Some Adverse Circumstances, Some Healthy Projects

The weather in the Kenyan Rift Valley has not changed much in several months. The rainy season that was expected to end earlier in the year has not let up yet. Many people waited for the rain to ease before planting crops, trying to avoid losing them to flooding. Others took a chance and some crops are growing, some are not. But some crops will eventually need hot dry weather to ripen and dry out for harvesting. And until it dries out enough, we will not be able to finish preparing another field which has had nothing growing in it for over a month.

A lot of areas around the country have had severe flooding recently. There have been 70 or 80 deaths (there is a lot of disagreement about exact numbers) since the beginning of the year and many tens of thousands of people have been displaced. In Mogotio also, over 60 families were displaced in the December/January floods. They have since been living in UNHCR tents, partly because the areas they were in are still prone to flooding and partly because they were squatters and are not allowed to return to where they were. There is a lot of land in the area, unused and underused. But it is 'owned' by a Greek sisal farmer and a handful of other rich people. They are not known for handing over even very small amounts of land. Some of them don't even bother paying their employees most of the time.

We at Ribbon of Hope Self Help Group have had mixed luck during the prolonged rains. We planted an acre of maize and beans. The maize is doing fine, the beans not so good. We plan to harvest some of the beans while they are still green and use them straight away. It's unlikely that they will dry out enough to be harvested, dried and stored, so we have to cut our losses. The maize should be fine, especially if the rain stops, as expected, some time in June. But if the weather continues warm and wet, we could lose everything yet again. Other crops that we planted on smaller patches of ground may be threatened as well.

When it's too dry, at least we can irrigate. But when it's too wet, there's not much we can do. Instead of working on the crops in the last few days, we went to some more villages to assess orphans for the orphan and vulnerable children (OVC) programme that we are starting. But even then we were thwarted by the rain. We had walked quite a long way from the main road through Mogotio to an area called Sarambei when the rain started. We just had to sit for a couple of hours because the dirt tracks had turned to rivers of muddy water. Luckily, we were with some very hospitable people when the rain started, who plied us with tea until it cleared a bit.

All of the children we have seen, without exception, are in bad need of support. Almost all of their guardians seem to be able and willing to care for the children. But when a child is with someone who seems unsuitable, this creates quite a dilemma. When a guardian has a drink problem and seems totally oblivious to a young child's needs, that child is a lot more vulnerable than the ones who are with good carers, no matter how poor their carers are. We have almost reached our target of 20 or 21 children and we'll then have to decide how to approach each family. They will certainly all require different approaches, being dissimilar in many ways.

But some of our projects have been doing especially well. A small group of people started a rabbit breeding project with three rabbits less than two months ago. They now have 15 as two have given birth. In a few months, they should have a fine project and it will probably be split up so that each group member has their own small project. It's expensive to start off with, rabbits need good housing and other things, but it's not so expensive once it gets going. My only worry is that I have still not met a Kenyan who has eaten rabbit or who intends eating one. Apparently there is a market for rabbits but I've heard about markets before that just dried up as soon as you start trying to sell something. Perhaps I'm just too skeptical. Perhaps they will eat the rabbits if they can't sell them, they could do with the protein.

The same group also started a chicken project that was very slow to get going. I've mentioned the group before because they had a leader who seemed hell bent on making sure they never got anywhere. They got rid of him and since, the chicken project has picked up and most people in the group now have enough chickens to eat some eggs and sell the surplus. In fact, even the uncooperative former leader himself has a good flock of hens, thanks to the project. Bad weather conditions and disruptive people cause the most problems with the various projects we are involved in. But despite everything, some of the projects still produce good results, thankfully. Others will probably just take time. Many things take longer than expected here.

Displaced by Violence; Resettled by Violence

Many of the Kenyans who ended up in camps for internally displaced persons (IDP) are there because they supported or are seen to have supported Mwai Kibaki, the current president. However, Kibaki feels that it is intolerable that people should still be in IDP camps and so he announced a few weeks ago that they were all going to be resettled elsewhere.

Most people tried to stay where they were until they were sure the government was really going to pay them the pittance they are getting for resettlement, about 350 dollars. But they were told they would not get the money until they dismantled the temporary accommodation they have been living in for nearly two years. The amount of money they have been given will not buy them much, certainly not land. But some promises have been made about land, too.

Whether these promises will be kept and to how many people is not clear and may never be clear. But press coverage of IDP resettlements seem to be confined to the very discreet and peaceful events at the ironically named Eldoret Show Grounds. I don't know if the press was selective in what they covered but Kenyan TV coverage today included extremely violent 'resettlements' with riot police beating people with truncheons and firing tear gas on displaced people currently living in camps.

Recent coverage on the BBC claims there will be 'no forcible evictions', but today's events seem to contradict that claim. You can go around from village to village here in the Rift Valley and see the remains of houses and other buildings that have been raised to the ground, often burned down. Why would people who were displaced so violently return to the neighbours who tried and even succeeded in killing and maiming so many of them?

The government's response does not see reasonable, so I hope press coverage takes as much interest in the 'resettlement' programmes as they did in the original violence.

Self Reliance Doesn’t Protect Against Unreliable Leaders

We have built a bigger parabolic cooker and are now waiting for a suitably sunny day to try it out. Some areas around here get sun all the time but the parabolic cooker is not very mobile. So we just have to wait for suitable conditions. Meantime, one of the things we are concerned about is safety. For a start, the concentrated light reflected from the device is very hard on the eyes and could potentially damage users' eyesight. We can use sunglasses but there's no guarantee that others will do the same, especially as some of the people around will not even be using the device but could still be affected.

There is also the issue of safety from burns. Parabolics heat things to very high temperatures. Some of the models I've found online depict a cooking pot at about chest height. If this pot were to be turned over by accident, the user could receive dangerous burns. I would prefer a model where the pot is low and where you can move the parabola without moving the pot and vice versa. This should reduce the possible dangers. We discussed this problem with other people experimenting with parabolic cookers and they agreed. We resolved to suspend the pot from a line or large tripod, rather than trying to build a tripod inside the parabola.

One of the community support groups is so interested in solar cooking that they have asked for a workshop on making the cookers. We will be doing that in the next few weeks, once we have all the materials. The members of the support groups themselves need to bring the materials because there is very little funding available. But it is a good exercise to get them to source the materials as most of them should be cheap or even free. One of the advantages of solar cooking is increased sustainability and self reliance. Therefore, recycled materials are preferable to new materials. I suspect people here will be good at finding cheap and free materials!

The same people who have shown such interest in solar cookers also raised questions about home made, reusable sanitary pads. A friend kindly sent me some materials on how to make these. I also found various websites dedicated to this issue. Sanitary pads are so expensive here, compared to people's ability to buy them, that it is no wonder many never use them. This is a particular problem for young girls as they have no spending power at all. They often miss school for a few days every month, which is quite unnecessary. However, there are safety aspects relating to making reusable sanitary pads as well and I hope we can include resolutions to this problem as part of the project.

We're still trying to find out about getting people to produce briquettes from organic waste as a way of reducing use of wood and charcoal, which is expensive and in short supply. It's also time consuming to collect wood and make charcoal. We have plenty of instructions for the process but lack the devices that could mix the materials and compress the mixture into a suitably compact end product. We are in touch with people at Egerton University who may be able to help us. Ultimately, the process should be cheap and small scale, but as someone near here has already done some work on this area, we'd like to see that first.

We visited the local municipal dump to see what useful materials may be available there. Actually, there are many people in the dump, every day, picking up all the materials they can sell on for reuse. I think we need to spend more time finding out what reaches the dump, who is picking it up and selling it on, what materials never reaches the dump and what other recycling projects are currently taking place. There are lots of organisations here doing various things and few organisations seem to be aware of what others are doing. As we are trying to find tried and tested ways of reducing poverty and increasing self reliance, we need to know what others are doing in and around Nakuru. That is proving to be a difficult task!

There's a lot of talk about closing down the camps for internally displaced persons (IDP) which were set up as a result of the post election violence. It's all very well to get people to go back home but many don't wish to return to properties from which they were forcibly ejected. Many of the properties have been burned, looted and squatted by others. The government is giving many mixed messages about how much they will pay people to return home and what they will do for people who can't go back to where they were before. Also, the IDP camp in Nakuru consists of many small plots, all of which have been purchased by the residents. People have been there for nearly two years, they have made lives for themselves. They have set up kitchen gardens, shops, community groups and what not. The 'camp' is now a village in its own right and the current government plans seem like yet another forced eviction.

The support group that we are involved in at the IDP camp is interested in some of our projects and this area is in particular need of greater sustainability and self reliance. But people there are now wary of doing anything in an area that they may have to leave in the near future. There is even talk now about the next election and the possible displacement that may occur in the next few years. Far from trying to anticipate and prevent further politically motivated violence, politicians seem to be spending their time and energy planning their attack.

Painting Pots Black

This is not to stir up the long running dispute between the pots and the kettles. We're painting pots black so we can use them with the solar cookers we purchased during the week from Solar Cookers International. We've talked to people who work with, make and research solar devices and we've talked to those who want to buy them and use them. Now it's time to go out and demonstrate them and, hopefully, persuade people to part with the $6 or so that they need to invest.

Of course, people need to invest a little time and, god forbid, they need to embrace change, just a tiny bit of change! We can make ourselves some food over the weekend and decide on the best ways to demonstrate these devices. I'm looking forward to it but I'm also a bit apprehensive. After all, much of what I believe about development could be severely tested over the next week or so.

We will be working in and around Nakuru. My colleagues have been working here for some time and they have introduced me to various community support groups. Most of these groups have grown around the need to support people who are HIV positive, people who are directly affected by HIV and, particularly, those who are on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Some of the groups are very active, with volunteers making regular visits to those who need support of various kinds, who need to be taken to hospital, who are having problems affording school fees or rent and whatever. Many of the groups are already exploring ways of making some money, such as growing and selling fruit, vegetables, milk, eggs and the like. Others make things and sell them.

Solar cookers are a bit different from other activities these groups are involved in. If someone buys a solar cooker, they have the means of saving money they would spend on charcoal. They may save the time they spend collecting firewood. They can use the cookers to cook food, dry food and boil water, the last being particularly important for people who are HIV positive.

People who are HIV positive need to be very careful about how they live their lives, what they eat and drink, what dangers they may be exposing themselves to. Their immune system is damaged by HIV and, even though many are on treatment, they still have to be careful. It is hoped that one more way of pasteurising water will be of great help in reducing exposure to diarrhoea and other water borne diseases.

Today, my colleague and I went to a support group at the camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) just outside town. People there are just trying to get by, some doing well, some not so well. We were accompanied by a woman who works for an agency that gives microloans to help people set up small businesses. Hopefully, they will see the benefits of solar cooking and, if they can come up with the money, also buy some cookers. And maybe some of them will want to take things further and use the cookers to produce something they can cook and sell.

That's the hope, anyhow. I'll write up what happens here, even if it shatters my heartfelt beliefs!