22nd October 2012EUNICE & GORDON GET MARRIED.......................Yes Sunday I had the pleasure of attending an African Western Wedding. I say that because it seems that Christianity is still controlling the w...
16th October 2012
My beautiful Kenyan Sunset from my front door...................I will miss these
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9th September 2012Well things are moving so quickly here in Asembo I'm not sure if Alex and I can keep up. Just to give you an idea..........Alex was reading an article in the newspaper regarding a hotel in Kisumu l...
26th August 2012It seems it is time for me to reflect and what better way than to put it on my Blog. I have been here in Kenya this time for 3 months.............3 wonderful, challenging months. I continue t...
12th August 2012
Baby Elizabeth, on the Left is carrying Mandazi's given to her by her father...............and as you can see she collected her frie...
24th July 2012Dowry Day - Yes again I was asked to take this beautiful young man I have know now for 2 years here in Kenya, to escort him to present his Dowry...............3 Bulls, 2 Goats and an amount of mone...
11th July 2012
Well it has happened. Their first income generating project - CHARCOAL. Fristly they take a heap of stumps that they dug out of the ground, set fire to them and then cover them with ...
4th July 2012Well it has been some time since I have written.........so much has happened and all very positive. The Community Cooperative are finally getting there. The business plan we have been working on is...
25th June 2012Well the day arrived and we had the opening of the Centre. We had a 2 day Soccer Tournament at the local school to celebrate. The Youth did role plays advertising the Core Values, we had Netball co...
10th June 2012I thought it about time that everyone out there should start hearing from the people. So I have asked Alex to start documenting our work, from his perspective, in his words. Hope you enjoy!
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10th June 2012As mentioned I am living in the village of Asembo Bay, a beautiful village with sandy soil as opposed to the black mud in Odede. It is very green here as their rainy season is just coming to a clos...
26th May 2012Yes it seems I have become involved in being a part of the payment of a Dowry. Prior to me leaving last year a young man by the name of Gombe, who refers to me as his Mother, said that when I retur...
22nd May 2012Core Values - yes they are something you and I take for granted. Without them we are people who break the law, lie, cheat, hurt people physically and mentally and in general, just not nice people....
18th May 2012Tuesday was our first Management Meeting and proved to be quite challenging from the point of view that all of the people were on a "different Page" so to speak...............everone is so excited ...
15th May 2012Well Mike and I arrived safely after our very long trip. This was exciting for me as I have moved to another village to live and therefore we received an amazing welcome. We arrived to see our beau...
10th April 2012Eco Tourism Village
Concept ...
9th April 2012WOULD YOU WORK FOR NO PAY?
EVEN IF YOU CAN SEEWHAT WAS AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL?
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12th March 2012
I have been back in Australia having spent nearly 8 months in Odede, Kenya. While as you can imagine we as a community achieved far more than we thought possible and there is no way ...
7th November 2011 Well I am Home and loving it..............8 months is a long time to be aware from your family and friends. Before I left I wanted the people o...
22nd October 2011ODEDE PROJECT A MODEL VILLAGE FOR TRUE SUSTAINABILITY It all started in March 2011, but before we started we had to make sure that the development process is not for Mr Alex Omino and Marilyn Chamb...
3rd October 2011Yes I am coming home......I leave Kenya on 24th October and home in Sydney the 25th.. I must say that 9 months is too long to be away from my family and friends. I guess it has been a good thing fo...
22nd September 2011Yes you read it right, Alex and I were in a meeting with the Executive Committee of the Women's Group and discussing issues regarding members not paying their weekly contributions on time. So the w...
12th September 2011Well let me give you an update on this amazing community here in Odede. Due to support from the Gift Catalogue from World Youth International, we have received money to purchase seeds/seedlings for...
27th August 2011Yes it may seem a strange topic but lots has been happeing over here in Kenya both project wise and personal and it seems that I have the urge to write it down. I started writing it in my diary but...
26th August 2011Well I have just said goodbye to Mike..........he flew out this afternoon and I am going to miss him very much.............he achieved amazing things and was very sad to leave......you know this pl...
24th August 2011I would like you to meet our Head Groundsman, Barack.........an amazing man that has supported me right from the beginning. A man that I could trust with my life and money, an man that I can depend...
22nd August 2011Meet Omondi, as I said in my previous Blog that I am going to introduce you to each of the wonderful people who care for the children.
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21st August 2011Reflection - it has been some sime since I have done this, infact I sometimes questions whether relection is a good thing! I sit on the verandah of this wonderful home, I am watching the children b...
13th August 2011Well! Mike and I have taken a break from Odede................oh it wasn't easy but I knew with Mike going home soon we had to spend some time together out of the village as you can imagine, living...
7th August 2011Yes a Sports Day..............Saturday was the day we started our Feeding Programme for our 10 children who come Saturday only to be fed, we also support them with education along with medical care...
3rd August 2011As well as our focus being on our babies it is also on the families of our babies..............it is one thing to get our babies on track and improve their health but it is another thing to rehabil...
2nd August 2011Kenya's largest Goat Farm..................and boy are we proud. Yes the day finally came when we could move our goats into their new home. B1G1 (Buy 1 Give 1) came over to Odede and participated i...
2nd August 2011Twiga Sports Association has been formed.......Michael that wonderful husband of mine has bought sporting equipment for soccer, volley ball, net ball, shattel cock and every afternoon at 4pm the vi...
27th July 2011Yes our babies are in and loving it................it was opening day on the 22nd July and our babies moved in on the Saturday before. They were in for 2 days when our international guests arrived....
27th July 2011Opeing day finally arrived...........mind you it came close to still having the tilers there but they left at 2.00am that morning, we cleaned and tidied, stuck the Commemoration Plaque on with mask...
3rd July 2011Family Planning for men in Odede....you read it right, while it probably seems pretty normal to you all out there, here in Odede or Kenya, the one thing that men just don't do is talk about family ...
23rd June 2011Yes believe it or not, we now have a Fair Trade Craft Group in Odede...........Odede is lucky enough to have this amazing woman called Kate. Kate is a nurse and while her interest have spread to wo...
18th June 2011The volunteers arrive in Odede on Wednesday from World Youth International. How lucky Odede is to have an NGO like World Youth International. There will be a team of 12 youths that come and spend a...
16th June 2011Yes I know it is hard to believe but another miracle happened today. A member of the Men's Executive Committe spoke to Alex and told him that they would like us to attend a meeting that they have c...
15th June 2011Here they are, well the beginning of the children we are going to rescue...........this is the first time I have posted photos of dispair and sadness but in reality this is just exactly what we fou...
14th June 2011A miracle has happened in Odede............while Alex and I were having our Editors meeting for the Hope News the Chief interupted by asking us to be present at a meeting with the Bondo County Coun...
12th June 2011Nancy, our Social Worker has now begun her job of setting up the criteria for selecting our first 10 children...............what a job that is going to be. Firstly we have to outline the selection cri...
6th June 2011The First Community Baraza of it's type..............A Baraza is the name of a gathering of MEN...........yes it is when te Chief and the villag elders get together and discuss the community issues...
2nd June 2011Our goat count is now 25 and growing. I have been lucky enough to find a wonderful young Kenyan man that is assisting us with finding them............the women are very keen with caring for them an...
1st June 2011Yes you read it right.........I am currently living with two great women and due to the work load in Odede we all decided to have a weekend away..............so, we heard about a place at the end o...
1st June 2011Women's Health- a major breakthrough for Odede................Over the last week we have been running a Home Birthing Group with 20 women and due to the support from our wonderful nurse, Margaret, ...
28th May 2011Goats, who would have ever thought I could be interested in goats. Well they are so cute, especially the ones we are buying. They are 6-8 months old and cute...............
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28th May 2011We have beautiful pipes in our showers and floor..............Wazza (Warren Bell from Port Macquarie) and Renee his wife has just spent 5 days in Odede doing the plumbing for our bathrooms............
26th May 2011Odede Update - Well where has the time gone. So much is happeing here in Odede. Let me start with the Women's Group
They have been doing programmes with Margaret, an amazing Nurse that has ...
16th May 2011Odede Youth, a youth with Hope. This was our second week and it seems we have our core group. Alex as usual did his magical work and managed to get the youth involved in sharing their thoughts and ...
13th May 2011Ownership and Trust - two words that the people of Odede have never used, well not for quite some time but with the wonderful facilitation of Alex and my encouragement these two words are growing i...
12th May 2011Been some time as the signal here is so bad.......the two Internet providers are at war and what ever is happening means that we are all suffering.
Well we have the Red Cross, Blue Cross (d...
12th May 2011The Great Escape from Kissi - It seemed that the only place for us to buy Napier Grass ( feed for our goats) was from a place called Kissi, up in the mountains about 2hrs west of Kisumu. So Alex, o...
29th April 2011Well they came back!!!! How happy was Alex and I. It seems we did make an impression on them and they really did understand that if they continue to do nothing they will have no future.
Thi...
22nd April 2011Odede Men's Group - yes you read right..........and we didn't give them anything to come..........you see in Kenya when you call men together they will only come if you give them something, food, m...
21st April 2011Youth Registration Day...........48 Youth handed in Rego Forms. We were so happy. There seems to be so much interest in it we are excited about the programme. Out of the 48 registered we will selec...
17th April 2011Today , Sunday morning was the first time for some time since I sat down and wrote in my journal. I didn't realise how much had been building up inside of me. This morning I had tea/breadfast with ...
16th April 2011An Amazing Accomplishment - Women, a whole 150 women helping women......today as I spoke about before, the goat cooperative needed their Shamba weeded and it was too much for them so the women coll...
15th April 2011Immunisation Day at Odede - As I have mentioned earlier the immunisation rate here in Odede area is extremely low. I asked the women at the group on Tuesday and their reason for not immunising was ...
5th April 2011Sharon comes home...............I have thought and thought about whether I should tell you Sharon's story. I escaped to Kisumu for the weekend to sort out my feelings and emotions. My head was spin...
31st March 2011Wednesday was our first meeting of the 20 women that have taken on our Goat Project......just to recap, B1G1 is an organisation that donated funds to purchase goats. So that this project can be lon...
30th March 2011Well big to our standards........as mentioned previously Dishon thought we needed to check the contents of the pond as he thought there were too many fingerlings......so the lady from Yala Fish Pon...
30th March 2011Tuesday was our Women's Group............presentation of 130 Bags of Maize Seeds and 130 Bags of Bean Seeds donated to the women from B1G1 (Buy 1 Give 1).This organisation gave funds to "Feed A Fam...
28th March 2011Dishon calls me the other day wanting to meet with me to discuss the fish..........Let me tell you a bit about Dishon, he has 3 children and has just adopted his nephew due to his brother dieing an...
23rd March 2011
I know I know but let me tell you by African Standards.............it is bette...
23rd March 2011Something to make you smile.........
Today I took a gift from St Agnes Long Daycare Centre at Port Macquarie. It was a Parachute, well not qu...
18th March 2011We had an executive meeting today in my home............It gave me the opportuinity to speak one on one with the head of these women which was great as they all understood english, well basically.....
17th March 2011Liquid Gold has arrived...........and boy does Odede need it. Everyone everywhere is planting. This morning I woke to seeing mumma, who is approximately 70yrs, or more planting seeds in the small s...
15th March 2011We have live Fish...........Dishon has been working very hard but unfortunately John has left the team....in Kenya you can never be sure of why things happen but Dishon has been working the pond on...
15th March 2011The Furaha Goat Cooperative. Odede has been extremely fortunate enough to have had 100 goats donated.....I was asked by World Youth International what did I know about Goats.......well you can imag...
8th March 2011My second home................here I am about to embark on life in Odede for the next 6 months. There is so much to do........not sure how I will do it but I just keep thinking I am not alone. I go...
11th February 2011
Child Rescue Centre. Roof should now be completed
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3rd February 2011Well I can hardly believe that I have been home for nearly 4 months.....where has the time gone. I am now ready to go back to Odede........7th March for 6 months this time.
I have spent qui...
9th December 2010Home for 3 weeks now! What can I say other than it is great to be home and be with my family and friends. I came home to see that this wonderful family and friends of mine have been work...
9th December 2010I would love to tell you what these wonderful people have achieved over the past 3 months and what our plans are for the future.
Odede Womens Group - 100+ members - This gr...
9th November 2010The pond now has water..............in two weeks we will have fish.......
This is the start of our Fish Pond. What both Di...
3rd November 2010The Trusses
The Ladder - as the workers have no vehic...
2nd November 2010
The Hole! isn't it wonderful......this will hold 500 fish and hopefully a good percentage survives.
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2nd November 2010Take a look at this beautiful Tap!
As they say 'Liquid Gold'. Odede now has running water.............all I have to do is ma...
28th October 2010There is a hole!!! a big hole!!! Today they started digging and what a wonderful site. Mind you nothing was as it was suppose to be but I am learning that that's Africa.......I'll tell ...
26th October 2010What a wonderous day I had today.......the water company came and installed the town water pipes into the compound which means our babies will have clean water.....yeh!! this has only taken t...
25th October 2010Isolation and Insulation are two major factors of Poverty, well this is what I see here in Odede. Poverty restricts people from many of life's experiences, experiences that the western world take f...
24th October 2010The first Test Fish Pond for Odede is about to begin.....both Dishon & John have just left my house after presenting their plan and costings for the first pond. We have been lucky enough to get...
19th October 2010The Odede Womens Group - This group started quite simply from me running a Water Treatment Programme on the same day as our Medical Camp.......from that meeting the women of Odede wanted to form a ...
16th October 2010Firsty the Medical Camp. - A World Youth International volunteer sponsored a Medical Camp for Odede. It was amazing to see so many people come to have treatment, some quite seriously ill, that woul...
14th October 2010The Fishermen return from their expedition. John and Dishon are two young fishermen that's future is at stake due to the lack of fish in Lake Victoria. So the learing begins for them as I have sent...
13th October 2010
Our wonderful Seedling Beds - 100% germination- You can see Barrack, Walter & Ormondi
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13th October 2010
Mumma & Bubba taking a stroll.
It's hot h...
12th October 2010
The Solar Wheelbarrow. Increases planting from one crop per year to 3 crops per year. It comes at a cost of $1,500. The re...
12th October 2010Medical Camp & Water Treatment Programme
One of World Youth's volunteers has sponsored a Medical Camp where the community come to be treated for illnesses that they have or have had for...
1st October 2010Hi everyone, I am going on a holiday to Masai Mara for 4 days but will be away for 7 days, I have so much to catch you all up on but will have to do it when I get back.
ButI need to tell yo...
25th September 2010African Fish Ponds ( we call them Fish Farms) This seems to be the way things will have to go for the African people as the fish in Lake Victoria have been taken over by the introduction of Nile Pe...
25th September 2010ROCKS, ROCKS, ROCKS Yeh we have finished filling the floor. I am having trouble with the internet and will post some photos as soon as possible.......I can hardly believe it that the fl...
17th September 2010Just to let you know that as far as the site work goes, we are still moving ROCKS AND MORE ROCKS. But I just wanted to share a true story with you all.
As I have mentioned the public transp...
13th September 2010Yes the hard work continues.Still filling the floor area to prepare for the concrete. This African sun is hot and I still don't know how these people can work the way they do without hats and ...
8th September 2010WE are getting there............I must admit though I had to give in and let the boys the the remaining amount as I am not as young as I use to be. It is coming along fantastic and I am meeting wit...
2nd September 2010Seven Days Hard Labour is being hopeful. We are working on filling the floor area ready for them to not poor the slab but to shovel the slab into this huge building. We have had 8 truck loads of ro...
31st August 2010These African people let me say are the most resourceful people in this world. They manage to build something out of nothing and come up with a structure.
I visited a family today that had ...
25th August 2010My co-ordinator and I met with a Fibreglass company today in Kisumu and they have designed the template for our composting toilet that separates the urine which assists in the breakdown of the soli...
22nd August 2010 Today I mudded my first house. What an experience that was. This family's home was completely falling down and leaking so we built another one for them. The home we built will house a fa...
18th August 2010Things are coming along really well here at Odede. We are on the last stage which is the boys dormitary and will then start the roof. Life here in Odede is wonderful and they are treating me just l...
15th August 2010Well I have been in Odede now for 3 days and feels like I have been here all my life. The people of Odede have made me feel so at home it is overwhelming. I have had a good look at surrounding area...
11th August 2010Well I have finally arrived in Africa. I can't believe how comfortable I feel in this place. I have just had my orientation in Kisumu and did a boat tour on Lake Victoria.
I leave for Odede...
26th June 2010Well what can I say other than I experienced an amasing thing and that was the power of passionate people coming together. My Fundraiser Night was a wonderful success, we had over 50 people includi...
10th June 2010Well this is my first Blog and I just want to say that the time is getting close for me to leave for Odede. Soon I will stop working and be able to spend some time thinking about packing for ...
