Over the past year, we have been increasing our community outreach support in a host of different ways in Kenya. Understanding how best to help deprived people in rural areas in Kenya is not quite as simple as identifying needs with local schools such as putting up extra classes, providing desks, sponsoring children and paying for additional teachers to meet the ever increasing population of the primary schools. Relationships need to be established over time, needs analyzed, trust and respect built and all that takes time – but we feel we are really getting there.

Our outreach is designed to touch on every aspect of life with the ultimate aim of improving the standard of living for as many people as possible without having a negative impact on the environment or wildlife that coexists with these communities. To give you an idea, over the past six months we have been building hundreds of energy efficient stoves for individuals homes; we have set up two more camps which are managed by the communities themselves where the income from rent goes directly to the group; we have substantially increased our involvement with agricultural innovations through alternative fuels and better farming practices; we have established local and international markets for local products such as aloe vera soaps and shampoos, elephant dung paper and now arts and crafts made from flipflops! No question about it that it is trial and errors and there are a lot of frustrations but we strongly believe this is the way forward.

And as we reach out further, we find ourselves getting to know individuals in the communities better, and we also get to see some immediate needs that we can meet. Most people in rural areas in Kenya still live in houses built with clay and thatched roofs – yes, mud huts. And they make great homes and a lot more environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, as populations increase, traditional social structures are crumbling and one of the consequences is that elderly people do not have the support of their children. Correct me if I am wrong, but that is pretty much what has happened in the UK and other developed countries – the only difference is that there are Homes established for the elderly where they can receive care. But, here elderly people are increasingly being left on the side to fend for themselves and their houses are literally crumbling.

With our volunteer work force always available we realized that we can at least address their housing problems immediately. In less than one month, we have put up 4 traditional houses in three locations and aiming to put up another 3 over the next month…and it goes something like this (NB> these are random photos from the different houses we have been putting up but gives you the picture…):

1. Identify homes and owners which are poorly states and unable to help themselves. This particular home belongs to a very old widow:

2. Bring it old down and put it all up again:

3. Mix up that mud and get plastering:

And hey presto! One new house! (the one below was put up in 4 days flat by St. Johns School team!!)

And if you are having trouble little Rama our mascot of Muhaka is always around to give you a hand…

Big hat tip to the 2010 Summer Gappers and Schools Teams in Kenya…

For those of you that have been following our Project Diary, you will remember that late last year we launched a pilot project to build energy efficient household stoves for the local community in Muhaka in partnership with a company called CO2balance. Some of our volunteers have been helping build the stoves individual homes around the area and we have just completed the first five hundred. We have had a a lot of inquiries and questions about the why’s and what’s of this project so I asked Bushra Razack, the Project Development Manager from CO2balance Kenya to write a short piece explaining the whole process (NB. Bushra has also produced a short video on some of the social aspects behind the project which you can watch by clicking HERE). There’s a lot involved to manage this project and these chaps at CO2balance certainly have their hands full so a big thanks to Bushra for taking the time out to write this for us:

This short article will provide an outline of the processes used by co2balance when implementing our Energy Efficient Stove Projects in the local communities. It will take you through the project breakdown – step by step.

Before we get started, it is important that you understand the relationship between the different bodies responsible for the success of the project – namely co2balance, Gold Standard and the On the Ground Community/partner.

Co2balance: co2balance is a carbon management company that helps to mimimise the carbon dioxide emissions of companies and individuals and offset the unavoidable residue. Offsetting works by investing funds in sequestration or energy efficient projects that absorb or prevent the release of a tonnage of carbon dioxide equivalent to the carbon footprint calculated. We suggest you have a look at our website at www.co2balance.co.ke or join our co2balance Kenya facebook group.

Gold Standard: is an independent quality standard for carbon emission reduction projects. They were supported and developed by WWF and 19 other NGOs. Their aim is to ensure that the emission reduction projects are real and that they are providing the social, economic and environmental impacts they are promising. Basically, we submit our projects to Gold Standard, and they do a quality check of our project against their criteria. If they approve, it gives our project international credibility and integrity. There are different types of Gold Standard projects – Gold Standard Micro, Small Scale and Large Scale – dependent on the amount of stoves constructed / emission reductions. Our joint venture with Camp Kenya in Muhaka falls part of a Gold Standard Small Scale project. For the rest of this article, we will be referring to Gold Standard as GS.

On the Ground Community: Without the participation and assistance of the local community and our partner organizations, like Camp Kenya, the project will never be successful. These communities are complex systems arranged in a social structure according to relationships that have developed long before we decided to work there. We need to respect this and take this into consideration before beginning our work within these communities. We have to make sure that the community leaders, village elders etc are aware of what we aim to do before we even begin.

Now that you understand who is involved in the project, we can begin to break down the project process.

STEP 1 is project eligibility. We identify an area we wish to work in and explore its eligibility under GS. We do a region specific area analysis and identify the social and environmental issues unique to the region. Once we have done this we have a better understanding of the area, and we can identify the local area chief and women’s groups we will be working with for the duration of the project.

STEP 2 is the local stakeholder meeting. The local Stakeholder meeting is a GS requirement. It is an opportunity for us to get all the local beneficiaries together, explain the project to them – as they are the ones affected by it. We get their feedback , analyze their comments and responses and adapt the project accordingly.

STEP 3 is stove construction. We employ a local stove contractor to begin construction of the stoves in the area we have identified. Our stoves are energy efficient and use special design to minimize the amount of fuel used while at the same time maximizing the heat created. To put it simply, the stove has a fuel input chamber where the firewood is placed. The inside of the stove has “stomach” made of fired brick that keeps the heat in and directs it to one centralized point – the pot placement cavity. The pot is placed in this hole, directly above the heat.

The stoves will be constructed, distributed and installed by Camp Kenya and the local people under the guidance of co2balance Kenya Ltd.

STEP 4: We train the local women’s groups to assist us with the data collection. They are required to weigh the amount of fuel used with the traditional 3 stone stove. They do this at every meal for a week. We then ask then to repeat the weighing procedure on the energy efficient stove. It is clear from the Data Collection Process that the new stoves serve their purpose and reduce fuel use by 50%.

STEP 5: We have now put a system in place to monitor the distribution of the stove effectively and efficiently. We will be working with Camp Kenya in Muhaka to get the GPS co-ordinates for each individual stove – as well as a photo, Household Details etc. These details will be uploaded to our online Stove Distribution Database, making it easily accessible to all.

These are the basic steps taken to start up one of our Energy Efficient Stove Projects.

Our main projects at the moment include:
3 GS micro scale projects in Naivasha, Shimoni and Likoni.
We have 1 GS small scale project in Kisumu.
We have 1 GS small scale project that includes Kasigau, Maungu, Muhaka and selected areas in the Shimba Hills.
We also have a few projects underway in various other regions in Kenya and the rest of Africa.

Communities are embracing the project because of the benefits – other than carbon emission reductions associated with the reduction of the production and combustion of firewood derived from unsustainable sources.

The project will provide the following co-benefits:

•    Reduced deforestation and degradation of surrounding forests, as less wood will be needed to cook. This leads to biodiversity preservation.
•    Reduced poverty, as the efficient wood stove reduces annual expenditure on cooking fuels. This money can be put to use in other ways.
•    Reduced adverse health effects associated with indoor air particulate matter inhalation from the smoke due to the purpose-built stove design – we have heard many positive reports on the smoke free nature of the stove. Many households suffer from upper respiratory tract infection as a result of the smoke emitted from the old stove. Also, exposure of the developing embryo to indoor smoke pollution causes an increased risk of early childhood illness. The new smoke free stove addresses all of these issues.
•    Reduced cooking and wood collection time, which will revert to more time to attend other household tasks and/or less time kids will be unattended.
•    Reduced hazards due to the exposure of the firewood collectors (mainly women) to the forest on their own. There is a big concern about this last point related to frequent rape cases and animal attacks during wood collection.

We had a meeting with local stakeholders recently and asked them about the project. These were some of their comments:

“It is good for the environment and will reduce the amount of firewood”
“It is going to help the community save the use of firewood and also reduce effects of carbon dioxide”
“It helps reduce firewood usage”
“it keeps our environment clean”
“it is environmentally friendly, and good for the community”
“The project was great and it gives many local people jobs”
“the challenges tackled on the side of the environment is good”

The fact that our beneficiaries are all happy with the project process, the stove and the impacts of the project motivates us to continue doing what we do.

. Hundreds of thousands of people are taking to the streets to demand that Developed countries start taking more responsibility for the planet. There have been amazing campaigns running across the globe from the streets of London to little villages in India. TCK, TCK, TCK – TIME FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

Negotiations are extremely heated at the moment. Today’s Guardian is running an article stating that, “Developed nations are trying to water down their emission commitments – no wonder the rest of the world is angry.”

Yes indeed, the developed world in particular has to reduce its carbon emissions. We are all feeling the adverse effects of becoming a society that is entirely dependent upon manufactured goods. Now more than ever, each one of us has to pay attention to our carbon footprints – especially those of us who have the luxury to sit in front of TV screens, love our coca cola or can’t do without our cars. We are all responsible.

Celebrities and global leaders have put their signature behind various campaigns for climate justice. African leaders are taking strong stands and we stand firmly by their side on this one:

So from the big wigs to the little guys on the ground, everyone does have something to say and hopefully we are all putting our words into action. Not so long ago, we blogged about how we at Camps International are doing our bit do reduce our carbon footprints and since then there has been so much more development. Our new partnership with Co2balance has swung into action on the ground in Kenya where we are building hundreds of energy efficient stoves for less fortunate homesteads who are dependent upon wood or charcoal to cook their meals.

As mentioned before, these, “stoves reduce firewood consumption by half and save in the region of 3.05 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year, 15.25 tonnes over the 5 year life span, in comparison to traditional cooking methods. In addition to the saving in greenhouse gas emissions, the reduced need for firewood and the burning of rubbish leads to a corresponding reduction in the amount of time spent collecting cooking fuel.  The recipients of the energy efficient technology also gain considerable co-benefits such as reduced costs and a considerably improved environment from a health and safety perspective.”

For now it’s as simple as that and if all goes to plan we could be building thousands of stoves along the South Coast of Kenya and around the Tsavo ecosystem. Over the last week, I have been up and down in Muhaka almost everyday and there is such a buzz amongst the villagers for the stoves! Everyone wants one!! And our project officers can’t keep up with the demand. Eustace, Sampuli and Yayha are leading a team of stove builders and we are targeting 200 stoves by the end of this year and another 300 in the first 2 months of 2010!! So for those of you that will be coming in January, prepare yourselves for a lot of stove building…