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.
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.
