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Kenya

Rusinga Island (Lake Victoria), Kenya

Problems

Rusinga Island is at the epicenter of the AIDS crisis in Kenya, with an adult HIV/AIDS rate that hovers around 40 percent. The main industry is omena (herring) fishing. Nearly everyone living on Rusinga plays a part in the fish supply chain that entails the catching, drying, storing, and selling of the fish. When fishing is good, the population on Rusinga Island can swell by as much as 100%, and people generally have food to eat. However, when fishing is poor, the fishermen move on to other beaches, and the female residents and children endure long periods without income or food. During these periods, the females, some as young as 10 years old, are forced to prostitute themselves to the remaining fisherman in order to eat, turning the beach into an HIV/AIDS incubator where the alarming transmission rate is threatening to kill off the entire population. If women could secure jobs outside fish drying, they would be saved from prostitution, protected from HIV/AIDS, and released from the shackles of hunger and malnutrition.

When Kageno began its work in Kenya in 2003, the unemployment rate on the Island was more than 80 percent, with no jobs available outside the fishing industry, and most of the population lacking employable skills. In addition, Kolunga Beach had no access to AIDS testing, or to any health care facility, and endemic disease (including parasites, worms, malaria, and malnutrition) was rampant. The village’s main source of drinking water was that of Lake Victoria, which, according to the UN Environment Programme, receives millions of liters of untreated sewage each day. The village had only one latrine per 1,200 individuals, and no means to safely deposit human waste. There was no trash removal program, and the village was naked of foliage–stripped by a population unable to afford any other form of cooking fuel.


This crippling poverty is exacerbated by the loss of what would normally be the community’s most active income generating age group. Actual rates can be difficult to determine (as many local people do not participate in HIV/AIDS testing), but healthcare professionals working in the area hypothesize that the majority of Rusinga Island’s 18-36 age bracket could be carrying the HIV virus.

Kageno’s Impact

To date, Kageno has achieved the following on Rusinga Island, Kenya:

  • Constructed a Community Center that houses a solar-powered computer center with laptops and printers. The computer center is used to manage the project and to train local youth as well as offers emailing, printing, photography and photocopying services to the community for a small and affordable fee.
  • The Community Center also houses a conference space that is used for AIDS presentations, community functions, and a large craft-making project for women.
  • A solar-powered clean water project is now in place that serves the whole community. The pump delivers Lake Victoria water into cisterns where it is treated and rendered safe to drink. This project has included outreach to increase community awareness about the availability and importance of clean water. 

  • The Plasse Family Clinic has been constructed and a full-time nurse is on staff to look after the children in the nursery school as well as the community as a whole. In addition, Plasse Family clinic opened a laboratory to improve diagnostic services. An AIDS Voluntary Counseling and Treatment Center has been constructed, where two staff members have been testing an average of eight people per day since April of 2007.
  • Construction of a nursery school and kitchen has been completed, providing over 200 children with an education, a daily meal, and healthcare as needed each day.

  • Launched a reforestation project with UNDP, planting 50,000 trees on Rusinga Island. This has ensured reliable agricultural output through better environment and soil conditions as well as providing sustainable source of fuel.

  • Initiated an art/cultural exchange project between Kenyan children and children in public and private schools in New York, New Jersey, Texas, and California to promote cross-cultural understanding and connect the village in global partnerships.
  • Initiated a microloan program that has grown increasingly robust and is now serving a total of 200 individuals, who are empowered to start small businesses using program loans and skills training. This innovative project has diversified the local economy and lifted nearly 100 women from prostitution.
  • In partnership with Floresta, Kageno initiated a recycling program turning organic waste into briquettes for use as cooking fuel, reducing the need to burn local vegetation. Five local people now earn a living through the program, and the briquettes fuel the preparation of meals for 200 school children each day.
  • Kageno implemented bio-intensive farming practices, which improve soil and maximize yields while minimizing the area of land needed. Forty-seven plots were distributed to community farmers who have been assisted with the planting of nutritious and eco-friendly crops.
  • Kageno has created a small enterprise (funded by Floresta) that grants dairy goats to clusters of families who then support each other in goat-breeding efforts and circulate offspring among the cluster until each family has one goat to produce dairy products and generate income for the family.
  • Eco-tourism initiatives have been energized over the years. A “traditional dancing troupe” made up of local youth is now in place. Not only is the local culture and traditions being preserved, the participating youth have gained steady income by performing traditional dances and rituals for visiting tourists as well.
  • Kageno host a World AIDS day mobilization and awareness event each year. Last year over 3000 people attended the event. In collaboration with International Medical Corps and the Ministry of Health, 212 people were provided free treatment, and Kageno conducted voluntary counseling and testing for HIV/AIDS to 232 individuals. Of these, 13% tested positive. For context, consider that only six years ago more than one in four people in the community were infected.

Mfangano Island (Lake Victoria), Kenya

In October, 2005 Todd Gambill and a group of his friends went on safari and witnessed the majesty and beauty that is Africa...In April, 2007 The Kageno Harambee fundraiser was covered in Town & Country magazine. Todd Gambill read this article and as a result, 150 children will now have a new school and a chance to lead healthy and productive lives.

Kageno’s Impact

To date, Kageno has achieved the following on Mfangano Island, Kenya: + Constructed a nursery school where over 150 children now receive an education. + Constructed a kitchen where women from the community prepare the daily meal for the school children. + Initiated a recycling program turning organic waste into briquettes for use as cooking fuel, reducing the need to burn local vegetation. Two local people now earn a living through the program, and the briquettes fuel the preparation of meals for 200 school children each day. + Partnered with various individuals and the government to complete the construction of a new health clinic on, which will give the population access to affordable quality health care.

Coming Soon

Visiting tourist Richard Ironside has provided the funds to construct a health center to serve the Nyakweri beach community. The center is currently under construction and is expected to open in the spring 2010.