Animal Welfare Kenya Project #36114

Adopt-An-Animal and Transform Lives in Africa

by Hifadhi Africa Organization (HAO)

Adopt-An-Animal and Transform Lives in Africa

Project Report | Jul 12, 2019
Bursary Allocation to Bright Impoverished Students

By Collins Nakedi | Project Leader

Hifadhi Africa Organization’s Sponsorship Program 2019

Bursary Allocation to Bright Impoverished Students

Hifadhi Africa Organization raised a total of $540 from GlobalGiving’s Educating Impoverished Children in Kenya (37957) Project. The project intent was to provide scholarships, sanitary products and undergarments, scholastic materials as well as transport towards bright impoverished high school students in East Pokot. The money were received in phases of $27 on 27^th February 2019, another disbursement of $315 was received on 27^th March, 2019 and lastly a $36 on 29^th April, 2019. That makes a total of $378 of money received. Our goal was $108,550.

Funding Support from Bremerton Rotary Club

Hifadhi Africa received donation of $5000 from Rotary Club of Bremerton, through Rotary Club of Port Orchard in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. Through Rotarian Robert Cairns, Hifadhi Africa got the great news. We jointly brainstormed on the best implementation plan and agreed to wait until arrival of Rotarian Robert Cairns and his wife Chris who were scheduled to visit all Hifadhi Africa projects implemented in Kenya. The Cairns arrived on June 5^th and shall be leaving for Uganda on 21^st 2019. Our decision was to visit all beneficiary schools in the company of Rotarian Robert and his wife and meet with targeted students.

The Need

Community Need

East Pokot is one of the world’s extremely poverty ravaged places. The need for basic human needs and rights is on the extreme. There is nonexistent social support system. The Sub-County covers a land mass of 4528 square Kilometers, with a population of about 180,958 (Women 51% and Men 49%). Out of these, only 4% are literate and 60% of children never attend school in their lifetime. Climate change has desolated Pokot land – no farming can take place and dying of livestock spell end their pastoralism lifestyle. These trends will leave Pokot people even more vulnerable and without source of livelihood. Current Absolute Poverty rate is 65%.

Institutional Need

Tangulbei High School in East Pokot has a student population of 600. It is a mixed school and 99% come from within East Pokot. Most of the students have been orphaned by cattle rustling. They do not have families to go to during holidays nor relatives to support with school fees. Most of them, according to Deputy Principal, Mr. Edwin, have never paid a shilling in the 4 years they have been in the school. Some students transfer from one school to another annually to avoid accumulation of outstanding fees that they may never afford to pay. Only 10% or less of the 600 students have made some sort of payments as of June 2019. Students owe the school Kes.25 million (approximately $25,000) in arrears.

The picture above is even blink among schools in the peripheries. Chemolingot Day Secondary school is an example. The school has a population of 179 and none of the students have contributed any amount in 2 years window. Chemolingot Primary School pupils were crowded in few classrooms to make room for the Chemolingot Day Secondary. The school therefore operate out of a primary school. We were informed by Mrs. Florence, who acts as both the Primary Head teacher and Patron of the Day School told us that she pays volunteering teachers out of her pocket. We asked how the Day school feeding program. Her answer was that the students eat out of ration provided to the Primary School by World Food Programme. Basically, the Day School do not have food allocations. She also mentioned that the secondary school do not get any support whatsoever from the government of Kenya.

When we arrived at Chemolingot Day Secondary staffroom, we overheard a conversation between Miss Elfreda, a Kiswalihi teacher and a parent. The parent had come to school to seek permission for his daughter, Everlyne, to be allowed into school without the needed fee payment. Everlyne is in Form 2 and lives with impoverished parents. We overhead the parent begging the teacher while the teacher insisted for a $5 exam fee payment. He walked out with sorrowful face. So we called him back and asked him to narrate to us what was going on. We then held a joint meeting with all teachers, Everlyne and her father. The teachers narrated to us challenges poor parents face and the pressure to pay for at least some sort of money to facilitate learning. We also discussed 2 more students, Eugine and Caroline. They are needy bright students. But then again everyone at Chemolingot Day Secondary is needy.

Rotarian Robert and his wife Chris donated a further Kes.20,000 ($200) in cash towards payment of the teachers or anything they wish to expense on. We hoped that the money will go a long way into motivating the volunteer staff. They are sacrificing so much already.

Implementation Plan

Considering the need, we agreed to distribute the $5000 from Bremerton Rotary and the $378 from GlobalGiving jointly as bursary to students already in high schools across East Pokot to a maximum of Kes.23,800. This shall be the highest bursary award given to any identified student across the 9 Secondary Schools in East Pokot.

Selection of Beneficiaries

For better selection of students in need, we planned to make selection of awardees by visiting identified high school institutions where students from East Pokot study. This way, we were able to identify needy students based on the fee arrears one has. We identified several schools that have high population of students from East Pokot and they include: Barpello High School, Tangulbei Secondary School, Chemolingot Boys High School, Kolowa Secondary School, Churo Boys Secondary School, Ng'oron Secondary School and Churo Girls Secondary School.

Schools designated outside East Pokot with students from East Pokot include; Athinai Secondary School, Kabarnet Boys High School, Kabiyet Secondary School, Ossen Girls High School and Tabagon Girls High School.

We visited some of the schools above and identified students facing outstanding fees challenges in all the schools. We prioritized those who have been sent away from school as a result of pending fee balance. One of the approaches we used was to request school fee structure from school treasurer and student arrears from prescribed needy student.

Criteria for Selection

• Priority was given to students from East Pokot region who have been sent home due to fee arrears.

• The amount allocated to each student varied depending on the amount of fee balance. Those with high fees arrears and perform well received reasonably higher bursary amounts to ease their fee burden.

• Priority was also given to those in their 4th year of study because Form Fours may not be allowed to sit for National Examinations with high outstanding arrears. Those in lower classes at least have time ahead of them to clear their school fees.

• Priority was also given to first generation high schoolers. Students from illiterate families and who are the only children in education system are at risk of dropping out and the bursary award may make a huge difference compared to students who have some sort of support from parents and uncles.

• Children from needy families with no alternative for support of their school fee balance, e.g. orphans will be considered first.

Hifadhi Africa plans to offer 60% of the bursaries to girls and 40% to boys. This is because, girls are at risk of early marriage and female genital mutilation when they are sent home due to fee balance.

• Students who perform well in their examinations will also be given a priority

Reporting

1. Each awardee will be required to write a personalized letter at the end of each quarter that reports the support they have received and progress of their study after receiving the bursary.

2. A photo and biography of each awardee will be available for review by the donors.

3. A bank deposit slip will be provided showing fees paid to respective schools

4. A stamped receipt of equal amount as deposited in the bank shall be provided by the school for each of the beneficiary student

5. An acknowledgement letter from the beneficiary school summing up all the number of students who have benefitted from this bursary and the total amount paid to that school for the purpose of fees arrears will be provided. The said letter will appreciate the donor support and explain how such support will positively impact learning and overall administration of the school.

Further to that, the following were donated by Rotarian Robert Cairns;

Disposable Sanitary Pads to last 89 Chemolingot Day Secondary School girls for one year.
Soccer balls to Nginyang and Nakoko Youth Groups, Chesakam Primary School and Chemolingot Boys High School.
Reusable Sanitary Pads to Barpello High School
Sanitary Pads to last CANA Girls Rescue Home for one year. CANA Girls currently host 52 victims of FGM, harmful traditions and domestic violence.
Red noses to Cheptunoyo Primary School pupils

Gallery

Photo 1: Hifadhi Africa Team with 24 teachers from 9 East Pokot schools on June 15^th. Photo 2: Barpello High School receives reusable sanitary pads.

Photos 3 and 4: Chemolingot Day Secondary students and teaching staff receiving sanitary pads and soccer balls.

Photo 5: Rotarian Robert giving red noses to Cheptunoyo Primary pupils. Photo 6: Hifadhi Africa team with sponsored students and a parent.

The photo below is profound. It shows Hifadhi Africa Organization’s Finance and Administration head Kevin in black coat. Kevin is at Kabarnet Boys High School to issue cheque for one of the beneficiary student called Edwin. Those receiving the Cheque from Hifadhi Africa in the photo are the school principal, the student and school accountant.

We spoke with the father and shared these photos and he almost cried. He thanked Rotary Club of Bremerton for the kind donation saying that, "I have never managed to pay a shilling towards my child education in the last 3 years because of my financial inability. I feel really bad because it comes out as if I do not care or I am ignorant of education. I wish my son best education but I can't simply support him as I would wish. Hifadhi Africa and its donors are God sent".

Please note that submission of the final report on our GlobalGiving's Educating Impoverished Children in Kenya (37957) Project will be done upon receiving acknowledgement letters, students’ performance progress, and students’ payment history from beneficiary schools and scanned bank deposit slips.

Attached in this report are cheque copies made to beneficiary schools. Bank deposit slips will be attached against those cheque copies in the final report as evidence of funds transfer.

Attachments:

EDITED_Bursary_Allocation_to_Bright_Impoverished_Students_Report.pdf (PDF)

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Mar 8, 2019
THE DIFFERENCE MADE

By Colins Nakedi | Project Leader

March 4, 2019.

The Difference made

Project Description

Hifadhi Africa Organization’s livelihood program aims to mitigate against food insecurity, high rate of illnesses, poor nutrition and natural disasters in order to assist the target population to return back to normalcy. The objective of, "Adopt-An-Animal and Transform Lives in Africa" (36114) specifically was to improve family welfare in the pastoral Pokot region by donating goats, sheep, chicken, camels, donkey and cows to assist households with most vulnerable persons to empower them rebuild their lives and advance their potentials. Our organization came up with the idea of animals distribution as a sustainable initiative to fight poverty and save lives. The concept stems from the #TransformingLives slogan that the beneficiaries of the project will have an opportunity to take care of the animals to a point where they multiply and boost their livelihood.

With your donation via GlobalGiving online fundraising platform, Hifadhi Africa secured a total of $5633. $4,618.86 was disbursed to Hifadhi Africa via FXecute which translated to Ksh.451, 165 to buy and distribute animals to the needy villages in East Pokot Sub-County. The animals and chicken were purchased in each of the 8 beneficiary villages. The reason for this was to enable those who are selling benefit from the money they get when we buy their animals and those who receive the animals as donation also equally benefit. The decision to buy locally from each village also meant that the particular villages benefit from money circulation and therefore improvement in economic activities. Normally, all Pokots would trek over 100 kilometers to Nginayng market to sell their livestock. We wanted to empower locals in each village with the money we had by encouraging them to sell us their livestock and chicken at improved prices. The decision also mitigated need for transporting the livestock and with it the logistical costs. This concept of buying goats from the villagers and distributing them within the same villages creates money circulation and enhances the economy of the community.

The project benefited 232 households directly and 1624 individuals who depend on those household heads supported. The targeted populations included;

Traditionally under-represented groups such as youth and women

Households that support their children's education and those of others,

Households that do not practice, support or in any way frustrate efforts towards elimination of female genital mutilation and

Households headed by those who are vulnerable, ill, orphaned, aged or live with disabilities.

Distribution Matrix

The total numbers of livestock distributed were 80 goats, 100 chicken, 2 cows, 2 donkeys and 2 camels. These livestock were distributed to 8 villages including Adomeyon, Akwichatis, Nalekat, Napeikore, Nakoko, Cheptunoyo, Silale and Natan. Distribution was done as follows;

Adomeyon Village – 10 goats and 10 chickens

Akwichatis Village – 12 goats and 10 chickens

Nalekat Village – 5 goats and 10 chickens

Napeikore Village – 12 goats and 19 chickens

Natan Village – 11 goats and 15 chickens

Silale Village – 10 goats and 10 chickens

Nakoko Village – 10 goats and 16 chickens

Cheptunoyo Village – 10 goats and 10 chickens

Itemized Buget

Local committees averaging 7 memberships with Chairperson, Secretary and a Coordinator were established in each of the above villages prior to distribution. These committees in conjunction with local populous teamed up to develop beneficiaries’ lists. Some went from household-to-household while others called for community participatory forums where all villagers attended and selection criteria were discussed. Opinions raised by locals during the period included gender and geographical balance on selection. Strong objection was voiced also against those who support harmful traditions that are seen to suppress human rights and participation of women and youth in community development. Communal rules were also put in place to discourage beneficiaries from selling the donated animals prematurely. Beneficiaries were made to sign against their names as they receive the animals and chickens. Each village committees were tasked to ensure continued M&E and impact assessment.

Community Participation

Hifadhi Africa had community participatory forums in each of the villages as well as working closely with opinion and religious leaders to explain objectives of the project and donors. There were strong calls for adoption and donation of more donkeys and camels because of their economic and transportation value. Camels and donkeys attract more money and are also used to carry water over long distances.

Observable challenges in East Pokot

Dare need for water – Residents of East Pokot travel 8 kilometers on average one way to fetch water. There are two inoperable boreholes at Nakoko and Napeikore that broke down May 2018 that need urgent repair to salvage their humanitarian crisis. We estimated the two boreholes repair to needing $10,000. There is also need to construct a pan for livestock at Akwichatis. Cost of construction is yet to be determined.

Health Crisis - From our observation and conversation with the villages, we discovered that East Pokot dispensaries last received 2 boxes of medicine in August, 2017. As such, no dispensary or health facility in the area has medicines and food for patients. Therefore, the community needs assistance in this regard to avoid more deaths. There are high snake bites cases reported.

Poverty and Starvation - Many people in East Pokot are losing their lives due to starvation. For instance, Kama Lobong’e, a beneficiary of maize distribution that was done in 2018 died of starvation. In July 2017 Hifadhi Africa offered her Plumpy nuts to ease malnutrition.

Appeal to Join the New Project

Hifadhi Africa launched a $108,550 project titled, “Educating Impoverished Children in Kenya” (#37957) on GlobalGiving. The project is expected to support education of students living with impoverished parents. There is high need for scholarship funds in East Pokot. Rotarian Robert Cairns, a member of Port Orchard Rotary Club and major donor and supporter of Hifadhi Africa scholarship program wrote the following in regards to East Pokot and need for scholarships;

There is always a need for scholarship funds in Kenya where the Port Orchard Rotary Club has been doing their humanitarian work. In East Pokot, Kenya, the literacy rate is just 4%. The Pokot people are pastoralists and with their nomadic lifestyle it is very difficult for a child to get an education. The only way children do get educated is by living at a boarding school for 9 months out of the year. In East Pokot, 87% of the children do not go on to high school because of a lack of funds for boarding, for books and fees and for uniforms. In 2014, the Port Orchard Rotary Club funded $2500 for high school scholarships. This was enough for 4 scholarships to be funded at Barpello High School for one year. Through funds provided by the University of Washington Rotaract Club and from individuals over the years, funds were provided to see all 4 of the students through high school. In 2018, I was able to meet with these students during our annual trip to Kenya and the transformation was truly remarkable. The students went from being quite shy and not very outspoken to be quite gregarious and talkative. All of these students are going on to study at a University or College in Kenya as the government provides financial assistance if you can get through high school.

In 2014 rigorous interviews were conducted on those that applied for high school scholarships. The interviews were conducted by the non-profit that I work with in Kenya called Hifadhi Africa. Some students walked as much as 25 miles one way to participate in the interviews. Preference was given to orphans, to students with just one parent, and to those with the greatest financial need. In addition, visitations to the applicant’s homes were made and interviews of the parents/siblings were conducted. The same procedures will be followed to determine which students are awarded scholarships.

Established Committee

Names Phone Numbers

Dennis Losurole +254712959624
Chadar K. David +254710662022
Lokwiamuna Domoruk +254708503131
Komolng’oria Silipon +254725937886
Lomunasiwa Lopelemuria +254723008069
Limareng Naroo +2540707017122
Kadeng’oi Nguriamatang +254717232578
Cheposmai Lorekow +254740104283
Bernice Korete +254797405652

Attachments:

AdoptAnAnimal_Project_Implementation_Report_and_Beneficiaries_List.pdf (PDF)

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Jan 18, 2019
Every Contribution Will Make a Difference

By Collins Nakedi | Project Leader

Every Contribution Will Make a Difference

Thank you note

Hifadhi Africa Organization wishes to thank all our 50 donors who enabled the NGO reach $5,633 milestone in such a short period. We are grateful for your generosity and compassion. We also hope you're immensely proud of your accomplishments. Together, we’ll save lives and inspire generation of Pokot people.

Project Impact Approach

The objective of "Adopt-An-Animal and Transform Lives in Africa" (36114) is to improve family welfare in the pastoral Pokot region by donating goats, sheep, chicken, camels and cows to assist households with most vulnerable persons to empower them rebuild their lives and advance their potentials. The project will benefit households and individuals who;

-Traditionally under-represented groups such as youth and women

-Support their children's education and those of others,

-Do not practice, support or in any way frustrate efforts towards elimination of female genital mutilation and

-Those who are vulnerable, ill, orphaned, aged or live with disabilities.

The project works with the poorest, most deprived and economically weak community in East Africa. Purchase and distribution of the donated animals to those identified as poor by the community shall be done locally. Already locally established committee are going village-per-village developing a list of beneficiaries. The committees are holding community participatory forums where locals voice their opinions on implementation plan, beneficiaries’ selection process and M&E and impact assessment plan.

Community Participation

Hifadhi Africa has an element of community participation, in that through all its steps of development work, it tries as much as possible to include all stakeholders. This includes the district level government officials, grass roots level development workers, peasant association leaders, pastoralists themselves, community elders as well as community opinion leaders. After the identification of the beneficiaries through community committee, members were encouraged to participate in all aspects and at all levels of project implementation. Buying and distribution dates shall be arranged with the community committee after names of potential beneficiaries have been forwarded to HAO’s Nairobi office.

Appeal to Join the New Project

We’re excited for 2019. Hifadhi Africa’s permanent membership on GlobalGiving platform is a transformable opportunity. We want to build upon this momentum by launching our most ambitious fundraising campaign yet. We are launching a $108,550 project titled, “Educating Impoverished Children in Kenya” (#37957) on GlobalGiving. We thank those who subscribed to donate to us monthly. We also seek your support towards this new project.

It is hard to believe in today’s world that there are people who are dying of starvation and 60% of their children never attend school in their lifetime but this is the sad reality in East Pokot. Life here is a daily survival struggle. Your donation will save lives and change these trends. We hope you’ll stand with us again this year, joining together to create a world where all people live with opportunity and dignity. We look forward to continuing this vital work with you in 2019 and beyond.

From all of us at Hifadhi Africa, thank you so much.

Attachments:

Every_Contribution_Will_Make_a_Difference..pdf (PDF)

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