Another day at Daisy

Our Cateress hard at work

On Friday I have scheduled a meeting with a gentleman from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) to discuss the sustainability and operational costs of buying a cow for Daisy. He should be very knowledgeable and be able to answer many of the questions that I have. Since I am not a farmer myself, I have numerous questions that come up daily as I plan out the project.
Yesterday, I held a staff meeting with the Deputy, teacher in charge of gardening, accounts clerk, and Daisy’s FSD coordinator to go over the overall goal of my program. I wanted them to start thinking about being “owners” of the proposed programs. Without their investment in the program, it will fail. They reassured me that they back me 100% and will not let this program fail because they understand the benefits of it to the school. I was very happy to hear this. I will follow up with them next week to see what type of ideas they have generated about accountability, sustainability, and ownership. The head teacher is out this week, so it will be nice to have something to share with him upon his return.
We are hoping to purchase materials for the garden either Friday, or earlier next week with my seed grant money.
We will have our second meeting with the children tomorrow (it was cancelled due to rains yesterday). I will let you know how it goes. On the agenda is choosing 2 representatives for each class, as well as teaching everyone the attention that it will take to start a garden. We are hoping the rains will hold off so that they will have a chance to ‘weed’ some of the land.

Development Takes Time

Today I met with my FSD supervisor to run over my ideas. We have decided that it would be best to do a bit more research on the costs of caring for a cow, but go forward with the garden project. My seed grant will help initiate the purchases for the garden.
These next few weeks we will be teaching the children about the responsibilities of caring for a garden and giving them duties to start planting. It will be exciting to see some work being done. The land is almost all the way tilled and ready to start planting in.
We will reconsider the renovation of the cow shed in a few weeks. And make final preparations for it before I leave.

Preparation and Patience

This morning I arrived at Daisy to a very nice surprise. The hired labor was already at work tilling the soon-to-be garden. They started on Saturday, took a break Sunday, and were hard at work again this morning. They are three young men. When I originally started my planning for this program, the staff told me that 3 labors could clear the land in as little as 5 days. I laughed, thinking they were joking. They told me to “wait and see”. They have proved me wrong. These men have cleared about half of the land in two days. We are hoping to have it finished ahead of schedule, on Thursday. That way some of the students can go through and pull out the excess rubbish in preparation for the seeds.
The next step in the process is planting the napier grass seeds (feed for the cow) so that it will be ready within the next three months. When we get the cow we will be relying on grass from the compound and some that we will pay for before the napier grass grows tall enough. The sooner we get the napier grass seeds in the ground, the sooner we can cut another cost.
This program could take off as soon as tomorrow. However, we have to wait for funding. My contribution to the program of $200.00USD will be implemented later this week for the cow shed renovations. I am hoping to raise the additional $685.00USD by October 22. I will put up more information on donating later this week once my budget is approved by FSD. Please take time to consider contributing to this program. If you need more information, email me at jackie.mroz@gmail.com. I can guarantee the money put towards this development project will be extremely beneficial. I will show you direct results of your involvement in the program.

Kenyan Time

Today things ran on “Kenyan Time”. That is, lets say slowly. People throughout Kenya say “better late than never”. At Daisy this is not usually the case, but I just kept running into people at the wrong time.
Last night, I received feedback on my workplan. It needs some work. This is stopping me up a bit, but it is good for my overall project. It will help me learn the development process even better. Not a lot of news for today. Overall progress: Good!

**Unfortunately, I will be unable to upload pictures due to my slow internet connection. I cannot afford the speed it takes to upload photos. I will when it is necessary to show our progress.**

"You Give and You Receive"

This is the statement that Mwalimu Dennis reminded the students of today at our first Farming and Horticulture Vocational Training meeting. We had a hall full of students interested in the program that the staff and I are starting. Today we briefed them on how important it is to take accountability and responsibility for the garden and animal keeping. Their enthusiasm is immense. As I talk more and more about this program I am realizing the benefits it will have for the school.
After explaining the aim of the program, Mwalimu Dennis asked the children (grades 4-7 and special students) to name the reasons that it will be good for the school. Here are some of their answers (they were not prompted at all, these are their thoughts):
--Lately their has been a lack of milk in the school. One student mentioned that the milk that the cow produces can be used in their chai and they no longer have to drink “strong” chai (a.k.a. American-style tea).
--The manure that the cow produces will help grow the produce in the garden.
--People in the community can buy the milk and make money for the school (a young entrepreneur!)
--By planting the veggie garden, the school can save money and the boarders will have a variety to eat.
--The garden will help prevent erosion.
--Over time, with the money saved, another cow can be bought, expanding the program.
And my three favorites:
--The school will look more beautiful. The air will be clean because trees produce oxygen. Water will be plentiful because trees act as water catchments. The school environment will be improved.
--The things they learn in class can be put into practice. Dennis added: The Kenyan Development goals for 2030 include self-sufficiency. By learning animal keeping and gardening skills in school they can succeed in caring for these things at their homes in the future.
--Fruit salads! Now they will have a wide range of fruits to include in a salad. (Avocados are considered a fruit here. They already have guava and pawpaws.)

These children amaze me! The staff amazes me! I am working with great people. They are encouraging. They are making this idea come alive.

Today we started the day with clearing the cow shed in preparation for renovation. Once we have the funds in place, we have a fundi (skilled worker) ready to start work on it.






I was able to make an announcement to the staff at break about my plans. They are backing me 100%. I will not let them down. My next goal is to get my fundraising proposal in order so that I can do some outreach to generate funds to continue. If you believe in this project, get the word out and direct people to my blog. I will send you a fundraising letter to hand out if you would like. REMEMBER: This is DIRECT service to an organization in Kenya. Unlike World Vision, UNICEF, Compassion, etc., all of the money raised will go DIRECTLY to this program. Ask questions, make comments, give me suggestions. I want everyone to realize that even a small act can make a huge change in the lives of these students. I truly and whole-heartedly believe in that.

Productive Day

As I walked home from a meeting with Isabel, a member of the FSD site team, enjoying the Kenyan sunset this evening, I rejoiced at the amount of work I accomplished today. I began the day with a blank screen in front of me. As the day progressed, it filled with facts, figures, and a plan proposal.
Looking at the work plan and budget, I realize we have a lot of work still to do, but the groundwork has been laid. I am impressed by the investment that the Daisy Special School has made in our project. As I crunched numbers and asked questions about achieving our goal of creating a garden and obtaining a cow for the school, the staff quickly got to work on answering them. I originally thought that there was a lack of communication between me and the staff, however I found today that I am very wrong. The staff is onboard with my idea and already working on hiring labors and quoting repairs to the cow shed. Kudos to the Daisy staff!
I am very excited about this project. Tomorrow I will be introducing it to the children and begin working on clearing the cow shed. The project will cost more than expected, but I know that it will be achievable with the proper support.
Please check back for updates. These next days are crucial to getting the program up and running.

Farming and Horticulture Vocational Training

The Goal: To expand vocational training at Daisy Special School to include interests and skill levels of a wider range of special students and also benefit the school as a whole.

My project plan has been approved by the Head Teacher, Deputy teacher, and FSD Program Directors. I will be working on confirming my work plan, timeline, and budget by the end of the week. We planned on tilling the land starting today, but the rains stopped us.

This program will give the vocational training program a chance to blossom. It is my hope that this project will be the springboard for future vocations. I want to give these unique children the chance at life beyond school that they deserve.