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Recent News in Brief
Updated
July 4th 2009
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School
Emergency Feeding Programme Continues
As detailed below we had extended the
emergency feeding programme until mid June expecting that
the Government or the World Food Programme would take over
responsibility for the two schools at Makayauni and
Yimbuuvu. This has not happened so we have extended the
programme for a further month to mid July. Funds are now
nearly exhausted so we pray that one of these agencies will
intervene rapidly.
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Rains Fail for third
year in a row
For the third successive
year, the long and short rains have failed.The arid lands
of Kitui can just about deal with the failure of one or two
rains, but this three-year failure has been devastating. We
are continuing to work to do what we can to alleviate the
situation by provising water structures to harvest what
little rain does fall.Your continuing help is essential
Read
More HERE
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A
Thousand Thanks!
A
huge "Thank You" to the many very generous people
who responded to our recent appeal for funds to provide
emergency food to two schools in Kitui.
As
you can see from the photo (right) taken March 27th, 540
children at Makayauni and Yimbuuvu schools in eastern Kitui are now receiving a nutritious meal
each day. This programme will continue at least until
mid-June. At that stage we are hoping the the World Food
Programme (WFP) intervention in Kitui will take over.
For more see Appeal
Launched for Emergency Food Relief for two schools.
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Food-for-work to aid progress
of water projects
FoK has responded to the famine in eastern Kitui by
providing food-for-work to communities involved in constructing four sand
dams. Shown left, a consignment of food arrives on one of the dam
sites. Four of our current batch of 17 water projects had
been delayed because of lack of food security in the local
communities. All projects of the current round have now
been completed, and we are preparing to start a new round.
Read more HERE
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Canadian Friends of Kitui swing into action:
Dormitory
construction gets under way at
Migwani
Special Needs Unit
and
Ndandini
"One Village at a Time" project
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Update on Food
and Water Situation
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Make
a start today- Find
out here why we
should help Kitui
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Water Projects Update
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Water Project Monitoring Report
A recent visit by Friends of Kitui (FoK) to some of our
earlier projects shows most are performing well, while others require
further work to cope with the current exceptional drought.
Read more HERE
February 16th 2009
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We have now completed our third
round of water projects, now numbering 37 in total, which have
helped bring cleaner, safer water to over 13,000 people in 33 villages and
4 schools.
Preparation for our next round
commenced March 2009. This time we will extend the scope of
work to include sanitation projects. Construction should
commence around August and will extend over 10 months or
so. By June 2010 we will have served a further 8-9000 people.
Click
Here for more
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Click
here to have your say!
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Friends
of Kitui links up with Canadian group funding a borehole close to Kitui
town
Read
more HERE
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Schools & Education Update- February
16th 2009
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St
Michael's School Update
St Michaels is a 450-student
primary boarding school being constructed by Friends of Kitui for the
Catholic Diocese of Kitui. The aim is to provide a flagship academic
institution offering the highest standards, which will be owned, managed
and staffed by the Diocese. It will be open to all denominations.
A
percentage of places at the new school will be available to those who
cannot afford school fees.
The dining
Hall is now under construction, and roofing to the accommodation
blocks is complete.
Work is continuing on the project
although at a slower rate than before, as the current economic crisis in Ireland has
impacted on fundraising.We now hope to finish construction by the end of
2009.
More
Details
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Makayauni
School Update
We are building a
non-denominational
Primary School in Makayauni, which lies in a very poor part of Kitui, to
replace existing inadequate structures. The school will provide free
education to all denominations and beliefs.
Our
target is to complete the construction of an 8 classroom school by December 2010
which will be handed over to the community and run as a non
fee-paying public school.
The community of Makayauni has now
delivered on its promise of providing bricks, sand and hardcore to get
this project under way. On February 5th we viewed the 20,000 bricks and
many tons of materials gathered on the school site. The people told us of
the impact of the famine on their lives, and we undertook to provide
supplementary food for the children for one month to relieve the pressure
on the parents.
The
existing school at Makayauni
Read
More Here
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About
Friends of Kitui-
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More than 100 orphans are now being
sponsored through secondary school by Friends of Kitui
Without a secondary school qualification,
it is almost impossible to secure permanent employment in Kitui. It is
vital that we continue to support these students so they can complete
their education. Sponsorship
means that each child gets food, accommodation and tuition
for a school year. Although tuition is free of charge in all government
owned schools, costs per student range from €250 to €500 per student
per annum for full board. The current economic climate in
Ireland and elsewhere is presenting challenges in
maintaining the level of fundraising required to keep these
children in education. Please redouble your efforts to
support these needy children. In times of economic
downturn, it is always the most marginalised who suffer
first. Read
More
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Third Level Support
In addition to the secondary school fee
support programme, we also support a smaller number of students at third
level institutions
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Appeal
Launched for Emergency Food Relief for two schools
During
our recent trip, we visited two schools
in particular in Eastern Kitui. In Makayauni school, where
FoK have already funded a 50,000 litre water tank, and
where a new fundraising effort is under way to provide a
new 8-classroom school, we found that the school had no
food to provide the children with a mid-day meal.
In nearby Yimbuva school, it was the
same. We arrived just before lunch break and not one
child had anything to eat. The teachers told us
that the Government-provided food was sufficient only for
two weeks per term for the 250 students. They went on to
say that most of the children came to school without
breakfast. And so by mid-day, hunger was impacting severely
on their ability to concentrate on lessons. In the teachers
words “By mid-day we have lost them”
On
February 20th we launched an appeal to provide food aid
until the end of April for these two schools. The response
to date has been terrific and we hope with your help to
meet the target in the next couple of weeks.
Download
a special Newsletter HERE
which will tell you more- it also includes a special
donation form.
For
the donation form only (smaller file) click HERE
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Want to
help- today?
Go to
our donation
page and
select a project.
You will make a real difference
to a family in Kitui.
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(Right) A mural in Kitui depicts
how the entire community supports the disadvantaged and the
sick, especially those suffering from AIDS
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Click
to enlarge
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Friends
of Kitui and Trocaire team up!
To
strengthen our support of the people of Kitui,
Friends of Kitui have entered a three way agreement with
Trocaire and the Diocese of Kitui. Read
More Here
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Update on Food and Water situation in
Kitui
May
2009
The
poor long rains, so far, in most of the southeastern and
coastal marginal agricultural lowlands and significant
parts of agropastoral and pastoral areas, are likely to
accentuate food insecurity.
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Substantial crop losses are expected to
occur in the marginal agricultural areas in the southeast
and coast, which will likely accelerate food insecurity.
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Scarcity of maize has driven prices to
unprecedented levels, up to 180 percent above normal, in
markets situated in pastoral and marginal agricultural
areas, underlining the erosion of purchasing capacities for
cereal-deficit households.The food pipeline is
under-resourced at this point, and is dependent largely on
carryover stocks from the previous emergency distribution
programmes.
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Crop
growth is progressing favorably in most parts of the
key-producing Rift Valley, Nyanza, and Western highlands,
and a good maize harvest is anticipated, barring poor rains
or unexpected events between now and August.
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Empowerment
of Women |
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The Honey Project
Sometimes we get it wrong...
Our dream
was to initiate a honey business in each of the 23 parishes
of the Diocese of Kitui that would be managed, owned and operated for the sole purpose of empowering
women financially, so that the
women would have economic power to direct their own lives and have resources to care
for their families.
The Honey
Project has had limited success. Just over one-third of the 200 hives
supplied by Friends of Kitui are currently occupied by bees.
Following the
first hints late 2007 that there could be problems in achieving a
satisfactorily high level of hive occupancy we have used funds donated for
womens empowerment projects for such activities as soap making, basket
making and chicken rearing, with the more dynamic women's groups..
Click HERE for an update on the Honey
Project |
Worldwide, more than
two thirds of those living in poverty are women.The
underlying reasons are the status of women, gender issues, and lack of
equality.
For generations,
women have borne the greatest burden of famine,
discrimination, and being treated as second class citizens.
Kitui Diocese has had a women's programme for over fifteen years with a full time
women's co-ordinator working for the financial, cultural and social
empowerment of all women.
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...more often we get it right......
Three womens groups in the parish of
Zombe have now built up a track record in micro-businesses. These income
generating activities produce a significant contribution to the household
budget and give a small cash reserve to meet unexpected demands. The
women organised themselves, each group electing their
Chairperson, Secretary, & Treasurer, and collected a
small contribution from each member. The seed capital was
used for training in soap manufacture, using the local aloe
vera plants, and for purchase of materials and equipment.
500 bars of soap and 50 beautifully made handbags were
shipped to Ireland and sold at the last two Dalkey Outreach
monthly coffee mornings
before Christmas 2008.
The “Chicken
Group” have clubbed together and funded the construction
of a chicken coop in Zombe from their own resources.
Friends of Kitui will contribute further seed capital to
purchase good quality breeding stock and to provide the
essential vaccinations against endemic diseases.
Read more HERE |
A
woman breaks stones in Kitui to earn a few shillings for her family.
Click
to enlarge
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Rathgar
parish raises €110,000 for Kitui
Less
than 2 years after Rathgar partnered the parish of Kyuso in
Kitui, over €110,000 has been raised
- Click
Here for an
update
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see HERE how Friends
of Kitui helps to address these issues in Kitui
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The
average per capita income in Kitui is less than €2 per
day |
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How other groups are helping Kitui |
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Dublin's
Rathgar Parish forms
Partnership with Kyuso in Kitui
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The
H2O Challenge!
How the
people of Minnesota are helping Kitui Click here
for more |
We want to start
a small business enterprise in Kitui.
If you are in
the Engineering
or Printing
Business, we need your help.
Click
here for details
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Learn
more about Kitui-
geography, history,
it's people, and statistics- and why we should help.
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Click to enlarge
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And
at Musuoni Well, the Chairman holds the plaque from Loreto
Primary School, Dalkey |
Click to enlarge
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The
Committee for Kiatineni Well, funded by the Seaver family,
hold their plaque |
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By volunteering your
time and your expertise, by making a donation, by
supporting your neighbours in their efforts on behalf of
Kitui, you can make a real difference to the lives of
others
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Not found what you
want? Try the Site Map
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We
support people in need in Kitui, Kenya.
