One of the most satisfying aspects of what we do is seeing school teams, and gappers come back every other year. Some schools are traveling with us for the third time and often our camp managers tell us that so-and-so who was a Gapper or Lifer is back in the country came to say jambo. Wonderful! And then there are some really special ones that we just can’t seem to get rid of…

Jennifer Green came out in 2009 as an assistant teacher leader for Southfield School. A couple of months later she was back as a gapper and not just for one month but for five! (three of which she spent in Tanzania). As you can imagine it did not take much convincing to keep her for longer – what better person could we ask to help us as summer team program coordinator than Jenny. I asked her to write about one aspect of our program that I know is dear to her heart…

This season has seen the successful launch of Camp Imani (Imani is the Swahili word for Faith) located in Itinyi village, Maungu within the Voi district of Kenya.  The Imani Women’s group was formed in 2002 and Camps International first worked with the group in 2007. Teams have previously spent a day of their trip at Tsavo working with the group helping improve the women’s facilities whilst the women have provided an excellent basis for cultural exchange for Camp Kenya visitors.  For many though, a day clearly wasn’t enough to spend with the energetic and passionate members of the group, it simply had to be taken to the next level. Camp Imani was born.

In 2009 I had been one of the assistant teachers with Southfield School and therefore I was delighted to find out the camp was up and running, and even more excited when I found out that I was going to be given the opportunity to spend a few days visiting Camp Imani. Having arrived after sunset I was amazed to wake up in the morning to the stunning views of the landscape behind the campsite and was overjoyed to see Camp Imani in its full glory. The Imani women last year were such an inspiration to the Southfield students (and teachers alike) it was marvelous to meet up with Mama Mercy and discover that she, the chairlady of the Imani group, was acting as one of the project coordinators for Camp Kenya. She has taken on the role to ensure that a wide range of cultural and community activities have been carried out by the teams throughout the season. Activities so far have included: pea harvesting, bead making and corn pounding – the realization of how long it takes to pound and grind the maize into flour gave the teams (and me too) the time to reflect on the hard work that goes into preparing simple meals!

Imani Camp is located a short walk away from Itinyi Primary School and so far teams from Alice Smith, Manshead and Joseph Rowntree have been involved in the rapid construction of a new nursery classroom (special thanks to Alice Smith School who raised an additional £3,500 towards the construction of this classroom!).  The women’s community ethos is clearly passed onto all of its visitors to the group and the teams are gaining an understanding of how the women are working to reduce poverty whilst breaking down gender barriers and stereotypes. I know now from having visited the group twice just how much of a difference the women are striving to make by the range of projects that they are involved in – from growing mushrooms in elephant dung in a fight to reduce human wildlife conflict, to providing rooms to rent for students and teachers at the school. The interaction between school students, local adults and the visiting teams are all providing excellent opportunities for positive changes in the area. I know that I’ve certainly benefited a lot from my few short days at Camp Imani and I’m sure all the other visitors to the camp throughout the season will also do too.  Here’s to a fantastic future for all at Camp Imani, the Imani Women’s group and Itinyi village as a whole!

2009 was a particularly exciting year for us in Kenya. The dust settled from the post-election crises in 2008 and life in Kenya resumed as we know it and love it. We had a great year and felt we achieved so much in terms of the projects, which is core to what we do across all our locations.

As many of you know, we run several different projects across a host of different locations from the south coast of Kenya to the Tsavo & Kilimanjaro ecosystem. Our model of intervention works and we know that for a fact as we can tangibly measure and report our successes and failures. Of course there is always room for improvement and we hope we are getting better and better all the time. For those of you who keep up to date with our Project Diary, you may have noticed that we are increasingly trying to focus on improving livelihoods, not just by providing the basic necessities of life but also by facilitating income generation activities for communities.

Within the various locations where we support schools, this is not always possible but we have been trying to ensure that we meet the basic needs, so that whatever little support the school receives from the government can be used more sustainably. Over the past five years we have learnt that the best way to start in a new area is through the local primary school where we build relationships and understand the needs of the community over time. We then try and move further afield and start to address community needs while still supporting the school.

None of this would be possible if it were not for the support of all our volunteers. You can never underestimate the value of labor in a place like this! Whether one is helping to construct a toilet block or digging away all day to put in systems to avoid erosion, the fact of the matter is, is that every bit counts. So often, Camps International receive additional donations from people who have traveled with us, be it to sponsor a needy child with secondary school fees or to contribute to a desk making project and sometimes to support project’s that are much more costly.

Stephen Kanja Primary School located next to our Camp in Mukurumuji where our Life clients stay is one such location where there has been an overwhelming support through Camp Kenya and independently from Life Clients. Over the past three years, Sally’s Trust have financially supported a series of large scale projects managed by us and aimed at securing water through construction of water tanks, rainwater collection and rehabilitation of the land around the school. Sally’s Trust continues to support some of the classroom construction at Muhaka Primary today.

Recently, the school and the community in Mukurumuji (the area is also known as Majimboni) have been blessed by a group of Life clients that visited in September and were so taken by being a part of this community that they decided they want to do something really big and meaningful. Three months later, a community borehole was opened which was entirely financed by this group (click HERE to read the full story)

And it did not stop just with water. In December, they returned armed with laptops to run a Computer Bootcamp for the secondary school. So much came out of just one group of people visiting and we only site this as an example of just how much happens when your feet are on the ground (so to speak). Do have a read of an article that appeared in one of our local weekly papers HERE. And once again, whether you help build a desk or raise additional funds for a specific project, every bit counts and really does help. To date, we can honestly say that everything we set out to do in and around Stephen Kanja Primary has been achieved and so much more.

Without sounding too cliché, things always change in life and the important thing is to know how to adapt. As long as Kenya continues to remain peaceful, we are committed to this country for life but we also have to adapt to ever changing global forces as well as local dynamics. The fact of the matter is, we simply did not have enough volunteers coming to sustain the camp. Thus, as a past volunteer we wanted you to know that we have closed Camp Mukurumuji but have stayed long enough to finish all the major projects.

The good news is that we will continue to operate our Life Program just down the hill from Mukurumuji within one of our very first and dearest locations, Camp Makongeni where we have been for the past five years. So much has already been achieved within this area but like most places on this continent, so much more can be done. We thus, feel that our Life Programme will be better placed here and encourage all to have a look at the Camp page HERE and our project page HERE.

For those of you that have a close connection with Mukurumuji, please rest assured that we will continue to support the sponsorship programme with various children you have meet and committed to. Of course we are sad to leave those beautiful hills but we are also equally excited to take on new challenges and hope you will come along for the ride.

Happy New Year to all! And what a great start to the year! We have been keeping quiet about this amazing initiative undertaken by a group of Life clients who travelled with us in september. Below is the brief story about a bunch of amazing people who fundraised just over 10,000£ to drill a borehole for the community in Majimboni! It’s a story that has touched us all across Camps International and am sure it will you…

(Many thanks to Drighid Smyth for writing the Press Release).

On the 7thJanuary 2010, the local village of Majimboni in the Shimba Hills had fresh water pumped directly to their local village. Local people today sampled for the first time water flowing from the new well located behind the Stephen Kanja School. With a population of 3000 people previously the local community would have to walk over 2 km to get fresh water. The Well, is a very welcome addition to the numerous projects which are underway in the village of Majimboni and are supported by Camps International.

Speaking at the opening of the Well, Mr Tony Cummins said, “We chose this project because we believe that it brings huge value to the village and benefits the most people. During our time here in September 09 we were touched by the wonderful people who showed such grace and kindness with the tough lives they lead. There is no running water in the village and it was often the responsibility of the children to fetch this from the local river every day. The minimum journey would take 2km and needed to be fetched before or after school – this is obviously time which could be dedicated to study, play or family time.

He continued “We are particularly grateful for the huge cooperation we got from the local community without whose help this would not have been possible. In particular I would like to thank Chief Matano who was very supportive throughout the project. This programme was a dream in September 09. In three short months it has become a reality and this is due to the cooperation of the entire community. In passing the Well over to the people of Majimboni today our vision is that the well belongs to the community, is sustained by the community and supported by local people. Today we hand over the well to the people of Majimboni, who we know will manage it well and have established a committee to take charge of the project made up of local leaders, local people, the school and other interested parties. “

The Majimboni Well is part of the Mukurumuji community programme which was launched in November 2005 and is named after the river which runs through the Mukurumuji camp meaning where people meet. Majimboni is the nearest village and is situated on the edge of Shimba Hills National Reserve. Over 60% of the inhabitants in this area are living below the poverty line.

The nine people involved in fundraising for this project were: Carmel and Tony, Cathy , Nollaig, Shannon, Dave and Rhihan, Carol , Lee and Caroline.

This project was initiated by a group of 9 people who participated in a Camps Life Programme, September 2009. The well was completed in less than three months and was coordinated by Tony Cummins, an Irish Engineer from Cork. The group project managed this particular assignment with help from a local geologist and Camp Kenya staff following extensive fundraising in Ireland and the UK. The nine sponsors who spent the month of September in Majimboni, as part of a Camp Kenya Life Program, agreed on this particular project and will fundraise in excess of £10,000 stg to bring the project to conclusion.

The Well will provide clean water to the village of Majimboni. A borehole of 115 meters was drilled and water was struck. It was important that the well was deep so that in the event of drought water would still flow. African Water Drilling Company was the company responsible for delivering the project and our thanks to Abdulla and his team for completing the project in the fastest ever time from conception to completion in Kenya.