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