The women have been officially registered with the social services as a CBO, Community Based Organization. “Leave your politics at the gate, this centre is for the development of the community and not any one party.” The chairlady said as she stood up to greet the leaders and community members that had come to hear the news. They have high hopes for this centre and weren’t afraid to say it. “We want the projects of this centre to do better than anything the men of this community have ever tried to do.” There was laughing and timid support of this idea across the room but then the chairman of Olkirimatian School, stood up and answered, “If these programs do succeed, they will.”
The women have been very patient waiting for things to develop and it now seems like things are coming together and moving fast. Building in camp has commenced; there are 4 skilled laborers on site and 5 more people hired to help from within the community. Concrete was being poured in the staff housing on Thursday and the foundations have already been dug out for the staff kitchen, mess areas, and the women’s Banda. Recent rains have created a swimming pool where the septic tank will go though this hasn’t slowed anyone down.
Three beneficiaries of the bursary program were present and witnessed us publicly hand over the check from our fundraisers. The treasurer of the committee accepted the check and after a bit of celebration, she asked us what this piece of paper was. Which leads us to our next order of business – finding basic educational training for these women. We are actively seeking advice and direction that any of our readers could give us.
On other community news: The Patterson Memorial Secondary School is taking up collections for a school bus that they would like to purchase to ease the costs of renting transportation for school field trips. The bus can also be rented out to the community and primary schools in the area for individual events. They were asking for 1000 ksh from everyone in the community – about $12.
Posts
