Education - different stokes for different genders?

I have just been listening to the  headmaster of Eton College on the radio, explaining the differences between boys and girls, when it comes to education.

Girls will sit down and apply themselves to work, whereas boys' minds will wander, they are restless and cannot sit still for too long.

There is a good  reason for this, an inbred reason, which will apply even more in developing countries.
Let's take, as an example, the Maasai. What do Maasai children traditionally do (if they are not attending school)?

Boys will be charged with looking after the flocks and herds. They will be constantly scanning the horizon for danger. They will be constantly gazing over their charges to look out for strays. They are not focused on anything close at hand. Their gaze is in the distance.

Girls will be at home, preparing food, making bead-work, looking after younger siblings, or whatever. They will be concentrating within their immediate environment.

Take these children and put them into a school environment where they are expected to sit at a desk and concentrate on their immediate environment - the chalk board, teacher, books.

Who is better equipped, due to the environment they are used to?

Well, it would appear that these activities that are carried out by the Maasai children today are inbred into all children, so even in a developed country, where children have been going to school for generations, these traits still come out. Boys will be looking into the distance, wanting (needing?) to move around, whereas girls can sit and concentrate on their immediate surroundings.

I accept that the above is a massive generalisation, but when I think about it, it seems to fit in with my experiences of child behaviour in class or other situation where sitting quietly is the requirement.

I will try to remember all this if/when we expand Twiga to include classrooms.

Gentle Drive to Kenya - Middle East to Kenya

Dreaming of (or maybe secretly planning) a 'gentle' drive from home in the UK, through Europe, Asia, and some of Africa to home in Kenya, a total of about 6,500 miles.

Since my last blog (not that long ago) in the subject of a fantasy[?] overland trip to Kisii from the UK, I couldn't find a way to get from Syria or Jordan to the west bank of the Suez or Red Sea. But now, I've found it!

So, the next part of my trip will be as follows. On leaving Turkey, I will travel south (as best I can) through Syria and Jordan, avoiding Israel like the plague.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Israel, but if I get any sort of stamp in my passport showing that I have been there, I will not get through some of the Moslem countries, apparently. So, I will avoid Israel like the plague as that is easier than avoiding passing through Moslem countries.

In Jordan, I will make for Aqaba, where I can then take a ferry to Nubeiba. In this way I avoid Israel and Palestine. The next trick is to cross either the Gulf of Suez or the Suez Canal.

Once over the canal, I will make my way down to Aswan and this is where, by all accounts, the next problem arises. It would appear that there is no unauthorised road crossing between Egypt and Sudan. This was certainly true for north-bound traffic in 2008 anyway. This is Egyptian law.

So, it is another ferry, from Aswan to Wadi Halfa, along the Nile. From there to Khartoum, then on to Al Qadarif.

Then it is in to Ethiopia, Gondar, Addis Abeba, Hawassa, Moyale and across the border into Kenya. An alternative route would be to go west of lake Abaya to Arba Minch, Omorate and across the border into Illeret on the NE shore of Lake Turkana.

There is an almost direct route to Nakuru, at which point I would consider myself "almost home", as it is an easy run from there through Kericho to Kisii.

So, apart from crossing the Suez (canal or gulf), the itinerary is sorted.

Any comments?

Kid Swap

In the aftermath of the case of the boys from Edlington, who beat and tortured two other boys, a youngster, Ben (13) from Cheshire, wrote to the Daily Mail, suggesting that these youth offenders need to be taught self-respect, regard for others, respect for authority and a sense of responsibility for their actions.

He continued that he attends a school with good facilities and considers himself lucky. He wants to learn. However unruly behaviour by others can spoil the lessons and a significant minority of pupils do not take a proper interest and can contribute to indiscipline.

Ben then says that he has heard of African children who are clamouring for an education but have inadequate facilities. He asks what they would give for an opportunity to attend and benefit from facilities that he enjoys? So he suggests an educational exchange.

"Why not let the unruly pupils at schools like mine experience poor facilities in developing countries? They would become more appreciative and respectful. And why not open the vacant places created by the exchange to the children from poor countries, the ones intent on learning?"

In principal, I am with you, Ben. The unruly kids would find themselves without computers, mobile phones, game consoles, running warm water, safe drinking water from the tap and even electricity - it would be a severe culture shock. As for African children in UK schools, they may find themselves out of their depth, but I am sure they would jump at the chance to attend a well equipped school. But, how long would they be in the UK? They would be loathe to return to their tin hut schools with slates and chalks.

And why should an African country have to cope with Britain's feral children? If a child is capable of beating another child in the UK, he would still be capable in Africa, although he may find that retribution is swift and sure.

I would love to see British kids going to rural Kenya to "see how the other half lives", but I would prefer it to be an education, rather than a punishment. Dealing with a violent child who is on the defensive because he is out of his comfort zone could be disastrous.

However, showing a child that there is life beyond the TV, games console and cell phone, where they can learn that bacon does not come from sheep, and the chicken on the plate was running around the yard earlier in the day, the vegetables for dinner were grown in the back yard, would be an education indeed.

Ben, I agree with your Dad. The exchange could be a good idea, but it will never happen.

Farming in kenya

I watched a very interesting programme this evening on BBC2, Jimmy’s Global Harvest. I hadn’t seen the previous episodes and this was the last one, and it focused on Kenya.

First stop was in Luanda where he visited two shambas growing maize. The first showed a poor crop which did not provide enough food to feed the farmer’s family. The second, smaller farm was not only growing enough to feed his family of 8, but had a surplus for sale.

The first farm was blighted with stem boring moth larvae, which eat the fibre of the maize plant, killing it. It also had striga weed growing among the maize plants. This weed is parasitical, seeking out the root of the maize plant and tapping it for nutrients.

So what did farmer 2 do that farmer 1 didn’t?

He used a low technology solution to combat the stem boring moth. He planted desmodium amongst his maize plants. Desmodium lets off a chemical that repels the stem borer moth. He also planted napier grass (or Uganda grass, elephant grass) which attracts and traps the moth.

Desmodium has a second use inasmuch as its roots give off a chemical that actually kills the roots of the striga weed.

So farmer 2 was producing far more maize than his neighbour.

The next stop was a banana research unit in Thika, run by Dr. Florence Wambugu.

The problem for banana growers is that to produce a new tree, farmers traditionally dig up a sucker from a main tree and transplant it. Unfortunately, he will also transplant any sickness and disease in the plant and in the soil.

Dr. Wambugu has developed a laboratory process that not only produces disease free plants, but also, she can produce 1,000 new trees from a single sucker plant. this technology is certainly NOT low tech, but it is not so complex that it could not be set up regionally.

Third stop was in Naivasha, where the control of red spider mite was the problem in the massive hot houses growing cut flowers for export. They have cut their pesticide spray by 50% by introducing a bug called phytoseiulus, which eats red spider mites, then themselves, leaving the plants virtually bug-free.

The programme continued with a visit to the north-east where camels are farmed for their milk and finally to Selengei were it was found that the Maasai red sheep has built up an immunity to wire worm, neither of which were relevant to our River Cottage plot in Kisii, or to farming in Nyanza in general.

But, we know farmers in our area who grow maize and have a problem with stem borers, and others with diseased banana trees, so a bit more research by KCIS, then an educational trip is called for, I guess.

Also posted on Tool-using Thing-maker

Gentle Drive to Kenya - Confused!

Dreaming of (or maybe secretly planning) a 'gentle' drive from home in the UK, through Europe, Asia, and some of Africa to home in Kenya, a total of about 6,500 miles.

I have been getting advice from all over to the effect that parts of and Ethiopia are safe/unsafe, certain areas should be avoided and that the best route is through the Sahara, etc.

Now I am so confused about where I can go, where I shouldn't go and where I should avoid like the plague, that there is now a broad band of red on my map, which effectively cuts off Kenya from the rest of Africa.

Will I ever find a way to Kenya that doesn't involve getting shot at, arrested, kidnapped, blown up ...?

The last information I received is that Ethiopia is OK, as long as I keep away from certain bits. And now, I am told that even in Kenya, the road from the border to Isiolo is dangerous as there are bandits in the area.

But I won't give up!

Gentle Drive to Kenya - First Brick Wall

Dreaming of (or maybe secretly planning) a 'gentle' drive from home in the UK, through Europe, Asia, and some of Africa to home in Kenya, a total of about 6,500 miles.

I asked for advice, ideas and comments on my proposed route, I have been told that parts of it are very dangerous. A stretch of a particular road is mined and in other areas, fundamentalists will take a pop at anything that moves - that would be me, then.

I have also been given certain alternatives that would take me through areas that I would have avoided - like the Sahara Desert, Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and northern Nigeria - oops!

So now, I am stuck between a rock and a hard place, or rather, a desert and a minefield.

Obviously, Dafur, Somalia and Eritrea are to be avoided - I didn't need advice on that - but I have since been told that Ethiopia is OK (at the moment) by someone who has just driven through there. But everything can change overnight. We could set off and by the time we get to sub-Saharan Africa, the whole political landscape could have changed for the better, or more probably, the worse.

Do I give up? Er, no, I don't do giving up, not without a fight, anyway. So, how about passing through France and Spain, getting the car over to Morocco and traversing that sand-pit called the Sahara. I didn't want to, but, if the eastern route is blocked ...

What would it involve? From Morocco, we would drive to Algeria and turn right (south) to Tamanrasset to Kano (Nigeria), then through Cameroon and CAR, DRC and Rwanda - plain sailing from there. We pass into Uganda and then into Kenya, quite close to our objective, Kisii. Simples, as any self-respecting, Russian meerkat would say.

Another possibility would be to retain the trans-Europe route, but instead of turning left at Suez, we carry on westerly through Egypt and Libya (is that such a good idea?)

Then turn left through Niger, Cameroon, etc., as above.

Frankly, driving through France and Spain sounds a lot less interesting than traversing Europe and Turkey, but if I got shot or blown up, the kids at the Twiga Centre would be very annoyed with me.

So, I am confused. I will sleep on it and be confused in the morning.

A Gentle Drive to Kenya - 1st Leg

Dreaming (or maybe secretly planning) of a gentle drive from home in the UK, through Europe, Asia, and some of Africa to home in Kenya, a total of about 6,500 miles.

This is the first leg of the journey, from the UK to the Turkish/Syrian border as dictated by GoogleEarth (2687 miles)

Unfortunately, GoogleEarth refuses to plan my route between the Syrian and Kenyan borders.

A Gentle Drive to Kenya - More Musings

Dreaming (or maybe secretly planning) of a gentle drive from home in the UK, through Europe, Asia, and some of Africa to home in Kenya, a total of about 6,500 miles.

Within my self-imposed budget of £3,000, I have so found the following diesel, automatic vehicles:

• Isuzu Bighorn (Trooper). 3.1 litre, very strong car, needs new tyres;
• Mitsubishi Pajero LWB, 2.8 litre, fine except it has not cylinder head;
• Nissan Mistral (Terrano) LWB, 2.7 litre. I like these, but apparently, they are not too strong, more of a soft-roader.
• Toyota Surf, 2.4 litre manual, fine except the turbo doesn't work, but I am sure it can be fixed cheaply. But is the 2.4 a little underpowered, and don't they pack up rather easily? (I do like these!!)

Looking on the Interweb, my personal choice, good HiLux king cabs appear to be rarer than rocking horse manure.

I don't know about the other bits of Africa that I will be travelling through, but Toyotas are very popular in Kenya, so spares and repairs would not be too much of a problem. But what about the rest of the trip?

Musings on A Gentle Drive to Kenya

Dreaming (or maybe secretly planning) of a gentle drive from home in the UK, through Europe, Asia, and some of Africa to home in Kenya, a total of about 6,500 miles.

I wonder how much the insurance will be?

After all, it is not your regular stroll down a country lane, is it?

From what I can gather, the route from Calais to Ankara is dual carriageway, apart from a stretch in Bulgaria. But once into Syria, it's all change.

And I need to find out the safest route between the Turkish border and the Kenyan border. Should I avoid Lebanon? Or Jordan, or Ethiopia?

Are there any other hotspots I should know about?HELP!

The intention is to visit charity projects en route to give them a bit of publicity. I hope that at least some of them can collect used deep fry oil that I can use as fuel.

What else will I need, apart from tents, cooking facilities? A co-driver, preferably someone with reasonable knowledge of the workings of a 4x4 vehicle would be good. Someone who can put up with a grumpy old man (me).

I suppose that, whatever vehicle I manage to acquire, it will need to be "modified" as well as having a full service before we set out. A sump guard springs to mind. An extra spare wheel wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

More musings, comments and maybe even some thought will follow - maybe.

If you have done this trip or something similar, or have any ideas, please let me know.

Bucket List

I was talking to a friend yesterday about my fantasy/project/dream to drive from my home in the UK to my "home" in Kenya. He thought I was mad, and he is probably not too far from the truth.

Then he said it was one of my "bucket list". My face must have shown my confusion so he explained that it is one of the things i want to do before I kick the bucket (wherever did that phrase come from?).

That got me thinking. Apart from this little overland jaunt through Europe, a corner of Asia and about half-way down Africa, I asked myself what else should be on my bucket list - things I want to do before I die?

Well, I want to see the residential bit of Twiga Children's Centre built and occupied, but I can think of little else I want to do, other than to continue to travel to Kisii on a regular basis, or maybe even settle there one day.

I would like to travel to the Far East, but it is not a burning passion, so that doesn't count.

OK, so maybe there are things I want to own before I die, but I can't think of anything at the moment.

So, either I am very boring (or easily pleased) or my life so far has been very fulfilling

Maybe you have something (or a list of somethings) you want to do before you die. Let me know in the comments.


Your ideas may inspire me.

More thoughts on ... A Gentle Drive to Kenya

A gentle drive from home in the UK, through Europe, Asia, and some of Africa to home in Kenya, a total of about 6,500 miles.

I slept on this and I am still enthusiastic, although I can see a myriad of problems. Still, it would be no fun without problems.

First off, I need to choose a vehicle. I have decided that I should not spend more than £3,000 (not that I have £3,000 at the moment), which limits the newness.
It needs to be 4WD with hi-lo and probably diff.lock
It needs to be diesel, as I would like to use bio-diesel which I would make on the way.
So what are the options?

• Toyota HiLux - very difficult to find a good one. they are too popular
• Toyota Surf - ditto for models with the 2.8 litre engine
• Toyota Landcruiser - too heavy, fuel consumption too high
• Isuzu Trooper - fuel consumption is high, but this is one strong vehicle
• Land Rover 110 - I am told they break easily and the diesels are underpowered
• Discovery - Hmmm, nice, but a good one is expensive
• Range Rover - thirsty
• Mitsubishi Pajero/Shogun - with the right engine, this could be the one.

The route

I reckon the first leg across Europe (Calais to Ankara) should take about 5 days, allowing 8 hours driving a day. Of course, with an enthusiastic co-pilot/navigator, this time could be halved and that knocks almost 3,000 miles off the total.

From there on, I do not know the state of roads etc. through Syria, Jordan or Israel to Egypt, across the Suez canal and down the west bank of the Red Sea, then to Aswan, Khartoum, Addis Ababa. But I am fairly sure that south of Addis, into Kenya, down to Marsabit the road is pretty awful, and I am not sure about the road to Nyeri and Nakuru either, but from there to Kericho and eventually Kisii, it is not too bad. Any advice on this would be appreciated.

Would it be better to go further west and into Uganda?

Duration? Well, if it takes 5 days to get to Ankara, which is less than half-way, and the roads deteriorate from there on, the second leg could take 10 to 15 days, assuming we hit no snags. Then there are the border crossing delays. I have read that these can take anything from 10 hours to 36 hours. Oh boy!

So, 25 days would be the target, from Highclere to Kisii. That's a long time to be in a vehicle.

We will need sponsorship, so NGOs and charities with ongoing projects on the route would need to be contacted. I will be doing a lot of filming on the journey, and could highlight work done.

We could do with a high-profile patron as well. Within a couple of miles of where I am sitting, I have Lord and Lady Carnarvon (Highclere Castle would be a fantastic starting point!), Andrew Lloyd Webber, Keith Chegwin, and there must be others. In the past Mick Jagger lived not far away and Rod Stewart nearly moved here, too.

There is a lot to think about, but I reckon it is feasible for an old(ish) mildly disabled, grumpy old man can do it.

Happy birthday, Blog

When I started this blog, I thought that blogging was going to be one of those fads that disappears within a few months.

Well, this is the 2nd anniversary of the Baba Mzungu blog, so I guess I was wrong. This is the 287th post on this blog although I also write on the KCIS blog (89 posts) and Tool-Using Thing-maker (92 posts).

I didn't know I had it in me.

Anyway, thank you to all those who are following the blog.

A Gentle Drive to Kenya?

The dream of a "gentle" drive from home in the UK, through Europe, Asia, and some of Africa to home in Kenya, a total of about 6,500 miles.

When I returned from South Africa, I wanted to go back. I wanted to drive the length of Africa. That was my dream.

Since my first visit to Kenya, I have dreamed of driving there one day - not in my present vehicle as I doubt it would get to Dover - but in a suitable conveyance, an old Landrover 110, for example.

Then, this Christmas, I got a Garmin GPS, into which I can enter Long/Lat. coordinates, so I did. I entered the coordinates for the Junction in Kisii and lo! A map popped up of the Junction in Kisii - brilliant.

So I told the Garmin to calculate the route from my home in the UK to Kisii, and it did, giving a distance of 6,497.2 miles. I love the .2 miles, how accurate is that? And I will arrive at 23:03 if I leave now. It doesn't tell me which day though, just the time.

So, could I do the trip, or will it remain a dream? Frankly, the logistics frighten me more than the trip itself, but then, I get nervous flying out to Kenya, and let's face it, when flying, virtually everything is done for me! It's not like I have to fly the plane. Actually, I wouldn't mind giving it a go, but I would need a navigator, unless I could fly low enough to pick out landmarks.

I had imagined getting sponsorship to cover the trip expenses and make some money for Twiga and KCIS, but people have done the whole of Africa, so a trip to Kenya is a bit tame really. Would I get sponsorship?

And then there's the vehicle. I don't have the funds to buy even the oldest and tattiest of 4x4s, let alone all the kit I would need en route.

I have just realised that I am being very negative, which is not allowed in my New Year's resolution.

So, keeping a positive frame of mind, of course I could do it, of course I can get a suitable vehicle, of course I can get sponsorship.

So, how long would it take, driving through Europe, around the eastern edge of the Mediterranean and then following the Nile (roughly)? 6,500 miles, 8 hours driving a day, at an average speed of ... 15? 20?

I reckon that driving every day, it would take about 54 days or nearly 8 weeks, almost 2 months.

I also reckon we would need about 800 gallons of fuel. At present UK prices, that alone would cost almost £1,000 - wow! That's two return trips to Nairobi by air (off-season, of course).

Next question, could I find someone who could put up with a grumpy old man to accompany me? How about a Kenyan wanting to return home from Europe? I might learn a bit more Swahili on the trip.

I have come to the conclusion that I don't have a clue about how to plan a trip like this, let alone have the ability to raise the money to put it into action.

So, if there is anyone reading this who has a fantasy of driving through Europe to Kenya, get in touch. Add a little reality to my dream.

Raising a Profile ... and Funds

I have just seen on Twitter that one of the people I follow promoted a fund to rehouse a couple of Vietnamese families, and within a few hours, quite a lot of money was raised.

Which got me thinking ...

What is the most pressing need at KCIS?

There are many, but I suppose that we need to build the planned dormitories so that we can offer a secure and adult-supervised home environment for a few of the Twiga Children who live alone with no adult.

Although these children are coping, more or less with help from us and other members of the community, they are not children - they are not leading the lives of children, even Kenyan children. they have no time to play or relax. Life is one relentless grind of cooking, washing, cleaning, growing food, as well as the more traditional child activities of school, homework and study.

When we build our home, these adult activities will be taken over by the resident staff (one paid "matron" and several volunteers).

In the diagram, the part in red exists already. It is made from traditional materials, which we intend to continue in building the two dormitories, to keep the cost down - we only need to buy cement, poles, steel sheet, windows and doors.

I am trying to get an estimate for quantities and costing for the materials and furniture, then I will have to start a big promotion. (if you want to pre-empt the promotion, [click here])

We have PayPal and MPesa accounts, so we can receive donations from anywhere.

All we need now is people to donate - a few bob each will soon add up to enough to build our home, won't it?

Driving in Kenya

The first thing anyone asks me is what side of the road Kenyans drive on.

Well ... I am no expert, but I have covered a few thousand kilometres on my various visits to Kenya, so here goes.

Officially, Kenya drives on the left, like the UK, but unlike the UK, this rule has conditions, like which side has the fewest potholes, least traffic, fewest pedestrians, cyclists, other obstructions. That is the side you (or at least, they) drive on. Oncoming traffic is not a consideration. Flash your headlights, sound your horn … and go!

On occasion, where the road is in a very bad state of repair, you may will be overtaken by matatus driving along the verge. Marvel at how they miss the pedestrians.

Traffic lights – these work the same way as in the UK, when they work at all, the difference being that no one takes any notice of them, even the Police, who may wave you on against a red light.

Note: Arm signals from the police are not the same as in the UK. For a start, the officer will rarely stand in the middle of the road, he values his life too much. So he will stand on the edge of the road and wave at you. Don’t wave back, just go. If it is raining, the police officer will be hampered by his umbrella, so take extra care. He may not be waving you on, but just clearing excess water from his umbrella.

Whilst on the subject of the police, when driving, you are likely to come across a lot of roadblocks, comprising a hand-written ‘STOP’ sign and then two metal strips with 6” spikes in the road. At night, they may be illuminated – or not.

These roadblocks are manned by several officers carrying AK47 assault rifles and are there to catch drivers without licences, un-roadworthy vehicles, etc. for which an on-the-spot bribe fine is levied. The offender is then allowed to go on his way.

You may find several roadblocks in the space of a couple of kilometres, especially towards the end of the month, just before pay day.

Direction indicators. Where these are fitted to a vehicle and working (which is not always the case), they are used to indicate that the vehicle is about to turn left or right – perfectly normal.

A slow vehicle may use them to indicate that it is/is not safe to overtake it (right indicator = not safe; left indicator = safe to pass). Don’t blindly take the driver’s word for it. He does not know how powerful your vehicle is, or how hard you are willing to gun it.

Rear lights. These are compulsory, which means that about 50% of vehicles have them with at least one bulb working. Matatu, motorcycle and bicycle drivers think they are exempt from having working rear lights, or brake lights, come to think of it.

So if you are thinking about driving at night, a word of advice - don’t!

Roundabouts. The rule is if you are on the roundabout, you have right of way. No one follows this rule. The unwritten rule is, if you are bigger/braver/suicidal, you have right of way.

Motorbikes. These are indestructible and the riders are immortal. They will be driven anywhere on the road to avoid actually having to stop.

Matatus. See motorbikes. Also, expect a matatu to stop in the middle of the road without warning in order to disgorge or pick up passengers. Have patience, the poor guy is only trying to make a living and he doesn’t care if his passengers are mown down when they get out. After all, they have already paid.

The Secret Plan To Freeze The World [?]

Originally posted by Bizarre news 13/01/2010

If you have been reading or watching any news at all in the last couple weeks you have noticed an unusual weather related trend to the stories. Record cold temperatures, record snow-falls, cold related deaths, frozen crops, severe weather.

This is odd when compared to what half of the climatologists [Ed: what about the other half?] in the world have been predicting for the last ten years, namely global warming. But it begins to make a bizarre sort of sense when you consider it in conjunction with the unexplained light display that occurred in the skies above Norway December of last year.

For days there was speculation as to what caused that bizarre spiral light in the sky, with no official explanation being given. Only after three days did the Russians come forward and claim that an experimental missile had been tested in the area and blew up in flight.

The media may have bought that story, but thinking people, or anybody who has ever seen pictures or video of exploding rockets, have their suspicions.

The story starts to make more sinister sense when you learn that a massive Partial Reflection Medium-Frequency Atmospheric Radar Facility is located in Ramfjordmoen, Norway, operated by European Incoherent Scatter Facility (EISCAT).

This facility is ostensibly for atmospheric research, but the United States' own High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (located in Alaska) has demonstrated that high energy beams shot into the upper atmosphere can literally "punch" holes in the protective layer surrounding the planet. Could such holes dramatically effect weather patterns around the world? Could it be a weather weapon disguised as benign research?

Certain international newspapers have finally picked up the story, demanding that the United States admit to its involvement and cease experimenting with the atmosphere and global weather patterns. Could we actually be on the brink of a new, man-made ice age?

Tired Ol' Bus

She may be old (1994), she may be tired, but she is a good ol' gal in the snow!

I am, of course talking about my old Mazda BongoWagon, or as I affectionately call her, Zola, the Zola Budd, or the Matatu.

During normal weather (UK normal weather, that is) she leaks rain over my legs, gives me a stiff neck from all the drafts that are let in due to windows not closing properly, she is underpowered and very thirsty.

But in the snow, she is a star! Why? well, in normal mode, she is a normal rear-wheel drive 8-seater people carrier. But, and this is a big but, I can select four-wheel drive at the flick of a lever - on the move if necessary.

The front wheels are then driven as well as the rear wheels, and as the power hits the front wheels, the hubs lock, so for one front wheel to spin, they both have to spin, and with the engine sitting between them, it is unlikely.

OK, so going around a bend on a non-slippery surface is not possible without scrubbing tyres (as both wheels are always spinning at the same speed), but on the slippery stuff, old Zola has dragged me up and down hills and always got me to where I want to go without any fuss, no tantrums, no threats to throw me into the nearest ditch.

But will I remember this when the snow has disappeared, the weather gets warmer and Zola dumps a load of rain on my lap, or will I curse her like I do every Summer?

Snow Madness

The speed limit in our village is 30 mph (48 k/hr), but we are quite used to vehicles passing through at 50mph, sometimes faster.

But the stupidity of drivers was really shown up today. The road is covered in frozen snow, so is very slippery. There is a major accident at the north end of the village as a result of the snow. But drivers, who have passed the accident, are still passing my house, at the south end of the village, at 40 to 50mph (64 - 80 k/hr).

Do these people think that they are invincible?

The Crisis of Government

I am not a political pundit. I am just an ordinary person who keeps an eye on what is going on in Westminster, and what the PM and his gang are doing.

So, last week, two former cabinet ministers mounted a coup to try to oust James Gordon brown from the office of Prime Minister, but had so little open support that they ended up with egg on their faces.

The dust hadn't even settled when a former General Secretary of the Labour party, Peter Watts published his autobiography, which is serialised in a major Sunday newspaper, and what is being divulged is shocking. If it can be believed, not only is the PM not well loved by the electorate, but he is disliked by the people he works with, his Government!

But Gordon has issued a statement to say that he is determined to remain in office, and if labour win the election later this year, he will serve another full term as Prime Minister.

Power for the sake of power, or does he still believe that he is the saviour of the country and the world?

I don't.

Icicles

Still a bit chilly here ...

More Pretty Snow

The road to Ashmansworth

What I do for my clients.

Bartering with Cell Phones

While I am in the UK, I make pleas for old cell phones that I can take out to Kenya. We sell them to raise money for KCIS and Twiga.

Also, in the past when I have been in Kenya, I had to carry two cell phones, an all-singing model that I use in the UK, which has all my contacts, email addresses etc., on it, and another, cheaper (and heavier model) with a local (Safaricom) SIM card for making calls in Kenya.

On my visit in November, I decided to get my UK model unlocked so that I could get away with carrying just one, but retaining all the features that I probably didn't need anyway.

We trotted off to the local phone unlocking shop and handed over my phone and another that also needed unlocking. Upon our return, the phone-unlocking man told me that he couldn't do either of them and had taken them to another shop, where they could do it for 200/- each.

I offered my old "Kenyan" cell phone as payment, as I would no longer need it. He refused. However, another of his clients, who was queueing up to get served asked me how much I wanted

I wanted 400/- but asked for 500. I thought that was a reasonable price for this rather old but smart phone.

400/- he countered and I accepted. It would, after all cover the cost of unlocking the other two phones. The deal was struck and I handed over my "Kenyan" cell phone, and recuperated my "UK" model, which was now unlocked.

I walked away, pleased as punch. Not only had I bartered, and got what I wanted, from a Kenyan, but I now only needed to carry one phone, which had all my data on it, and probably more importantly, a camera.

What I Had To Drive On ...

It finally happened - I was called out to a computer breakdown, in a little village in the back of beyond. This is one of the roads I had to travel on. Thankfully, the old matatu has selectable 4-wheel drive.

Having managed to get there and back, I braved it into town to top up food supplies. Below is the main road into town, while the temperature was hovering around 0°C

Pretty, isn't it?

What I Woke Up To ...

Back garden at 8:30

The "matatu". I won't be using this today - I hope!

The driveway

Pretty though, isn't it?

... and this is what I am dreaming about!
Watamu, June 2009

Finger Trick Still Puzzles ... So Does Eric Morcombe!

On my trip to Kenya in May 2009, I showed a simple finger trick to the neighbourhodd children, the Twiga children and anyone else who wanted to see it.

Simple, yes?

Apparently not! On my visit in November, there they all were, still trying to do it, most of them without success. So I was asked  time and again to do it again ... and again ... and ...

Funnily, girls seems to pick it up quicker than boys, regardless of age.

But children would come running up to me just so that I would show them how to do it again.

Another amusing "trick" I picked up from the Morcombe & Wise show was with a paper bag. the illusion is to throw an invisible ball into the air and catch it in a paper bag. As the "ball" hits the bag, it makes a sound ... naturally, but when the kids look in the bag, there is nothing there.

Of course, fans of Eric Morecambe must have seen this trick thousands of times. The illusionist clicks the fingers of the hand holding the bag to make the sound of something landing inside, but if done correctly (and I have had a lot of practice), it can keep children puzzled for a very long time.

It works well on aircraft if you find yourself sitting next to a fractious, impatient child - and the airline even provides the paper bag (the sick bag), but make sure it hasn't been used!

Communication in Kenya

I am not going to go on about the difference between UK English and Kenglish - I have already covered this.

No, this is a much greater problem for me. In the UK, I have rarely had  to communicate with anyone who is profoundly deaf. Most people have some sort of hearing aid here.

But in Kisii, we are regularly visited by Simon, a profoundly deaf 8 year-old. He is a smashing kid, with a ready, broad smile, but he cannot hear or talk, other then by using sign language. He has his own language, which is a mixture of Kenyan Sign language and a few signs of his own.

But the biggest problem for me is to remember that Simon expresses his feelings with facial exaggerated expressions. So, sometimes, he can look very angry, or very sad, which alarms me until I realise that he is using his face to communicate.

On the up-side, when he is happy (which is most of the time), he smiles broadly and makes "happy" sounds.

I found out on my last trip that simon contracted malaria when he was a baby. He was treated at hospital but became deaf as a result either of the disease or the treatment - I don't know which.

He does attend school occasionally, but can often be seen wandering along the river bank. If he then sees someone at home, he rushes up to see us, usually around meal times!

He will eat anything offered to him and will not stop until all plates are thoroughly empty.

Simon is usually very grubby and wears clothes which are bordering on rags. But one Sunday, he invited himself to lunch and he was ... clean! Not only was he clean but he was wearing clean clothes with hardly a tear or hole in them. He looked like a totally different person to the point that I did not immediately recognise him!

As far as we can make out, Simon has a full complement of parents, so, strictly speaking, does not fall into a category to be put on the Twiga register. maybe we should change our criteria to include children who are neglected due to a disability. This is not to say that Simon is neglected, but I am sure that he could be better looked after.

Unfortunately, kids with a disability can be ignored by their parents, who do not know what to do with them.

Is Christmas Over Yet?

The twelve days of Christmas have not passed yet, our decorations are still up, but Easter Eggs are already on the shelves in the stores.

Now, I may be mistaken, but I think that Easter Day is  April 4th - most of the eggs I have looked at have a sell by date before then!

What a sad old world we live in.

Just Look At That! ... What?

I have suffered from it, becoming blasé about my surroundings.

When I lived in Paris, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, Sacré Coeur, became everyday sights and soon, they became invisible.

And so it was for my associate in Kisii. We walked into the reception of Kisii Hotel and the first thing that struck me was the garden. It was just a canvas of colour, vibrant, eye-watering colour, lilacs, reds, crimsons, oranges and yellows. It was magnificent.

"Just look at that," I said to Vincent, pointing out of the window to this vista of bright colours.

"What?" he said. "What are you looking at?"

Then it dawned on me. He sees colours like this every day in Kisii. In fact, many places in Kenya are this colourful. I thought back to my train journey from Nairobi to Mombasa, with trees covered in flowers of all shades. Yes, Kenya is a colourful country.

But, getting back to the hotel, they have several gazebos set out on the lawns, many covered with colourful flowers, and I could imagine a British family, Mum and Dad sitting under the gazebo, sipping ice-cold Tuskers, watching their 2.4 children running around on the grass under the mature trees - paradise.

As we toured the hotel, I glanced out into the gardens once again. The gardeners were at work, raking the lawns, and I saw little piles of rubbish, all lilac, pink and crimson, and I thought of when i rake our lawn in the UK, with piles of moss and pine needles.

Kenya is a wonderful country ... but when will the colours become invisible to me? Never, I hope.

Heri Za Mwaka Mpya

I wish a 

Happy New Year

to all who follow my blogs, and to all who know me

the world over.

What goes around comes around!

"We end this year and indeed this decade with the worst deficit in our history, the worst deficit in Europe, simply as a result of measures taken by this government."

Gordon Brown, 29 December 1989

Kisii Town, What Is It Really Like?

I can really only look at my second home from a European perspective. But, first impressions for most people, Kenyan and non-Kenyan,  on visiting Kisii for the first time must be that Kisii is vibrant, bustling, busy, chaotic.

They would not be wrong. Kisii is all of these things. But it is more. It is big enough to boast two national supermarkets, Tusky and Nakumatt, as well as the many independent shops and stores.

It has a large open market which is open on Mondays and Wednesdays. It has the illegal street hawkers and fruit sellers that, for the tourist, offer a chance to buy anything from safety pins to local craftwork, kangas, as well as the freshest fruit you will eat anywhere.

It is blessed with several hotels. I have visited many of them and I would not hesitate to stay in any of those I have visited. They do range from the very basic (with very basic prices) to 5-star quality, but even the cheap hotels offer clean accommodation, good food and good service, although it can be a little slow - this is Kenya!

All-in-all, Kisii is what most Europeans would expect in an African town, cows and goats mingling with the people on the street, matatus, motorbike taxis, and quite a few private and commercial vehicles. But traffic jams are largely a thing of the past as the council has built a large bus park and matatus are banned from the town centre.

Kisii is situated in the highlands in the south-west corner of Kenya, not far from the Maasai Mara, Lake Victoria, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Kericho, Nakuru and the borders with Tanzania and Uganda. But it is not on the traditional tourist route, the A 104 Nairobi to Kisumu Road. Instead it is tucked on a quieter but well maintained road from Nairobi that runs through Narok and Bomet. Then close to Sotik, you take a left, pass through several typical Kenyan villages, such as  Nyansiongo and Keroka until you arrive in Kisii. This road, B3, runs through the hills and valleys and is most picturesque.

Talking to some tourists who have found Kisii almost by accident say that they left Nairobi to go to the Maasai Mara, then wanted to go on to Kisumu and the north. Rather than go back to Nairobi, they took a bus to Narok and then on to Kisii, which they found very suitable as somewhere to recuperate for a day or two before carrying on with their tour of Kenya.

Kisii is the centre for soapstone carving. The quarry at Tabaka is the only source of soapstone in Kenya and any Kenyan soapstone carvings for sale anywhere come from this quarry. There are several outlets in Kisii town where soapstone can be bought. You can also find Maasai bead and leather work for sale in Kisii, as well as more general souvenirs such as kangas.

When a white person (mzungu) walks through the town, he or she will be greeted with the call, "Mzungu! How are you?" Kids in particular will be attracted to a pale skin, there are so few in Kisii that white people are still a bit of a curiosity. Some braver kids will want to touch you, particularly your hair. They find it fascinating as, to them, it is soft compared to their tight, "wooly" hair.

So, what is Kisii really like?

It is typically African, dusty, chaotic, but also vibrant and busy. It is friendly. Europeans (wazungu) are always welcome in Kisii.

New Year's Resolutions

About this time last year, I made, and recorded on this blog, a couple of New Year's resolutions.

So how did I do? Did I keep them?

The first was that my glass should always be half-full rather than half-empty. Well, I have to say I think I have  been far more positive this year, and although I have had a couple of fits of depression, they have been less severe and much shorter than in the past.

As to the KCIS (and other) projects in Kenya, we have made good progress with the methane production and although it is not perfect, I am happy with what we have achieved.

And I have promoted a commercial project which will bring in a small but regular income in Kenya.

So, all in all, I haven't done so badly, two of last year's resolutions bore fruit!

I am not going to make any new ones for 2010, but will strive to keep those that I made a year ago.

Looking Back on 2009

On the whole, it has been a good year. I have been to Kenya twice, and I feel that we (that is, Kenyan Community Initiative Support or KCIS) have actually achieved something tangible.

On the first trip, in May, we cleared a small vegetable plot at the Twiga Centre, sowed some vegetable seed, with a view to supplying the most needy children with fresh vegetables all year round. OK, it didn't quite go according to plan - there is no one at the plot during the week, so if there is no rain, even for a couple of days, the plot dries out. This happened in June and we lost some of the seedlings. But we still had a fair few survivors, which as still growing and providing food.

What else did we achieve in May? Not a lot. We updated the register and put it on computer, which makes managing the files on the kids a bit easier - and we treated a couple of kids who had a ringworm infestation.

I also ended my relationship with my erstwhile girlfriend on the Coast. I got the impression that it was a give and take relationship. I did the giving and she ... well, you can guess the rest.

I am still fond of her and her kids. Children belonging to one party in a relationship can be considered excess baggage or a blessing. My two have long since flown the nest, so do not enter the equation. But my girlfriend had two and as far as I was concerned, they were a blessing. I am not saying that either was perfect, far from it, but they have really good characters - I miss them. Who knows? Maybe we'll get back together again. I sort of hope we will.

During the months between my first and second visits to Kisii, I worked on a final design for a methane generator. But it didn't matter how much work I put down on paper, I needed to build one and prove to myself that it would work.

So in November, that is exactly what we did. I didn't follow my latest design - that is for another day - but a simple anaerobic digester fed with cow slurry, and it worked. So I bought a table-top gas stove and that worked too. This is our most impressive achievement to date as it paves the way to providing free cooking fuel to the Twiga Centre as well as many rural Kenyans.

We built a swing at the Twiga Centre. This has been, by far, the most popular play equipment ever. In fact, if we had fitted it with headlights, the kids would be using it through the night.

But the swing was not all good news. It is the first time I have seen serious squabbles break out amongst the children. We are going to have to build some more play equipment on my next visit.

We planted more seed, all of which sprang up and looks very healthy. We also distributed seed to those children who wanted it and who had somewhere to plant it.

It is never good news when we have to take in more children, as it means that their families are no longer able to care for them. But, it is good to know that we are helping  them in a small way.

We took in three girls in November. This will help to balance up the boy to girl ratio. We were also able to strike off three children, two boys and a girl, as their widowed mother has finally received the legacy left to her by her deceased husband.

We also formalised the registration of all the children on the Twiga register. Each child had to get a form filled in by their closest relative or guardian, with enough detail for us to be able to help each child as an individual.

One of our new intake was born HIV+. This child is our only infected child. We had one last year, who was only three years old when she succumbed to her illness. I hope and pray that we will be able to hold on to our new little one for a lot longer.

While in Kisii, I thought it would be a good idea to revive the ailing business that I had started over a year ago. We did a whirlwind tour of some businesses and got some business, business that will bring in a regular income for a fair while. It is still in its infancy, but promises to be reasonably successful, by Kenyan standards, anyway.

Since my return to the UK, we have had a tentative offer of funding to start building the orphanage, good news indeed. We will not be housing every child on our register, only those who have no one to look after them. Eventually, we will take in more, those who are living with elderly relatives, for example. But we will still strive to keep family units together with other forms of support, if at all possible.

So that was 2009. What will happen in 2010? I can only guess, but we do have plans. We want to improve the anaerobic digester, and build more. We want to tie up with an organisation in Bungoma to look at ways that water hyacinth can be used. As I mentioned earlier, we want to build more play equipment, maybe a see-saw. And we want to start rainwater harvesting at the Twiga centre.

Not too challenging - I hope!

Waiting For News ... and Receiving It

Christmas ... a time for rejoicing, giving and receiving.

But at 8.00 this morning, as I logged onto the Internet, I was hit with the news from Kenya that the wife and two daughters of my good friend and business partner had been involved in a road accident on the way to church. They were accompanied by one of our Twiga children, Benta, who is living with them.

The four of them have been taken to hospital. That is all I know. So now I am waiting by my computer to receive news, praying that it was a minor accident resulting in nothing more than cuts, grazes and bruises.

What a way to spend Christmas morning.

But it is worse for my friend Vincent. It is his wife, they are his children, and even Benta, the Twiga child is one of the family.

He is at the hospital now, with his family, hopefully getting the news that no one has been seriously hurt.

Abigael, Faith, Yvonne, Benta, I am praying for you all. And I am sure that any reader to this sad blog will do the same.

Update

All are as well as can be expected having been spilled off a motorcycle taxi - nothing more than cuts, grazes and bruises.

Everyone is now back at home, and celebrating life!

It's That Time of Year Again

... when the supermarkets are full of people rushing around buying too much, when some kids get far too much in their Christmas stockings, and when I look around me and think of my friends in Kenya, struggling to make a living, struggling even to put food in the bellies of their children.

And a song comes to mind:

It's Christmas time
There's no need to be afraid
At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time

But say a prayer
Pray for the other ones
At Christmas time it's hard, but when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window
And it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there
Are the clanging chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life
(Oooh) Where nothing ever grows
No rain nor rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmas time at all

(Here's to you) raise a glass for everyone
(Here's to them) underneath that burning sun
Do they know it's Christmas time at all

Just think about the lyrics. Says it all, doesn't it?

So, Merry Christmas!

Krismasi Njema

Finding Uses for a Pest - Water Hyacinth

Water Hyacinth - its the scourge of the waterways of the warmer bits of the planet, including Kenya.

As I have posted in a previous blog, while I was in Kenya, we had a day trip to Bungoma - it should have been longer, but the car hire charges didn't allow us to stay - and I was amazed at what these people are doing with this weed.

But our visit was to advise them on the use of water hyacinth as a feed stock for a methane generator. Of course, any organic matter can be used, but some are easier to use than others.

The problem with water hyacinth is that it is a floating weed, so if it is put into an anaerobic digester untreated, it will just float. It is also full of water, being an aquatic plant.

It floats because, on the leaf stem, under the leaf, there is a bulb which is hollow and filled with gas (air?). These have to be burst or removed. Crushing the plant seems like a good idea. Then not only would these little gas bulbs be burst, but some of the water would be expelled as well.

So, to my mind, to make water hyacinth suitable for anaerobic digestion, it needs to be crushed and chopped up.  This can be done manually, but wouldn't it be good if we could devise a machine to do it? Or better still, to reduce costs, use or adapt an existing machine to do the job!

This has been on my mind since my visit to Bungoma, where I was shown a press to make briquettes for cooking. They now have three presses and I started imagining putting two of them together and adding some sort of press across the two of them which would crush the plants, bursting the bulbs and squeezing out excess water. Hopefully, I will soon be able to put ideas to paper.

While I was cogitating on the weed problem, I was contacted by someone in the USA who pointed me to a YouTube video. This showed how to prepare water hyacinth for human consumption. Apparently, it is very nutritious, and as there is an abundance in countries where there are food shortages (e.g. Kenya), I am now wondering if there is a way to use the plant as a regular food source. After all, there is a lake full of the stuff in SW Kenya - and I am sure it exists in other lakes and slow-running water as well.

Water hyacinth apparently makes a very good fodder for cattle. In Florida, USA, they spend millions on removing and destroying the weed. They also spend millions on cattle feed - well, there's a no-brainer!

If you have first-hand knowledge as to where water hyacinth is prevalent in Kenya, please let me know in the comments. In fact, if you have any experience in the use of water hyacinth for anything, please contact me.

Kenya Trip - Bungoma

During my stay in Kisii, I was asked by someone in the USA to travel to Bungoma (4 hours by road) to meet up with an organisation that is doing all sorts of research with water hyacinth, a water weed from South America that has found itself in the waterways of much of equatorial Africa.

The first thing we needed was a car, so we contacted the guy who had picked me up from Nairobi, Dennis. Of course he would hire me his car, a recent model Toyota Corolla. We negotiated a price (Ksh 3,000)and that was that.

Until it came to signing the contract. then Dennis decided that as the road was "not too good" he would prefer that I used one of his tougher cars, a Toyota Crown Mk II. It would cost me a further Ksh 500.

On the day in question, the car was to be delivered to the nearest road access we had at 7am. We were there, but the car wasn't. We phoned Dennis. his driver didn't have a phone, so Dennis picked us up and we searched for the car. We found it 100 metres down the road.

We followed Dennis to his office and garage where he filled the car with fuel and charged me Ksh 5,300. I was pretty sure that I was not going to use a tankful and spent the next half-hour wondering if I could syphon off the fuel I didn't use.

We were finally under way, on the road from Kisii to Kisumu. It is a switch-back of a road through the steep hills of the area, but it was in good condition and we made good time.

We passed through Kisumu without mishap, other than Vincent, who was navigating, only knew the matatu route, which took us through some of the more savoury parts of the town. But, eventually was cleared the town and started climbing out of the Lake Victoria basin, which is rather flat and uninteresting.

Two hours later, we were in Bungoma, another typically busy African town, full of bustle and nouise (and cattle). We met up with Salim and his colleagues in their office, where we exchanged ideas about whet weach organisation was doing and hoping to do.

We, that is Vincent and me, and Salim and his two colleagues went on a tour of their projects. At  this point, I was glad to have the larger car.

First stop was at Salim's house where he showed us a press, made mainly of wood, which is used to compress partially dried water hyacinth into briquettes which can be used as an alternative for charcoal for cooking. The press was impressive, and locally built, paid for by the organisation in the USA.

Next stop was the shamba of Salim's father. He had donated some of his land so that Salim could test composted hyacinth. The land was divided into small plots, the first being a control plot with no fertiliser. All the others had been enriched with water hyacinth mixed with various other ingredients. The tests were ongoing, but there was a marked difference between the enriched plots and the control.

We discussed the possible location of a anaerobic digester in the compound. This would use water hyacinth (possibly mixed with cow slurry to speed up the the anaerobic process), to see how efficient it would be for producing methane. There are issues with water hyacinth, which i will go into on another blog. However, it should be suitable with the correct treatment.

While we were at the shamba, Salim showed me another project of theirs, cooking stoves. That's nothing new, I thought, but these are made from mud (not clay) mixed with sawdust. These burners are hand-made, although at a casual glance, they look as if they came out of a mold - they were that good.

It was a good day and gave me much food for thought, like how best to treat water hyacinth to use it in an anaerobic digester.

We set off for home (Kisii) after a late lunch (see previous blog). By the time we arrived in Kisumu, it was dark, African dark. On the road out, I was constantly swerving to miss bicycles and motorbikes with no lights and it was a relief to get back into the countryside, where i only had to avoid bigger vehicles without lights.

Then we were hit by the thunderstorms. Anyone who has not experienced an African Equatorial thunderstorm has no idea what they are like. I hit a T-junction that I did not remember on the outbound journey and asked Vincent if we should turn left. He was preoccupied with the Swahili music blasting from the radio and nodded.

Then we were in the middle of a storm. I had to stop. I could not see the road ahead. But when the rain abated and we were on the move again, I was passing signs mentioning Kericho. This town is too far to the east. We had gone wrong.

Vincent could not believe it and instructed me to do a U-turn. He was now concentrating fully, looking for anything he might recognise. He didn't find anything!

We continued into the countryside, caught up with the storm, stopped and after it had passed, continued on our way to ... wherever.

We passed a couple of lads and stopped to ask directions. As their luck would have it, we would be passing their front door on the way back to Kisii, so we gave them a lift.

The pointed out the road we needed when we dropped them off in the middle of a small, dark village, and we continued on ... and on ... and on.

We passed a Police checkpoint at the entrance to another small, dark village and started to climb. After about 5 km, Vincent thought that we should have turned right by the checkpoint, so we did another U-turn. We were running low on fuel so we coasted back down the hill for 5 kms.

What a waste of time! The policeman sent us back from whence we had come, back up the hill. But at the top, Vincent said that the lights to the right were Kisii, a reasonable assumption as it is the only large town in the area.

We found our right turn and Vincent brightened up. He was starting to recognise things. I was still worried as the fuel warning light had been on for a long time - and I was running out of cigarettes!

But, we made it. We found a kiosk open and I bought a very expensive packet of ciggies.

The next problem was what to do with the car. In Kenya, you do not just park a car at the side of the road if you want to keep the wheels. We went to the nearest hotel to the house. Ksh 250 for the night. We phoned Dennis who told us to go to his house and he would drop us home, where we finally arrived at 23:30.

Dennis was disappointed that the Toyota was almost empty - that was his excess profit gone, but Vincent and I were very pleased with the trip and could even laugh about getting lost in the wilds to the east of Kisii.

Abuse!

I am astounded at how local workers for major charities are sometimes treated. As far as I can work out, there is a fixed pay scale for local people working for charities and NGOs, but many don't get anywhere near this, and some don't get paid at all.

I have been told of one case where someone worked for a NGO for over three years and has never received a penny.

The NGO is making placating noises but they are not paying up.

Now, I believe that it is often not the fault of the NGO head office, usually outside of Kenya, but of the local "management", who cream off the funding sent to them for their own use, leaving the workers on the ground with little or no money and with a shortfall of funds for a given project.

In the past, KCIS has been asked by a charity in the USA to "check out " the credentials of a group that wanted to affiliate and thereby receive funds. We investigated and found that the group, which was supposed to be fostering orphans didn't have a single child in their care, despite claims that they were looking after several children and consequently, did not receive any funding.

But all too often, funds that are supposed to be going to solve a problem, or to pay the ground workers, never reach their intended recipients, but the local managers get rich (relatively), build new houses, buy cars - it is all too obvious if only people would look and see and investigate.

But then, if the powers that be in the country are "at it", then why shouldn't those closer to the ground get their snout in the trough as well?

Kenya Trip - Clean Drinking Water

Apart from a shortage of food, one of the big problems in Kenya, indeed Africa, is the lack of clean water to drink.

I have seen a few "gadgets" that allow people, particularly children, to drink dirty water through a special straw that filters the water instantly. I have seen others that the drinker fills with water and shakes, producing clean, clear water. But, will these ever get down to the grass roots? Who will pay for these implements?

SODIS is a means of purifying water using the UV rays of the sun. When a 1½ litre plastic (PET) bottle is filled with water and let in the sun for 8 hours, anything living in the water will be killed. No bugs, no germs, no live eggs.

So, we have started to show this to the children at the Twiga Centre. Now, they each have a bottle or two at the  centre, which they fill from the borehole and leave on the corrugated steel roof during the week. The following weekend, when they return, they can run around and then have a drink.

We are now encouraging them to do the same at home with harvested rainwater, so that they are sure the water is safe (they drink "raw" rainwater and sometimes pick up a tummy bug).

A small change in their routines, but, hopefully a big change in their health.

Kenya Trip - Tilapia

I have looked up tilapia, or Nile Perch on the Interweb, with a view to possibly breeding them in still waters for food, and also as a means to reduce mosquito larvae (tilapia love mosquito larvae).

But I had never eaten one, although they are common enough, being sold raw or ready-cooked in markets, on the roadside ... they are the East African MacDonald's.

A couple of weeks ago, I travelled to Bungoma to meet some people working on ways to use water hyacinth, which is a ... well, that's another blog, isn't it?

After our meeting, we were invited to a late lunch at a nice restaurant in Bungoma town. As it was pouring with rain, we dashed from the car into the building, but i had left my reading glasses on the dashboard. So when it came to reading the menu, I couldn't and relied on Vincent, my associate and good friend to order for me.

Vincent and one of our hosts were served first and I was horrified to see what was on their plates - a large fish, head to tail included, accompanied by a mound of ugali.

Then our other host was served the same and my heart sank. I don't eat fish as a general rule, and I am not too fond of ugali, especially in the quantities that Kenyans seem to eat it!

My plate arrived, with complete fish and ... chips! The waiter also brought me a spoon and fork, which I declined.

So there was nothing to do but tackle this monstrosity on my plate. I watched my companions to see how they tackled it. It looked easy enough, so I gave it a try. Pinching the skin between two fingers and my thumb, I felt the flesh come away from the skeleton. I gingerly put it to my mouth. It was delicious. No, it was better than that.

On the way home, I mentioned to Vincent that I rarely eat fish, but that I have really enjoyed the tilapia, and a couple of days later, for dinner, it was served again.

On my return to the UK, I was doing the weekly shop in a big shop starting with "T", and as I passed the fresh fish counter, what did I see? Fillets of tilapia. To be sure, it was not Kenyan tilapia. This was from Jamaica. But I bought two fillets anyway, and yes, it was just as good.

Kenya Trip - Methane

Soon after arriving in Kisii, I could be seen rummaging through the Kisii markets and street traders for bits to (finally) build an anaerobic digester, to produce methane, which i believe can be used as a cooking fuel, amongst other things.

I have ranted on about finding a sensible alternative to wood or charcoal for cooking and stating that methane is the best for most people in rural areas, so, I will not go into our reasons again - just yet.

The first component needed is, of course, a large gas-tight container. a 45 gallon oil drum is fine. At Ksh 2,500, it is not too expensive, but as a pale-skinned potential client, the price had risen inexplicably, but I am not a tourist and got the price back down again.

With a bag full of bits, mainly water plumbing fitments, I imagined that I could get the digester working. So we set off for the site and started to build.

Unfortunately, not all the bits fitted each other, other bits failed and yet others had the wrong thread (the hazard of buying in a market), but eventually, we had a sealed drum with an outlet with a gas-tight tap on it.

We loaded it with fresh slurry from the cow shed next door. Getting it through the standard 2" hole in the top of the oil drum was a trial - and very smelly - but we made a funnel from an old plastic container, which made the job easier. We topped up with rotted cow dung, mixed well and cooked at about 35C, the heat provided by the sun, of course.

According to all the reports I have read, an anaerobic digester takes about a week before it starts to produce methane, but maybe they didn't have the advantage of equatorial sun.

Being impatient, we could not wait the allotted week and tried out the gas that was being produced within a couple of days. It was not methane, or at least, it did not burn. We released all the gas out of the drum, hoping that we were releasing any oxygen, leaving only the product of the digestion process.

The next day was a success. The gas produced a flame!

My Trip to Kenya - Arrival

Although I have posted a couple of blogs about my latest trip, I will now blog in detail!

I arrived at JKIA early on Thursday 12th November and was met by Vincent, who had hired a taxi in Kisii to take us back. We had negotiated the price beforehand (Ksh 7,500), so there were no nasty surprises in store - or - but this is Kenya.

The driver, Dennis, drove out of the airport and got us onto the Uhuru Highway, where we stopped for breakfast. It was agreed that, as Dennis had driven all night, I would take over and drive some of the way to Kisii, so I took over at this point.

The car was a recent Toyota Corolla (naturally! Are there any other cars in Kenya?) and a pleasure to drive until we hill an uphill. It was automatic, but there were so many protective mats on the floor that the kick-down couldn't work, so we crawled up the hills, being overtaken by overladen, clapped-out lorries and matatus that I had overtaken on the flat.

We crossed the Rift Valley, passing through Narok and Bomet, where I stopped. Dennis took over again and we made it to Kisii well before dark.

Then, Dennis told me that the agreed price was leaving him out of pocket and he needed another Ksh. 1,000 - naturally. I paid.

At the house, we got the greetings and present giving over, and I could relax, which was just as well as Vincent had arranged our first appointment for 8:30 the following morning.

I slept well and was ready for anything the following morning. The meeting went very well and I received an email to say that funding had come through for a particular project. We collected the money from the bank and planned our trip to Bungoma. We needed a car, so we went back to Dennis and he agreed to hire me the Corolla for Ksh 3,000. but more of this later.

Anecdotes from Kisii

I like Bob Marley, well, most of his stuff, anyway, so I brought along a few tracks on my PC to keep me amused.

I didn't reckon on Josephat (6 years) being totally in awe of the great Rasta. It is amusing, listening to this little Kenyan child, who speaks no English, singing in a Jamaican accent, "No Woman, no cry" and Buffalo Soldier".

He also loves Michael Jackson, especially "Thriller", although if any Michael Jackson is shown on TV, he immediately shouts, "Micheal Jaskshon, Michael Jackshon!"

Talking of TV, I thought I wouldn't miss the junk fed to us in the UK, but, it is prime viewing compared with some of the stuff broadcast in Kenya, which seems to comprise mainly of Mexican soaps, very old US cartoons and the odd US CSI, sprinkled with a few really good Kenyan programmes, such as Inspekta Mwala.

Mind you, Saturday morning Kids TV is, in part Kenyan, and despite my 59 years, I find it quite entertaining. So it would seem that Kenyans can produce really good TV. It is just a pity they don't produce more.

Methane Project

We should be reaching the final phase of our project to build a cheap anaerobic digester today.

We have the actual digester producing a gas of some sort, which I guess is methane, as it is flammable. Today, we connect it up to a calor gas table-top stove and we will see what happens.

We have been approached by an organisation in Bungoma that is looking for uses for the infernal menace, water hyacinth, which they harvest from Lake Victoria at Kisumu. So far, they are producing "charcoal" briquettes, compost, fertiliser and now they want to see if it will produce methane.

From what I can find out, it will, but due to the high water and gas content of the plant, it has to be crushed, pressed and at least partially dried, otherwise it will just float at the top of the digester and not rot down.

A bit more complicated than using slurry, but there is plenty of water hyacinth, which is a menace to fishing in Lake Victoria, so if we can find uses for it, so much the better. It is just a pity that it is not edible!

Internet in Kenya

As my reader may be aware, we have had a broadband connection problem since I arrived in Kenya. We had had a telephone line and broadband installed not too long ago, but as the cables are copper and unprotected, someone stole a length of cable along the road. It took Telkom 10 days to find the fault and it still hasn't been resolved. In fact since the problem occurred, more cable has been stolen (it makes very good washing line!).

Telkom have been sort of helpful - they have lent us a dongle whcih we have to charge up. But it is only offering a maximum speed of 236kbps, as against the Safaricom dongle we borrowed, which boasted 7.2 Mbps - big difference!

Oh how I miss my "no limit, flat rate" account at home!

Of course, as the dongle connection is not flat rate, we are being very careful  about how long we are connected. This means that apart from emails, we are doing little via the Internet. We pass a comment ot two on Twitter, just to let the world know we are still alive!

Oh well, I suppose we ought to be thankful for any sort of connection.