Food

December 20, 2022

Kenya 2022: An up and down of emotions^Featured

Our trip to Kenya this year took place in November 2022. It was a very intensive and touching stay.
Due to the prolonged drought, the situation on the ground is dramatic, in all three schools. Especially Immpirrishi worries us a lot, as we are the only organization there that at least comes by from time to time and takes care of the students.

School Iloshon
Iloshon is located in the Rift Valley about 10 km from Mile 46. The elementary school of Iloshon is attended by 423 students. The population of Iloshon is suffering extremely from the drought, however, several international organizations have already taken action there, including drilling a borehole and providing a 100 m3 water tank and washing stations for the school. Nevertheless, also in Iloshon the animals in the savannah do not find enough fodder anymore and straw bales have to be bought in as feed for the animals. The price for the very emaciated cows and goats has also dropped. The weak animals currently fetch price of about 1,000 KES and earlier between 40,000 and 60,000 KES could be fetched with them.
In contrast, the prices of staple foods such as ugali, cabbage, cornmeal, beans, sugar, salt and cooking oil have increased massively due to inflation. Transportation prices have also been affected by inflation.
At the request of the Deputy Head Teacher and the Head Teacher, we are now sponsoring a daily lunch at the school for the last few weeks of the semester, which will help keep the children coming to school regularly. According to the teachers, the children arrive at school completely dehydrated, hungry and tired, and some of them are unable to teach. During the farewell tour of all the classes, in PP1 and PP2 the children were sitting there with the empty bowls in their hands, as they were already waiting for the upcoming lunch. This meal is often the only meal per day that these children currently receive.
The elementary school of Iloshon is attended by 450 students. The introduction of the new curriculum makes changes necessary in Iloshon as well. For example, an Italian NGO is working to build two classrooms for the junior high school and there is a plan to build a needed secondary school. However, there is currently no budget for the construction of a laboratory. Government regulations, however, require the existence of a laboratory in order to officially register the secondary school.
The school has boarding facilities in Iloshon for about 70 girls at the Nasaru Learning Center for Masai Girls that we built. We also offer sewing classes for students and moms there, which are also very well received. Currently 53 girls are enrolled for boarding, of which we support 25.
Our goal is to also set up an infirmary and a hairdresser/barbershop there in order to show and also teach the schoolgirls further career prospects.
In addition, we would also like to show a perspective for the male students and plan to send individual students to the Masai Technical Institute in Kajiado.
There are also some boys boarding in one of the former teachers’ quarters and under very questionable hygienic conditions.
The community of Iloshon is supported and cared for by various non-profit organizations. For example, in the last two years a borehole has been constructed which, among other things, feeds a 100m3 water tank for the school. The permanent presence of water helps a lot. The problem, however, is that the actions of the organizations are not concerted, but selective and seemingly erratic.

Immpirrishi School
Immpirishi Primary School is located in Tinga, Kiserian. Around the school live about 800 families, i.e. about 5,600 people. There are currently 217 students enrolled at the school, however only 169 come to school semi-regularly.
This area is suffering greatly from the drought that has now lasted for over 2 years. The parents and also the children have to walk further and longer distances with their animals in search of water.
We are currently the only organization that goes there regularly to provide water, food and education about FGM. We have been active there for two years.
The school has no water, and the classrooms are made of corrugated metal that heats up under the sun. They are in terrible condition and snakes are often encountered in the classes and ants build their piles there during the vacations. Termites eat up the school books.
We are currently supporting 12 girls in this school who have been victims of FGM, with the aim of making them ambassadors against FGM and role models for the other girls. Three of the girls will enter secondary school next school year, and we will support them in this. In addition, one of our employees comes by every other month with a food delivery for the parents. On the occasion of our visit we also brought food and gifts for the teachers (beans, rice, oil for cooking, salt, sugar, soap, washing powder), writing books for the children and a water delivery.
This school was in dire need of a well or a large water tank. In addition, the nearest store is a 3 hour walk away – it is located in Tinga. The medical care for the population there is non-existent, FGM is practiced and the hygienic conditions are inhumane. We are also in contact with the cutter/midwife and have brought her disinfectant, disposable gloves and disposable blades for births.

School Kings & Queens of Rehoboth
This school is a private school in the slums of Kitengela (Noonkopir). In contrast to Europe, private schools in Kenya are for particularly poor children whose parents cannot afford the school fees.
This school is located directly behind a large garbage dump, where some of the children’s parents search for recyclable material during the day. This garbage dump stinks beastly and vapors rise, which are certainly not healthy. Next to it, skinny cows are looking for something to eat and the vultures are also waiting for their chance.
There are currently 170 children in this school, including refugees from Congo and children from the surrounding slums. The absentee rate is very high, and there are several reasons for this. One of the reasons is period poverty, meaning that the girls do not own underpants or have access to sanitary pads and therefore have to stay home for the duration of their periods. In addition, the children’s parents often do not even have money to provide regular water and food for their children. Many children come to school very dirty and some of them even wash themselves at school. Not all children wear school uniforms, although this is compulsory in Kenya and in case the school is inspected by the authorities, this would reflect very badly on the school and also be a reason for further inspection.
It is a private school recognized by the state, but it does not receive any support from the state. Recently, a new curriculum was introduced in Kenya, which means that the students need new textbooks. Furthermore, practical subjects such as keeping chickens and knitting are part of the new curriculum. While this is very welcome, the money for the necessary materials (knitting and crocheting needles and wool) is not available here either.
Some of the children are also unable to take their final exams – despite doing well in school – because they do not have birth certificates.
The school has a water tank, but not regularly the financial means to buy water. Regular meals at school also increase parents’ motivation to send their children to school.
Furthermore, the government requires a large room for the final exams, as an external person supervises the exams and the desks have to be placed more than 1 meter apart.

Problems in this school

Absences
Period poverty
Parents who are illiterate
Lack of birth certificates
School books and teaching materials are not available
Availability of school uniforms, underpants, socks and shoes
Money for food and water at school
Lack of a regular sponsor/supporter to pay for fixed costs (rent, teachers, school uniforms, breakfast and lunch for the children)
Domestic violence in many families at home: no wonder given the more than cramped and really terrible housing conditions.

There are a lot of problems in the schools located in the remote savannah, but they are present to the same extent in the slum of Kitengela, where in addition the extremely cramped living conditions lead to even greater tensions in the families than in the savannah, where people actually spend a large part of the time outdoors.
The school in Kitengela is financed exclusively by donations. Before Corona, there were many volunteers who would sponsor a child. Due to Corona, many of these sponsors have dropped out and the school’s existence is massively threatened. We will therefore take over the fixed costs for the maintenance of the school in Kitengela from 2023.

After all these great and touching encounters, we are aware that we have a Herculean task ahead of us. But, we also know that we get an incredible amount of love and above all: We will be back!

Africa Children Education Empowerment FGM Food Health Kenya Nasaru Learning Center

November 16, 2021

WeCare-Team Goes to Kenya 2021^Featured

Visit of current projects in Kenya

After two years we were able to return to Kenya in October 2021 to visit our ongoing projects.
As the Swiss direct flight is not available yet, we flew via Frankfort to Nairobi. After a quiet night at the airport hotel we, which is my dear friend Marcia and I, were picked up by Agnes Gitonga and her brother James.

Rehoboth Learning Center for Kings & Queens at Noonkopir

We went directly to the local mall in Kitengela to buy basics for the students of the Rehoboth Centre and the Mpirrishi Primary school. On our shopping list there were apples, cookies, hulo hoop, skipping ropes, sugar, salt, cooking oil, sanitary pads, and soap.
Then we went straight to the Rehoboth Learning Centre for Kings & Queens in Noonkopir, one of the slums of Kitengela. This is a private school but contrary to as is the case in Europe, Kenyan private schools are meant for the poorest kids whose parents cannot afford to send them to a public school. There we received a warm welcome with a variety of performances by all grades.

The Rehoboth Learning Centre is a particularly good example of how effective outside help can be. The “teachers’ room» features a board with a set of rules and regulations which are internalized by the students. Teachers refrain from beating the students which is still very widespread and common in these schools.

The school for currently 160 students has extremely limited space and resources available but boasts an overall positive and amical atmosphere. As the Kenyan government has changed its curriculum in the meantime, we have donated once again schoolbooks for the school.

Mpirrishi Primary School

On the next morning we left Kitengela to visit Mpirrishi Primary School in Oltepesi. The “mere” 104 km required a travelling time of three hours as in particular the last 30 km do not necessarily qualify to our definition of a road and at some point, we even asked ourselves whether we would manage to arrive there at all. And it was not even rainy season! The only means of transport available for people in this area is a so called Picky Picky Boy, a motorbike taxi, which could take them to the next dispensary. The price for a round trip is about 12.000 KES (about 120$). To put this price into perspective: a cook at the school earns around 60 $ a month.
What this really means in an emergency we should learn later in the day.
Agnes and her daughter Karen have been to Mpirrishi a couple of times before our visit to fight against the illegal but still practiced female genital mutilation (FGM). Their work was only possible thanks to the support and openness of the local principal, Manuel. The aim of our visit was to get an idea of the parents’ attitude towards this delicate topic and to meet the girls who had undergone FGM at the end of 2020 and who we are supporting. Little did we know as we witnessed an incredible performance. In front of the parents, the village elders, the teachers and the students, this group of girls prepared for their performance. One of the girls started to put on a pair of plastic gloves which took my breath away. I moved closer and started filming and yes: These incredibly brave girls performed the act which had traumatized them only a couple of months ago, their mutilation. This is one of the most intense experiences I have lived, ever, and not just I, but Marcia, Agnes, and her daughter as well. We all had tears in our eyes.

We had planned a private meeting with those girls following the end of the “official” part of our visit. On the way there, Agnes pointed out the “circumciser», an elder woman who makes her living buy performing FGM. Even this woman was obviously touched by the girls’ performance, and she promised to put down her razor. To make her promise become true, we will have to provide her with another source of income.
Suddenly, an excited Marcia pointed out a little girl who had hurt her wrist about two weeks ago whilst playing. The girl’s arm was tightly bandaged with a cloth and her hand was extremely swollen. After a lengthy discussion with the mother, we managed to convince her to take off the bandage and to accept our offer to have her taken to the next dispensary with our driver. This was the moment I realized how far reaching the consequences of FGM really are: It is the reason for illiteracy. If the little girl had not been taken to the dispensary, she would have likely lost her hand which, consequently, would have been interpreted as her being possessed by evil spirits.

On the way to our meeting with the girls, we bumped into two 23years old women, each of them mother of four children, whom Agnes had identified as potential FGM victims. Spontaneously, we invited them to our meeting.
The message of the girls was unanimous: Had they known what happened to them they would have never agreed, and they were all willing to do anything in their power to save their sisters and other girls and young women from this horrible procedure. Some of the girls are extremely traumatized and could not even talk about what had happened to them.

The two potential victims were listening carefully and incredulously. When asked about their motif to undergo FGM they both answered that they wanted to be “real” women. They were put under pressure by the husband and mother-in-law as well as by the midwife, who very often happens to be the circumciser, who threatened not to help her with future births. They did not show any comprehension for us reasoning that by bearing four children they already had proven their “being a real woman.” We do hope that these two young women will not succumb to the pressure of people around them.
We left Mpirrishi with mixed feelings. The positive attitude of the teachers and the village chairmen make us hope that this community will refrain from FGM in the future. But this will be an exceptionally long and winding road as there is a total lack of local infrastructure.

After four hours’ drive it was already night when we arrived back in Kitengela.

Nasaru Masai Girls Learning Center

Next on our list was the visit of our project “Nasaru Learning Centre for Masai Girls” in Iloshon for the next day. Before Kitengela, we made another visit to the Kitengela Mall where we shopped – once again – for basics such as soap, detergent, sugar, salt, oil, sanitary pads, and toilet paper. As we planned to spend the night there, we also bought mattresses, which were safely stored on the roof of the car. Packed to capacity we started our way to Iloshon and noticed that the quality of the dust road – at least to Kudu Hills Project – hat improved significantly – or was it our lowered expectations?

Anyhow, shortly before arrival at destination our car broke down and we were lucky enough that the head teacher Paul and Geoffrey, the constructor who is building the fence around Nasaru, came to our rescue.

Paul, the headteacher and Paul, the builder
(whose name actually is not Paul)

Unfortunately, the ongoing drought has taken its toll and many parents cannot or do not want to pay for the boarding of their girls. The price for cattle has dropped and the parents are lacking money for food and water. This was also one of the reasons why we had asked Geoffrey, who as constructor gets to different villages, already one year ago to identify twenty-five girls who are even worse off than others, to be sponsored by WeCare to board and thus to finish their education. We have discussed the reason for the parents’ reluctance with all people involved, the teachers, the cook, the matron, and the watchman. The fee structure has been named as the main reason and we discussed this with the head teacher. Eventually, we reached a compromise to lower the fee for the parents. We also pointed out that it is also the teachers’ responsibility to promote the boarding among the parents and thus convincing them about the importance of school education.
Finally, we had some time with the girls, and we checked the presence of all the girls supported by us. Except for one sick student, all the students were present.
We were surprised to discover that – except for few students – most of the girls did not know their birthday or at least their birth year. The following rope skipping competition was an enjoyable break for all.

After having had a meeting with the personal in our “bedroom” far beyond 10:00 pm, we were incredibly surprised and above all tired when were awoken at 04:30 am as the girls got up with a lot of noise.
The following day we toured all grades and distributed pencils, pens, and exercise books to all 450 students.

Unfortunately, our too short stay has ended and it would have been nice to have more time to spend with the girls and to interact with them directly. Agnes had only identified potential victims of FGM as «designated girls” have filed down lower incisors.
On our way back we made a little detour and Agnes pointed out a piece of land which she had rented thanks to WeCare-Association’s last year’s feeding program and which now provides the students of the Rehoboth Learning Centre with vegetables.

A small water reservoir next to tthe field

The bottom line of our visit to Kenya: Corona has worsened the situation for the poorest people and there is so much to do. So, let us do this: We are looking for godparents for our girls to make sure that these girls will be able to finish school and will be offered the opportunity for further education beyond primary school. As godfather/godmother of a girl, you will have the chance to establish a relationship with the girl and to follow up on her development. There will be progress reports three times a year, a Christmas letter written by the girl, the annual activity report of WeCare-Association as well as a small gift handmade with love in our workshop in Cambodia. More information will follow soon on our website: www.wecare-association.ch as well as on social media Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/wecareassociation/) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WeCareAssociation).
We are grateful for very tiring and intensive day which touched and motivated us. We have met wonderful people who deserve a better future. “Education is life.” Only now do I understand the real meaning of this catch phrase.

Thank you very much in advance for your support under: https://en.wecare-association.ch/become-active/ .

Africa Empowerment Farm in Africa Food Health Microcredit

March 18, 2018

Facts and Figures about Eggs

Since August 2017 the Masai Farm in Olpirikata, Kenia is up and running and already after five months it has turned autonomous and the ten men working on the farm can be paid with proceeds of the milk sale.
Chicken are also raised on the farm and this connects to one of our future projects, which we will present soon. On the occasion of the upcoming easter celebrations, we have collected a couple of facts about eggs.
Happy reading!

How many eggs does a chicken lay ?

A hen lays approximately up to 280 eggs a year. The amount may vary due to the breed and age of a chicken as well as their feed and environment. They do not lay eggs during the molting season which is when they shed their old old feathers and grow new feathers.

What determines the color of egg shells?

The color of a hen’s egg shells is determined genetically and is not influenced by the feathers or the feed – actually it is determined by their ears. Or more precisely , the color of a hen’s egg shells is determined by the color of the patches where their earlobe would be. Hens with white patches lay white eggs and hens with red patches produce brown eggs. Moreover, there are some breeds known for blue or green eggs. These breeds also have red patches.

Source: Gmoose1, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6010309

How does the color get into the egg shell?

The different colors of egg shells come from the storage of color pigments in the egg shell which is made of calcium carbonate, a crystal white in color. Consequently, white eggs do not have any pigment in their shell.1) The blue-green color of eggs shells, named oocyan, is considered to consist, in part, of the bile pigment biliverdin. 2)
The color of the eggs is established in the egg gland of the hen where color pigments produced priorily as a side product of blood and bile (where they are stored) are being brought to the calcium shell. If all color pigments come together the color of the egg shell will be brown. If a hen lacks the gene for color production her eggs will be white.
The color of an egg shell, however, does not influence the taste or the nutritional value of an egg. Feeding, environment and genetics are responsable for these characteristics.

Why is the egg not round?

A raw egg is not as fragile as it appears. Even though the egg shell measures only 0.4 mm in thickness, it is almost impossible to break an egg kept upright between the fingers of a hand and even when it is lying flat it is almost impossible to break it with the fingers. The explanation for this resistence can be found in its curved shape, which evenly distributes the pressure applied on one spot over the curve. And of course, the egg has to resist the weight of the hatching hen.
The stability of the curved form also applies to a spherical form. The reason why nature opted for a different packing design is the different rolling pattern once an egg falls out of nest – a spherical shaped egg would roll away much easier than a normal shaped egg. 3) This can be tried out easily: Put a ball and an egg on a table and push them. The ball will roll much longer and maybe even fall off the table whereas the egg will make a curve and roll in a much more irregular way.

What is the nutritional value of an egg?

Eggs are among the most precious animal foods. The biological valence of eggs is higher than that of fish, meat and milk. The egg protein helps the human body to develop important proteins for different body functions and furthermore provides energy and is essential for the composition of muscles.
The yolk is rich in vitamins (A, D, K, B12), protein, calcium, iron as well as fat and cholesterol. The yolk represents on average 42% of an egg’s weight.
An egg white is made mainly of a protein called albumen, and also contains niacin (vitamin B3), riboflavin (vitamin B2), chlorine, magnesium, potassium, sodium and sulfur, according to the Iowa Egg Council, an industry group. The white contains about 58 percent of an egg’s protein.
The so called chalazae are two spiral bands of tissue that suspend the yolk in the center of white and thus prevent the yolk’s attaching to the shell. Fresh eggs show a higher viscosity of the egg white compared to older eggs. The egg white represents on average 58% of the weight of an egg. 5)

The Egg Anatomy of the University of Kentucky Source: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/09/hatch-along-with-chicken-chick-part-3/egg-anatomy-from-univ-of-kentucky/

How long do eggs last?

Fresh eggs have a minimum shelf life of 28 days after laying. But even after the expiry date they sometimes stay fresh past that date and they do not have to be tossed yet. Old eggs should be heated to at least 70 degrees centigrade to make them safe for consumption.

How to test the freshness of eggs:

The water and bowl test
Place the eggs in a bowl of water. If the egg lays on its side at the bottom, it is still quite fresh. If the egg stands upright on the bottom, it is still fine to eat, but should be eaten very soon, or hard-boiled. If the egg floats to the top, it is past its prime, and not good for eating.

The cracked egg and plate test
The yolk of a fresh egg will have a round and compact appearance and it will sit positioned quite high up in the middle of the egg. The white that surrounds it will be thick and stay close to the yolk. A cloudy coloring to the egg white is a sign of extra freshness, as this « cloudiness » is in fact carbon dioxide, which is present when the egg is laid. Over time, the egg white will become more transparent, as the carbon dioxide dissipates. A less fresh egg will contain a flatter yolk that may break easily and a thinner white that spreads quite far over the plate.

The sound test
Gently shake the egg from side to side. If you cannot hear any sound whatsoever, the egg is perfectly fine to eat and there is nothing wrong with it.

How to store eggs?

Fresh eggs do not have to be stored in the fridge – unless the eggs have been bought stored in the fridge at the supermarket. Consequently, the cold chain should not be broken and the eggs should be stored in the fridge as cold eggs do cope very badly with a change in temperature. An increase in temperature provokes the water condensation on the shell which will damage the cuticle. Thus, germs may get into the inside of the egg. Storing the eggs in the fridge protects the vitamins in the egg from light and oxygen.
So whether or not your store the eggs in the fridge depends on how they were when you bought them but it is very important to protect them from light exposure – in or out of the fridge. Also do they have to be stored with their rounder side up, as storing them upside down would cause the air space to move and cracking the shell membrane which would increase the possibility of bacteria entering.

Why can you store eggs outside the fridge ?

The shell is equipped with approximately 10.000 pores providing the calcium crystals of the shell with a grid like structure which function as a respirational system. The shell is covered with a thin strata, the so called cuticle, that prevents germs from accessing the inside of the egg. Water destroys this natural protection sheet of the egg. Therefore: never wash an egg before storage. 4)

Tips and tricks for handling eggs

Store them best in a carton, protected from light and oxygen.
Never expose fresh eggs to the sun.
Extreme changes in temperature negatively impact the natural protection of the egg, deteriorates the quality and accelerates the aging process of an egg.
You can use eggs after their shelf line date provided that they do not smell badly. At that age though it is safer to not eat them heated at least to 70 degrees centigrade either in a cake or boiled or hard boiled.
Cooking them at a temperature above 90 degrees centigrade can provoke a chemical reaction between the iron of the yolk and the sulfur of the egg white which may lead to the creation of a green ring around the yolk. Putting the egg into cold water after cooking may prevent this.
Eggs are best to eat from day four after laying as it still has to fully develop after being laid.
Always store eggs with the rounder side up to prevent the movement of the air space within the egg. 6)
Never wash eggs before storing them – washing destroys their natural protective layer.
Do not store eggs close to smelly food.
Hard boiled eggs from somewhat older eggs can be peeled easier as the older egg has already changed its acidity due to loss of carbon dioxide through the shell. 7)
Do not chill hard boiled eggs after cooking as this reduces their expiry date. Hard boiled eggs can be stored four weeks and in the fridge up to six weeks.
Remnants of yolk and egg white can be frozen or kept in a small glass. Add some sunflower oil or cold water to prevent it from drying out and put it into the fridge.
Egg shells can be used as fertilizer or be composted.

Sources

http://www.wirkochen.at/lexikon/Der-Unterschied-zwischen-braunen-und-weissen-Eiern/240782411
Wikipedia : https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/oocyan
http://www.daserste.de/information/wissen-kultur/w-wie-wissen/sendung/2010/die-perfekte-form-ei-100.html
https://www.focus.de/gesundheit/praxistipps/eier-richtig-lagern-darauf-kommt-es-an_id_6931486.html.
https://www.lebensmittellexikon.de/e0000520.php
www.eier.de
Zitiert nach Thomas Vilgis, Forscher am Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung in Mainz und Experte unter anderem für die Physik von Nahrungsmitteln im Artikel «Warum sich manches Ei schwer pellen lässt» vom 08.04.2012

Africa Children Food

May 11, 2017

Eat What You Want Day

The Eat What You Want Day was created to help people break away from the frustrating health and diet trends of our times – if for only one day. Just let go and enjoy life and give in to every craving you might have. Even though the pictures in our European heads may differ largely from the pictures in the heads of the Masai in Kenya.

Mouth watering pastry!

Everyone eats and drinks; yet only few appreciate the taste of food.
Confucius

Their food staples are very limited – Ugali (similar to polenta) and cabbage. They eat meat only on special occasions.