We support people in need in Kitui, Kenya. 
We work to provide the marginalised with clean water and access to education, and to empower them by boosting their economic independence. 

 

 

Home Page
Water Projects
Schools and School Fees
Women's Programme
Groups Twinned with Kitui

Achievements
Donate
About Kitui
Downloads
News Archive
Gallery
Contact Us

 

 

Recent News in Brief

Updated August 8th 2010

Makayauni School Building Project is nearly completed!

 We are building a non-denominational Primary School in Makayauni, which will provide free education to approximately 290 children of all denominations and beliefs. The school is estimated to cost €42,000 for 8 classrooms and an administration block. This is a joint effort between the people of Dalkey in Ireland and Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England.

Work commenced January 2010, and the four classroom blocks and administration block have now been completed. Site clearance has commenced. The community have gathered materials and manufactured bricks for the construction of the kitchen and nursery blocks, which we hope to fund over the coming months. Your further help towards funding equipment and facilities for the school would be greatly appreciated.

 Read More Here

For up to date photos of the new buildings click HERE

DSCN2819.JPG (117158 bytes) DSCN2836.JPG (116221 bytes) DSCN2837.JPG (116170 bytes) DSCN2829.JPG (114205 bytes)
Administration block- staffroom and general store. Three classroom blocks in the background, with the original school building in the foreground. On the extreme right the water storage tank supplied by Friends of Kitui can be seen Another view of the site with the bricks, made by the community and parents as part of their contribution to the school, in left foreground, ready for construction of the nursery and kitchen blocks when funds are available. Inside one of the new classrooms. The blackboard is painted on the wall surface
Give and Buy was devised by two Irish charities focused on Africa - Friends of Kitui (Kenya) and CareAid (Tanzania and Zambia).

Think of it as a "Charity e-bay" totally focused on helping others!

Click on the logo to go to GiveandBuy.com

GiveandBuy will send 100% of the funds it receives to your chosen charity.

Sell your unwanted household and workplace items, and your professional skills, to benefit others!

DSC04561.JPG (1392380 bytes)

Support our Women's Empowerment Programme by purchasing handmade products

Click HERE for more details of beautiful handcrafted bags, which you can also buy through GiveandBuy.Com

DSC04546.JPG (1459044 bytes)

St Michael's School Building Project

 

 

CIMG1605-A.jpg (351567 bytes)

St Michaels School

 

As of mid March 2010, we need approximately €58,000 to finish the new St Michael's primary school. When finished 480 boarders will be accommodated, 240 boys and 240 girls.There are 5 separate buildings in the complex:-

  • One main Classroom building

  • One dining hall with conference hall above

  • One kitchen

  • One girls dormitory

  • One boys dormitory 

St Michaels will be the Flagship school of the Diocese of Kitui. A number of places will be reserved for students whose families could not otherwise afford school fees. When completed, the new school will release much needed space in the old St Michael's school premises,  for use by the visually impaired.   

Read more HERE

September Fundraising Event for St Michael's School

A message from Aidan Corless

A band of ‘Brudders’ have set themselves the challenge of cycling from Galway-Westport-Clifden-Galway on 10-12 September 2010 in aid of Foundation Nepal, Friends of Kitui (Kenya) and some other charities.

I have no illusions about the difficulty in raising money for charity in the current climate but even in these straitened times we are probably a million times better off than the people in Nepal and Kitui. 

We have set the bar at a low minimum level of €10,000 per charity

The Plan

1. A Cycle through the most compelling scenery in Ireland
2. 40 cyclists
3. Each cyclist is asked to raise minimum of €500 for their chosen charity plus cost of accommodation etc. 
4. Friday 10th of September- Depart Galway at 12 noon - cycle to Westport (70 miles) - Stay overnight at selected accommodation in Westport.
6. Saturday 11th of September - Depart Westport at 11.00am - cycle to Clifden (40 miles)- Stay overnight in Clifden
7. Sunday 12th of September- Depart Clifden at 10.00am- Cycle to Galway (50 miles) -Arrive in Galway mid afternoon.
8. There will be a number of pit stops along the way.
9. Back up will be provided.
10. Craic guaranteed!

Contact me at the address below

 

Aidan Corless
"Kinvara"
Westminster Road,
Dublin 18
Ireland
Telephone +353-1-289-2393

e-mail:

For more information about Foundation nepal visit HERE

Water Projects Update

Our Fourth round of water projects is under way. These 27 new projects in 25 locations will serve a total of 14,800 people.This time we have included sanitation projects.

Despite the severe famine conditions through most of 2009, preliminary construction commenced towards year end, and will extend over 10 months or so. By June 2010 we will have served 27,800 people. The preceding three rounds have delivered 37 projects which have helped bring cleaner, safer water to over 13,000 people in 33 villages and 4 schools.

 

A special thanks to ElectricAid who have funded water harvesting facilities at five schools, and to the people of Rathgar Parish who have funded 10 projects in the Kyuso area of Kitui

Click Here for more

In our current Newsletter, we report on the monitoring visits carried out in March by two groups of Friends of Kitui volunteers from Rathgar and Cabinteely Parishes in Dublin. For a detailed report from Sandra Lawler about Rathgar’s connection with Kyuso, click HERE, and for a second report from Aidan Corless on the Cabinteely visit, click HERE.

Update on the "Short Rains" Season

The short rains, normally spanning late October to end December or even into January, have been good but not across the entire region.  There has been a lot of localized rains which has seen some parts getting very good rains while others getting relatively little rain.  The areas of Kyuso, Endau, Mwingi, and Migwani in the north have received good rains.  To the south, areas such as Mutomo, Ikutha, and Athi have received delayed rains.  The prediction for harvest looks good.  Areas like Endau have already (late December) started harvesting green grams and there is plenty of 'kunde' (leaves from cowpeas) which serves well for nutrition.  There is also improved pasture for livestock.

This is a huge relief to the people of Kitui and adjoining districts, following three successive years in which 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

Update on Food and Water Situation

Solar Cooking- an answer to environmental degradation?

And from Inverin and Spiddal in Ireland.....

We want to send a special "Thank-you" to a group of Piano Students from Spiddal and Inverin in Connemara, Co. Galway for their great generosity in raising €150 for the Makayauni School Fund. This group, ranging in age from 8 to 18 years, held a recital in Spiddal Library on 20th May 2009 to close off their year's studies. With their new term starting this week (September 6th) we congratulate them and their teacher, Deirdre Stephens, for their wonderful contribution which will go a long way towards furnishing a classroom at Makayauni school.

Make a start today-  Find out here why we should  help Kitui 

Friends of Kitui links up with Canadian group funding a borehole close to Kitui town

Read more HERE

Schools & Education Update- February 16th 2009

About Friends of Kitui-

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

Third Level Support

In addition to the secondary school fee support programme, we also support a smaller number of students at third level institutions

 

Want to help- today?

 

Go to our donation page and select a project. 

You will make a real difference to a family in Kitui.

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

 

Empowerment of Women

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.  

...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

Breaking stones.jpg (43944 bytes)

A woman breaks stones in Kitui to earn a few shillings for her family.

Click to enlarge

 
 

 

The average per capita income in Kitui is less than €2 per day

How other groups are helping Kitui

Dublin's Rathgar Parish  partners with Kyuso in Kitui

Read more

The H2O Challenge!

How the people of Minnesota are helping Kitui Click here for more

Friends of Kitui now extends to Sussex in the UK. 

People in Shoreham-by-Sea learnt of the efforts and wanted to contribute towards developments in Kitui. To start the fund-raising endeavours, Maureen and Bernard Challen, who celebrate 40 years of marriage in August 2009, asked that any gifts to them be in the form of donations to Kitui, especially the building of a new schoolroom as a part of the Makayauni school project.

Various activities and fund-raising events from Sussex are envisaged to support the Friends of Kitui. Read More

Learn more about Kitui-

geography, history, it's people, and statistics- and why we should help. 

 

Click here

 

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

Not found what you want? Try the Site Map