Peace has Broken Out!

As most of you will have heard, the two sides of the political dispute in
Kenya – PNU and ODM – have come to a power sharing agreement. There is to be a Prime Minister who will run most affairs of government, and all cabinet positions will be shared equally between the two sides. When Kofi Anan made this announcement around 4:30 PM, wild but peaceful celebrations began immediately in Kisumu. The town became a whistling, screaming, ululating, joyous riot of youth screaming up and down the streets on their bicycles, tuk-tuks, matatus and broken down vehicles. It is now 8:00PM and a raucous crowd of young people stretching for 100s of meters along the road passed by the compound where I am staying. They are singing the praises of their hero Raila Odinga. I am told that even in Central Province, the stronghold of the PNU, which would seem to have conceded considerable ground, people are celebrating. Peace has broken out in Kenya and we are all relieved and joyously celebrating.

Best to all,

Bob

The Shinners Womens Group

I went to visit the Shinners Womens Group here in Kisumu last week. I believe that I reported previously that the Shinners are a group of concerned middle class Kenyan women who struggle to assist orphans and widows residing in Abunga, the worst slum in Kisumu. I went with Karoline, Konilla and Elizabeth, three leaders of Shinners, into Abunga to meet some of the women and children whom they support. Nadine and I and some friends three years ago visited many of the same houses and people that I visited last week. One is a 86 year-old woman whose 7 sons have all died of AIDS. She is taking care of 28 children and grandchildren and even great grandchildren.

Among the grandchildren is Victor, now about 17 years old. When we met him three years ago, he had just graduated from primary school, first in his class and he had won the award for the best drummer in Kenya. With Darlene’s help we paid for part of his secondary school education. Unfortunately, he is currently out of school because he cannot scrape together the fees to continue. He is working to earn the money to go back.

His sister got pregnant for the first time at age 15 and now at 18 she has a second child. She completed only two years of schooling.

The house that the old lady lives in is the same as the one where she lived three years ago, even more run down, with even more holes in the roof, which leaks with every rain. There are so many children running around, and none of them attend school, even though primary education is supposedly free in Kenya. In truth, these children cannot afford school because there are fees levied at every school to supplement the small amount the government provides, and each child must have a uniform (1100 shillings), shoes (600 shillings) and notebooks and pencils (200 shillings).

There is no employment for people, especially since the violence. Men lay around idle, often spending the day drinking the indigenous brew. Women work by brewing and selling alcohol, or by making and selling chapattis.

We calculated that in a day, after meeting all their costs, they each earn about 60 shillings ($.85). And they have to devote the entire day to the task. The people must carry water long distances. The sewage just runs in open gutters between the houses, most of which are made of mud with leaky roofs and tilting walls. Anyone who has visited any slum in urban Africa has seen conditions like these, but they seem even worse in Abunga.

After visiting Abunga, we went to the Shinners office where the women distributed foodstuffs to a group of about 15 widows,
all of whom are caring for many children.
The dedication of the Shinners to assist these women was really heartwarming, and the gratitude of the widows was overwhelming.

Some were in tears they were so grateful and touched.

I asked the Shinners to give me an estimation of how they would spend 40,000/- ($600) and how they would spend 100,000/- ($1500). They said that the immediate need was to assist with food and that is how they would spend 40,000/-. The larger amount would be used for assisting the women to revive their small businesses that they lost during the recent violence. For example, one lost all her equipment to run her hair salon (cost 15,000/), another had her kiosk torn down (15,000), another needs start-up funds to sell chapattis (2,000/), another sells small items of food and needs to restock (2,000), etc.

Yesterday, I gave the Shinners 40,000/- ($600) from HEAL. Most of the funds came from the generosity of Darlene, whom the Shinners and the old lady remember well, and the rest from Nadine and me. The Shinners are most grateful.

- Bob

P.S. – One nice thing about supporting the Shinners is that their office and small nursery school that they run for the children is fully supported by a kind man from the Netherlands. So all other funds donated go directly to the children and widows in Abunga – not to infrastructure or any salaries.

Jim Adede (KIPE) – Possible Projects

Another brief report:  I met with Jim Adede today.  Jim is the Project Coordinator for KIPE (Kisumu Initiative for Positive Empowerment).  KIPE consists of about 200 core members plus another 600 casual members, most of whom are living with HIV/AIDS.  KIPE started under the name of YES Club back in 2002 as a post-test club to provide counseling and support for those who tested positive at our circumcision project, but it is open to HIV negative people as well.  Since it has been operating for nearly 6 years, many of the members are now on ARVs or in need of getting on treatment.  Most members are unemployed and very poor.  Many do not have the means to maintain proper nutrition and this is especially a problem for those on treatment, since taking the medication on an empty stomach causes nausea and reduces the effectiveness of the drugs. 

All the members have been adversely affected by the recent violence.  Those who had some small employment have lost their jobs.  Some have had their houses burned.  All are facing increased costs of food and other essentials. 

Jim and I discussed how HEAL might address some of KIPE’s needs.  He prioritized a list of possible projects.  The list with estimated costs is as follows:

1. Meals provided twice per week at KIPE for one month.  The point of this is to not only provide some nutritious food for the members, but to bring them together after the violence (many have dispersed and have not come back to KIPE in many weeks) to have a series of meetings to discuss new initiatives and means of supporting one another.  Members would be asked to contribute 10 shillings (15 cents) per meal, and the members would cook the food themselves.  A meal would cost about 40 shillings (64 cents). Cost: about $1,000.
   
   
2. Funds to those who lost their small businesses during the violence or those who want to start a small business.  This would be a grant of 1000 – 2000 shillings($15 – $30) to allow a person to buy sufficient stock to get going.  The kinds of businesses that could get (re)started are buying fish at the beaches and selling it in town, buying food to cook at workplaces and sell on a per meal basis, buying scissors and combs to start a streetside barber shop, buy a shoe shine kit to shine shoes on the street, buy some used clothes in bulk to sell by the piece, etc.  Cost: $1,000.  This could be a good fundraising activity: tell potential donors that they can revive someone’s livelihood for $30.
   
   
3. Chicken scheme.  Build a chicken coup at KIPE, buy 100 small chicks, raise them and sell them as broilers (six weeks from chick to the frying pan).  This would be a sustainable activity that would provide ongoing income for the members and could be expanded over time.  Cost: $1050.
   
   
4. Goat milk scheme.  Marisa is familiar with this.  Buy 5 small ewes and one billy goat, feed them, grow them, and milk them and sell the milk.  Would require building a shed, buying the goats and buying the feed  This would provide income for members and should be sustainable.  It looks economically viable.  Initial investment: about $4,000.

There are many other ideas, but those seem to be the most feasible and most attractive to the KIPE members.

Bob

IDPs at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church

I went to St. Stephen’s Anglican Church yesterday morning. St. Stephen’s is the center for receiving Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Nyanza. The night before, 7 busloads of people (all Luo, presumably) arrived at about 9:30PM. There were volunteers there ready to receive them – to register them, to feed them, to provide medical care to those who need it, and to provide some post-traumatic stress counseling. This effort, while led by the Red Cross and several different churches, is a true community effort, with Indians, muslims, and other non-Luo members of the community contributing.

The community coming together is one positive thing that has come out of the horrid events that have occurred since the announcement of the December 27 results. These IDP have many needs. Many are separated from their spouses or parents; many have not had much if anything to eat for days; some have been physically injured; all have been uprooted from places that they have lived for years and, in most cases decades. They are all traumatized, and you can see it on their faces, in their eyes. While there are many immediate needs, of great concern are the longer term implications of this large influx of people from other areas of Kenya.
The day after arriving in Kisumu, they are provided transport to their traditional home areas. But in many cases, they have not lived in these areas for decades. How will they be received in these communities? How will they be supported? Will the children – and many children are coming – be accommodated in the schools? How will they afford school fees, uniforms, school books, etc. Everyone is aware that conflicts are highly likely, and many of these people may be rejected, or at least not well supported in their home areas.

I am not sure that HEAL can hope to address these issues, but I thought you would like to be aware. Possibly we could support a few children to attend school, or provide some small funds to get a family started with a small business. For now, these IDP are being well taken care of (there are 40 buses expected tonight, and many people are preparing for their arrival). Perhaps HEAL can assist a few individuals to address their longer term challenges.

All the best,

Bob

Getting Started

I’ve been in Kisumu 4.5 days now and things are peaceful and people are trying to get back to their lives as they were before the violence, but a great many people have lost work. So there are even more unemployed and hungry people and young people wanting to go to school than previously. Inflation in the last one month has been 11%, so not only are people with very little money, but the cost of everything – basic foodstuffs – has gone up. In addition, there are a few hundred displaced people in the town. Kikuyu who want to get to their home areas but cannot afford bus fare are at the police grounds. There are several hundred Luo who have fled the Rift Valley and are camped at the Anglican Church grounds. There are reportedly hundreds more in Naivasha and other towns who want to get here, but have no transport. People here are sending old clothes and money and hiring lorries to bring people to Kisumu. Others are trying to provide transport from Kisumu to the people who have reached Kisumu and want to get to their rural home areas. Many of them have not lived in the area for two or three generations, so they don’t really have a place to go. I haven’t visited these camps, but I intend to this afternoon.

In other words, the need, as you are all aware, is great. The challenge is going to be to find ways to channel the funds we raise to organizations and individuals who will handle it properly and make sure it is effective.

It is great that Kurt is starting on creating a website and that John is putting together content for the site. Thank you all for your commitment to this. Please let me know what information you’d like from here. I’ll try to send photos soon.

All the best,

Bob