GACHIE SEWING PROJECT

Hello everyone! Sorry I have been so late to post this information, but some things have kept me very busy over the last months and I have been travelling a lot. This was one of the last projects of Elfu Bob: we funded this group of women in the slum of Gachie, on Red Hill Road, very near the UN. If somebody wants to visit the place it is right at the entrance of the village on the left handside, it is painted green. You can contact Sarah Maina, 0720548159. Also if you need some simple sewing job, like curtains or african outfits, you will help them a lot if you order from them. This is a self help organization started by women of Gachie to provide training in sewing skills to women who do not have any other source of income and helping them sustain their families by working in this small centre.

ELFU BOB contributed with several sewing machines. They were so happy about it that they were all dancing and singing as they were carrying the machines out of the car! This will help them expand a bit and allow them to take more trainees. Since I have been so late with this post, since our contribution another NGO also helped them with an embroidery machine, so they are slowly getting bigger. If you are around please don't hesitate to visit, it is really so close to the UN compound!
Thanks a lot to all those who have made this possible!

Text books for Boitang’are Secondary School

Boitang’are Secondary school in Igare, Bobasi constituency (Kisii area) was founded in 1971 as a community self-help project, a so-called Harambee school. Currently, most of the teachers are employed by the Kenyan Government but the school is still very much dependent on the community for all their other needs (including payment of the salary of three teachers). Apart from the local community, the school also receives support from the Boitang’are Old Students Association. This association was founded by a group of former students who started an ‘operation give back’ to the school that formed them.
One of the most pressing problems of the school is the lack of text books. The very few text books need to be shared among a large number of students, hampering their academic performance.
Elfu Bob relieved some of the pressure by stocking the school library with text books for all subjects, from Form 1 to Form 4.

Refugee programme Little Sisters of St. Francis

The Little Sisters of St. Francis are a congregation that first started in Uganda and has since spread all over East Africa. In their efforts to reach out to the poor and the needy, the sisters have amongst others set up a refugee programme in Kaserani, Nairobi. Through the programme refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia etc receive support in their efforts to deal with the hardships of living the life of a refugee in Nairobi. Apart from support in the form of food, clothes and school fees (refugee children do not benefit from the abolition of school fees for public primary schools) the sisters also offer practical classes to grown-ups, building skills that can help them to earn some income. Currently the programme offers classes in English, tailoring, computer and catering.
Elfu Bob supported the refugee programme of the joyous Little Sisters by buying a number of text books for the English class and an overlock machine and plenty of material (scissors, thread, needles, chalks, rulers etc.etc.) for the tailoring class.

Famine Relief in Ukambani

During the long dry season (December to April) in Kenya each year, many communities suffer from drought and some families face starvation. The situation has become worse recently, due in part to climate change, deforestation of key Kenyan watersheds and diversion of streams and rivers. In February 2006, Elfu Bob support went to the Kwa Mwaitu group, headed by Dan (a UN staff member) and Mary Malonza, to provide maize and beans to needy families in Katangi, Machakos District. Media focus of the drought centred on northeastern Kenya and government assistance to the Ukambani region was insufficient. The maize and beans went directly to twelve of the most needy families, benefiting approximately 96 individuals. This timely contribution of foodstuffs was enough to see the families through the worst of the drought until the long rains began. While this temporary measure was welcomed in Katangi, Kwa Mwaitu are looking to offer long-term support to the region, especially in finding ways to increase fresh water availability for agriculture during times of drought. Many thanks to all the Elfu Bobbers and Kwa Mwaitu who made this small intervention possible!

Koch FM - Community radio station

Koch FM is a project that started in the beginning of 2006 by a group from Korogocho (Nairobi’s third largest slum). The main goal for this group is to find ways of informing people about what is going on in their neighbourhood. The concept of Koch FM was inspired by similar projects abroad like Radio Favela in a slum of Belo Horizonte, a large city in Brazil. This radio station has won UN honours for fighting the drug trade and its advertising has helped education programs for the illiterate listeners. Elfu Bob has supported Koch FM with equipment like a sound mixer and a couple of microphones with stands and cables. Koch FM is still waiting to get the license to broadcast from the Kenyan government, but is surly on its way to success: they have recently been interviewed by NTV!

Open Hand Childrens' Home - Painting

Remember the posting about the visit to the Open Hand Childrens' Home in Kasarani to help with installation of rain gutters, water tanks and bunk beds?

The children of Open Hand have found the way so deep in the hearts of Elfu Bobsters that some of them went there again on 3 June, 2006 joined by some new Elfu Bob converts. The purpose was to help Alice, the manager, to paint the walls of the rooms ready for the dooming inspection. Paints and brushes were purchased with the additional funds provided by overseas Elfu Bob supporters.

While some took the work of painting very seriously, others were baby-sitting the children who were romping around with balloons. The result of this hard work was the three rooms painted in bright white and doors in blue. Again, hard work was rewarded with a nice lunch and warm chat with the new and old friends.

Elfu Bob for Dagolight medication

Dagolight is a community based organization in a slum area in Nairobi (Karen) set up by three women living in that part of town. Its main goal is to support 62 orphans and their caretakers with food, clothes, education and trainings to generate their own money.
The children are often sick, due to the conditions they live in. They need regular treatment, but lack the money to go to the clinic and to buy medication.
Next to the Dagolight center there is a small clinic with a nurse who is willing to treat the Dagolight orphans almost for free. Since there was a lack of medication, Elf Bob has arranged together with a Nairobi based pharmaceutical company to supply this clinic with the medicines most in need. Now the orphans can go to the clinic for their treatment and get the essential medicines for free.

By Sandra Bos

Open Hand Childrens' Home - visit by Elfu Bobbers

On Saturday the 15th of September, Open Hand Childrens' Home workers, kids and Elfu Bobbers got together at the orphanage in Kasarani in the north of Nairobi for a day of fun and smiles. Elfu Bobber Sandra and Open Hand coordinator Alice organized to have rain gutters, water tanks and bunk beds ready for installation. While some of us were busy getting dirty planting in the garden outside the home and digging a futile attempt at a drainage ditch, others worked on the most important task: preparing a delicious lunch for us all! The chefs donned their white caps and made sure that no one could complain of an empty belly afterward. Aside from completing all the work, thanks in part to the presence of some real fundis, nice converstations were had and new friends were made. Before the Elfu Bobbers had to leave, the children made everyone boogie with their interactive songs that taught non-locals the names of a few important body parts in Kiswahili.

Solar Power for Lusi Community children!

The Lusi Community Orphans Project is local organization near Kisumu that trains orphans in skills such as beekeeping, chicken and dairy farming and crafts. The project generates income from these activities, which is then passed back to the orphans in the form of food, clothing, educations grants and training.

In mid-2005, Elfu Bob supported the project through the purchase of solar panels and accessories to power a refrigeration unit. The fridge is used to store the milk that the project sells to neighbours, as well as vaccines for the chickens that the orphans raise.

Aside from keeping these products from spoiling, and spreading an environmental message, the solar powered fridge has been the talk of the surrounding villages. We hear that when the Lusi orphans first started selling the cold milk, the village elders thought that the children must have dug deep down in to the ground to place their milk churns in order to create such a cold drink! Income from milk sales and healthy chickens has also increased, making more money available to pay school fees for the children. If anyone is visiting the Kisumu vicinity, please stop by and have a nice cold glass of milk!

Primary school close to Njoro

Very early on a Saturday morning in May a few Elfu Bob members set off to Njoro where we had been in touch with a small, but growing community of formerly displaced persons. The primary school in the community could certainly use some attention, the black boards did not deserve to be called just that, most class rooms did not have doors, the roof of the school was not properly fixed, which was a pain at times of rain. As early as 9 o’clock we arrived in Nakuru where the Elfu Bob-ers met some of the people with whom we had been in touch. Together we did our shopping in one of Nakuru’s hardware stores, filling a truck with rain gutters, doors, water tanks, black boards, black board paint, ridges, hinges, locks and so on. Upon arrival at the school (by then it was early afternoon) we painted some of the blackboards while one of the parents had climbed on the roof of the school to install the ridges, thereby closing the roof and protecting the class rooms from the rain that started to come down later that same day.
(The picture shows one of the best blackboards the school had)