Medical Supplies Delivered

Today was a big day, medical supplies were distributed to 10 different dispensaries in Kenya and to two hospitals.
(picture of medical supply delivery and below is of supplies being packed for dispersement)

I had goat and toast for lunch. Not bad, but I hope I will not be forced to eat it every day . . . . I will be visiting the girls home in Limburu this weekend. 82 orphans live there. A friend of mine is stopping by tomorrow. Her name is Megan and has an interesting story of her journey to help the people of Kenya. Her blog is http://www.megangoestokenya.blogspot.com/

The Tana River flows only in Kenya, means the West Kili side has no river, we need to collect runoff (rain). Runoff collection is quintessential in providing water for the people.

I asked Nahashon to setup a bank account so people could send support for these orphans. They could use some financial support. It would be great if people could help support Engineers Without Borders as well- web page: http://www.ewb-oc.org/. You will find the description about our EWB project in Endana/Kenya there. (photo of Nahashon with orphans)




OK, that’s it for now.

Michael

This week update: Peter Kamweru (Kenya Coordinator) and Nahashon Kamau Mbiu (Health Services Coordinator), both working with EastAfricaPartnership (www.eastafricapartnership.org) picked me up a week ago (Tuesday 1/18th) from the Nairobi airport. My accommodation is about 35 km northwest of Nairobi close to Limuru. We had several meetings with one of the Ministers of Parliament and two meetings with the vice president of Kenya. However, we still did not get the memorandum of understanding signed. We will continue to discuss the issue with the Kenyan Government. Next week, we will go to Arusha/Tanzania and I am really keen on getting out in the field and see at what stage the cooperative is in the region on the west side of Mt. Kilimanjaro. During the last week, I have been involved sorting through containers of medical equipment and allocating the items to 10 different dispensaries which are supported by EastAfricaPartnership (EAPP). I have already met quite a lot of people involved in the several projects run by EAPP. I am excited to see one of the orphanages (a home for 85 girls) soon and to learn about their program.

Update on the Kenya agricultural project close to Mwingi: The memorandum of understanding between the cooperative, EAPP und the government is still under debate from the government side.

Update on the Kenya agricultural project in West Kilimanjaro: A cooperative is under development und a memorandum of understanding has been started to design. We know more by the end of next week.

Overall: My actual proposed work has not started yet, but I am trying to keep me busy with helping on other projects as much as I can. I will be learning about the area in Tanzania first and I may be staying in Tanzania first for a little longer period of time.

I am setup with a cell phone and wireless connection with my little netbook and I hope that my solar panel will help to get everything powered while I will be in the field in Tanzania.

You all can get involved in any part of EAPP, just have a look at the webpage. Beside that I am trying to help Nahashon with setting up another orphanage and I told him that I will try amongst my friends to raise some funds and/or find people how are willing to support a child over a longer period of time.

All the best from Kenya,

Michael

First Blog from East Africa

This is Dr. Michael Gonsior's blog from East Africa. Michael will be sending me images and stories as he helps the organization called East Africa Partnership engineer "Self-Sufficiency through Farming." Check out http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kenyapartnership.org%2Ffarming.html&h=01db9c1fa68205d3b524f5cc22a97104

He will be reporting from Kenya: Southern slope of Mt Kenya, 20,000 acres along the Tana River and Tanzania: Western side of Mt Kilimanjaro. Massai land. 40-60,000 acres. Presumably, at the Tana River.

Eleven million people are suffering from drought,poverty and desparately need education. The East Africa Partnership is there to help them be self-sufficient through farming. The Kenyan and Tanzanian governments have agreed to grant the East Africa Partnership between 100,000 and 300,000 acres of land free of cost and a reduction in taxes until the venture is profitable. Empowering the people of this region. Looking forward to hearing from Michael as he shares with us from the field.