Friends of Rang'i

Rang'i Care Centre is an initiative set up to provide a home for orphaned children. The b+c team visited the children at Rang'i during our trip to Kenya and spent hours playing with all the amazing children. 

Amber has a long history with the centre having worked there in 2005. She and her fellow volunteers fell in love with the people and continue to show their support for the centre. They have recently set up the Friends of Rang'i blog so that everyone can be kept in the loop and read about the amazing work carried out at the centre. Here you can find out how to get involved, see photos, view the plans for the new school and read about inspiring people who grew up at Rangi' and are now achieving amazing results at college! 

You can also join the Rang'i Care Centre Facebook group.

We wish Rang'i all the best in the future and send all our love to all the gorgeous children who continue to inspire us all. 

happy villages

Our dear friends in Kenya have started up this inspiring organisation. Happy Villages aims to tackle such issues as health, education, environment, poverty, gender, communications and all the barriers to sustainable development one community at a time. Their approach is based on the UN Millenium Development Goals.

Ever the "happy" blogger George has recently added this all too true post on the facebook group: Extreme poverty is the most severe state of poverty, where people cannot meet basic needs for survival, such as food, water, clothing, shelter, sanitation, education and health care. 1.1 billion people currently live under these conditions. Extreme poverty hurts."We work towards a world without extreme poverty" join us!

b+c is right behind the Happy Villages team and we look forward to visiting a Happy Villages happy village soon! We urge you all to follow their progress and support them now and in the future as big things can only come from such a warm, beautiful bunch of passionate people!

We have just been introduced to EdKenya through the Chairman of Harambee Schools Kenya who has just set it up. It is an online community for NGOs involved in Kenyan education. It has only just started and is just getting going, but it's free to join and looks great! 

It will be such a valuable tool when looking at planning schools, networking with those who have worked on educational projects previously and to share like experiences.

If you are involved with a school project or with school policy and education in Kenya make sure you sign up.

little orphans

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was established in 1977 in honour of David Sheldrick, famous naturalist and warden of Kenya's Tsavo National Park. Since it's opening it has played a significant role in Kenya's conservation efforts.

We visited the orphanage when we were in Nairobi and oh my, the elephants were the sweetest things! The orphaned elephants and rhinos are rescued for varying reasons and then ultimately released back into the wild. 

Their latest arrival is Bhaawaa who became hopelessly bogged in the mud of a drying waterhole... you can foster one of these little ones and assist in the conservation of the African elephant and give these amazing animals a future! 

important news from b+c

The bricks + cartwheels directors are fresh off the plane and we have some important news for our supporters. Following our recent time spent in Kenya, bricks + cartwheels is reluctantly withdrawing from the previously proposed Secondary School for Girls project in Katolo, Kenya.

Whilst in Kenya bricks + cartwheels were faced with a series of challenges and difficulties, some of which we were able to resolve and some of which were largely out of our control. We are particularly regretful of this decision because of the great friendships we made with so many people in Kenya and the ongoing need for education of children in the community. During our time in Kenya we made every endeavor to rescue the project and this decision was not made lightly.

There were many issues that presented challenges... please read here for the complete letter. 

We appreciate your support and will make sure to keep you in touch with our future plans. Thank you! 

suno new york

One of the girls recently stumbled across this great website, Suno. Suno was formed in 2008 by Max Osterweis after more than a decade of collecting textiles in visits to Kenya. The design and development is New York based but the production is done in small workshops in Kenya. 

After falling in love with the fabrics on our trip we would all love to get our hands on some of these pieces. If only we knew about them while we were there... they are just beautiful.

Kev does Kisumu

Our friend Patchy insisted that Kev had a visit to the pool! So here he is enjoying the sites of Kisumu along with a refreshing dip and an ice cool drink at the Imperial Pool! 

Australia Day celebration

I hope everyone celebrated Australia Day in style! b+c cooked up an aussie feast of anzac biscuits, lamingtons, vegemite toast and a good old bbq! 

Kev the Kenyan kangaroo made his debut appearance, he was a huge hit...

katolo in the morning

site boundaries

Last week we met with the land committee on site to walk the boundaries. The site will be pegged first thing on monday, the survey of the land will follow. We are also in the process of meeting with borehole consultants so that we can establish a water source on site asap! 

a CBO is born

The first meeting of the community based organisation (CBO) was held on Sunday 4th at Katolo community centre. The aim of this meeting was to decide upon the name of the CBO, to go through the process of registration and to nominate the position of chair, secretary and treasurer. We are very happy to say that we now are registered! The team is dynamic, passionate and forward thinking and most of all the members all have the girl child's best interests at heart.

The location of the first CBO meeting

The meeting begins

We welcome Oscar Okello, Caren Wambui Kiarie and Wycliff Washington (featured here) as the newly appointed administrators and look forward to working with you all in the future.

Congratulating Oscar on appointment of Chairperson

Left: Oscar Okello, Right: Joab Othacher

Caren (right) the newly appointed secretary and Washington (left) the treasurer

In total there were 22 community members, from varying backgrounds and disciplines present. The members will continue to grow now that the CBO is established.

After lengthy discussion the name of the CBO was decided as the Kano Girl Child Empowerment Group (Kano being the region that the school is located). What a brilliant name for such an important development group.

And the school now has a name and a very fitting one at that!! The decision was that it was to be a neutral name, inclusive of anyone and everyone - the CBO have tentatively given the name of Tumaini Girls High School, a kiswahili word for 'hope'.

We have been busy organising meetings with local organisations, consultants such as borehole contractors, surveyors and architects so that we will be ready to start work on site as soon as possible. With another CBO meeting planned for Wednesday this week the b+c team are so very excited and so very proud of all involved....

Washington with the certificate of registration for the CBO

A school open day is planned for Wednesday 14th. This will be an important chance to spread the word about the school, rally volunteers. The Chief is spreading the word to all in the area to come and show support, offer suggestions, more on the open day soon!

fun times!

Locals selling peanuts outside the matatu (the 'interesting' local transport!) 

Obama fever in the back of a Matatu 

Sorting beans at Rangi, an orphanage south-west of Kisumu.

happy new year from Kisumu

Hello from Kenya! Just checking in to say that we have all arrived safely to Kisumu just in time to welcome in the new year. After a long long flight we are now staying at our friend Mike's house in Kisumu. Our Kenyan friends have given those of us new to the town a tour of the local sites... 

New years celebrations are never quite complete without a few rounds of twister, the hot spot! This was followed by a nyama choma, the kenyan equivalant to an aussie bbq closely followed by some serious dancing. What we believed were some great moves made by us we unfortunately we were severely shown up on the dance floor!!

We are excited to start 2009 in Kenya. With a meeting in Katolo with the community scheduled for this sunday we will be hitting the ground running. 

Here's to a happy, healthy and prosperous new year! 

More soon... xx

leaving on a jet plane...

I'm off everyone... I arrive into Kisumu on Monday evening and then head off to spend Christmas with my Kenyan brothers and sisters at Rang'i. I'll then return to Kisumu via Katolo to meet Kirstin, Georgia and Harriet - just in time for New Years on the 30th.
Have a lovely Christmas break everyone - stay tuned for reports on the progress of Stage 1 in early January.
xx Amber

katolo open day

The organising commitee and the community of Katolo have invited bricks + cartwheels to be part of Katolo Open Day! It is taking place on the 29th of December starting at 8.00am at Kanyangoro Primary School grounds, Katolo, Kenya.

Amber - one of the bricks + cartwheels team members - will be there with bells on ready to talk to the community, show them our design brief and our current masterplan. Just to be there for this day will be fantastic! It is a great opportunity to showcase to the broader community the plans for the Secondary School for Girls and gain feedback from a wide range of people.

There will be plenty of other activities happening throughout the day such as the provision of HIV-AIDS testing and counselling services, presentation on modern methods of agricultural practices, provision of mobile library services, tree planting and tree/seedling donations, sports, games and many other fun activities!

Thank you to our friend Washington who is organising this wonderful day! We will be sure to give you updates and photos of the festivities.

we wish you a very...

Merry Christmas
+
Happy New Year

On behalf of the community of Katolo and the b+c team we would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone for making 2008 a fantastic year!

We are heading off so very soon so make sure you tune in regularly to hear all our news from Kenya!

Thank you for your generosity and your support, we can't wait to share more great things with you all in the new year!

this time next week

one of the bricks + cartwheels team will only have one more sleep until they are leaving on a jet plane..... all the way to Kenya! Yes, she's counting down. It's all getting so close and very exciting.  

Here's hoping the rain stops for the weekend. Photo from here.

mac-o-ram-a in the Maasai

We're on the cusp of welcoming two b+c directors to the cool Mac owners club! After Kirstin's pc gave up the ghost and Harriet simply needing a laptop to keep up with us when she heads to London next year- the purchases are imminent!



And apart from being easy to use, super cool to look at and generally just great- have a look at the Apple article here. It's from a little while ago, but how great to see technology available in parts of the world that have previously been out of reach. Here's hoping that we can do the same in Katolo at the Secondary School for Girls!

we're so excited...and we just can't hide it...

We're heading to Kenya soooooo soon! We've raised the cash, are finalising the masterplan and preparing for Stage 1 construction of the Secondary School for Girls which will kick off when we're in Katolo in January.

On Sunday at AfroFunk we met Sarah from Hands of Help who will be in Kenya in January too. Kisumu will be the party capital of Kenya on the 20th January when Barack Obama is inaugurated as President. We'll most likely be celebrating with locals at the Jomo Kenyatta stadium in Kisumu or creating a party of our own with anyone who might be in Kisumu too? Let us know if you will be near by!


Meanwhile, how cute are our gorgeous friends Toyi and Scorvel - we can't wait to see them!

national holiday for kenya

Kenyans took to the streets early on Wednesday morning to celebrate Barack Obama's election to the White House as the nation's president declared a national holiday!

In downtown Nairobi and in Kibera, one of Africa's largest slums, people dressed in suits on their way to work joined those who had stayed up all night watching the election to dance and chant Obama's name.

Kisumu residents take to the streets

Former South African President Nelson Mandela wrote a letter congratulating Obama, saying, "Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place.''

Obama's connection to the western Kenyan village of Nyang'oma-Kogelo near Lake Victoria comes through his father, also named Barack Obama. After winning a scholarship to study in the U.S., the elder Obama enrolled in the University of Hawaii, where he met and married Obama's mother, Ann Dunham.

Obama's 87-year-old grandmother, Sarah Obama, and her family ran out of their house in Nyang'oma-Kogelo and started dancing when they heard the news of his election. In unison they began chanting in the Luo tongue: "Obama biro! Yao neyo," or "Obama is coming! Clear the way!"

Sarah is already planning what to serve him when she next meets him as the leader of the free world: Asian-style bread, called chapati. It's his favorite, she said. "I am so happy that I don't know if I will die of happiness,'' Sarah Obama told reporters at her homestead. "It will not only change our lives but the whole of Kenya.''

A historic day, Congratulations Obama! Exciting times ahead...!