Community Development
Agriculture
Money was donated for the purpose of purchasing a tractor for the use of the community and school. We have trained people within the village to care for, use and maintain the tractor so the investment will not be lost due to ignorance or misuse. The people who benefit from the use of the tractor return 10% of their increase to Koins for the maintaining of the tractor. Fields are also prepared at village schools to grow corn and other vegetables for the use of the students. In an area where farm work has always been done manually, the tractor provides valuable assistance to farmers. Micro-business
Written by Kris Kimball--
The village women of Mnyenzeni have initiated a project called the "Koin Purse Project" This is a micro-business created by the village women to raise the $60,000 necessary to build a maternity hospital/women’s center in the village.Â
Right now the women who live in Mnyenzeni give birth in their homes, but when a complication arises they are wheeled the 30 miles in a wheelbarrow, in painful labor, to the nearest hospital. Public transport costs to the hospital are around $12, a luxury most of these women cannot afford. The women face a 1 in 30 chance of dying during childbirth. The women's hospital would employ a full-time doctor, trained in emergency pre and post natal care as well as provide family planning services for the women.
The women sew long and hard to make these wonderful purses out of their native Kanga cloths. The idea behind the purses is to sell them in the US through the Koins for Kenya website with all the profits going back to the women's hospital. While on our expedition, we all bought purses for ourselves to use so that we could advertise and promote their project. My daughter Sarah and I feel proud and honored every time we wear one of these Koin purses because it gives us a way to start a conversation about the wonderful work Koins and these women are doing together.
The Koins Community Center (KCC) has been a hub for microbusiness thus far. The electricity at the KCC has been used for a battery charging business (for cell phones, laptops, etc) that helps pay for the monthly expenses at the KCC. Until the Ben Taylor Workshop was completed, the KCC housed the women’s sewing guild, which makes Koins purses and uniforms for local schools, as well as providing a place for the workshop workers to build desks and other items for school construction. Now that the BTW is finished, these businesses will be run from that location. The KCC will continue to be a community center, where meeting will be held, local dignitaries housed and fed, and where expedition groups will stay.
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In October 2008, Koins Board Members, Cindy and Mike Workman, were in our village area doing a variety of projects. One of the main purposes, however, was to present the first solar-powered lights to our top 10 secondary school students.
At the equator sunrise and sunset occur daily at the same time. There are roughly 12 hours of day, and 12 hours of night. In the Koins Service Area when the sun goes down, all light ceases to exist unless you are fortunate enough to have a paraffin candle. There is no electricity, no flashlights with which our students can study, only darkness. We have established a few solar lamps at the school, under which our children study until 10:00 at night, making sure they perform well on their exams.
It was through OneMillionLights and Cosmos Ignite that the initial solar lamps were provided. These sturdy lights are designed to last over a decade with daily use. Our children set them in the sun during the day, then at night they continue their studies in their own homes with this bright light. Not only do the students benefit, but the mothers can sew, the fathers can sharpen their tools, or whatever they need for the next day. These lamps eliminate the dangerous, smoky & expensive paraffin candles.
You can read more about Cindy and these lights here.
Here is a video filmed and produced by Derek Mitchell that highlights this lantern:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5319729094509830279&hl=en
We hope to receive 500 additional solar lanterns from OneMillionLights within the next few weeks, to power many more homes. Although the lights are donated, we will need to fund the shipment of the lights to Kenya. This will cost approximately $6 per light. We are hoping to find a sponsor for this project, approximately $3,000 to ship 500 more lights to Kenya.
The village women of Mnyenzeni have initiated a project called the "Koin Purse Project" This is a micro-business created by the village women to raise the $60,000 necessary to build a maternity hospital/women’s center in the village.Â
Right now the women who live in Mnyenzeni give birth in their homes, but when a complication arises they are wheeled the 30 miles in a wheelbarrow, in painful labor, to the nearest hospital. Public transport costs to the hospital are around $12, a luxury most of these women cannot afford. The women face a 1 in 30 chance of dying during childbirth. The women's hospital would employ a full-time doctor, trained in emergency pre and post natal care as well as provide family planning services for the women.
The women sew long and hard to make these wonderful purses out of their native Kanga cloths. The idea behind the purses is to sell them in the US through the Koins for Kenya website with all the profits going back to the women's hospital. While on our expedition, we all bought purses for ourselves to use so that we could advertise and promote their project. My daughter Sarah and I feel proud and honored every time we wear one of these Koin purses because it gives us a way to start a conversation about the wonderful work Koins and these women are doing together.
Koins Community Center
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Solar Lights
In October 2008, Koins Board Members, Cindy and Mike Workman, were in our village area doing a variety of projects. One of the main purposes, however, was to present the first solar-powered lights to our top 10 secondary school students.
At the equator sunrise and sunset occur daily at the same time. There are roughly 12 hours of day, and 12 hours of night. In the Koins Service Area when the sun goes down, all light ceases to exist unless you are fortunate enough to have a paraffin candle. There is no electricity, no flashlights with which our students can study, only darkness. We have established a few solar lamps at the school, under which our children study until 10:00 at night, making sure they perform well on their exams.
It was through OneMillionLights and Cosmos Ignite that the initial solar lamps were provided. These sturdy lights are designed to last over a decade with daily use. Our children set them in the sun during the day, then at night they continue their studies in their own homes with this bright light. Not only do the students benefit, but the mothers can sew, the fathers can sharpen their tools, or whatever they need for the next day. These lamps eliminate the dangerous, smoky & expensive paraffin candles.
You can read more about Cindy and these lights here.
Here is a video filmed and produced by Derek Mitchell that highlights this lantern:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5319729094509830279&hl=en
We hope to receive 500 additional solar lanterns from OneMillionLights within the next few weeks, to power many more homes. Although the lights are donated, we will need to fund the shipment of the lights to Kenya. This will cost approximately $6 per light. We are hoping to find a sponsor for this project, approximately $3,000 to ship 500 more lights to Kenya.
