New Dawn in Kenya

Last week we attended the annual CMS (Church Mission Society) conference in Kenya. There were about 100 delegates from across East Africa – about half from CMS (UK) and half from CMS (Africa).

 

  During the week Malcolm visited a church project near Runda. Runda is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Nairobi with large houses and embassies built on former coffee plantations. Beside the luxury is a crowded slum village, Huruma, where many of the gardeners and other staff that work on the estates live. This is a squalid slum with no sanitation or health facilities. Although the Government provide free Primary Schooling, fees are charged for Secondary Education which means most poor families are unable to send their children to secondary school.

In 2004 local Christians opened New Dawn Educational Centre – a secondary school for 160 pupils. Here nominal fees are about £150 per year which is about a quarter of the running costs. However many students cannot even afford to pay this. Many of these are orphans of parents who died of AIDS.

Because the Government does not allow permanent structures to be built in slum areas the 3 storey school  is constructed from old cargo containers.

Although the shool is crammed on a site of less than 2 acres it includes an agricultural project, and cares for 2 cows which provide milk for the pupils.

Malcolm was told about a 35 year old man who applied to the school to start his secondary education, as he had never done more than primary education. At first his application was treated as a joke. However when he persisted and the teachers realised how serious he was, having sorted out the practical difficulties (e.g.ensuring he had a uniform that fitted), he was accepted.

Since completing his studies he is now at higher education, having joined a local Theology College to train as a pastor.

For more details about the work of the Educational Centre: http://www.africanleadershipinc.org/new-dawn-educational-centre-clinic/

In addition to a range of workshops the Conference ended with some home grown emtertainment, which included Irene and Corrie.

This week’s Proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from Nigeria: “When the mouse laughs at the cat, there is a hole nearby”

Trouble in the City!

On our journey back from Entebbe last weekend we stopped off in Kampala to meet Chris Foster. We first met Chris when she came to Potters Village in Kisoro a couple of years ago.  She now supports a project run by Francis in the slum area in central Kampala.

The project works particularly with children growing up in the slums. Chris is a nurse so she came out for a couple of weeks to advise the health workers in running the clinic.

 

Later in the week Malcolm had to go back to Kampala to sort out some issues with one of the ministries. He naively thought it would take a couple of hours. Five hours later, having had a battle with the ministry’s ‘user friendly’ (not) computer system some progress was made, he thinks (naively?)

 

Next week we, and Dr Corrie, are going to Nairobi for a CMS Conference. It looks like the flight arrived early for Dr. C.

 

This week’s Proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from Nigeria: “The sky is too big for two birds to clash”

Raise the Flags! Light the Beacons! The Eagle has Landed!

It’s been an exciting week with everyone getting ready from Irene’s return from England.

The hospital’s flags have been flying.

(The flags are the national flag of Uganda, and that of the Kingdom of Buganda)

 

Rory arranged a Bar B Q for Malcolm and some other friends.

 

Malcolm went to meet Irene at the airport

 

 

Irene was soon back into a familiar routine.

 

This week’s Proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from the local Buganda Tribe: “An eagle does not eat clouds - it still comes to the ground to feed”

Malcolm's Get Away

This week Malcolm went on a visit to South West Uganda. For the first part of the trip he had a lift with Richard. He is the country manager of one of the hospital’s major funders. Enroute we visited another ISIS project – a home for former street children whose education and care ISIS have funded.

 Malcolm’s first visit was to Kisiizi Hospital to complete the audit of the Power Company. There is no mains electricity to the area so the Hospital has to generate its own. It sells its surplus to the local community which helps keep the running costs low. Apparently it is the most reliable electricity supply in Uganda – which is not saying a lot.

 

At the end of the audit George, the Manager who visits from the UK during the winter months, gave a tour of the power house

And then onto Kisoro to audit the accounts of Potter’s Village. We first arrived in Kisoro in late 2010 and even in that short time there have been many changes as the town as expanded.

 On Friday Malcolm returned to Kiwoko. The total journey took about 16 hours door to door. Time for a rest, me thinks

 

The ‘bug of he week’, spotted on George’s house, was a large beetle.  Even though it had lost a leg it was still able to climb up the wall. Tough these African bugs!

 

 This weeks Proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from Kenya, and was particularly helpful to Malcolm in keeping him going in the past week: "He who starts on a long journey does not put a banana to roast under the ashes”