Cornmills4Kenya

The roof is on!

2009-11-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

Here are the latest messages from Risper about the progress of the building:

Kathy,

This is just one photo. Since last week Mordoch has been trying to send

us photos of the project. Technology has possed a huge challenge.

Finally I got one picture which is not even the latest. It gives us an

idea that work has been going on.

What I can say now is that we have to be very patient. We will one day

get the pictures. Cherian fructured a bone in his leg and will not be

going home soon.

I thought I would go to Kenya in December but the airfares are just

beyond what I can afford. Mordoch will likely come back to the USA

sometime at the end of January. I am sure we shall get photos before

then.

I am happy with the progress so far. Mordoch has worked very hard

against many odds. We are glad he has been in good health so far and

continues to work hard every day.

Have a blessed new week.

Risper

Kathy,

I wish I could send you pictures. Mordoch is working on the roof. By the

end of next week, the roof will be on. The Koriko Moyie Women Group members are

proud. They have become the target of envy by many in the surrounding

communities.

Mordoch has some pictures but he does not have time to send them.

We shall forever be thankful to IWiN!!

Risper

Hello Kathy,

I just wish to let you know that Mordoch told me that they have the roof

now. They put the iron sheets on today. They plan to plaster the inside of

the building next week.

More Progress!

2009-10-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Risper wrote us the following:

I gave the information to Mordoch and he got the additional money. I get feedback at least every two days. As of yesterday, he got the roofing materials that were ordered. The building of the walls will be over this week. By the end of next week the roof should be on.

I will ask Cherian to go back home from Nairobi to take the pictures and send to us and also to help in the selection of the power mill and its instalation. Mordoch is taking some pictures with his disposable camera. Those will eventually fill the gaps of the process that Cherian will have missed.

Looking forward to sending you more pictures by end of next week of an almost completed structure. I am indeed exited about the whole project.

I will be back with visible news soon.

Risper

Update October 4th- The foundation has been completed!

2009-10-05T06:32:00.000-07:00

Risper writes:

The foundation has been completed. Building of the walls starts next Monday, October 5. It is estimated that by end of October the building should be completed. The pictures are just to inform you of how everything is done by hand.

September 20 Update and Photos!

2009-09-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

I must thank you for all the effort you are making to place Ngeta Village on the world map. I am sorry I did not respond to your e-mail earlier. My patience has really been tried this week.

Mordoch bought few bags of cement (20) from the nearby town to start building while waiting for more that were to arrive in Kisumu from Mombasa. It took more than a week for the cement to arrive in Kisumu.

When the cement arrived on Friday, September 18, only hardware owners were allowed to buy. There is scarcity of many items in Kenya including building materials at present. Mordoch had made arrangement to get 100 bags that we needed, and he was able to get 80 bags.

Building from the foundation that had stalled was resumed on today, Sunday September 20. Cherian came home to follow the progress for me.

I am sending you the first pictures. Mordoch informed me that the building of the foundation will be completed tomorrow then they will dig the top soil and fill the foundation with hard core. That work will take from Monday to Friday.

They hope that next Sunday they will pour the slab. The women will pour water on the slab for one week before the building can start again.

Risper

Here are some more pictures.

If you look at the land, you can see how dry it gets. It is very hard

to get may things and there is real famine. Mordoch told me that the

stones are too heavy for women who do not get enough to eat. He

informed me that they can only pour water and they will help with

removing the top soil from the foundation.

Therefore we should be able to see their participation soon. The women

leaders told me that they take turns pouring the water. Since the

foundation is a slow process, only four women go to the site to help

each day. There are days when all of them will be on the building

site, e.g. when they work on the slab.

I will send more pictures as I get them.

Update from Risper

2009-09-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

August 28^th

Greetings from Kenya! In my last update I informed you that a representative of the Women's Group went to the land's office to present the PIN number so that she could be given a land title. Upon arrival she was told that it was still going to be a long process before the title could be issued. Yesterday, Mordoch went back to the lands office together with the same representative from the Women’s Group. The land's officer informed them that evaluators had to go to the site where the land is located to check if the correct amount of money was paid for the land, write a report that would later be taken to the land board before a title deed could be issued to the Women’s Group. Fortunately, it is always good to be a teacher because Mordoch happens to know the lands officer in our District at personal level.

Mordoch called me at 2:36 am this morning to say, "Guess who is now going to give us the land title?" Someone we know very well. The women were given the land title deed immediately. I also talked with the officer and the secretary of the Women's Group at that time while they were still in the land's office and the representative of the women now has the title in her hands.

I felt happy and sad about this at the same time because I asked myself whether it will ever reach a time when women can succeed in dealing with land issues successfully without the help of men??? Anyway, with the help of Mordoch we now have the official land title.

Purchasing of building materials will start early next week. Building will start as soon as they have enough materials on site, maybe towards the end of next week. Let us give Mordoch two months to see how far he goes with the building project. I will share with you pictures that I get from them to keep you updated on the progress.

Risper

September 1^st

When I talked to Mordoch yesterday it was 6:00AM East African time and he was already up because the group members were going to the building site where they are going to start digging the foundation for the Corn Mill Shelter!! The work is ongoing and soon you will start getting pictures of the project.

I have arranged for our son, Cherian, to come home from Nairobi and stay for at least ten days in Ngeta Village to show us the day to day progress over the next ten days at least. The rest of the progress will be captured by Mordoch with his disposable camera. Unfortunately he is far from town and so it will take a while before we get Mordoch’s pictures.

One thing that has thrown our estimated budget off is the cost of transportation of building materials, cement and iron rods. I really do not know how we are going to fare with what we have so far. I have asked Mordoch to go for the best bids because we have to have the shelter and grain storage space.

The women are excited!!!. Expect some pictures in the next two weeks.

Risper

Setting the Stage

2009-08-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

Risper and Mordoch are our contacts from the village. Risper was a founding member of the Koriko Moyie Women's Group. She later ended up in Blacksburg working on her PhD at Virginia Tech. When she came across IWiN she thought we would be perfect to partner with to try to raise funds to help the Ngeta group to raise funds for their desired powermill, and we enthusiastically took on the project.

Now, though Risper has graduated and taken on a teaching position at a university in Tennessee, Mordoch has gone back to Kenya temporarily in order to supervise the building project and purchase of the mill. Below are a few pictures of the village and some excerpts of updates sent to us by Risper.

"I know these are not the photos you look forward to seeing, but I just wanted to share them with you. This is Mordoch's visit to my mother's home. The lady in blue prints is my mother. The children in the picture are some of her grand children and the man in the picture is my brother.

On this trip he also banked the money and checked the prices of building materials. He did not make plans to transport anything yet because he had to check further for affordable transport and the exact quantities. Tomorrow, Sunday, he will meet with two skilled builders to get exact quotations for the building materials. This process may take up to two weeks because he will only employ a builder who gives the best price."

Welcome to Our Blog!

2009-08-27T09:20:00.000-07:00

If you are here you probably know what IWiN is, and what we have been working on for the past couple of years. If you do not, please read the "About us" on the side panel. You can also learn more about IWiN in general by going to:
http://www.iwin.wc.vt.edu/index.html

Our project is being carried out in conjunction with the Koriko Moyie Women's
group.

Koriko Moyie Women's Group

The Koriko Moyie Women’s Group began in Ngeta Village in 2004 and officially registered with the government in 2006. This self-help organization was formed to improve life for women and families in the community. There are currently 25 members, most 65 or older, who are actively working on grassroots outreach initiatives to generate income and educate the community.

The group depends primarily on agriculture to raise money. The group faces many challenges. In a village where at least half of the children have lost one or more parents to HIV/AIDS and where subsistence farming is the norm, the number of people who need help is overwhelming. The Koriko Moyie Women’s Group is seeking money to buy a power mill, which will free women from the drudgery of grinding corn, which will give them more time with their families, and simultaneously provide an income to the group, which will increase self-reliant. Quality of life of the group members will be improved and other community members (such as orphans and widows) served by the group will benefit as well.