Baby Blankets and Dams

One of the expeditioners currently in Kenya is Kevin Nielsen.  Kevin was a missionary in Italy with Bret 30+ years ago, and is an expert in earthen dams in third world countries.  He and Bret connected a while back, and got talking about the work we do in Kenya, and Kevin's expertise just happened to be something we could utilize.  Land has been purchased and a Koins farm is being established.  It will be both an example of what can be done with a small plot of land, and a hands on experience for local farmers who will be allowed to farm a piece of the Koins farm.  With help from Self Reliant Agriculture, we will be training local farmers to farm better, to use the land to raise better and healthier crops, as well as fish and animals.  Part of the requirement of such a farm is having available water.  There is a riverbed adjacent to the Koins farm, but it only has running water for a few weeks of the year, during the rainy season.  With the help of Kevin Nielsen, a dam is being built in this riverbed that will allow that seasonal water to be contained, and it will provide year round access to water for crops on the Koins farm.  Once we can prove that this dam project is feasible and affordable, we can consider building additional dams within the Koins service area.  The rivers flow hard and fast during the few weeks of the rainy season, but the water ends up in the Indian Ocean, then the rivers dry up.  By providing a source for irrigation water, we could make a huge difference to the lives of local farmers.

Kevin called a few weeks before the trip and asked what his local church community could do for Koins.  I suggested they make baby blankets that could be brought and distributed to the clinics within the Koins service area.  The response was great, and this was Kevin's communication with Bret prior to departing for Kenya:

Kevin Nielsen with baby blankets for Kenya

Just a heads up, as you know, I asked for blankets to fill my suitcases.  Well, the Relief Society sisters in our stake put out the attached notice and we got more than a suitcase full.  A portion of them are shown in the attached picture.  There were many expressions of this being the most rewarding humanitarian project they had ever done. They are anxious to have me return with pictures and report about the end result.   As I mentioned to Jami, I actually cannot get them all in mine and Shad’s suitcases so I’ll be storing some at my house until my “next” trip to Mnyenzeni!

 I am looking forward to seeing the results of the dam building in Kenya, and to hear of Kevin's experiences, both in dam building and in distributing baby blankets.  Within the last 2 days, there have been 5 new babies born in the Koins service area.  Each new baby will return home from the clinic wrapped in a new, clean, warm blanket donated by caring Americans.

Asante sana!

IVL