The road to Ashmansworth
What I do for my clients.
Electricity
12 years ago
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Friday, 8 January 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, 7 January 2010
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?
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
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
Watamu, June 2009
Monday, 4 January 2010
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!
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, 3 January 2010
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.
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.
Friday, 1 January 2010
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.
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?"
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.
Thursday, 31 December 2009
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.
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
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
Gordon Brown, 29 December 1989
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
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.
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.
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.
Monday, 28 December 2009
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!
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!
Friday, 25 December 2009
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!
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!
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
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
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!
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
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?
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?
Monday, 14 December 2009
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.
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.
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.
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