 2009. It offers a rare chance to the sixty form one and two students to obtain basic education that would otherwise have been unaffordable in the high cost schools.

The existing physical structures (2 classrooms and an administration block) were put up by the federal government's Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and there is urgent need to erect more buildings to cater for the increasing number of learners from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The young boys and girls are very eager and determined to learn so as to qualify for specialized training in colleges that would give them a competitive edge in the labour market.

Unfortunately a majority of the students come from desperately hopeless households that cannot and do not provide the basic learning requirements. Many a time, I get emotionally and financially strained, when I have to provide food, teaching services, stationery , clothing and even kerosene to students who have nobody responsible enough to cater for their personal needs

A good number of the students are from poor broken families or from single parents while a few are total orphans. The local community has all along being more than willing to contribute towards the physical development of the school and well-being of the students.

However, the donations by the community are too little and far apart to match the numerous needs of the newly established school.

It is against this background information that I wish to present my list of three priority needs that would go a long way to make Kyaithani Secondary School a competitive institution offering quality teaching and learning for the benefit of the learners and the wider society.

(1) Two Dormitories
A lot of precious time gets wasted as the students trek as far as seven kilometers to and fro school. Fully equipped modern dormitories would create more time for studies , cushion the boys and girls from the effects of broken and/or hostile families, enhance student’s interaction and conduct, protect the youth from social vices such as sexual harassment and drug abuse .This would keep the learners in a controlled environment suitable for personal, social and academic progress.

(2) One Science Laboratory
Currently the school offers theoretical teaching of science subject due to lack of basic chemicals and apparatus as well as the laboratory structure.

The construction of a fully equipped laboratory would expose the learners to the important practical aspects of the science subjects namely Biology, Chemistry and physics.

(3) Computers
As the world takes the IT super highway, our teachers and learners remain largely computer illiterate due to lack of the necessary infrastructure.

The provision and installation of internet – enabled computers along with the solar power to run them would give the learners a chance to be technology / information savvy.

Having presented the wish list for Kyaithani Secondary School ,I am fully aware that the above items would require enormous amounts of money a lot of co- ordination and planning as well as follow – up and strict controls.

I am sufficiently confident and expectant that you can use your unmatched organizational skills and ability to make contacts with donors who are willing and able to make a lasting impact on the lives of many underprivileged boys and girls of Kyaithani High School.

On a practical note the items on the wish list can be addressed over a staggered period of time if need be for it is better late than never .On behalf of the School Management Committee, I wish to give a very strong commitment that whatever resources are provided to the School will be prudently utilized and fully accounted for to the benefit of the learners.

Allow me to get back to you a bit later after consulting the Primary School Management about their priority wish list. Once again, thank you very much for your concern about the plight of our young generation and for the consideration to go out of your way to alleviate their suffering from abject poverty, low self- esteem and hopelessness.

Terry, thumbs up for your willingness and resolve to make the world a better place to live in.

I look forward to meeting with you when you come over this August.

Sincerely.
Kimali


Thanks again everyone for all your support. The deep well will be in production very soon providing potable water for many people of the Ndandini area. Keep watching our blog as we will try to keep updating it during our trip to Ndandini over the next few weeks.

Yours in Rotary and for the benefit of the Ndandini area.

Terry

Links to YouTube Videos about the well in Ndandini

We have just posted two new YouTube videos which show the story of the drilling of the borehole in Ndandini during our last trip there in late May/early June.

Here are the links for the current 3 YouTubes:

History of the project   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAplhxyQSeI

Drilling Part 1     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEqJOKp3F4A&feature=related

Drilling Part 2    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ReBDc2NrOk&feature=related

Enjoy.

Terry

Now Ready for the Pump and Generator

After another hard week of work at Ndandini, our project manager Duncan and his workers have completed the generator building.

The plumbing contractor that we engaged has also been to the village and completed all the piping that will deliver the water from the borehole to the three storage tanks and ultimately to the distribution kiosk.

We are glad to report that the shallow well is producing clear potable water.

One of our donors, St. Hilda's Anglican Church (Sechelt BC Canada) is using their donation to purchase and install a 8x15m greenhouse and drip irrigation system for the Ndandini Primary School.  This "Amiran Farmer's Kit" will be picked up on August 13th and its installation will begin the next day.

So both the pump/generator and the greenhouse will be installed by the end of August.

Plans are well underway for the September 5th village celebration and dedication of the well and greenhouse.  So far we have a group of 12 coming to the village with us, along with a contingent of Rotarians from the Nairobi Industrial Area Rotary Club (our partner club from Kenya on this project).

Jan & I leave for Kenya on August 16th and I will be in Ndandini on August 20th for a week to work with the Ndandini Water Project Management Committee as we commission the water and get procedures set in place.

Keep watching for the exciting progress that will be made over the next couple of weeks!

Terry