Day 2 Nairobi May 10, 2011

Greetings

Today we started out our day at Pastor Ososo’s home and were joined by Pastor Salome Wairimu of the Matasia United Methodist Church. We discussed 4 different projects that are in progress and self sustaining or in the making. The first project ground nuts and honey balls. Well I came to find out today they are not honey balls there simsims. They are made of simsim seeds and Mumias pure cane sugar. The ground nuts and simsim project has reached capacity. In order to expand a larger roaster and bag sealer is needed. The second project we discussed was their venture into bee keeping to produce bulk honey. They have some of the equipment purchased but have yet to acquire the hives and centrifuge. The third project is a few dairy cows to produce milk for them selves and to sell. So far they have managed to pay for the first half of the first cow. The last project we discussed was their chicken project. The Matasia UMC has 40 chickens and would like to expand to about 250 chickens.

After Matasia we then went into the Kayole slum to visit the B. T. Cooper United Methodist Academy. My last visit a year ago the children were on holiday. This time the school was in session. Of the 100 students half of them pay tuition and the other half are orphaned and do not pay. The amount of tuition received barely pays the rent on the compound. The entire staff of 10 teachers, 1 cook, and the head master is not paid. Only the night watchman gets a salary. While visiting we discussed looking for projects within the district to assist in supporting the orphans and providing salaries for the staff.

The next stop was the UMC Nairobi district headquarters located not far from the school. While at the district headquarters we discussed their tailoring project that is presently on hold while they look for another tailor. The majority of the time was spent discussing the districts and the churches micro-finance operations. The micro-finance operation has been in existence for over 2 years and the 14 member churches have a 100% return rate and the district has had only one default. Presently Pastor Ososo is actively trying to get the other half of his 29 churches to participate in the program.

Our last stop was to the Kibera slum with a visit to Highrise UMC to discuss the challenges they have faced and are facing to expand their operations into a bigger facility. During my last visit they were running a beauty salon, tailoring, and jewelry making. They were forced to move into a smaller location and joined up with a charcoal maker. The tailoring and jewelry making survived the move but the beauty salon was discontinued. However I am a week or two early visiting since within the next week or so they will be on the other side of Kibera in a larger facility again running the beauty salon, tailoring, jewelry making, and selling charcoal for cooking.

In the morning it is off again to look at another 4 churches reviewing the successes and challenges that they face in bringing their congregations projects to a place where they are self sufficient. As I travel around Nairobi and the surrounding areas I find it amazing the huge difference between the low end of the economic ladder and the high end. Many and I mean many shops are no bigger then a small bathroom or closet in the states. On the other end are the new malls and big shopping centers springing up all over the place.

The two pictures above are a simsim ball and packaging ground nuts.  Click on them to enlarge them. 

Take care and God bless

Dave