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Helping
our students to have a better harvest - March
2011
By January
2011, International Village
School had 93 students. All students
come from very needy homes and all are high performers who would
not be able to attend high school without the assistance
provided by the NGO through its many sponsors. In order to
ensure that our students have more food at home,as soon as the
rains started in early March, every student was given 2kg of
good quality planting maize and 7kg of fertilizer as the soils
in the area are depleted of nutrients. At the same time, students
are taught about organic methods and the use of compost.
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Building
improvements at Ebbiba Primary School -
March 2011
ConnectSwiss completed its project at Ebbiba Primary School in East Bunyore to supply 50 school desks and to build 2 new verandas with new roofs for the school. A veranda ensures a paved area outside the classroom and keeps children dry as well as keeping mud out of the classrooms (particularly during the rainy season).
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The
precious gift of books - January
2011 The Class 4 pupils from Dr. Triplett’s Primary School in Hayes, England had a very successful book drive for Kakemer Primary school’s library. Every pupil from the school donated a book and Class 4 did all the packing and sorting. DHL (UK) kindly offered their services for free to send the books to Kenya. Dr. Tripletts also donated funds to provide furniture for the library in 2010.
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Reaching
out - Community Health Workers - January
2011
Six new trained community health workers are now associated with the Children’s Centre. When children are discharged after recuperating at the Centre, these health workers visit them at home, counsel parents and also alert the Centre to other children needing assistance in their areas.
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Most of these community health workers have suffered extreme poverty themselves so they have a natural empathy for community problems.
They had previously been trained by the Kenyan Ministry of Health but without any remuneration for the work that they do. By offering them a small monthly allowance, they are now in a better position to dedicate some of their time to helping the Children’s Support Centre.
The number of in-patients at the Centre has already increased by 50% as compared to the first quarter 2010.
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Protecting natural
springs - a vital source of clean water
- December 2010
There
are hundreds of natural springs in Emuhaya and Teso North Districts. Unimproved springs
can become sources of contamination in which mosquitoes can
breed – increasing the threat of malaria. When a spring is
protected by cement walls and access steps, there is an enormous improvement for
villagers collecting their water as villagers do not have to cope with a muddy hole with
sometimes steep and slippery banks while filling and lifting a 20kg container.
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Once a spring has been protected, villagers can place their container under the
discharge pipe and leave with their load safely. Water quality is of
course greatly improved by the elimination of surface contamination.
The photo shows a protected spring constructed in Teso..
A water tank was also built for this spring, since though
there is a lot of underground water - it is also slow running. The tank therefore collects the water and ensures a faster
access to water throughout the day. During
2010, Community Outreach Centres also maintained and renovated some
of the 13 public wells it constructed in Emuhaya between 2005 and
2008. The NGO never charges for water, as even 1 cent can send a
poor child back to a polluted stream.
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Teso
Cultural Festival -
December 2010
Alta Mane, a private foundation helped sponsor the
annual Iteso Cultural festival through Community Outreach Centres in December 2010 for the second year running.
The Festival is an important annual event as it restores cultural
pride and identity of the local Iteso people, while preserving
Iteso cultural values that include language,
traditional stories, songs and dance, medicinal herbs and plants,
dietary habits, etc., while enriching the community with new
cultural experiences.
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Bridging the digital
divide
-
December 2010
Since 2004, Community Outreach Centres has promoted free access to computer training—first through the Youth Centre in Esiarambatsi and from 2009, the Resource Centre in Kakemer, Teso North
District. In rural areas, there are typically few activities for the youth. The NGO’s two centres provide free computer training, leadership courses, reading rooms, chess, first aid, drama, choir and art classes. The Teso Resource Centre also offers puzzles and board games that the adults and children enjoy, since this is a brand new activity for many.
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Currently more than 120 people attend the Kakemer Resource Centre per week doing computer lessons free of charge. Besides the youth in the area, students also include local elders, professional teachers wanting to enhance their qualifications, as well as primary and secondary school pupils. Everyone is extremely eager to become computer literate and there is always a waiting list for the 3-month computer course.
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Cooking with the sun's power
- December 2010
impressed the community in Emurembe as our Children’s Centre hosted a demo from Solar Cookers International in December 2010. There was lively debate on whether the staple food (ugali) would be well cooked but even the sceptics went home having tasted for themselves that solar cooking works well and can be a healthy and cheap option for Kenya.
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Health starts at
home -
October 2010
At
the Children’s Support Centre, the most vulnerable and
impoverished children recuperate from malnutrition, anemia, skin
problems and parasites. Part of their treatment must address their
home conditions as well and through the generosity of donors, during
2010 the Centre was able to repair some homes, distribute blankets,
disinfect houses and provide high protein porridge on an ongoing
basis to the most destitute families.
The
NGO put a new roof on this house to ensure the ongoing health of
Augustin who was discharged from the Children’s Centre. He lives
alone with his grandfather.
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School renovations &
new toilets -
September 2010
Since 2005, Community Outreach has assisted local primary schools to renovate classrooms and construct toilets. In September, we finished restoring 4 classrooms at Kakeriaut Primary School in Teso North District . All classrooms were plastered and painted, as well as windows and doors fitted. Better learning will be promoted in a much improved educational environment.
Additionally, new toilets were constructed at Emurembe primary school in Emuhaya and the NGO was able to assist them to complete another set of toilets, which the parents had funded but had insufficient funds to complete the roof and doors. The school thus gained seven new toilets for the
pupils.
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Children's Health Days
-
May 2010
From February 2010, a programme of mass de-worming of children and
treatment for ringworm was carried out at 4 schools. This programme
is run by our Children’s Support Centre under the supervision of
its registered nurse. Four visiting Spanish medics assisted our
local staff to treat a total of 1’250 children. De-worming
children is an essential part of improving health as worm
infestation leads to malnutrition, causes anaemia, lethargy, lack of
concentration, increased vulnerability to other infections,
decreased mental capacity as well as growth retardation.
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All that can be remedied with
inexpensive tablets and by educating the community on how to improve
hygiene to prevent reoccurrence. At the same time, running this programme in primary schools allows the Children’s Centre to identify children who need more comprehensive rehabilitation for malnutrition, jiggers and skin problems and to invite their parents to bring them to the Centre for free services.
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Books for Kakemer
Resource Centre
- May 2010
The mother of a volunteer from San Diego (US) was so touched by her daughter’s stories and emails from Kenya that she started a book drive for the Kakemer Resource Centre that was opened by Community Outreach Centres in 2009. The students from Black Mountain Middle School in San Diego filled 13 boxes with books and raised enough funds to post the books. For the first time in its history, Kakemer village now has access to a public library. The book drive is expected to continue in 2010.
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Artistic activities
-
May 2010
To a large extent, there are no resources available for arts education in the rural regions of Kenya. Working with Alta Mane foundation in Switzerland, ConnectSwiss has been able to launch various activities to provide children with experiences and instruction in the visual and creative arts in order to contribute to their balanced development and stimulate creativity. Some of the activities include texture drawings,
paper-mâché (e.g. making puppets, face masks), play dough
modelling, drawing and painting with different mediums.
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School improvements
- May 2010
Dr. Triplett’s Primary School in Hayes, London (UK)
held a collection at their Harvest Festival Appeal and raised almost Ksh 95’000. Previously Kakemer Primary was cooking on open fires for their girls’ boarding-school meals and the pre-primary children’s porridge everyday. The school used these funds for new cooking stoves that will reduce consumption of firewood and now provide a smoke free kitchen. The two schools have started corresponding exchanging letters and photos and learning more about each other’s cultures and schools.
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Karate Club
- March 2010
The karate club has now been registered with the Kenyan Karate Federation (KKF). In August
last year, 3 visitors from the Spanish NGO, Tushirikiane initiated a school holiday
programme in Kakemer village, Teso. Students enjoyed karate, dance and football lessons.
However, the Karate was so successful that Tushrikiane committed to start a training school.
Currently, young children and adults have lessons every day on an open field next to a
church.
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Seed Distribution
- February 2010
Once again the Community Outreach distributed seed ahead of
the planting season. This time sorghum was chosen as it gives two
harvests from one planting. There were 4 distribution points in
Emuhaya district and 2 in North Teso, benefitting close to 5'000
farmers. The NGO's agricultural engineer again spoke at public
meetings and a handout in Kiswahili was distributed on optimal
planting methods and how to make compost, in order to
ensure the best possible harvest.
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