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

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.

Building Details

Details!

Building- Strong and safe, doesn't need to be fancy, one window and door per room. Rooms should open into hallway and not outside. Floors need to be solid! One of the things I remember from seeing some of the older classrooms at Hopewell was the cement floors falling apart within I think it was only 2 years! A floor covering such as tiling should be examined. Rooms can be semi private with walls not reaching the ceilings if that saves money. It would be best if done with Barut/Hopewell labor.

Furniture- Best if quality built by Barut/Hopewell labor. Need costs for single beds and bunk beds for rooms. Possibly a dresser or two in each room depending on cost and quality. Bed mattresses, I am unsure what is available...does not need to be fancy DOES need to be able to be kept clean. No bed bugs! I got those in Sri Lanka...and was miserable!

Bathroom- Function is most important, followed by eco/green technology. Does not have to be Western Standards...only acceptable and have the ability to be kept very clean and free from smell.

Kitchen- I have no idea what a Kenyan kitchen looks like...none! Obviously nothing fancy...would be great be able to make the traditional dishes, like Greens, Ugali, smoked meat such as Noma Choma, Tea, etc. Must also include storage for dry goods, bottled water, and ... I am going to need some help here from my Kenyan friends.

Dining Area- Dining tables and chairs for 40? Does that sound like a good number?

Great room- Chairs, couches, tables, etc

Eco/Green- Costs need to be figured on the following: a new well, clean water filtration, water harvesting program, bio gas for cooking/heat, solar energy for electricity.

Transportation- It would be wonderful...but definitely not a first step...to get a touring van and a smaller car for transportation.

Linens- Most international travelers bring their own linens to sleep with, however sheets, towels for showering, table cloths, and cloth napkins for eating may be worth investing in.

IV-Hopewell 5-29-08 Email

We have global communication rolling! I have received emails from Vitalice and from Alice so our connection is good and now comes the fun part: picking a project! You can read Vitalice's reply here about his project "Clean City" and about his response to the scanned project phillklamm.blogspot.com WTW's International Village-Hopewell.

Vision/Dreambuilding-Picture a constant flow of international visitors, think of the money that comes in, think of the connections that are made, think of the global synergy that would happen at Hopewell/Barut/Nakuru/Kenya/World etc. Think of the job skills that could be learned and improved at the IV-Hopewell and students could transition to other places around Kenya...think Nairobi, Mombasa, etc.

Now take the learning experiences we have with IV-Hopewell and transition that to IV-South America (Brazil?), IV-SE ASIA, IV-Eastern Europe, etc. Can you imagine a network of WTW IV's around the world where visitors could travel to and have real experiences while helping the local areas?

I love the "Clean City" proposal...cant wait to see more details!

What if? What if we did a new well for IV-Hopewell with water purification, supplemented the water supply with rain water harvesting from the roof, used solar energy, bio-gas, and was able to set up a completely "green" location to stay at? Add this with local food such as Noma Choma, Kale, Ugali, etc

One more thing and than Ill hit send...I promise! What if we were able to nail this down soon, start the fundraising process get our group solidified and was able to cut the ribbon on this deal next June...completed by June...we could stay there...train staff, plant trees, work on "Clean City" initiative, set standards for visitors, take pictures and videos to promote it...can you see us sitting in the courtyard of our new IV-Hopewell having a fire, enjoying Noma Choma, and writing personal letters to celebrities, travel magazines, journalists, friends, and family...would this be after collecting tons of garbage off the streets? Getting home from Masai Mara Game Drive and seeing the "Big 5"? How about after sitting down with some of the village elders and praising them for their leadership? Or visiting the children in the village and playing soccer, handing out books, and sitting down together with some sweets? What is it for you?

You are not normal...you are far from ordinary...what makes you want to do this? How do you see this in your head? How will this change the rest of your life? What will be the story you tell the most when you come back and talk to the people who found excuses not to go? What picture will you show your grandchildren or nieces and nephews when they ask you how you started this global village?

I believe in you...you can do this!

Vitalice's reply:
Thanks for that swift response. And Alice came over to see me yester evening with this grand idea of a project proposed from your end. That is a sure blockbuster of a project! I don’t know why nobody else has ever thought of a project like that! Centres around Hopewell, involving the entire Barut community and basically serving as the nucleus for economic development of this underdeveloped section of Nakuru. The idea is cool, viable and doable. The scan of the diagram you sent Alice didn’t print out ok but I get the general idea. I asked Alice to spare time this coming Saturday so that together with James, another graduate of Hopewell who serves as a project assistant in school and Nelly or Rashid and brainstorm further on this. I believe after that session, we could provide you with an approximate financial outlook of this project.

Yes, the dorm is located 20 meters from the borehole along the fence. It is those two tin classrooms adjoining the library that we pulled down and replaced with a large hall portioned into two to serve as a girls’ dorm. We currently have 135 girls boarding. The rest will come in slowly as space is created by provision of beds.

The environmental project I was proposing is not the one sent to Steve. This will be somewhat an education campaign but with a major one-day town clean-up operation to launch the ‘Clean City” campaign. We expect the momentum to build slowly as we get schools involved, colleges, businesses and other organizations. Funds will be needed in mobilizing cleaning equipment, advertisements and general administrative expenses in coordinating the whole exercise expected to have 5000 participants in the 18 residential estates of Nakuru. I will still send you this project proposal but it definitely doesn’t come any closer to the one you hatched already.