The progress so far...

After a three weeks break, the schools finally open today the 6^th of May. The good news is that during the break, our educator managed to mark all the exams the children did as part of the environmental education program. Their overall performance was very much encouraging, over three quarters of the participating children scored way past the pass mark. We also have three students who got 100%! They got all the questions right… For that the entire Fanya Mambo Crew is a very happy and motivated lot.

Tobias the construction team leader gives lucas some basic tips...

Sometime during this first week of the second school term, our educator with the assistance of three arts teachers at the school will have to decide which drawing among the many creative drawings the children did is the best from each class. The children were engaged in a drawing competition on which they were to draw and color a picture of their choice! The only rule was that it had to be about plastic pollution and its effect on the environment and human health. From the ones I have had the opportunity to have a look at; I must say that it’s going to be difficult deciding which one is the best as most of them are simply amazing!!

Lastly, today we are going to meet the teacher in charge of the Children Recycling Plastics Program to fast track the eco-blocks production so as to enable us continue the construction of the table/bench ensembles. As the days roll by, we will keep you posted on all new developments!

You can also follow our progress closely through the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/Fanyamambofoundation

Thanks~~~

Soldiering on.... Moving on..

Working together with three local waste management youth groups, participating school children and other community members, we conducted a community clean-up exercise around the entire Maringo Estate on Saturday the 6^th of April. Even though some of the invited guests did not show up, we are grateful for those who did! We are especially thankful to the Nairobi City Council’s cleansing department for providing most of the tools we used that day.

To our friends at House of Manji, we send special thanks for donating 5 boxes of biscuits for the participants. We cannot forget individuals like Patrick, a local political and business leader for his participation and donation of 1 bag of cement towards the project; Someone like Joseph for volunteering to drive the garbage truck and lastly, thumbs up to all the people who left their everyday jobs to give us a helping hand… without them this exercise could not have succeeded…. Even though the participants were very grateful for the education they received on plastic pollution and its effects on both humans and the environment, Fanya Mambo team members are equally grateful to them for their input.

By that day, the school children had already started producing Eco-blocks (used plastic bottles stuffed with used plastic bags) for the construction of the heavy-duty 20 sitter table/bench ensembles that they will be using while eating their lunches up from the dusty ground and while undertaking private studies... The construction work commenced on the same day and is now ongoing... with the schools set to officially close on Friday the 12^th; increased production of the Eco-blocks is evident now more than ever as everyone is trying hard to meet the set target before closing day. This way the construction team will have completed the construction work by the time schools reopen.

In the meantime as we proceed with the program, remain tuned for more updates and remember to follow us via this blog and invite friends too! Also if you are yet to like our social media pages, feel free to do it via these links and share with friends too..

https://www.facebook.com/Fanyamambofoundation

https://www.facebook.com/groups/fanyamambo/

Cheers~~

2012 INTO 2013

Sailing through the past year, a year that brought with it calamities of unimaginable magnitudes in Kenya like the prolonged severe drought, the strange disease outbreaks that affected both humans and food crops as well and the unexpected flooding that displaced thousands from their homes recently, we find solace and hope through all the positive things that the year 2012 had for Fanya Mambo Foundation.

Thanks to your unending support, one of our proposed projects - The Children Recycling Plastics Program (  http://www.1procentclub.nl/projects/childrenrecyclingplastic ), finally attained its fundraising target on the 1%CLUB crowd-funding platform. Plans are now underway to start rolling out the program on the 14th of January. We are pleased to announce that we will be replicating this type of project in Lamu too. Working closely with our close friend Mary Stone ( https://www.facebook.com/mary.stone.522 ) and the local Lamu community, we plan to train people on the dangers caused by lack of proper garbage disposal and the possibilities of transforming common wastes into useful structures plus initiating hands-on Eco-friendly construction skills training to community members.

We are also very pleased to announce that construction of a website for Fanya Mambo is currently underway, thanks to our good friend Rachael Kay Albers ( https://www.facebook.com/rachaelalbers ). hopefully, it will be up by the end of this month.

Just like one of my favorite columnists with a local daily - Carol Mandi, puts it " We are not responsible for everything around us, but we are responsible for a whole lot more than we own up to. responsibility is a heavy weight but it only becomes a burden when we resent it. it is so much easier to look for what is wrong with life and then find an appropriate scapegoat. but nothing changes until we say I am responsible. For my life, my health, my well-being and happiness, I. AM. RESPONSIBLE!" we have decided to act like our name "Fanya Mambo" which means "Do Things" in Swahili suggests. In April, we will embark on the creation of the proposed PILOT FANYA MAMBO CENTER ( a center for Agriculture, Aquaculture, Eco-friendly construction, Arts, Crafts and Appropriate Technologies training.) in Siaya County of Nyanza Province, Kenya.

We have already acquired an 8 acre piece of land and are currently seeking out for other interested people or organizations to partner with as we embark on this noble initiative. Fundraising for this project is also currently underway. More information on this proposed project will be available on our soon to come website.

On behalf of the entire Fanya Mambo team, i take this opportunity to say special "THANK YOU" to our good friend Rachael Kay for all the support she has been directing towards Fanya Mambo. I also thank Mary Stone and her family for giving us the opportunity to introduce Eco-bricks ( used plastic bottles stuffed with used plastic bags) construction technique in Lamu. lastly, i thank you all for the never ending support you have always directed towards our initiatives. Without your support, we can never do what we do. Like it is said " Together we stand, divided we fall!" Keep standing with us this year too!!

As you sail through this year, i encourage you to always remember this words from one of the most amazing persons to ever pass through this world called Mother Teresa - " People are often unreasonable and self-centered, forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people might accuse you of ulterior motives, be kind anyway. If you are honest, people might cheat you, be honest anyway, If you find happiness people might be jealous, be happy anyway. The good yo do today may be forgotten tomorrow, do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough,  give your best anyway, for you see, in the end its between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway!" Let this words guide us through 2013!! Thanks!

JOIN US IN TEACHING OTHERS HOW TO FISH

The HOLIDAYS SEASON is finally here! I take this opportunity to wish you all “HAPPY HOLIDAYS”. During this period, I hope you will consider making a gift to our cause CHILDREN RECYCLING PLASTICS! http://onepercentclub.com/projects/childrenrecyclingplastic/videos.

We are at EUR 1,848 but still need EUR 1,777 to achieve our target of EUR 3,625. You can make a gift through spreading the word about this initiative to your family and friends; through donating directly to the project or by volunteering your skills to design some project materials like brochures, t-shirts e.t.c.

Because life has not given us fish but it has taught us how to fish, let’s join hands and make it happen! Let us teach others how to fish too through our project CHILDREN RECYCLING PLASTICS that seeks to educate school children and community members on the dangers of careless waste disposal and the possibilities of transforming common waste into useful structures for their own benefit.

Special thanks to all our supporters who already made a gift and all who are yet to make too!

ALARMING FACTS!! Something’s about to hit us hard!!!

Today I invite you to ponder with me the thought provoking facts I bumped onto while doing some research on how best we can recycle our waste especially of organic material. Well here are a few;

“Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course… No more than one or few decades remain before the chance to avert the threats we now confront will be lost and the prospects for humanity immeasurably diminished.” 1,600 SCIENTISTS, NOVEMBER 18, 1992 - WORLD SCIENTIST WARNING TO HUMANITY.

Humans began to show their destructive potential towards the planet during the 1950s, ravenously devouring natural resources and discarding waste into the environment with utter carelessness. From 1990 to 1997, human global consumption grew as much as it did from the begin of civilization to 1950. In fact, the global economy grew more in 1997 alone than during the entire 17th century. STATE OF THE WORLD 1999, pg 10 - STATE OF THE WORLD 1998, pg 3.

By the end of the 20th century, our consumptive and wasteful lifestyles had painted a bleak global picture. Almost half of the world’s forests are gone. Between 1980 and 1995, we lost areas of forest larger than the size of Mexico, and we’re still losing forests at a rate of millions of acres a year. Water tables are falling on every continent. Fisheries are collapsing, farmland is eroding, rivers are drying, wetlands are disappearing and species are becoming extinct. Furthermore, the human population is now increasing by 80 million each year (roughly the population of ten Swedens). Population growth without foresight, management and respect for environment virtually guarantees increased consumption and waste with each passing year. BROWN, LESTER R, et al. (1998). VITAL SIGNS 1998. NEW YORK; W. W. NORTON and CO, pg 20 --- STATE OF THE WORLD 1998, pg 4, 5 --- STATE OF THE WORLD 1998, pg 14.

The natural background of extinctions is estimated to be about one to ten species per year. Currently, it’s estimated that we are instead losing 1,000 species per year. More than 10% of all bird species, 25% of all mammals, and 50% of all primates are threatened with extinction. Of 242,000 plant species surveyed by the World Conservation Union in 1997, one out of every eight (33,000 species) was threatened with extinction. STATE OF THE WORLD 1999, pg 13, 97.

THE BIG QUESTIONS THEREFORE ARE;
• What would drive humanity to damage its life support system in this way?
• Why would we disregard our host organism, the earth, as if we were nothing more than disease intent upon its destruction?

There are those who scoff at the idea that a tiny organism such as the human species could mortally affect such an ancient and immense being as mother earth. The notion that we can be powerful enough to inflict illness on a planetary being is nothing more than egotism. Where is there any evidence that a planet can get sick and die? Well, how about Mars??