Apologies

This BLOG had been deactivated for a period of time due to complaints made about the content.

The offending comments have been removed &/or edited hopefully to the satisfaction of all those concerned. If there are still comments that are felt to be misleading then please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do my utmost to correct any inaccuracies.

I would also like to point out that should a trip to Kenya go ahead next year the health and safety of all participants will be a priority when planning the trip as it was when I was organising this year's field trip.

There will also be amendments to the itinerary to satisfy all those concerned as well as all those who wish to embark on such a once in a lifetime venture.

I would also like to apologise to anyone who may have been concerned by comments that were made.

URGENT!!! re: School at the Turkwell Dam

It has come to my attention that the school at the Turkwell Dam has run out of money!

This means that the children that we photographed and whom we spoke to and played with during the afternoon when we visited the dam will soon be out of food.

They would appear to be desperate for help as the school was constructed out of the proceeds of charitable donations and this money has dried up......................

If you would like to help, please contact me and I will point you in the right direction.

Slideshow - The Best of the Kenya Field Trip

The final video/slideshow until I find time to look at the video we took on the afternoon that we visited the school in Marich and then hopefully put something together with that footage. Link to the BEST OF is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Io9lDN0nc Comments, criticism etc. etc. or anyone else interested in a copy of photos. Martyn

The Best of Kenya

Here is yet another video/slideshow using what I consider to be the best of the photos taken during the field trip. There are, of course, many others that I could have chosen but then the slideshow what have been excessively long and so I had to take out some that I wish could have also been included. So, here is the finished project.

NEW SLIDESHOW from KENYA FIELD TRIP

Dear all Yet another video......... this time 'WILDLIFE' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyCcxa3a7fw

If any parents, guardians or students want a copy of all the pictures that I took let me know...... will work out how many CD's are needed

Martyn

PS Will upload yet another video/slideshow of the 'BEST OF' in the next day or so.

UPDATE + PLANNED TRIP

Enough of the videos for now although I have had a request for a slideshow featuring some of the animals that we saw during our trip............... watch this space.

Anybody out there interested in visiting Kenya next year (or SOONER!?!?!)?

You know, you've heard all about it,

You've read the BLOG

Followed the LINKS

You've seen the slideshows

NOW visit Kenya for yourself.

I envisage the trip costing much the same as this year's offering and following the same itinerary.

If the answer is yes, drop us a line and I'll make enquiries about costings.

There will be a Minimum of 8 and a Maximum of ???? (the sky's the limit - within reason)

Suggested departure date Tuesday 1st June returning to the UK on Saturday 12th June.

The trip will be open to anyone and if parents of those who went on the recent trip want to experience Kenya at its best.................. SIGN UP now........................and whilst you're at it, bring the kids along as well. I know they'd like to revisit the place!!

Please note that the safety of all, for the duration of the trip, will be of paramount importance at all times. In addition any Health and Safety issues will be strictly adhered to as will any directives given in risk assessments drawn up for the trip.

NEW SLIDESHOW - 'OUR STUDENTS IN KENYA'To view the slideshow on YouTube just click on the following link............

At last, photos of some of our students taken during the field trip to Kenya.

To view the slideshow on YouTube just click on the following link............

Our Students in Kenya.

Some of the Students that we met on our travels

This is yet another video/slideshow that I have put together of the students that we met duinr our trip to Kenya. Those in uniform are from the Marich Early Childhood Development and Primary School whom we spent time with during our visit to the school as well as when they joined us at the lookout point. The students out of uniform are from the school which has recently been built near to the Turkwell Dam which we dropped into on our visit to the Dam & HEP Scheme on Independence Day (Madaraka Day) on Monday 1st June 2009.
The soundtrack is again by AYUB OGADA entitled OBIERO.

The YouTube link in order to see it in all its glory and in full size is available by clicking here

We'll Meet Again............... Students from West Pokot, Kenya

The school in Marich and the clinic in Tikeet

Here are some pictures, one of the completed and operational Marich Early Childhood Development and Primary School, four of the Tikeet Health Centre Project on the Masol Plains and two of Dr. David Roden the major driving force and benefactor behind both of these worthwhile projects.

The Outpatients Building at the Tikeet Health Centre  has had the roof installed and the Inpatients Building is well under way with most of the basic structure complete.

New YouTube video - WE have so MUCH and THEY have so LITTLE!

A selection of photos taken during a recent trip to West Pokot in Kenya. The trip included a stay in Marich Pass and visits to Tikeet on the Masol Plains, where a clinic is being built, and Lomut which is about 30 km inland from Marich, where there is a weekly traditional market.
The area is inhabited by the POKOT people and meeting these people and visiting the area is always thought provoking. In fact one comment that was made during the trip was " We have so much and they have so little yet they are so happy!".............................. does our wealth and the materialistic world that we are privileged (?) to live in really bring us the happiness for which we continually strive? I think NOT! There is a lot to be said for a simple life where community still exists and people truly care about their neighbours and don't spend their lives attempting to keep up with the Jones' or to outdo them.
Just £3 (US$6) pays for a child's education for 3 months in Marich and just £10,000 (US$15,000) builds a school................................... the Pokot need 50 schools and 50 clinics and I propose to establish a charity to benefit the lives of the beautiful Pokot people through the provison of education and basic health care. This idea was first kindled in the mind of the late Dr. DAVID RODEN and in his memory I want to see his dreams fulfilled. This can only happen with the help of the Pokot people themselves, The Roden family who live in Marich and through your, the viewers of this video, help.
Please read the BLOG for further details................. and check for updates.

The target................. £1 miilion!

WE CAN DO IT and the lives of the POKOT people will benefit.

You can read more about this on my BLOG (http://habarifromkenya.blogspot.com/) and there are links here to my photos on Flickr and to much, much more about Kenya and the area we visited.

The soundtrack to the video/slideshow is a track by AYUB OGADA entitled OBIERO.

The above is the description used on the YouTube video (Click HERE)

What a journey, what a trip, what people we met.............. I know that I will never forget those wonderful, beautiful, thought provoking, awe inspiring days spent with 30 of the best students that I have had the fortune of teaching and spending time with.

I just hope that this can be the start of something much bigger which will benefit the lives of all those we met and all those in the area that we didn't!

CHARITY

Following on from the extremely positive feedback about the field trip from 30 students and 1 parent, the next move is to establish a charity in order to take, what has been started, that extra step or ten.

What's needed is a name..................... IDEAS PLEASE!

From what we saw on the trip, it is clear to me that provision for the education as well as the health and welfare of the people in West Pokot, as well as the surrounding regions (Samburu, Turkana), would be of great benefit to all who live there.

The EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT AND PRIMARY SCHOOL in Marich is clearly much needed in an area that, thanks to the MPFSC, is relatively well off when compared to the areas that we visited inland and those further north approaching the border with Turkana. In addition, following our visit to the Tikeet Health Centre, it was clear to me how great is the need for clinics/medical centres in the same area. Just a relatively simple facility to provide the local people with basic health care, without which they would have to walk miles to obtain treatment. It is hard to believe that for want of simple drugs the highest rate of infant mortality in the area is from pneumonia and malaria still wields an unnecessary toll on the people.

What also struck me was that for little more than the cost of a lunch or what most people spend trying to win millions on the lottery or, more poignantly, an extremely small proportion of the transfer fees of top footballers (words like obscene, sickening etc. come to mind!!!) a child can obtain 3 months education and one meal a day. This for just over £3 for 3 months............. yes, just £3!!!

In order to improve the quality of life for all concerned by providing  basic education and health care we need to register this charity............................ there is a lot of work involved and believe me I have a pile of paperwork to read through in order to establish exactly how to go about it. However it does not look too difficult but, for obvious reasons, it has to be approached the right way, rules and regulations followed and all T's crossed and I's dotted. In addition we need a number of trustees to oversee the charity and to ensure that it is run as was proposed and as laid down in the various official documents.

So................. name of charity, other ideas and trustees................. I need some help on this and ASAP. Write to me on here through comments or on my E-mail address provided here, on the BLOG, at the foot of the right-hand column.

I have come up with 'BUILD A SCHOOL' but this doesn't encompass the plan to also build clinics and 'BUILD A SCHOOL, BUILD A CLINIC' is far too long winded................... so give me something to go on.................

Even more photos

Now that I have discovered how to reduce the file size of the photos I have uploaded the balance of the first set of photos to my FLICKR accounts. Most went to FLICKR 1 but I had to put one on FLICKR 2.

See the LINKS below.

More Photos - Wildlife

I have just finished uploading a further 67 photos from the Field Trip to Kenya.

They can be viewed on the FLICKR 2 link provided below.

................... and here is just a small selection to whet the palate...................

More Photos from the Field Trip

I have uploaded more photos onto one of my Flickr accounts.

The 81 photos can be accessed by clicking on the link below...............

FLICKR PHOTOS 2

This is a different link to the one used for the first set of photos which can still be seen either on this BLOG or on the previous link that was given.

Housing in Kenya

Housing in Kenya, as elsewhere in the world, is not only in short supply but in many cases it is unaffordable to most. Here in the UK, the average price of a house is verging on £200,000 (US$300,000)

In Kenya a new company is embarking on a project to produce affordable housing. This would give many Kenyans the opportunity to OWN their own bricks and mortar. Better still, bearing in mind the price of property in the UK, these flats which have 100 metres square of floor space (almost 1,100 sq. ft!!!) cost just US$32,000 or a little over £20,000!

Sell my house, buy 8 in Nairobi, rent out 7 and live off the rental income! 

Here is the link to the website:

Courtyard Flats Mlolongo Ltd. (CFM)

Flickr

All the photos from the field trip that are seen below are also available on my Flickr Account by clicking on the following link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/west_pokot_kenya/?saved=1

I shall also endeavour to upload others to the BLOG (Very fiddley and extremely time consuming!) and to my Flickr Account but there is a limit of 100 mb per month and uploading just 23 photos had swallowed up this month's allowance.

Materialism v Happiness

During our time in Kenya one comment was repeated time and time again. This, very simply, related to the fact that We have so much, and they have so little but THEY ARE SO HAPPY.

I think that basically they were trying to answer that age old question 'Does money bring happiness?' and I think that this simple question was adequately answered during our 10 days in Kenya.

There is much, much more to life than computers, iPods, Mobile Phones, Games Consoles and MP3 players etc. and sometimes we need to just sit back and remember that we, in this day and age, are so very fortunate but that 95% of the world's population can't afford the basic necessities of life let alone the luxuries that we, everyday, take for granted.

All of these photos are of people from Naselot/Turkwell, Lomut, Tikeet/Masol Plains and from in and around Marich itself.
Simply.................. Happiness is West Pokot!

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE ANY OF THESE PICTURES IN A LARGER FORMAT, JUST CLICK ON THE PHOTO CONCERNED!