My Arrival In Kenya

Today my journey begins. After a nine hour flight to London, a 25-hour layover, and an eight and a half hour flight to Nairobi, I finally arrived in Kitengela where I will spend five days working at Empakasi Primary School with our project manager, Kevin Omondi. Last year, Empakasi’s partner school, Eagle Crest Elementary, came to a consensus that they would like to help Empakasi School create a sustainable lunch program for its students. They deemed this the most important task since no lunch is currently being served to the students during the school day and few are able to bring a lunch from home. Teachers complained that students had difficultly focusing, and some had even fainted from lack of nutrition. Thus, we enlisted Kevin to oversee the project development of a chicken coop and a green house so the students will receive hard-boiled eggs and vegetables everyday. 

This morning I was met by Kevin Omondi, his site supervisor, Max Muniafu, and our associate, Dr. George Jones. We headed to Empakasi School to get a brief update on the projects. There we were met by the Empakasi headmaster, the school board chairman, one of the school board members, and a group of construction workers that had been working on both the chicken coop and the greenhouse. I was thoroughly impressed with Kevin's knowledge regarding the details of each project. He knew about the temperament of chickens, how that will effect egg production, and what we can do to yield the highest profits. For example, he decided to almost double the size of the chicken coop since egg-laying production decreases significantly in relation to the space each chicken has. He was also able to explain in depth, the quality of soil in the greenhouse, which plants will grow best in this environment, what fertilizers we should use, and what we can expect from each harvest. It was clear he had done his research, and I'm confident it will pay off when the lunch program is up and running.  

Chicken Coop

Greenhouse