Newspapers are reporting over 100 elephants have died in Tsavo National Park because of the drought. Elephants are severely stressed because of the reduction in their habitat as the human population explodes and seeks arable land. So many people mention that elephants passing through their area were a common sight a few years ago. (There were 6 million Kenyans at independance in 1963. Now there are 38 million--more than the population of Canada) Cultural and religious forces seem to prevent any meaningful action on population control.
Today will be full of meetings This morning we start to plan the Sunday School conference at the end of November. Then at noon Rotary and Lions are joining together to launch a project . They will be supplying sanitary pads to girls who otherwise miss many days of school in a year. One 'kit' to serve a girl for a year costs 300/- (about $4.50) We are collecting sponsors and Tembo will make a contribution. A group will come from Rotary in Nairobi and after Kakamega will pass on to Eldoret.
After the Rotary group is over we will be meeting with the town councillor, Bibiana, to plan more on a proposal to run workshops on domestic and sexual violence. Bibiana's interest coincided with that of the Bishop and she believes she has a possible source of funding. A recent newspaper report indicated that our province (Western) has one of the highest incidences of violence against women. At the request of the Bishop we brought materials with us that will enable us to offer seminars for clergy and community leaders to equip them with an understanding of the problem and strategies to cope with it. Yesterday we met with the Bishop and received his approval, so will now make the application for funding. It should cost around $2,000 to run a full day workshop for 30 people with accommodation and handouts.
Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment