Fw: Updates IV-Hopewell

------Original Message------
From: alice wanjiku
To: Phill Klamm
Cc: VITALICE KAHENDAH
ReplyTo: alyshy2006@yahoo.com
Subject: Updates IV-Hopewell
Sent: Jun 26, 2008 4:21 AM

Hello Phill,
 
The project team has been quite although work has been going on. We are very excited about the approval for this project. It is sure we are going to change our community in a big and special way with the idea, even before implementation, it is already serving as a catalyst for the development of the entire Barut community.
 
The architect has already started doing the detailed plans but will soon be asking for a 50% payment which we would be liable if WTW considered sooner.
 
We are already working on addressing the concerns raised at the latest WTW meeting especially with the regard to our government. After the post-election violence, the government is really trying to encourage investment, especially in the tourism industry which is the main stay of our economy and towards this end. The Local Government here in Nakuru will be supporting this idea in various ways including paving and gravelling the road to the proposed site and will be making electrical transmission to the site easy, by stationing a transformer.
 
With regard to the possible consification, this is out of question, and we are proposing to register IV- Hopewell as an autonomous business entity with probably two or three Directors from WTW and one or two local managing partner(s) from Hopewell (what's your take on this). If this is okay with you, we can start registering this business enterprise. We will only need the WTW Directors (full names and addresses and also scanned signatures.)
 
Phill, there is a question you earlier asked about water collection with the Makuti roofs. Barut is one area which is almost Semi -arid and so it does not experience a lot rain throughout the year whereas the Makuti roofs will try cooling the rooms owing to the hotness of the place. Anyway those were just my thoughts.
 
Thank the WTW out there for this great decision as it is a worthwhile investment in the days to come.
 
"If God is for us no one can be against us; this project will succeed with his strength showered on us and our extra determination."
 
Thanks and will keep on communicating.
 
Regards,
Alice
 
 
 
 


Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular

Vision

Here are some thoughts from The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier and our project. Some very interesting things are in that book I highly recommend it to anyone that has a passion to help the poverty stricken people in this world.

• Administrative costs are not necessarily a bad thing in the nonprofit or NGO world. Collier says that many organizations are nibbling this cost on their bottom line because sooo many people donate to organizations with low administrative costs. Collier also says that this is not necessarily a good thing because what much of the Bottom Billion needs is people on the ground and high administrative tasks.
• Infrastructure...Collier talks about the need for infrastructure in contrast to other aid. He says that infrastructure is sorely lacking in the Bottom Billion and with a better infrastructure other things would be effected including but not limited to exports which is a very important statistic in bringing a country out of poverty.
• Transparency...With the corruption in these countries being so rampant and at many times and places accepted, Collier stresses the need for transparency and better bookkeeping.
• People, People, People...Collier talks about getting trained and educated people on the ground and working in these countries as it helps in so many areas. To me this validates what WTW has always stood for, getting our hands dirty! Picture our IV-Hopewell filled to capacity year round with international people...how do you think this will improve the Barut community?

So here are some thoughts about our project and how it relates to our project.

I think we need to be completely transparent with the costs and expectations of our project. As soon as the land is acquired (we need roughly $20,000 to purchase the 5 acres wanted) we need to set up a "project sign" on the site and post the project prints, what is being bought, for what price, when it will be done and everything that we know about this project should be on that board. It will be our way of communicating with the community around us. It will also show that transparency is expected and may encourage other entities to do the same.

Again once the land is acquired we will need to look at the labor needed to run the IV-Hopewell and the fair wages for the work that will be required. Next we will need to set up standards and a system of work for our workers that show how IV-Hopewell will be different from any place in the world. These would include but are not limited to: hygiene, language, services offered, etc. Next what we need to do is make the IV-Hopewell the absolute best place to work in the area. With fair wages already established their need to be "developmental perks" set up for our "community" of workers. Things that this may include but are not limited to: microloans, performance bonuses, catch you being good bonuses, leadership award, benefits for training others are your position, and possibly an award for getting a better job at another place other than IV-Hopewell to encourage a development into the community at large to improve the lifestyle and spread the Hopewell mission.

Let's go back to transparency for a minute...I would like to take that "project sign" and keep it up when the building is completed. Let's be transparent by posting the accounting numbers for IV-Hopewell as far as gross receipts, costs, and net income for each day, week, month, quarter, and year. In addition, lets post a number that shows our "account" hopefully in the positive and continuing to grow. So everyone will know that there is money accumulating in the account and the IV-Hopewell is being profitable. Than on the same sign we will have 3-5 next projects, either improvements of IV-Hopewell or other projects that will improve the community...a garden, vehicles, a commerce or trading area, school classrooms, etc. These projects will be carefully selected and a price will be set on each one...as the account gets close our "community" will vote where they want the money to go. In essence empowering them to make the decisions with the money that they are making at IV-Hopewell. This should create more jobs, help more people get trained, bring more money into the community, and so much more.

Here are some highly recommended books: The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier, Volunteer Vacations: Short Term Adventuresthat will benefit you and others, VolunteerL A Traveller's Guide to make a difference around the world

Tuesday, June 24th Board Meeting

On Tuesday we had a WTW Board meeting and three people were available and made it to the meeting: Joanne Franzene, Connie McChain, and Phill Klamm.

At the meeting we discussed a little about the book, The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier, and how his vision for helping poverty across the world matches with our project. I will do a post on the book at a later time.

We also talked about fundraising, throwing out ideas for reaching the large hotel companies such as Hilton, Hyatt, Ramada, and Best Western, talked about fundraising dinners at the Cactus Club, Rocky Rococo's, and Fin's. We also overwhelmingly agreed to develop an "in process" informational booklet to give to our fundraisers. We will be working on this on Thursday, June 26th at 1pm at the MECAS Alternative School in Milton, WI anyone available is invited to come.

God Bless
Phill

Voluntourism

Here is an article from wikipedia on voluntourism.
Here is the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntourism

Volunteer vacations are vacations which include some activities focused on furthering a charitable cause for which the participant receives no renumeration.
The types of volunteer vacations are diverse, from low-skill work cleaning up local wildlife areas to providing high-skill medical aid in a foreign country.
Originally most volunteer vacations were undertaken by people with a direct connection to a particular cause and were considered more as short term, intense volunteer projects rather than vacations. [1] Many of these organizations were long-standing international development assistance organizations which placed short-term volunteers on community development project sites.
During the 1990s the travel industry developed niche products and firms to provide volunteer vacations to people who had no previous experience with a cause, and to cater to the increasing number of young people taking gap years.[citation needed] These providers expanded the market but also drew criticism for the impact of their methods. At the same time, the first edition of "Volunteer Vacations" by Bill McMillan was published, featuring under 200 non-profit organizations which facilitated such service opportunities. According to the Travel Industry Association of America, more than 55 million Americans have participated in a volunteer vacation, and about 100 million more are considering taking one. [2]
Volunteer vacations participants are diverse but typically share a desire to “do something good” while also experiencing new places and challenges in locales they might not otherwise visit.[citation needed]
While some experts on volunteerism welcome the expansion of volunteer vacations as an opportunity to provide more resources to projects and to encourage a volunteer ethic in people,[citation needed] others have pointed out that the business methods used by tour operators, such as exclusivity deals, and catering to the needs of the volunteer rather than the volunteer project, exploit the communities the projects are intended to help. [3]
There are also other types of traveling that engage people with scientific research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment. Participants cover a fee that would include expenses on the different sites worldwide, and engage in projects according to their interest or location.

1st Trip/Kenya Project Meeting

Monday, June 16th 5:00pm @ W8059 Bay View Dr, Whitewater, WI

In attendance: Connie McChain, Joanne Franzene, Willie Myers, Sheri Myers, Paul Johnson, Bobbi Johnson, Jodie Klamm, and Phill Klamm

Topics covered (include but not limited to)

• Fundraising: Band Concerts and Food, Winter Golf Outing, Community Service Day, Time Share Sales, Fun Run and Walk, Personal, Group, and Corporate Sponsorships
• Project Costs and Purposes: Costs located on this blog, purposes can be found in Vitalices emails may include but not limited to: providing jobs, providing tourism services training, bringing electricity to the area, increasing water supply, increasing visibility of the area which may include government sponsored roads, increasing market options, providing low cost voluntourism options for international travelers, setting up a prototype for Wrestling the World International Villages elsewhere in the world ie. Sri Lanka, Dominican Republic, etc.
• Summer 2009 Trip Details: Mid June to early August travel window, possibility of multiple trips of anywhere from 10-17 days being orchestrated in that window.
• Next Meeting Time, Date, and Place: Wednesday, July 9th at 6:00pm @ W8059 Bay View Dr, Whitewater, WI
• Concerns: Government support, concerns about Government confiscating finished property, correct licensing and permits, management of finished property

Water/Well/Borehole

It is Vitalice again writing on behalf of the IV-Hopewell project team. We had asked and paid site visit fees to the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru Water department (who drilled our school borehole) to assess and produce for us a quote for drilling and equipping a borehole at the proposed global village. Their quote reached me today and I am sending it out straight away. We will also be doing a comparison with laying pipes and water pump from the school borehole to this village for comparison purposes. It is quite expensive drilling around here due to the poor/loose structure and few drilling companies which price this highly due to overwhelming demands.

God guide this important meeting at your house tomorrow. We not only consider it important but very crucial and critical for the future of Hopewell and our surrounding Barut community.

Quote 1 Borehole Drilling: 1,044,000 KES
Quote 2 Borehole Equiping: 625,400 KES

New Drawings

Email

How are you today? That blog spot looks great! Saw the latest update and it all feels like we are already off the ground on this exciting project. The star-looking centre of the main building will be the meeting/conference room on the first floor. It will be a hexagon and will still leave enough room on the balcony for a rest and taking of the view as one sips a drink in the African warm weather in summer.

The water harvesting component of the project will not be possible on this IV-Hopewell because we are using ‘makuti’…Kiswahili word for weaved palms for roofing. The solar panels can be fitted both to provide energy for heating (hot showers) as well as save on electricity bills.

Architects here normally charge a percentage of the total project costs and our man had quoted 4% but I know we can bargain till 3.5%. With 50% of the payment, he will do all the working drawings (with full details of dimensions, etc) and bring out a Bill of Quantities (which is a tedious and expensive undertaking, calculating up to the last nail that will be hammered in and determining its actual cost). This cost also includes the city’s permit/license. He can complete all the drawings in two weeks at the outside. We already paid him for the project site visit.

We will give a more detailed update tomorrow.

"The Hill"

Notice: "The Hill"
The hill behind the classroom buildings is where IV-Hopewell will be located. The newer classrooms we built is across the gate from here what would be just off the right of the picture. Imagine this land, high, close to Hopewell, great view...Vitalice is going to take and send more pictures of "The Hill" and send them to us in the near future. I found this picture on our website from our trip. Go to Album @ www.wrestlingtheworld.org to do some exploring of your own. You have to see it before you achieve it. I see it and believe it and I cannot wait...to go!

Email from Vitalice-Initial Drawings!

Hello Phill

The project team had a session with the architect working on the IV-Hopewell. We visited the site again and discussed the sketches I am attaching here below. We prefer something with an African touch, something traditional which will make any foreign visitor feel like he/she is in an African village. There will be a ground floor which will have the reception area/lounge; a small administrative office; an open kitchen; two living rooms-one will have a small bar which the other will be a TV/general resting area; cloakrooms. On the first floor, there will be a spacious conference room with all the sides/balconies serving as view points. Surrounding this superstructure will be several cottages of different sizes (I have attached a sample of three).Initially there will be eight cottages, spacious enough to serve as double rooms. Only the bathroom areas will be made of stones/concrete. The rest of the superstructure will be made of bamboo wood with huge oak trees (used here as telephone/electric posts) serving as pillars. The inside will be immaculately finished with block boards (like the finishing inside Gilanis restaurant where we took lunch after meeting Rotary officials when you visited).In summary, all building materials will be local ones we use save for the floors and the internal fittings.

There are two such ‘tourist camps’ in Nakuru-Flamingo Camp at the side entrance of Lake Nakuru National Park and Elementaita Camp. Both built in this simple manner. I asked how much they charge guests during peak tourist season and was just perplexed! Kshs. 10,000/= (US$207) a night at Elementaita and Kshs. 7000/=(US$121) a night for the Flamingo Camp.

We are meeting the architect and a quantity surveyor this coming Thursday and should make a decision if they should go ahead and develop the sketches into architectural plans and blue prints for approval by the city council. Even before the surveyor works on the detailed costs, they mutually agree that the entire building including furnishings (beds, furniture, etc) would reach about Kshs.4 million (US$68,966), this is inclusive of electrical connection/transformer to the site (supply line by Kenya Power & Lighting Company).

I still concur with you that the impact of this project will be instant and huge! It will immediately open this remote section of our city up and act as the catalyst for development. The surrounding two primary schools will be the first to benefit heavily from the electricity supply line brought that close. And if WTW’s fundraising efforts are blessed and get more successful, then new water well there will help serve the remaining members of this community with water. As a worthwhile return on investment, no doubt this is the finest I have seen in my lifetime. And you bet, the government will swiftly put up several amenities in this area……hence guaranteeing this community essential services they have lacked since time immemorial. I am imagining paved roads, an expanded trading centre at Barut and keener interest in this community. And you can guarantee….Kenya’s Minister for Tourism will be present for the Grand Opening.

I will take a picture of the grounds tomorrow for you. It is on the hill behind Hopewell….you can actually see it from some of your pictures of 2006.You stand atop that hill and you can see inside Lake Nakuru Park. Anyone with binocular in the cottages at the IV-Hopewell will be able to see all the feeding flamingoes from inside the rooms. The whole city stands below your feet from this point.

Got to stop now. I can write for hours on end. Look forward to hearing from you. Alice and James are still a little doubtful if this project is real.They were worried today when we stood on the land which we havent even acquired.I told them that if it is God's will,this project will be done.

Vitalice

Here is the view from the "front" or should I say the "side"? WOW! This is the main building or as Vitalice refers to it as the "superstructure". Is this gorgeous or what? Looks like a frint entrance on the left, a nice deck and just beautiful archetecture. If you can only now picture the hill behind it and all of Barut/Nakuru in front of it...

This is the ground floor of the "superstructure". It starts on the bottom of the picture with a circle drive on parking spots on the left and some beautiful trees in the flag plaza from the original drawing. The passage than leads right to the reception area where our host or hostess will be waiting to meet our guests. Following the drawing to the right will be the kitchen, dining room, restrooms, and two living areas with decks and it looks like steps going down to the ground. Does anyone know what the star like thing in the middle of the dining room is? Is it a bar? A fireplace? I am not sure...if you look at the next picture you will see the same thing appears on the first floor.

Next comes the first floor layout...you can see right away it matches with the ground floor...I know you are guessing why I didnt become an architect right? Honestly it took me a minute to realize that the lines drawn on this picture are the roofs from the ground floor. To me it looks like the first floor has multiple balconies, 2 toilets, that fire pit (?) from the ground floor, and something over the kitchen from the ground floor. I do like the idea of a fire pit...but I am excited to know more about the first floor layout drawing. The most important piece of the first floor is the large conference room!

Now we can look at the individual cottages, initially Vitalice says there will be 8 cottages of differing sizes done in an African village style. Is there anything else to say about this picture other than, "Um, SWEET!" I mean seriously look at this cottage absolutely AWESOME.

Here is an example of the inside of a cottage. This looks like a double room sweet with 2 separate bedrooms and 2 separate bathrooms for a total of 8 possible people to stay. I also really like the fact that while these will be in the proximity of the "superstructure" they will not necessarily be attached for some nice added privacy.

Here is another look at a different cottage style. On the top part of the drawing you will notice a covered living area without walls...and the sleeping area is covered with a window and a watertank above the bathroom. Now on the second drawing you can see the beds, a small sitting area, and the bathroom with all the amenities an American could want including a shower, sink, and toilet! Is anyone getting the travel bug yet?

DECISIONS...Decisions...decisions

Here are some thoughts I have had as of late about putting this together.

• We have a price quote on land, just under $4000/acre. There are 5 acres that are in close proximity to Hopewell and a nice and safe positioning for a guest house. Total cost than just for land is just under $20,000 USD. 5 acres, assuming it is a square piece of land...however that is very unlikely...but for this case lets go with a square piece of land that is 466.7' on all four sides. Our drawing with fences is 120' x 140'. That leaves a lot of extra space for growth.
• Here is a question out there for you: What makes a quality community? When we bring more clean water to this area of Barut will more people come? What if we brought more jobs would more people come? What if we brought high quality and reasonably priced food would more people come? When we use the money to invest in the area by adding more clean water, more food, more jobs, micro-loans, etc...will people trust more than they question? As we add jobs, improve the community, and the Hopewellian students are investing their time to learn these skills and taking these job skills, experiences, and work ethics to other parts of the country/world? What about education? With an increase in international visitors...how fast can the Hopewell school infrastructure grow? Can we get a full school building with a school farm, computer labs with internet, Jr Academy with age appropriate toys, games, and experiences, a technical school for high school graduates that are not going university where students can learn trade skills, a high school job program to help students pull their families out of poverty while learning life skills?
• How do we pull in more international travelers with an emphasis on charity and volunteering while highlighting the natural beauties of the Kenyan lands and the Kenyan people? This week I will be making a list of travel magazines, websites, and blogs. In addition to this we are going to need to find a huge group of travelers for this coming summer...wouldnt it be sweet to see IV-Hopewell open up and be booked for the entire months of June and July and parts of August? Lets say 100 people stay at IV-Hopewell during the first few months. Now take those 100 and their positive experiences and multiply it...what can happen next?
• My vision still is to have International Villages across the world. People can rest assured their money from their stay supports locals through jobs, charity, infrastructure, and promoting more international exposure...all while saving money from traditional hotel stays and tour brookers. How about the beach in Unawatuna Sri Lanka? Ravished by civil war, tsunami, and poverty...the people of Sri Lanka are amazing. Can you see it WTW's IV-Unawatuna.

Dear friends...we can do this...think big, pull it all together and lets change the world!

Fw: IV-Hopewell Update

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular

-----Original Message-----
From: Vitalice <kahendah@yahoo.com>

Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 08:34:17
To:wrestlingtheworld@yahoo.com, alyshy2006@yahoo.com, yegon1984@yahoo.com
Subject: IV-Hopewell Update


Phill
 
Flu knocked me down for the last few days and had me grounded.I am back to report the following:
1. The land owners will sell us an acre for Kshs.230,000/=(US$3966 at an exchange rate of Kshs.58 to the dollar). This is a good bargain considering that we bought two additional acres adjacent to Hopewell and an acre costed us Kshs.300,000/=. The total acreage available is 5 although only 2.7 acres is immediately ready with a registered title deed.The remaining 2.3 acres will need a period of about one month to register and be ready for sale.
2.An architect is already working on a scaled sketch of the village.He visited the proposed site today,studied the layout and will have a final sketch ready by this coming Wednesday.By then,he should be able to provide us with a cost of the entire drawings and building permit.
4. The project team will be meeting at Hopewell tomorrow afternoon to compare notes.....check what Alice found out on her assignment and receive feedback from James on detailed costs of assorted building materials.
 
We will definitely be in attendance at the 'Meeting of minds' at your residence.....depending on time,we can join in the discussion through internet.
 
More tomorrow dear friend.
 
Vitalice 

'Happy are those who dream and are ready to pay the price to make their dreams come true'-G.W.Griffin

Vitalice Kahendah
Director
Hopewell High School
P.O.Box 7068,Nakuru-Kenya
Cell Phone: +254-723236874
             +254-733517519
Telephone:  +254-202078033
                 

So...what's going on?

It is a hot and muggy Friday and high school graduations are happening all over the place. With the majority of our interested people being teachers this is a tough time of the year...ask any teacher about the last few weeks of school and notice the look you will get :)

At this point, we are waiting for some of the groundwork to be completed at Hopewell. Our project team is on the ground and working hard to lay the foundation with price quotes on land, permits, kitchen supplies, and much more. As soon as this information gets into my hands I will post it for all to see with a new guesstimate for our project.

If you are not on the mailing list that is probably something you want to do. Our mailing list is adding people daily as others are spreading the word about what we have up our sleeve.

Speaking of having something up our sleeve...plan on coming over to Jodie and my house for dinner and a project meeting at 5pm on Monday, June 16th. This will be a great way to start forming our team.

Let's spread the news and start the planning for some fundraisers in our head...this will be one of the largest fundraisers we have all been a part of. Think of telling people 20 years from now what you did to build the first WTW International Village in Africa...and how many people were able to travel because you laid the groundwork.

Talk soon!

Dream Stock

Here is an example of what a "dream stock" might look like. I am figuring something around 11x17 that would like sweet in a frame. I have no art talent...but quickly laid something out for people to look at. Let me know what you think.

What would the "Trip" look like?

With our email list growing I have been fielding some questions in regards to traveling to Africa in the Summer of 2009. While I currently have...um...yes...I have exactly 0...zero answers; I can add some insight with experience from our previous trips.

Caveat: This is all speculation and I cannot make any promises in this regard, this is meant to be a dream building process to get people thinking about challenging their comfort zones to make a difference in another part of the world!



What would we do?

• Fly to Nairobi


• Travel the "one of a kind" African roads


• Game Drive (I highly recommend Masai Mara) Note: Picture to the right is of Shelley and Joanne at Masai Mara on the Kenyan/Tanzanian border.


• Visit and volunteer at Hopewell Jr. Academy. Note: Picture on the left is a picture of the Hopewell Jr Academy...think pre-school.
• Eat lots of interesting food!
• Meet lots of great people!
• Celebrate the grand opening of WTW's International Village-Hopewell, and hopefully be the first guests during our stay.

How long would we stay?

• Probably anywhere from 10-17 days; remember travel to and from takes a "few" hours :)!
• There is at least one person who is considering staying a longer time ie. from Mid-June through the end of July/early August.

What would we need to do to make this happen for ourselves?

• First, you have to have a dream and align this with your priorities. Most people never make a decision to go...you are elite!
• Next, make a decision, make a commitment, and just do it!
• Passport...if you don't have a valid passport you will need one...head over to the Post Office today and get an application...what's it going to hurt?
• Shots! Close your eyes, grin, and bear it! Really, they are not that bad. Everyone will need to call the travel clinic and schedule the shots they need to travel safely.
• Money...everyone knew this is coming...and for those couples out there, get out your calculators because you will need to do some multiplying. Some guesses would be about $2000 for airfare and probably another $1000 for everything else. Now this is just a guess...so please don't hold me to it. These costs may rise and they may fall depending on everything that is going on.
• Participate...get active! You know, read your email, check the blog, comment on it...attend fundraisers, take some responsibility, etc. You can do it!

That's all I can do for now...Ill post more later.

Operation Clean City-Message from Vitalice 6-2-08

Hello Phill

I hope you are doing well. I printed out the sketch plan of the IV-Hopewell from your blog site and now the whole picture is crystal clear in our mind. The local project team is as good as made up and has Alice and James, both former Hopewellians and myself. James is already setting an appointment for the project team to discus land acquisition with two potential land owners. They own parcels of land next to the hill behind Hopewell and those two parcels provide a spectacular view of the entire city with Lake Nakuru and its Flamingoes providing the extra scenic beauty. Alice is out gathering info on the basic essentials of a guest house right from the kitchen equipment, guest rooms and conference facilities. Vitalis has a session with an architect tomorrow afternoon to share this drawing and get the insight into legislation pertaining to the building of such a structure in Kenya. The project team gets together again this Thursday to compare notes and possibly come up with an approximate project budget.

That’s what we have been up to. I am also attaching a write-up of the Clean City project fro your perusal. An additional project proposal that may be combined to meet the water needs of the IV-Hopewell(combined water harvesting and possible borehole)…..this is the one Steve is spearheading and can be made to comfortably fit the two sites.

We would wish to know roughly the approximate land acreage you have in mind and if you already have an approximate working figure in mind.

Be blessed.

Vitalice

Clean City Attachment

Nakuru Town Clean-Up Project: Reclaiming the lost glory of the once ‘Cleanest Town in East Africa”.
Project Summary

Sustainable Development Forum (SDeF-K) was created to help achieve locally, the Millennium Development Goals. This clean-up project incorporates two of the Millennium goals, partnership development and environmental conservation, and follow just a month after SDeF-K launched a successful Sanitary Towel Project that will help keep 1200 needy girls in 25 schools for the next one year without any break occasioned by their biological clock. The project is proposed for July 2008 and five thousand participants(residents, students from schools and colleges, business community and humanitarian service organizations in Nakuru including Rotary Club of Nakuru and Lions Club).SDeF-K is requesting Safaricom Foundation to kindly support this project through a donation of Kshs.500, 000/= and Safaricom T-shirts for the participants. SDeF-K strongly believes that this project will generate a huge national impact whose outcomes will be demonstrated in other towns across the country.

Funding. Where from?

SDeF-K is seeking approximately Kshs. 1,000,000(US$17,000) in funding from various development agencies which have a commitment to community service. We are looking for partners who will not only consider their support for this project as an additional feather in their CSR,but those that will in addition enjoy in this the project’s guaranteed high benefit impacts that is sure to be replicated in other towns and cities across Kenya.

The Problem

Mounds of solid wastes continue being an eyesore in the 21 residential estates of Nakuru town as well as the town centre itself. Papers, plastics, broken bottles and other forms of solid wastes provide breeding ground for disease vectors as well as being unsightly! In spite of there being in place legislation against open dumping and littering, both the residents and Municipal authority have either by omission or commission contributed to this massive pollution in the once acclaimed “Cleanest Town in East Africa”.

The town’s 21 residential estates with a combined night population of one million and day population of 700,000 residents absolutely overwhelm the Municipal’s Environmental and Sanitation department which is responsible for ensuring garbage disposal as well as spearheading environmental education. The said department, charged with the critical function of environmental hygiene and sanitation, is manned by a thin staff of 30 persons. The department depends on a fleet of 2 refuse collection trucks to manage the over 50,000 tones of waste generated weekly by the town.

Compounding the environmental pollution in this 4th largest city in Kenya is the lack of an efficient garbage disposal system and uncoordinated town clean-up efforts. Nakuru lacks a landfill and an incinerator and all solid wastes end at the Gyoto Open Dumpsite. This ‘cheap’ option is already a health and security hazard to the residents of London Estate, one of the biggest estates in Nakuru in which the dumpsite is located. Several community-based groups occasionally engage in clean-up exercises but their efforts have failed to show and leave a lasting solution to this problem.

SDeF’s Proposed Solution
SDeF proposes a 3-pronged approach to reclaiming Nakuru’s lost glory as the cleanest city in the region as follows:
· Launch an intensive 2-day clean-up exercise of Nakuru town which will serve to generate awareness to residents and stakeholders. The City Mayor, high profile personalities and other participating officers from the Environment Ministry and Ministry of Public Health & Sanitation, possibly the Minister for Environment, will use the launch to give this project the impetus and momentum to move forward.
· The same clean-up activity will be the launch pad for a comprehensive environmental education program to be conducted in schools, institutions, residential estates and the market places. Increased education in personal and environmental hygiene will help sustain a cleaner city.
· Stakeholders brought together in this clean-up exercise will be roped in to help enhance the capacity of the Municipal Council of Nakuru in the collection and proper disposal of garbage. This is a long-term effort which will lead to a well-equipped and informed department at the council and better waste management practices.

SDeF’s Capabilities
Though a young non-governmental organization, SDeF-K has over the last one year established itself as a result-oriented and community-needs’ sensitive group. Its activities are directed by a team of four persons who double up as Rotarians and have internalized the Rotary motto of ‘service above self’ in their various businesses and vocations.
SDeF mobilized financial resources last March and in collaboration with development conscious friends and partners in Wisconsin, USA, the Rotary Club of Walworth-Fontana in the USA and Nakuru Rotary initiated a successful Sanitary Towel Project which supplied sanitary products and garments to 1250 needy girls spread across 22 schools and centres in four school districts around Nakuru.
SDeF was also the lead agency that established Early Childhood Education (ECD) centres/nursery schools in the camps for the Internally Displaced Persons at Afraha and ASK Showground after the post-election violence that hit Kenya early this year. SDeF established a Management Board that now oversees the teaching, learning and protection needs of the 700 children in the two ECD schools in the internal refugee camps. The board, chaired by SDeF’s Vitalice, has representatives of all the agencies dealing with children issues and includes UNICEF, Save the Children Fund-UK, BetterWorld-Canada, Rotary International, Child Welfare Society of Kenya; ASK Nakuru Branch and the Red Cross.
SDeF-K mobilized an initial Kshs.100, 000/= from wishers (Doshi Group of Companies locally and the Hanford Rotary Club in California, USA) to initiate a feeding (lunch program) for the children. The said funds have procured foodstuffs to last the children one month.
The project team is a mix of two educational administrators who will easily work on mobilizing both primary and high school students as well as university students and staff in the clean-up exercise; an incoming Rotary Club president whose efforts will bring in participation of the Nakuru business community and a veteran chemist/environmentalist, now serving as the technical director of a mineral water bottling company in Nakuru, whose public relations’ efforts brought four ambassadors, Kenya’s director of medical services and chair of the Kenya Human Rights Foundation to visit Nakuru as guest speakers at the Rotary functions. His talent will be utilized to publicize this project as credible and urgent.

Project Budget

The project budget includes:
Cleaning materials
Administrative costs
Environmental education

Direct Costs (Cleaning Materials):
1. Wheelbarrow
2. Rakes
3. Brooms(Long-handled)
4. Slashers
5. Gloves
6. Mouth/nose guards
7. Hoes(Jembes)
8. Dustbin liners/refuse bags
9. Bibs/T-shirts

Administrative Costs:
Include costs incurred in publicizing the clean up exercise (posters, flyers), costs of coordinating various project activities, transport costs during implementation (delivery of cleaning items & supervisory), telephone services, sending out invitations, arranging for podium/tent for official function. This will constitute 10% of direct costs..

Environmental Education:
Includes costs of enhancing the capacity of group leaders in environmental education (training of leaders’ of school environmental clubs, leaders of out-of institutions groups) and general community education through drama/theatre as well as film shows on personal and environmental hygiene.

Fundraising

Fundraising…The Big Question?

Here are some thoughts on Fundraising…as many of us know fundraising for anything is often tedious and a lot of work. In my mind that is why we need to follow the rule of SIBKIS (See it Big Keep it Simple).

Large amounts of fundraising dollars are a challenge to get as people will initially get excited and than the excitement will fade. At WTW we have been very blessed by some partnerships and large dollar donors who have always helped us to “get over the top”…while we can pray these can continue to be there, in my mind we should plan as if they are not coming and than be pleasantly surprised when they do.

ONE BIG WEEKEND!
After a fantastic weekend with the McChain and Roselle families over the Memorial Day Weekend at a fun little festival in a tiny little town called Boltonville…I believe I may have the start to our fundraising questions. What I would like to do is get a couple of bands…hint…hint…anyone who knows a band or DJ start schmoozing! There are a few bands who have told us they would help in the past: Goodtime Dutchmen (sweet polka), Copperbox (sweet ecletic polka mix…wait till you see this group live), and I am sure we can locate some others…I have a friend that is playing in an up and coming country band. I say we tour with these bands for the weekend. Find 3 areas that are WTW friendly areas (Walworth/Fontana? Whitewater? Waunakee? West Bend? Kewaskum? Burlington? Edgerton? Milton?) set up for a night and just do it…Think food, music, 50/50 raffle and more. Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday afternoon

The Next Step…
Obviously we all need to sit down and finalize this process…but I believe that we roll out this at the ONE BIG WEEKEND celebration. I havn’t figured it out yet…but how about selling “Dream Stock”? What we are building is WTW’s first International Village a place where anyone in the world can go and stay…think charitable timeshare! Each stock would be numbered 1-1000 as there will only be 1000 stocks. We could have them done up really nice and totally frameable with a picture of preliminary drawing and a spot to put a picture of the final completed project. Obviously the stock would have to be “not legal tender” and have “no monetary value” however we can make the stock worth a week at IV-Hopewell…and maybe that would encourage our “stockholders” to make a trip and plan it. I know 1000 is a lot of stocks…but what if we made each stock worth $100 and got out there to our friends and family, media outlets, at the ONE BIG WEEKEND celebration, etc.

With these two steps completed…we should be far on our way having purchased our land and possibly more. I am hoping by this point we are at least 50% funded with the ONE BIG WEEKEND celebration and the stock sale. Which than sets off what I will call…THE FINAL PUSH!

THE FINAL PUSH…
The final push would be a timed and carefully orchestrated plan of media attack. With members of our group slotted at different Rotarys, Kiwanis, Lions Clubs, Churches, Schools, and other Community organizations…with the right media mix of hometown newspapers, large city newspapers, tv, radio, and more. We would promote group partnerships and sponsorships of our project. We would also continue to promote the stock sale to individuals and promote the final news conference and banquet. (Another fundraiser…but we would do it with an international phonecall from our partners on the ground at IV-Hopewell and include video footage and pictures of the work in progress. This would than be capped off with the projected outlook of the people we are going to help by doing this either by jobs, with water, increased tourism, etc. Also at THE FINAL PUSH would be details of our CLEAN CITY campaign that we will be doing while on the ground at Hopewell and our advertising push to get international visitors to stay in our IV-Hopewell.

Thoughts?