Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Ezekiel's Wish List
In our last post, we mentioned that Ezekiel has a number of projects in mind that would improve the effectiveness of his feeding program. Last night we sat down with him to itemize and price these ideas, and we though we would share them with you:
Food: $300 per month
To recap, the food that Ezekiel provides (lunch each school day) costs around $300 per month for thirty children. The previous figure we listed of $250 was a rainy season cost; $300 is the cost during the dry season, so we will use this figure from now on, so as to err on the side of caution. On Christmas Eve we helped Ezekiel purchased two months' worth of food, and he has decided that it would be best to set aside a further four months' of funds to ensure food security for the next six months. This amounts to around $1800.
Outhouse: 110,000 KES, or around $1300 USD.
Ezekiel allows the children to use his family's toilet, which works for now, but it would obviously be preferable for the children to have their own toilet.
Kitchen: 40,000 KES, or around $500 USD.
The food is cooked under a open air, four post structure with a tin roof. Ezekiel would like to install a more permanent and sturdy kitchen structure with a chimney, to protect from the elements.
Tables and benches: 7,000 KES each, or around $100 USD.
The children currently sit on the floor to take their meals. Just six tables would be needed to allow the children to eat properly (five for seating and one for serving).
Water tower: 70,000 KES, or around $900 USD.
Water can be collected from the lake, and purified, or it can be collected from roof runoff via a system of gutters. Ezekiel has a small water container but a larger one would allow more water security, as a large amount of water could be collected during the rainy seasons.
Fence: 150,000 KES, or around $2,000 USD
Ezekiel would eventually like to install a fence around the orphan's dining area, to secure it and differentiate it from his family compound.
Farmhand: 6,000 KES per month, or around $100/month.
Ezekiel is often busy with his own business, so he would like to hire a permanent farmhand to ensure that the farm can be fully utilized. The farmhand would serve as a permanent cook as well.
Silo: $150 USD.
Ezekiel would like a grain silo for food storage, to protect from pests, so that he may purchase food in larger quantities. Currently he is only comfortable storing two months worth of food, in case of infestation or contamination. This would also allow him to stock up when food is cheap, and save money rather than being forced to buy food during the dry season, when it is far more expensive.
Secondary Education: 40,000 KES/year, or around $500/year.
It costs, on average, $500 per year to send one of these children to a secondary school, which is often away from home and thus requires boarding. Costs vary from school to school - if you are interested in sponsoring a child's secondary education, please notify us and we will provide you with more detailed information.
To date, we have raised around $3,400 for the children here. Some of this was spent on soccer balls and toys, so the remaining figure is something like $3,250, and as we mentioned, around $1,800 of that will be set aside for food security. This leaves around $1,450 to spend on Ezekiel's wish list. We will keep you all updated as we speak more with Ezekiel, and decide what project he believes is most important to the feeding program.
If you would like to sponsor one of the projects, please email us and we can provide you with more details. If you have any suggestions or queries, please email us right away - we may not reply for a few days, as we must go into Mbita to get internet access, but we will answer as soon as possible.
Ian and Ravi
Food: $300 per month
To recap, the food that Ezekiel provides (lunch each school day) costs around $300 per month for thirty children. The previous figure we listed of $250 was a rainy season cost; $300 is the cost during the dry season, so we will use this figure from now on, so as to err on the side of caution. On Christmas Eve we helped Ezekiel purchased two months' worth of food, and he has decided that it would be best to set aside a further four months' of funds to ensure food security for the next six months. This amounts to around $1800.
Outhouse: 110,000 KES, or around $1300 USD.
Ezekiel allows the children to use his family's toilet, which works for now, but it would obviously be preferable for the children to have their own toilet.
Kitchen: 40,000 KES, or around $500 USD.
The food is cooked under a open air, four post structure with a tin roof. Ezekiel would like to install a more permanent and sturdy kitchen structure with a chimney, to protect from the elements.
Tables and benches: 7,000 KES each, or around $100 USD.
The children currently sit on the floor to take their meals. Just six tables would be needed to allow the children to eat properly (five for seating and one for serving).
Water tower: 70,000 KES, or around $900 USD.
Water can be collected from the lake, and purified, or it can be collected from roof runoff via a system of gutters. Ezekiel has a small water container but a larger one would allow more water security, as a large amount of water could be collected during the rainy seasons.
Fence: 150,000 KES, or around $2,000 USD
Ezekiel would eventually like to install a fence around the orphan's dining area, to secure it and differentiate it from his family compound.
Farmhand: 6,000 KES per month, or around $100/month.
Ezekiel is often busy with his own business, so he would like to hire a permanent farmhand to ensure that the farm can be fully utilized. The farmhand would serve as a permanent cook as well.
Silo: $150 USD.
Ezekiel would like a grain silo for food storage, to protect from pests, so that he may purchase food in larger quantities. Currently he is only comfortable storing two months worth of food, in case of infestation or contamination. This would also allow him to stock up when food is cheap, and save money rather than being forced to buy food during the dry season, when it is far more expensive.
Secondary Education: 40,000 KES/year, or around $500/year.
It costs, on average, $500 per year to send one of these children to a secondary school, which is often away from home and thus requires boarding. Costs vary from school to school - if you are interested in sponsoring a child's secondary education, please notify us and we will provide you with more detailed information.
To date, we have raised around $3,400 for the children here. Some of this was spent on soccer balls and toys, so the remaining figure is something like $3,250, and as we mentioned, around $1,800 of that will be set aside for food security. This leaves around $1,450 to spend on Ezekiel's wish list. We will keep you all updated as we speak more with Ezekiel, and decide what project he believes is most important to the feeding program.
If you would like to sponsor one of the projects, please email us and we can provide you with more details. If you have any suggestions or queries, please email us right away - we may not reply for a few days, as we must go into Mbita to get internet access, but we will answer as soon as possible.
Ian and Ravi
Friday, December 24, 2010
Rusinga: First Impressions.
We are finally on Rusinga, after a very, very long journey from Cyprus - layovers in Cairo and Addis Ababa, the latter of which was an 18 hour stay; a few hours in Nairobi, scraping together some last minute items (soccer balls for the kiddos, cheap cell phones for ourselves, and cameras, as we both managed to break ours on the way to Africa); then a 12 hour country bus, a two hour matatu, and a half hour motorbike ride to Ezekiel's place.
Unfortunately we don't have any photos for you all yet, nor do we have time to write anything particularly substantial, but we just wanted to post something letting everyone know we have safely arrived, and to tell you about our first impressions.
Nairobi was a particularly stressful city, a condition that was amplified by our severe sleep deprivation. We hired a cab driver to guide us around for the day, which was not only affordable but a veritable lifesaver. He knew where to go to purchase the things we needed, showed us some local food joints, and even managed to squeeze in a trip to Nairobi National Park's animal orphanage.
Our journey to Rusinga was stressful as well, but Rusinga is a wonderfully peaceful place, and we have managed to settle in quite easily and quickly. We arrived at Ezekiel's home at around 8am yesterday, and he has provided more comfort than we could have imagined. Throughout the day we were fed generously, and through our conversations with Ezekiel we have learned much more about the current state of Friends of Rusinga. To recap, Ezekiel feeds lunch to around 30 orphans that attend a nearby school. He has also managed to find funding to send a handful of students to boarding schools for their secondary education. The orphans are fed in part with food grown on Ezekiel's property, but he must purchase other food to complement his yield. Now, especially, his costs are especially high, as it has been a particularly dry fall on Rusinga. He says they have not had substantial rainfall since August. Even so, it costs just 20,000 Kenyan Shillings to feed the children for a month. This is about $250 USD, or less than $10 per child.
Beyond this, Ezekiel has a number of projects that he hopes to complete in the near future. The children take their meals in a large structure on Ezekiel's property, but the structure has no seating, so the children must eat on the floor. Additionally, the structure's doors are in disrepair. The meals are cooked under a sheet of corrugated metal held up by four posts - this is fine for the dry season, but when it is rainy it is far preferable to have a closed structure with a chimney as a kitchen. Finally, the children currently use Ezekiel's family's toilet. Construction was begun recently on a toilet for the children exclusively, but it stopped because of a lack of funds. As the next few weeks pass, I am sure that Ezekiel and ourselves will discover other projects that could be completed, but Ezekiel says that these four are his priorities.
We have yet to go over the costs of these projects in detail, but it sounds like at least two of them could be funded with the money you have all donated to this cause. For instance, it took only $3000 to construct the structure in which the children take their meals, which is around 200 square feet, and another toilet down the road.
Our tentative plan is to set aside a good portion of the funds raised, perhaps half, for a few months' food security, and put whatever is left toward these construction projects. We will have more details of these plans as time passes, as well as photos, so keep an eye on the blog! And of course, we would love to be able to provide more aid for these children, so if you have any last minute Christmas gifts left, please consider donating to Friends of Rusinga!
Ian and Ravi
Unfortunately we don't have any photos for you all yet, nor do we have time to write anything particularly substantial, but we just wanted to post something letting everyone know we have safely arrived, and to tell you about our first impressions.
Nairobi was a particularly stressful city, a condition that was amplified by our severe sleep deprivation. We hired a cab driver to guide us around for the day, which was not only affordable but a veritable lifesaver. He knew where to go to purchase the things we needed, showed us some local food joints, and even managed to squeeze in a trip to Nairobi National Park's animal orphanage.
Our journey to Rusinga was stressful as well, but Rusinga is a wonderfully peaceful place, and we have managed to settle in quite easily and quickly. We arrived at Ezekiel's home at around 8am yesterday, and he has provided more comfort than we could have imagined. Throughout the day we were fed generously, and through our conversations with Ezekiel we have learned much more about the current state of Friends of Rusinga. To recap, Ezekiel feeds lunch to around 30 orphans that attend a nearby school. He has also managed to find funding to send a handful of students to boarding schools for their secondary education. The orphans are fed in part with food grown on Ezekiel's property, but he must purchase other food to complement his yield. Now, especially, his costs are especially high, as it has been a particularly dry fall on Rusinga. He says they have not had substantial rainfall since August. Even so, it costs just 20,000 Kenyan Shillings to feed the children for a month. This is about $250 USD, or less than $10 per child.
Beyond this, Ezekiel has a number of projects that he hopes to complete in the near future. The children take their meals in a large structure on Ezekiel's property, but the structure has no seating, so the children must eat on the floor. Additionally, the structure's doors are in disrepair. The meals are cooked under a sheet of corrugated metal held up by four posts - this is fine for the dry season, but when it is rainy it is far preferable to have a closed structure with a chimney as a kitchen. Finally, the children currently use Ezekiel's family's toilet. Construction was begun recently on a toilet for the children exclusively, but it stopped because of a lack of funds. As the next few weeks pass, I am sure that Ezekiel and ourselves will discover other projects that could be completed, but Ezekiel says that these four are his priorities.
We have yet to go over the costs of these projects in detail, but it sounds like at least two of them could be funded with the money you have all donated to this cause. For instance, it took only $3000 to construct the structure in which the children take their meals, which is around 200 square feet, and another toilet down the road.
Our tentative plan is to set aside a good portion of the funds raised, perhaps half, for a few months' food security, and put whatever is left toward these construction projects. We will have more details of these plans as time passes, as well as photos, so keep an eye on the blog! And of course, we would love to be able to provide more aid for these children, so if you have any last minute Christmas gifts left, please consider donating to Friends of Rusinga!
Ian and Ravi
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Fundraising Update!
Big news!! As of this afternoon, we have met our original fundraising goal of $3,000! We are so impressed with everyone's generosity and enthusiasm - thank you all so, so much for your contributions and kind wishes!
This doesn't mean the fundraising is over - Ravi and I aren't departing for Kenya for another three weeks, so please consider contributing if you haven't already. Or even if you HAVE already! You get to choose the amount of your donation, so it can be any number. Seriously! Any amount! Actually, Paypal takes thirty cents from each donation, so preferably not anything below that amount.
Again, Ravi and I will use some of the money raised (we're not sure how much, it depends on how much additional stuff we can fit in our packs) to purchase goods such as school supplies, used clothing, and toys, and the rest will go directly to Friends of Rusinga. On that note, if you have any ideas for items that we could bring to Rusinga, please let us know! You can contact us via email, Facebook, or just with a comment on this blog post. We're told that the best toys tend to be very simple items - Slinkys, bubbles, yo-yos, etc. - items that are less costly, and therefore less likely to cause jealously among children.
Thanks again to everyone who has contributed, and happy holidays!
Ian and Ravi
This doesn't mean the fundraising is over - Ravi and I aren't departing for Kenya for another three weeks, so please consider contributing if you haven't already. Or even if you HAVE already! You get to choose the amount of your donation, so it can be any number. Seriously! Any amount! Actually, Paypal takes thirty cents from each donation, so preferably not anything below that amount.
Again, Ravi and I will use some of the money raised (we're not sure how much, it depends on how much additional stuff we can fit in our packs) to purchase goods such as school supplies, used clothing, and toys, and the rest will go directly to Friends of Rusinga. On that note, if you have any ideas for items that we could bring to Rusinga, please let us know! You can contact us via email, Facebook, or just with a comment on this blog post. We're told that the best toys tend to be very simple items - Slinkys, bubbles, yo-yos, etc. - items that are less costly, and therefore less likely to cause jealously among children.
Thanks again to everyone who has contributed, and happy holidays!
Ian and Ravi
Monday, November 29, 2010
Rusinga Island
As December approaches, Ravi and I have been doing more and more research about Rusinga, and Kenya in general. We just wanted to share some of the more interesting things we've found with everyone -
Rusinga is a small island on the northeastern edge of Lake Victoria. The lake is shared by Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and the Kenyan border is the smallest of the three. It is the largest freshwater lake in Africa, the largest in the world except Lake Superior, and the source of the Nile. Rusinga is apparently a hotbed for paleontology, home to a plethora of Miocene and Pleistocene mammal fossils, including quite a few uncovered by Louis Leakey.
The folks at Lonely Planet say that Rusinga is "delightful. Tiny, languid and barely visited, it offers a glimpse of an older Africa; an Africa that moves to the gentle sway of the seasons rather than the ticking of a clock. Days easily merge into one here and hundreds of gentle adventures open up on the lightly wooded hills, along the soft sand beaches and in the smoky teashops. This is the sort of place where school children abandon their classes to come out and see you pass by, old women burst into song at your arrival and total strangers offer you a lift on the back of their bicycle." But this is certainly a romanticized, polished depiction of the island. What are things like for the locals?
As an island, Rusinga's economy is largely based on a substantial fishing industry. When the fishery is booming, things are wonderful - "Nearly everyone living on Rusinga plays a part in the fish supply chain that entails the catching, drying, storing, and selling of the fish," according to Kageno Worldwide. "However, when fishing is poor, the fishermen move on to other beaches, and the female residents and children endure long periods without income or food. During these periods, the females, some as young as 10 years old, are forced to prostitute themselves to the remaining fisherman in order to eat, turning the beach into an HIV/AIDS incubator where the alarming transmission rate is threatening to kill off the entire population." Rusinga has an HIV/AIDS rate of around 40%, compared with a national rate of around 6%. Kaswanga, a small village on Rusinga, is estimated by a local program to have a rate of 70-80%. If accurate, this percentage is the highest in the world.
Like much of Africa, Rusinga is largely neglected by the first world. The October 2006 post on the Friends of Rusinga site, which I encourage you all to read, concludes with an observation by a Nairobi shopkeeper - “There are many forgotten corners of Africa. A big step is for them to know that the rest of the world cares about them.” Even a small contribution can go a long way, so please consider helping to remind the children of Rusinga that the world cares about them this holiday season. The funds donated to our paypal account will be used in part to purchase school supplies and other items, and the remainder will go directly to Ezekiel Tito, the local organizer for Friends of Rusinga. Additionally, I encourage you all to check out the links below, and likewise consider contributing to those worthy causes.
http://www.ourchurch.com/member/k/kaswanga/
http://www.kageno.org/3-where-we-work/9-kenya
http://themeasuremag.com/articles/the-sorry-fame-of-rusinga-island
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Victoria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusinga_Island
Rusinga is a small island on the northeastern edge of Lake Victoria. The lake is shared by Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and the Kenyan border is the smallest of the three. It is the largest freshwater lake in Africa, the largest in the world except Lake Superior, and the source of the Nile. Rusinga is apparently a hotbed for paleontology, home to a plethora of Miocene and Pleistocene mammal fossils, including quite a few uncovered by Louis Leakey.
The folks at Lonely Planet say that Rusinga is "delightful. Tiny, languid and barely visited, it offers a glimpse of an older Africa; an Africa that moves to the gentle sway of the seasons rather than the ticking of a clock. Days easily merge into one here and hundreds of gentle adventures open up on the lightly wooded hills, along the soft sand beaches and in the smoky teashops. This is the sort of place where school children abandon their classes to come out and see you pass by, old women burst into song at your arrival and total strangers offer you a lift on the back of their bicycle." But this is certainly a romanticized, polished depiction of the island. What are things like for the locals?
As an island, Rusinga's economy is largely based on a substantial fishing industry. When the fishery is booming, things are wonderful - "Nearly everyone living on Rusinga plays a part in the fish supply chain that entails the catching, drying, storing, and selling of the fish," according to Kageno Worldwide. "However, when fishing is poor, the fishermen move on to other beaches, and the female residents and children endure long periods without income or food. During these periods, the females, some as young as 10 years old, are forced to prostitute themselves to the remaining fisherman in order to eat, turning the beach into an HIV/AIDS incubator where the alarming transmission rate is threatening to kill off the entire population." Rusinga has an HIV/AIDS rate of around 40%, compared with a national rate of around 6%. Kaswanga, a small village on Rusinga, is estimated by a local program to have a rate of 70-80%. If accurate, this percentage is the highest in the world.
Like much of Africa, Rusinga is largely neglected by the first world. The October 2006 post on the Friends of Rusinga site, which I encourage you all to read, concludes with an observation by a Nairobi shopkeeper - “There are many forgotten corners of Africa. A big step is for them to know that the rest of the world cares about them.” Even a small contribution can go a long way, so please consider helping to remind the children of Rusinga that the world cares about them this holiday season. The funds donated to our paypal account will be used in part to purchase school supplies and other items, and the remainder will go directly to Ezekiel Tito, the local organizer for Friends of Rusinga. Additionally, I encourage you all to check out the links below, and likewise consider contributing to those worthy causes.
http://www.ourchurch.com/member/k/kaswanga/
http://www.kageno.org/3-where-we-work/9-kenya
http://themeasuremag.com/articles/the-sorry-fame-of-rusinga-island
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Victoria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusinga_Island
Thursday, November 18, 2010
A Fundraising Update
We would like to send out a great big thank you to everyone who came out and supported Friends of Rusinga two weeks ago at Bombay Bicycle Club in San Antonio two weeks ago! The event was organized by Ravi's friends Alex Dodson and Satchie Leighton. Between the various raffle items and the date auction, the event managed to raise nearly 2,000 dollars for FoR! Thanks to everyone who came out and the other Trinity people involved who are too numerous to mention. Hopefully we can use this as a means of boosting our fundraising efforts to the next level so that we can make this a Christmas to remember in Rusinga, and hopefully enact change which lasts well beyond our departure!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Jambo! As an initial post, here is just a little bit of information about this journey. We plan on posting our photos and stories to this blog as often as possible while in Kenya, beginning in late December.
This winter, we are going to live on a remote island, Rusinga, in western Kenya, to work with a group called the Friends of Rusinga Orphans and Widows Foundation. Friends of Rusinga provides resources for the children of the island, including education funds and a steady, nutritious, locally grown diet.
We will be with Friends of Rusinga for around a month, teaching, farming, and helping out in any way that we can. In addition to this, we are hoping to support the Foundation by collecting money and school supplies to bring with us in December. Every little bit counts!!
We have created a Paypal account into which you may deposit funds electronically, or, if you happen to see one of us in person, cash or checks will be appreciated as well! We will use some of the money to purchase school supplies and other items for the children, and the remainder will be donated directly to the foundation.
School supplies are also welcome contributions (pencils, pens, notebooks), but please contact us before going on a spending spree, since we have limited luggage space.
You can learn more about Rusinga at the foundation's website:
http://www.friendsofrusinga.org/
This winter, we are going to live on a remote island, Rusinga, in western Kenya, to work with a group called the Friends of Rusinga Orphans and Widows Foundation. Friends of Rusinga provides resources for the children of the island, including education funds and a steady, nutritious, locally grown diet.
We will be with Friends of Rusinga for around a month, teaching, farming, and helping out in any way that we can. In addition to this, we are hoping to support the Foundation by collecting money and school supplies to bring with us in December. Every little bit counts!!
We have created a Paypal account into which you may deposit funds electronically, or, if you happen to see one of us in person, cash or checks will be appreciated as well! We will use some of the money to purchase school supplies and other items for the children, and the remainder will be donated directly to the foundation.
School supplies are also welcome contributions (pencils, pens, notebooks), but please contact us before going on a spending spree, since we have limited luggage space.
You can learn more about Rusinga at the foundation's website:
http://www.friendsofrusinga.org/
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