Insight from Kakamega Project Workers


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Hello again from Kakamega! We’ve had another good few weeks. This past week especially has been extremely busy for everyone, as you can see in our ‘guest post’ from two of our amazing project workers, Emily and Bea at Kakunga Girls’. Check out their full blog at http://beaandemilythebestisyet2come.wordpress.com.

This week has been hectic! We found out from our Project Manager last week that we had obtained Central Pot funding for a generator for our school, which was really exciting. We couldn’t wait to tell our principal, Mildred. After that great piece of news, we were finally able to make our final decisions on how to spend our money.

Having finally decided on funding shelves, furniture and electricity for the new school library plus a photocopier, we spent the whole of this week buying parts, contacting suppliers and withdrawing large amounts of Kenyan shillings. The best of the week has been getting to know all our suppliers: firstly there was Samuel, our furniture man, who took us out for chai and mandazi and talked to us about Kenyan tribal politics. When Bea got pooed on by a bird, he even assured her that that is a sign of good luck. Wonderful man.

Thursday we took a matatu to Kisumu to go and look at photocopiers. We had heard of a supplier that EPAfrica have used before who gives fair prices and substantial warranties, so he was our first stop. His shop was hard to find, but when we got there we found him to be extremely friendly and hospitable, and his prices were definitely the best we’d seen so far. We soon agreed on a machine that would cater for our school, and the manager, Elfas, promised to deliver it personally on Monday. When we called Mildred to tell her the arrangements she was really really happy. Exam period is a huge strain for the school, as they have to go to a school 30 minutes away to get exam papers printed for each form and subject, which is expensive and also unreliable as the other school’s photocopier has recently broken down.

Anyway, once all that was decided, Elfas told us we could not leave Kisumu without visiting Lake Victoria. He promptly drove us out to a super fancy restaurant on the lake and bought us possibly the best meal we have had so far. Love a good business lunch!

Emily and Bea