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.................

Refugees, Famine.......................

Although Marich Pass and the immediate surrounding area has sufficient water, and food, due to the Cherangani Hills influencing the climate and the Pokot being a mostly agricultural people, you don't have to travel far north to find people living their lives on the edge. It is here that there is great human suffering when the rains fail or when there is insufficient precipitation resulting in the failure of the harvest.

We will pass through this area on our way to the Turkwell Dam HEP which is in an extremely arid area bordering Turkana. Here I have seen refugees from further north as the further north you travel the worse the situation becomes.

Food is a precious commodity, but nobody thinks twice when there is Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose or some other supermarket just round the corner with shelves filled to overflowing.

Spare just one minute to think about those less fortunate than ourselves.

A malnourished Turkana child pictured naked in a barren, desolate landscape!

There are other images that will educate you if you look on the PHOTOVALET website. Images 138813 to 138837.

See also the two links at the foot of the blog for The Tribes of Kenya and The Traditional Music & Cultures of Kenya, or just click on these links.