Nairobi logistics meeting

We arrived back to Nairobi and had a logistics meeting with a recommended company that has a lot of experience with crate shipping for NGO's. It was very educational and with a little work we should be able to simplify some processes which should save the foundation time and money. Our next school project is Karimba which is shown above. Amazingly we need to be ready to ship equipment in the next few months if we want to install electricity by the end of August. It is very hard for us to get used to having to plan so far in advance for projects but it is the way of Africa...

Thank you all for the great emails and support. We should be home in a few days and already have so much work to do for Equals3! Sounds like fun...

John
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Joy's Camp

We arrived in north Kenya on a reserve call Shaba. When we landed, it was hot and everything around was dead from no water. We drove quite a distance over rock and dirt and to be honest, I was a bit concerned that this lodge may not be what I had hoped for. Joy's Camp is made famous by the book and movie "Born Free" and we had heard great things about this arid desert area. When we finally arrived I could not have been more surprised. In this dry and dusty area lay an amazing oasis fed by several natural springs. The luxury camp site is one of the best I have seen with all of the designs reflecting the Muslim culture of the area.

We have also met several people who are working on community projects that we may able to assist with in the future.

John
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Our ride

Our charter arrived to take us north and I was not if we would fit! We squeezed all of the luggage in and flew off without a problem. From the air we were able to get much better sense of the landscape and effects of they drought. Luckily, the area received its first rain since October a few days earlier and had given everything some temporary relief. From the air you could see the drought impact as we headed toward Somalia. The landscape looks completely burnt and most of the trees are dead. I am surprised that anything can survive on this area.

John
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Elvis

On our way to the air strip we stopped at a friends house on LEWA to say goodbye. We got a chance to meet Elvis the young wild Rhino. He was born on LEWA to a blind female and after birth was raised by the park because she could not take care of him. In this picture he was trying to get past the fence into the yard and decided to eat his way out. He is wild but I was able to touch his skin through the fence. It is amazingly thick and feels like thick rubber.

John
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Goodbye to LEWA

We have finished all of our work and meetings at LEWA and are getting ready to head north for a few days. Not sure what we will find because of the drought. We are moving off the plateau to the more northern dessert areas. I had to take one last photo of the incredible elephants.

John
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New Job

Carl and I have news jobs! We were headed back up to do a final review of our power system and meet with the school headmaster. Since it is Friday here people are heading home for the weekend. Most people work where the jobs are during the week and sleep in work supplied housing and go home for long weekends when they get a chance. Several people were walking to the village where we were headed so we offered rides for free. The walk would be about 12 miles through difficult terrain so the ride was greatly appreciated. Around Kenya there are small vans call MATATOOS which people can pile into for a fee. Carl and I where thinking of ways to increase our passenger count to make some money so we can get home.

John
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Karimba Primary School

Today we site visited our next school to determine what we need to have built locally before we arrive in the fall. We were so excited that we started off to the school location on a paved road. It was our first drive in a week on roads that were somewhat smooth. We drove about 45 minutes on the main road which goes up and around Mt Kenya. All smiles, we turned on a dirt road expecting to be nearby only to realize we had another 45 minutes of driving over dirt and rocks. Once we arrived, we understood why this school will never get main line power. The teachers and school were expecting us and gave us a warm welcome. Since we have a developed a power installation blueprint, we were able to determine all the requirements very easily and make the plans for the required construction. The kids sang songs for us and we also visited the only children's nursery on the area.

If funding goes well, we should return in August to complete the project. The hard work begins now as we manage construction, order and ship equipment, and manage getting everything on site...

Let the fun begin!!!!!!
John
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What we learned

It was great to be able to visit our previous installation and learn how the power we are generating is being used. We were pleasantly surprised at how much the school and community were positively doing with the electricity supplied. The school had decided to divided the library into 2 sections so students in the back could self study in the evening while a teacher could hold an evening class in the front. They used the book shelves already in the library to separate the areas. We also learned that the local community had started to used the building for evening meetings of the village elders. During the day they are charging 14 lanterns for the teachers to take home at night as well as cell phones. Carl and I also donated a computer and printer on our last visit which the teachers have been using to start teaching basic skills. There are computer teaching aids available and approved by the Kenyan government that they will use once they get more laptops donated.

John
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She stole my heart

Sheeba, who is about 5 months old, was rescued recently and is being rehabilitated. We were fortunate to be invited to meet her. I spent about an hour playing with her and being climbed and chewed upon. She is incredible and she stole my heart...John
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Upgrade at Laparua was a success!

Carl and I finished the power equipment upgrade today at Laparua primary school. Everything went very smooth but it took a lot of time and hard work. We added additional equipment to support more evening classes for the children. They are now splitting the library into 2 areas so they can have a study area and a classroom. We also learned that the community has begun to use the library to hold important village meetings. We are off tomorrow to site plan Karimba school which we hope to complete by the fall.

Thank you everyone for all the great emails supporting our efforts.

John
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Ndare Ngare Cleanup

Today we took a break from working on power to help a local community pick up plastic and trash. The local school children were part of the education program to help them understand the value of throwing trash away properly. We spent the morning helping organize and photograph the event. We collected 20 bags of trash around the school and town. The children have only experienced throwing trash on the ground with no regard to the environment. We picked up plastic, paper, metal, shoes, and batteries to be recycled.

Hopefully this will be the start of a new program on the area. It will be hard to change what is now ingrained into them. When we finished cleaning the area, we handed a water bottle to one of the organizers and he opened the bottle and threw the lid on the ground. It was indicative of the challenge ahead. After we all jump on him and scolded him for what he did, I doubt he will do it again.

John

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Great Help!

We spent the day working at Leparua school reconfiguring and expanding the power system. It was a long day of work and 4x4ing but we accomplished a lot. We were lucky enough to be assisted be two Italian volunteer teachers living in the local village. Olmo and Olivia have been working at the school for several months and have been using the power to teach children in the evening and also teach them basic computer skills during the day. Amazingly, Olmo and Olivia found about the school when they were searching the web for poverty education programs and their searches brought up our web site and the school. Once they saw all the pictures online and realized the school had solar power they new it was a perfect fit for their skills.

I love this story...John
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Working to Support Mt Kenya Wildlife

Carl and I were recruited by our friends at Lewa to help support a major mountain bike race that raises money to protect Mt Kenya Wildlife. A group of us were sent out into the bush to hand out water and give directions to riders. There was a lot of confusion around the race and all the water stops. We had to send one group right and the other left...we did pretty good after about the first 20 riders. Sadly, the first 20 were the top international riders and we may have sent them in the wrong direction. Lucky for us we did not see them again! John
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Save the Rhino

On my plane ride into LEWA I met a woman who handles fund raising for Save the Rhino International. She was on her to Borona Ranch which is adjacent to the area we are working in. Borona Ranch is interested in opening part of their ranch to support the protection of Rhino which are endangered. She is there to determine the feasibility of the project and to see how Save the Rhino International can help financially.

Check out their web site at www.savetherhino.org

John
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Drought at LEWA

Arriving to LEWA we got to see first hand the current drought and the effect that it has had on the animals and landscape. Fires are burning on and around Mt Kenya and water can only be found in streams which are fed by springs. The photo shows how grey and burnt the grasslands are which are of no nutritional value to animals for food. Rains are not expected for a few more months. John
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View from the Air

This a photo I took when we left Wilson Airport near Nairobi. It is of one of many slums in the area and if you look in the background you can see the contrast between the slum and new development. This contrast is occurring all over Nairobi.

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In Nairobi

We arrived into Nairobi late last night and spent the day running errands and scheduling meetings. We had a wonderful dinner tonight with our friends at Tropical Ice Safari. They handle all of our East Africa travel arrangements and scheduling. Their support has been instrumental in getting things done for the foundation. They just launched a new web site showing all of their trips and adventures so please check it out. The link is on the right hand side of the blog. We fly out tomorrow on a bush plane to start working at Lewa. Wish us luck...

John
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