The Fanya Mambo " Old Trafford"Eating Place

As one of our income generating activities, we have embarked on the construction of a unique eatery in Nairobi's Buruburu Estate Phase two. In line with our commitment to green construction methods,Parts of the wall and the furniture in this structure are to be made out of Eco-blocks. Not to mention that we will strive to avoid using charcoal and other unsustainable sources of energy once we are up and running!!

In the meantime we have already constructed the steel framework of the structure and also, the roof is already up. We are now collecting used plastic bottles and trash for making Eco-blocks that are to build the furnitures and parts of the wall. Hopefully in six weeks time, we shall be done with the construction part of the project and will be ready to open our doors to the public.

So keep your heads up and pass the word around!>>>> we will keep on keeping you posted as we keep going!!

Fanya Mambo Program realizes that in one moment within the development humanity, we broke the circle of life and left the respect for nature behind and without thinking we have contaminated all what we need to survive>>water, air and soil. Now we need to understand the consequences this contamination brings to the human being and the universe at large.

To make our life quality better and save our planet, we need to change our attitude and live in harmony with nature. Let’s take care of our trash! Let’s create a recycling culture! We need all the ideas which can help to repair and recycle our broken circle. Only then can we ensure a good life quality for all future generations!

The Eco-brick is the fundamental innovation of FANYA MAMBO in search of simple and realizeable solutions for depositing plastic trash in a more effecient way, thus converting highly contaminating waste into ecological and local construction material with low cost and high qualities.

The importance of putting value towards individual responsibilities of our own waste managements is becoming a worldwide goal, promoting a life without contamination,better life quality and respect for nature.For the urban slums, the Eco-bricks represents the only way of managing household plastic trash in an ecological consious way. The Eco-bricks combines the two major groups of household waste. Plastic PET bottles from water or soft drinks acts as the deposit for loose, clean and dry household plastic trash which gets compacted with a rod or stick and then sealed with its screw cap lid.This way trash gets separated and recyced in each home.

We have already embarked on educating school going children on the importance of recycling used plastic trash at home hence sharing the knowledge they have acquired through our program with their adult family members who don't attend school.In the pipelines, are plans to organize community clean-up exercises aimed at educating the public at large on the importance of recycling used plastic trash. While we strive to make a change, you too are free to join us in this noble effort and as always remember to invite all your friends too!!!

You can also follow Fanya Mambo's progress through our facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fanya-Mambo-Program/145021535539408 - or visit our website - http://www.solaceinternational.org/ for a more comprehensive understanding of the program.

Thanks>>>>

KEEPING ON KEEPING ON!!

As the year draws to an end, we the Fanya Mambo team, is very pleased with the progress of this program. When we first hit the ground with this idea, the neighborhood of Maringo Estate in Nairobi was in a very sorry state. You could see trash of all kinds littered almost everywhere but thanks to our initiative the local authorities now seems to be doing something. Recently i was shocked to notice them cleaning up a pile of garbage that we have been trying to wipe out but could not since we only recycle used plastic bottles and plastic bags, which in most cases turn out to be almost 50% of the pile. That means that even if we wipe out the plastics completely, the remaining garbage which is mainly organic also needs to be taken care of.

Its not only the local authority that is acting, i noticed another group that is also in this fight with us but from a different angle.Theirs is a much needed effort also, they are pressuring some of the major Supermarkets to look for alternative wrapping bags which are not made out of plastic. Going by the recent events, i can easily say that most of the affected parties have realized that "There is a time to joke around and there is a time to swallow a bone". Those my friends, are not my words but a proverb amongst my people.And as Chinua Achebe so famously observed, proverbs are the palm wine with which words are eaten.

Checkout the attached photos of our work so far!!

Project Manager: Benjamin Odea

Goals

1. Change behavior (littering)

2. Teach a vocational building skill (education)

3. Inform participants about the environment

Benefits

• Produces affordable building material

• Low overhead

• Easy to teach

• Creates finished works that can sustain moderate to

heavy use

• Recycles plastic bottles: a leading component of urban trash

• Is suited for community participation

• Seems to sell itself

Fanya Mambo means ”do things” in Swahili. It is the brainchild of Solace field director, Benjamin (Banze) Odera. Just returned from nine months in Guatemala overseeing the development of Casa del Niño childrens’ home, Odea has implemented The Fanya Mambo Program. This program seeks to address problems associated with a lack of jobs and job skills training, and the degradation of the urban landscape in Kenya and other cities across Africa.

One of the more successful green construction methods in Guatemala was the use of empty plastic bottles to create nearly free “eco-bricks”. This method lends itself to non-load bearing projects like interior walls, exterior walls or benches.

The program starts at the school level with students encouraged to bring in plastic bottles found locally. The bottles are then stuffed with plastic bags or small debris and capped to make “eco-bricks”. These eco-bricks are secured inside a structure of chicken wire or held fast by other means. A layer of ferro cement is placed over the top, and the structure is left to dry.

Banze has worked with Solace marketing consultant, Marcus Stanfill, to develop presentation materials for the Kenyan business and government leaders. The project is being entered into two US-based competitions for projects in international development.