Victoria's Secrets

Written by Guest Blogger Tressan McCambridge I was really disappointed to hear that the RTE Drama The Clinic has been axed. The fact that TV3 is looking into picking it up is good news though. It’s a really good show. I met with Victoria Smurfit yesterday, who has been staring in the show for the past 5 or 6 episodes and she was saying what a shame it is for all the fans, cast and crew. It had over 400,000 viewers they say. Victoria was around to go on The Afternoon Show on RTE 1 to talk about sponsoring a child with World Vision Ireland and our Community Gift Catalogue. I have to say she did a fantastic job. Looking as beautiful as ever and full of energy as always, she talked about her trip to meet her sponsored child in Tanzania and how important it is for her to teach her children the real meaning of Christmas. That's why she's buying charity gifts this year. You can watch it here - the interview starts about 3.15 minutes into the show.

Life's a beach

There’s an old Swahili saying “Mambo ya pwani si mchezo”, which means that life at the coast isn’t a game. On the surface, this is hard to believe – the Kenyan coastline is beautiful and life moves at a sumptuous, leisurely pace. Drive a few kilometres inland though and life is anything but a game. This is one of the poorest and most disenfranchised areas of Kenya. Three years of consecutive drought have left tens of thousands on relief food and the rations are never quite enough. There are hundreds of moderately and severely malnourished children. Before the rains arrived this season, the closest water points were a 60km cycle away. And the place is so full of poisonous snakes that Steve Irwin filmed an episode of Crocodile Hunter out here. No Complaints But people aren’t sitting around moping or complaining about their misfortunes. Anything but. Despite six consecutive crop failures, they have prepared and planted their land. This is back breaking work under an unforgiving sun, which seems to promise yet another drought. 'Poverty tourism' I was there for three days this week visiting an Irish Aid funded food security recovery project and it is one of my favourite projects in the country. I’ve even brought friends to visit it while they were over in Kenya. They were reluctant at first, fearing that it would be a depressing and somewhat invasive “poverty tourism” trip. They actually found the opposite. Heart warming hospitality When we stepped out of the car, we were met by large crowds of women and men singing our welcome. Despite barely having two beans to rub together, they rolled out the red carpet for us. They sang us songs with our names woven in and gave us an array of gifts including chickens, a handmade bag with my name woven into it, and an assortment of spoons, as a thank you for our support. When they saw me melting under the jua kali (fierce sun) they lent me a kanga to cover my head with. I can’t begin to explain how humbling and heart-warming their hospitality and generosity is. It’s also astute on their part – charming visitors encourages them to be generous in return. I always leave wishing there was more we could do. Food and Water World Vision Ireland has achieved a lot in the past three years in this area. In partnership with the community, we constructed rain water harvesting tanks and reservoirs (as shown in the photos) which can store water for the next few months – some even until the next rainy season. When the drought was at its worst, the government trucked in water and filled the tanks, which meant an end to the 60km cycles. We’ve also trained farmers on improved agricultural methods, which helped them to capitalise on what little rain there is. A major success it the super goats that were given from the world vision gift catalogue – many kids have been produced, which means more milk, meat and money for families. I just pray that the rains come back.

Growing food when the odds are stacked against you.

I just got this great story in today from Muranga where Irish Aid and World Vision Ireland have been running a food security recovery project in Muranga in Central Kenya. The goats and seeds that people buy from the World Vision Ireland gift catalogue have also been helping make this project the success that it is. It’s been running for over 2 years now and I visited it again last week. The farmers I met told me that they have been able to quadruple the amount of food they produce! Jane Wanjiru Mwaura is one the best examples. Jane is a retired nursery school teacher and mother of five children. She owns just a quarter acre of land and depends on this for her livelihood. She joined Kamaka Self Help Group in 2007. Through the project, Jane and her fellow group members received training on improved farming practices and water conservation techniques. After the training, Jane dug 450 zay pits, which are 2x2x2 foot holes that promote soil fertility and water conservation. Zay pits are hard work to dig, but the results are well worth the effort - she harvested some 800kgs of maize last season. This was more than enough to feed her family and to sell for hard cash. Jane has become a model to others in her community. She trained her six neighbours and they too have started reaping the benefits of zay-pits. Jane said “From the training, I have been able to revolutionise my farming. I even get crops when the rains are poor, while other farmers using traditional methods are not harvesting anything.” On World Food Day, Jane was awarded a certificate by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture for being one of the best farmers in the district. But she won’t stop there: She says “My intention now is to train more farmers in my are to be self-sufficient in food production”. Happy days.

Pauline McLynn and her Super Goat

If you’ve ever wondered why the goats in the World Vision Community Gift Catalogue are called ‘Super Goats’ watch this ..

It’s Pauline McLynn, who played Mrs Doyle in Fr Ted, milking Lucy the Super Goat in Kenya. Everybody in Kenya loves this breed of goat because they provide double the meat, milk and offspring of local goats. They are very cool goats!

So Relieved Sharon & Hilda Are Safe

I received the text at 4am on Sunday that Sharon Commins and her Ugandan colleague Hilda Kawuki had been released from being held captive in Sudan. I haven’t met Sharon, but she used to go out with a close friend of mine and throughout the whole ordeal, I was really worried about them.

Sharon and Hilda were both snatched from a Goal compound in Darfur and held captive for 107 days. I am so relieved that this story had a happy ending and that they are both now safe at home with the people they love.

Kidnapped There are few experiences that could be more harrowing than being kidnapped. As an aid worker in Nairobi- which in the past year has experienced over 100 kidnappings – I am all too aware that this is a major risk that I face in going about my daily life. See article in the New York times last week - Kenya’s Criminals Tap a Growth Industry: Kidnapping.