HELPING THE COUNTRY THAT HELPS OTHERS!

KENYA UPDATE REPORT OCTOBER 08

On 2nd October, 2008 two representatives from the Parr4Kenya Relief Fund travelled to Kenya to ensure that monies raised at the "Gala Night" were securely delivered to the displaced people in the town of Eldoret.  Tony Kassas assisted by Aaron Locke, and both NLG volunteers, arrived in Nairobi after 23 hrs of air travel, two stopovers and 48hrs travel duration  all up.  There is no time to think about exhaustion when so many are in need of help.  After a night's rest they travelled a further 5hrs by van to Eldoret on the 5th October. 

The first objective in Kenya was to establish a new and reliable contact in Eldoret.  Our last contact, Ps Vincent Sunguti, was transferred by his parish to a more remote location and his time in Eldoret was limited to once a month.  This greatly delayed our attempts to deliver the funds earlier.  As with most African nations, it s an absolute must to have reliable and honest personnel on the ground to insure that funding is not used for anything but its targeted cause.  With Vincent off the scene, we had no option but to delay the transfer of funds until an opportune time came to travel to Kenya and establish a new liaison officer.  Ps Charles Lukati was both our host and contact person in Eldoret.  Charles took over from Vincent as Parish priest in the Majengo Parish which NLG used as a home base in 2007.  After getting to know Charles and conferring with the director of the Fund, (Robyn Kassas) it was agreed that if Charles was willing, we would love to have him as our new contact person in Kenya.  I am happy to say that Charles was more than willing to help.  None of this activity is new to Charles.  It became known to us that he also handles millions of dollars in financial aid for other less fortunate groups in his city.  His experience was needed in handling the transfers and distribution of aid. 

The ensuing days saw us travelling to four Internally Displaced People's (IDP"s)camps on the outskirts of Eldoret (Pictured on right).  These camps were home for between 25 to 400 families and a total of 1200 people.  Most were very badly serviced as far as water and hygiene were concerned, unlike this one which was very "comfy" for its inhabitants, maybe because this particular camp was erected by the UNHCR!   After speaking with each camp's chairperson, it was obvious that the needs were all similar.  Each family was promised 10,000 shillings initially by the Kenyan government to assist in their resettlement.  This was delivered promptly, but the 25,000 shillings that was also committed to rebuild their homes was not coming.  The new administration was out of money!  It was now eight months after they had lost everything and no money had come.  Of the four camps outside Eldoret only one was within our capabilities to help.  By deduction, the camp north-west of the town and named "Tanning" was within our relief "range"!  The Parra4Kenya Relief Fund had raised AUD$14,329.50  of which, $851.50 was transferred in May and July into the Uchumi Supermarket account, so that IDP's could collect food and prevent starvation.  That left a total of $13, 478.00 for resettlement.  After meeting with building material suppliers in Eldoret, we worked out that each family would need an allocation of timber, nails, mortar and iron roofing.  With the money we had, we could help 37 families.  Tanning had 39 families, and so was chosen to be the recipients of the fund.  Although we were 2 families short, Tony believed that a new sponsor would be found once he got back to cater for those who missed out. 

Tanning was a camp in very poor condition.  The tents were supplied by USAID and were fraying at the seams, leaking water and falling apart.  The arrival of our reps was just in time.  in fact, the day before the NLG ambassadors arrived, Tanning consisted of 300 tents.  A Canadian businessman had arrived a day before our people did, and signed a million dollar cheque to assist the people.  You guessed it, 39 families missed out when the funds ran out.  Our team's arrival the very next day was a Godsend as far as the campers were concerned and tears of joy streamed from their eyes after telling them what our intentions were.  Tony signed off an bank cheque to the supplier and orders were made for the materials.  It would take between two or three weeks for most of the roofing and timber to be delivered, but after loosing everything, the IDP's did not mind. 

More photos and video will be coming.