Wash, Shower and Go Baraka officially in use
The villagers of Baraka and Hassan Mweusi, the Assistant Governor of Kilifi County, had specifically been waiting until I was there. But then, on Saturday 24 September it happened: the project Wash, Shower and Go was official opened in Baraka, Matsangoni, Kilifi County. The project of Pamoja Kenia, which was realised with gifts and donations from BIS (Office for International Cooperation), donations from my private network and a portion of the proceeds from the webshop.
Hard work
The toilet and shower complex was built on the site where also the school of Baraka is. It was 4 weeks of hard work, in collaboration with the local population and under the guidance of Philip Kahindi. Without him also this project would never have become such a success. The villagers had no idea what was going on during construction. Especially the women were completely surprised and amazed and thrilled.
Pay for use
At the opening Philip Kahindi explained the villagers what exactly happened and how the water pump was installed. In addition, both he and Hassan Mweusi explained the population that they should pay for the use of the project. This in order to raise awareness and to guarantee the maintenance. Here, too, the board in Kenya will consult with the villagers to decide who does what. The board is going to report to Philip Kahindi.
Overshadowed
Unfortunately I could not fully enjoy the opening. There fell a shadow over my stay because the father of Philip Kahindi died. Because of that I went back to the Netherlands earlier. And sitting in the plane, taxiing to the gate at Schiphol, I heard that my mother had died from the effects of an unfortunate fall on her head. She suffered from the terrible disease PSP, a progressive neurological disease, which eventually paralyses all your brain functions. Altogether an extreme period for me.
Nice post
But …, life is full of surprises. You will see that in the message below, which I received a couple of days after the cremation of my mother.
We are pleased to inform you that we will support the project Mpenda Kula in 2017 with a gift.
We invite you cordially at:
Charity shop Re-Sell ‘s Gravenzande
on 05 November at 16:30 in order to receive a check.
Many of our employees, guests and press will also be present.
We will appreciate it when you tell shortly about the way the money is spent on the moment we hand over the check.
Activities in the coming period
– On October 21, I’m going to be part of the team for the presentation of The Voice Achievers Award. Good exposure for our foundation! http://www.thevoiceachieversaward.com.
– In November I’m going to take part in two Kenyan parties of which a portion of the proceeds will go to our foundation.
– We are engaged in the project ‘Rain Water Harvesting’ in collaboration with Partin. You can read more about it via www.partin.nl (newsitem).