Friday, October 17, 2008
Group traveling to Kenya in October 2008
Five people are traveling to Kenya from October 23 until November 15 to work with Farmers Helping Farmers partner groups. Dr. Winston Johnston will be working with the Muchui Womens Group in Kiirua to support their crop diversification program. Ken Mellish will be working with the Othaya and Thubuku Dairy groups. Daniel Scothorn from Nova Scotia will be training the Othaya and Thubuku dairy groups on how to feed their cows for more milk production. Michael Whelton from New Brunswick will be assisting the Muchui Womens Group on their accounting practices. Teresa Mellish will be monitoring all groups.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Drip irrigation ensures Muchui women have kitchen gardens
What a change there has been in the kitchen gardens of the Muchui women. Despite the fact that the rest of the garden is yellow or brown , they each have a small area that is green with vegetables for their family use.
We saw kale, onions, and tomatoes being grown using the water from the drip irrigation tubes lying close ot the ground. The drip irrigation emits drops of water from holes placed every few inches where plants are strategically located to benefit from the water. The rest of the garden is very dry.
Ten years ago I visited this area in May and none of the women had kitchen gardens because it was so dry. I returned home to PEI at that time to plant my own kitchen garden and I knew I would work towards the Muchui women having their own kitchen garden for their families.
It is still very dry in this area but the drip irrgation technology is appropriate for them to grow kitchen gardens. Their families' diets are improved with the production of kale for theiur sukuma wiki.
Teresa Mellish
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
UPEI Nutrition Student Interns
Submitted by Colleen Walton
Doreen Pippy and Sharla Goodwin, both 3rd year nutrition students at the University of PEI, have embarked on their investigations to analyse the diet of the Ruuju Primary and Kirua Boys school students. They will compare the amounts of "protective", "energy" and "body building" foods consumed by the children to those amounts recommended by the Kenyan government who has adopted WHO recommendations. They will interview students and their mothers and will provide education sessions for the mothers, the school cooks and students. Their results will help Farmers Helping Farmers to work with the schools and the womens groups in their crop diversification efforts to introduce new crops and technologies to the area in an effort to improve the nutrition of the students.
Doreen Pippy and Sharla Goodwin, both 3rd year nutrition students at the University of PEI, have embarked on their investigations to analyse the diet of the Ruuju Primary and Kirua Boys school students. They will compare the amounts of "protective", "energy" and "body building" foods consumed by the children to those amounts recommended by the Kenyan government who has adopted WHO recommendations. They will interview students and their mothers and will provide education sessions for the mothers, the school cooks and students. Their results will help Farmers Helping Farmers to work with the schools and the womens groups in their crop diversification efforts to introduce new crops and technologies to the area in an effort to improve the nutrition of the students.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Martin Gikunda is getting married!
Yesterday we attended the pre-wedding party of Martin Gikunda and his fiancée Fetha Mukiri. The pre-wedding party is a fund raiser for the wedding which is to be held on August 23rd.
A similar event on PEI would be a community shower. The difference here is that the whole community is invited and are encouraged to make cash donations through the auctioning of yams, chickens, and plaques (with religious sayings) to be hung in your home.
Martin is the horticulturist with the Muchui Business Centre. Fetha is a teacher. Both Fetha and Martin have university degrees in agriculture.
Both Damaris and Salome assisted with the auctioning along with members of Martin’s church.
A similar event on PEI would be a community shower. The difference here is that the whole community is invited and are encouraged to make cash donations through the auctioning of yams, chickens, and plaques (with religious sayings) to be hung in your home.
Martin is the horticulturist with the Muchui Business Centre. Fetha is a teacher. Both Fetha and Martin have university degrees in agriculture.
Both Damaris and Salome assisted with the auctioning along with members of Martin’s church.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Eight Down and Five to Go!
Submitted by Patsy Dingwell
Carolyn and I are extremely pleased with the results of our visits to eight schools in Nyeri District. We now have a much clearer picture of their progress since twinning and their current and future needs.When we visited Muhuti Secondary we were treated to a dress rehearsal for their Traditional Dance competition. This is the first year that Muhuti girls have joined the dance 
troupe. On Friday the thirteenth, they will be performing in a provincial competition in Murkurwe-ini town - defending their championship! Mwati Primary School will also be performing as three time National champions! We are so impressed with the dedication of the teachers, many of whom will remain at the schools every night and alternate week ends. Administrators receive no or very little extra salary and generally they are the ones who will do week end shifts.
troupe. On Friday the thirteenth, they will be performing in a provincial competition in Murkurwe-ini town - defending their championship! Mwati Primary School will also be performing as three time National champions! We are so impressed with the dedication of the teachers, many of whom will remain at the schools every night and alternate week ends. Administrators receive no or very little extra salary and generally they are the ones who will do week end shifts.We have managed to collect all the information and have great photos of home and school life for our PEI students to prepare their presentations. We also visited three potential twin schools. Ithangi school is one of these schools. There, we were touched by the sight of orphans wearing special uniforms that were purchased by the GCI team in 2006. These uniforms were a different color (green and pink) and had Global Classroom Project embroidered on them. Ithangi School was started in 1983 and has 160 students. They have eight teachers, only five of whom are paid by the government; parents are paying a small wage for the other three teachers. They have no electricity and do not anticipate getting any soon as they are far from the electric grid. They have a small water tank and when it is empty the children fetch water from a river. When we asked Headmaster, Patrick Thumi, for his priorities, he was very clear that Ithangi needs more teachers and textbooks. They certainly recognize the value of education and keep it as their number one priority.
The Kenyan children and teachers continue to inspire us!
Ruuju Primary School
Submitted by Colleen Walton
Farmers Helping Farmers began working with the Ruuju Primary School in January 2006. Since that time the project committee, Damaris (Horticulturist) and Shaad have profoundly changed the school. Rain water collection, vegetable garden with drip irrigation, a small greenhouse, a maize storage bin and cook house now grace the property. This infrastructure, with the support of the parents and Damaris's careful control, all support the school lunch program. Student performance has improved both academically and in sport, and enrollment has increased as students from other schools join Ruuju so they can have a good lunch each day.
Ruuju Primary School has about 70 nursery students and 100 students in Standard (Grade) 1 and 86 in Standard 2 and 3. Each has a single teacher. The enrollment in the school has increased as a result of the lunch program, but the government has not seen to add buildings or teachers. The drop out rate is very high in the higher grades which could be expected with such a high student ratio. Damaris, the chair of the Womens Group is a Standard 1 teacher and is stressed at the fact that she is unable to put emphasis on the students having a difficult learning time.
A new CIDA funded project began in September 2007 with the Ruuju Womens Group. This Group is keen to work with Farmers Helping Farmers to expand the diversity of crops that they grow, technologies that they use, and learn about new crops better able to withstand drought. With climate change people are unable to rely on the rain that is the backbone of their food security; thus drought tolerant crops are critical to their lives. Production of other crops that can provide nutritious food for the family and generate cash can help the family be more sustainable and improve their meager standard of living.
Farmers Helping Farmers began working with the Ruuju Primary School in January 2006. Since that time the project committee, Damaris (Horticulturist) and Shaad have profoundly changed the school. Rain water collection, vegetable garden with drip irrigation, a small greenhouse, a maize storage bin and cook house now grace the property. This infrastructure, with the support of the parents and Damaris's careful control, all support the school lunch program. Student performance has improved both academically and in sport, and enrollment has increased as students from other schools join Ruuju so they can have a good lunch each day.
Ruuju Primary School has about 70 nursery students and 100 students in Standard (Grade) 1 and 86 in Standard 2 and 3. Each has a single teacher. The enrollment in the school has increased as a result of the lunch program, but the government has not seen to add buildings or teachers. The drop out rate is very high in the higher grades which could be expected with such a high student ratio. Damaris, the chair of the Womens Group is a Standard 1 teacher and is stressed at the fact that she is unable to put emphasis on the students having a difficult learning time.
A new CIDA funded project began in September 2007 with the Ruuju Womens Group. This Group is keen to work with Farmers Helping Farmers to expand the diversity of crops that they grow, technologies that they use, and learn about new crops better able to withstand drought. With climate change people are unable to rely on the rain that is the backbone of their food security; thus drought tolerant crops are critical to their lives. Production of other crops that can provide nutritious food for the family and generate cash can help the family be more sustainable and improve their meager standard of living.
Computerizing the financial records with the Ruuju Womens Group
Billy MacDonald (left) and Bobby Cameron worked today with Damaris Kagwiria, Horticulturist with the Ruuju Group, to begin computerizing their financial records. She had excellent manual financial records in her ledger but we are interested in having electronic records so that we can in Canada can understand the financial position of the project as well.
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