August Tournament

On August 15th Wepoga held a tournament that was to bring together the communities in the area of operation, forthe community to interract freely wth one another and the organisation.The Tournament was sponsored by a volunteer Bryan cohen from the U.S.A. and the Sharriff Centre from the local town which provided for the entertainment.So many people attended the tournament since it was very exciting.

The teams that participated were Shibanze,musango,Makadara and wazee team which was for the old men in the community.Shibanze play musango and won whilst wazee played makadara. The winning teams later meet at the end which was musango and makadara of which makadara took the trophy which the new jerseys and some cash for them to have lunch.The whole tournament costed us 21,650 shilings, so please it was a very expensive day but it was very successfull.

The idea was avery good since the community had never had the same program bhe pictures being run around there.we appeal to more volunteers who are willing help with such tournaments to come forward and lets work together for the better of the community.We are planning to have the same tournament on th 26th of December and every holidys through out the year.

So the pictures you are seeing are the players and the sponsor bryan cohen. You can judge from the above pictures that it was very entertaining since therewas some music.

PICTURES

Thanks to volunteer Amanda who had the friends and they had to contribute, donate school bags, books, pencils,office furniture e.t.c. They donated things worth 200,000 whichs 2500$ U.S dollars. please we still invite for more people who will to donate and help the orphaned children in the area.

Here are the children that are being sponsored by the organisation in the Amani academy.This is the baby class and as you can see they really need a lot your support.They need to have desks in their class because they are crrently sitting on the floor which is not ideal for them, they get difficulties in learning how to write. We also need to pay their teachers salary, of which we have 5 teachers since we have 3 classes. So please whoever is willing to help in any of the above is welcomed to communicate on the email, wepoga@gmail.com. The organisation is working also to build them decent classes of which they can learn with no problems.

These are some of the fish farmers that had the seminer that was organised by the organisation with Youth vacational center that is just close to the Wepoga Area of work

This week the organisation is hosting the youth tournament on 15 th August and i think i wil upload the picture on the blog and you are going to see how things are growing hot in Shibanze.

Latest Volunteer

Bryan Cohen is the current volunteer with WEPOGA and is working so hard to make sure that the organization is growing to be self-sustaining. He is working on trying to raise some funds to establish a poultry house so that the eggs can be sold to earn money for the teachers’ salaries and improve the school diet for the children. Working with youth is also very important in our current community and Bryan, being a youth from Boston U.S.A., he is trying to establish soccer teams and educating them on different issues affecting the youth around the area. It is very important to see the youths grow and prosper in life since they are the future of the community. Due to traditions around the community the youths are not allowed to own any land or participate in anything that brings in money since the old men in the community are not willing to support them, thinking that they are going to waste money on drinking alcohol and other drugs which is not true. This really makes them more stressed and start actually doing these activities without getting the money from their parents. They are so idle and they can decide to do anything in the community which is not right.

So it is very important that the youth to be considered and helped out of which the organization has taken the step of forming the youth groups around the community. So Bryan is working so hard to make sure that they get enough education on how to handle various issues surrounding the youth. He is trying to fundraise on how the youth can get small loans for doing different things; starting small business and farming.

The youth are so motivated and they would want to do that as soon as possible. They are also to have soccer tournament which is the activity that truly attracts them so much. So please whoever wants to help or work close to Bryan on the projects he is doing is welcomed to contact him by email at chasecohen@gmail.com

We would are also interested in purchasing a TV, VCR and generator, so that the youth would have the opportunity to learn from the documentaries that have been performed by the others making them to succeed. It is also very important that they learn more about sex education, HIV/AIDS, Gender balance, Alcohol and drug abuse etc. since in the area very few youth have the knowledge about them and it is really affecting them.

The organization is not forgetting to work with the old men and women since they are the backbone of the community. The men’s group is really working on sustainability also by starting a fish pond of which they are going to rear different kinds of fish and them sell to the local markets, since fish in the area come from Lake Victoria which is 200km away from where they are. The women have started some small business from selling different things at the local markets which is earning them something small for their up keep. They ore able to do this because if the small loans the organization is providing for them and pay in installments after a grace period of one month. It is also our prayer we continue giving all services to the community but due to limited resources that we have take this opportunity to ask anyone who is willing to help any of projects within this organization to contact current volunteer by email

Amani Academy is Growing

Amani Academy has really been improving in the last few months. We have introduced a hygiene program, with the help of our outgoing volunteer Amanda Flannagan. Now the children brush their teeth at school everyday before lessons begin. It is so important the children are closely observed to assure their health and safety. We also bought a water tank and placed it near the toilets so the children are able to wash their hands after using the bathroom. We’re praying we able to keep this hygine program going, so any and all donations towards toothpaste, new toothbrushes and soap would be incredibly appreciated.

Thank you so much to the Red Cross of Kenya for donating some Unimix flour which is highly nutritious and makes for a balanced diet for the children. Sometime in the future WEPOGA hopes to be able to make its own Unimix by purchasing a special mill that is used to ground the flour. We can then grow the required ingredients including sweet potatoes (high in vitamins) and soy beans (high in protein). This would be a great step towards self sustainability and reliability as we would not have to rely on donations anymore.

The children are also privileged to have some new playground equipment which should be ready soon. There is also the possibility of more additions to the play area with the help of volunteers.

Mattea the Cow!

One of the newest members to the WEPOGA organization is Mattea, our new dairy cow. She was purchased this past June with a generous donation from a family in Canada. Mattea is an important addition to our farm for a number of reasons. First, she is providing milk for the children at Amani Academy as part of a new nutrition program we are implementing to keep our students healthy. We are also able to sell some of the milk in the market to help pay for school costs and teachers salaries. We are also using the manure from Mattea as a powerful and organic fertilizer for the kitchen garden. Although Mattea is currently pregnant, we are still in need of more cows both for milk production and manure. The structure we have now could hold up to 5 cows, so expansion is certainly on the horizon. Because we already have the structure and grounds for growing fodder, donations could just be utilized for a new cow. If you are interested in sponsoring or partially sponsoring a new cow, please contact the organization at wepoga@gmail.com. This could greatly increase the nutritional health of our students and be a valuable source of income for the school and organizational costs in our goal to become completely self sustaining.

Mattea and Sikuku, our farm manager feeding Mattea homegrown fodder.

Some of our students eating their midday meal of ugali (corn meal), sukuma wiki (greens) and beef. Many children will receive only ugali and greens at home, which is not a balanced diet. Many children were malnourished when they came to school, through the nutrition program and Mattea, we are turning this around.

Welcome to WEPOGA's New Blog

Greetings from the heart of the Western Province, Kenya, Africa! Here you will be able to find updates and pictures on the work WEPOGA is doing and also provide comments and suggestions for our organization.

Established in 2002 by Benson Alakonya Keya, WEPOGA (Western Province Organic Growers' Alliance of Kenya) is a CBO (community based organisation) located in the Bungoma and Butere Mumias districts in the Western Province of Kenya, working towards creating a better future for the local farmers and their children through programmes of education and support. We aim to work within all sections of society from education and advice for farmers in organic and sustainable farming, HIV and AIDS awarness seminars, free check-up clinics and our recently established Amani Academy School, providing free education for some of the most deprived children within our area of operation.

We hope this blog will keep you informed on the latest happenings here and perhaps even inspire you to help out.