Latin Dance and Social Event raises $1116.75

A big thank you to our supporters and all who contributed to the success of the Latin Dance and Social Event. $1116.75 was raised through the event. This money will help towards funding provision of a clean water source for the Ongeche community in Kenya.

Special thanks to Latin Motion studio for their support and free use of the venue, to Buena Vista Dance Cuban Academy for dance lessons and performances, to Guillermo and Rocio for leading us in Meringue, and to Monica Salamanca and Jorge Rengifo for their amazing effort in bringing it all together. Your contributions are all sincerely appreciated.

Student Life Group at Macquarie University

Thank you to Student Life Group at Macquarie University

Student Life is a Christian organisation aimed at bringing the message of Jesus Christ through fellowship and volunteer activities at Macquarie University. 

The members of Student Life have recently formed a partnership with Piye Inc.   The group has conducted three on-campus BBQ’s to raise funds for Piye.  Piye has recently received a donation of $755.55 from the group. 

We would like to express our thanks to the members of Student Life for their dedication and support.  We look forward to on-going collaboration.

Thank You to Rotary Club of Maroubra

Special thanks to Rotary Club of Maroubra for their recent donation of $3,200 towards the Ongeche Village Goats project.

Project updates will be available on the PIYE website and on this blog.

PARTNERSHIP: The International College of Management Sydney and PIYE Inc.

The fundraiser held at the International College of Management Sydney on 17/04/2009 was a success. Over 170 people attended the dinner and talent show. I invite PIYE supporters to join “PIYE Inc” facebook to view pictures of the night.

Special thanks to Anne-Marie Flynn and Sky High Events who planned and co-ordinated the evening. We would also like to thank the hospitality students who volunteered their time, the performers for their entertainment, our donors, judges, and guests.

The money raised will go towards the PIYE Water Project Fund for Ongeche Village.

Ongeche Project Planned Programs

1. Construction of Small House (for rent by local teachers)

• Fencing of land
• Constructing a house for rent by local teachers
• Building a ventilated pit latrine and a shower on site
• Labour costs

2. Income Generating Activities

• Goat rearing
• Poultry keeping (ducks and chicken)
• Value adding to the farm produce eg jam, tomato paste and juice making, dairy goat and poultry feed manufacturing.
• Tree planting
• Fish farming

3. Providing safe, clean drinking water

• Installing an appropriate water system (bore-hole or water well)

4. Workshops/Vocational Training

These include: nutrition and hygiene, improved farming techniques, home-based-care (HBC) of ill relatives or of community members. We will develop a train-the-trainer program.

5. The Social Capital Program

This program will promote local history, genealogy and culture. It will encourage and promote oral literature responsive to community contemporary dilemma. It will also promote celebrations and exchange visits between communities and herald the ancestral leaders such as Ramogi Ajuang and Piye. The social capital program will facilitate the celebration of community champions in a culturally sensitive fashion.

6. Community and School Interaction Program

The community and school interaction program will aim to develop the capacity of our school-aged children to succeed in school while instilling in them a sense of community development. School children will be encouraged to participate in community projects such as tree-planting and others.

7. Construct a Community Centre

The centre will have the following functions:

• Train community/village healthcare workers;
• Run a school feeding program;
• Provide a day care centre for orphaned children (non-school going age);
• Function as a vocational training centre;
• Run a research unit to collect public health and social survey data.

8. Construct a Community Health Clinic

Ongeche Project Needs Assessment

In June 2006, the founders of PIYE travelled to Kenya to consult with the Ongeche community regarding their needs. A public health and social needs assessment was conducted and together the following
issues were identified by the community as their most urgent needs:

•    Access to health care
•    Supporting orphans and ‘granny-mothers’
•    Lack of a school feeding program
•    Lack of access to proper sanitation
•    Lack of access to safe drinking water
•    Early childhood education and vocational training
•    Improved food production through such innovative methods as fallow agriculture, crop and livestock diversification.

In April 2007, a second community consultation was conducted to further discuss the issues identified in 2006, and to assess community involvement. The meeting produced several positive outcomes. The most important being the donation of 3-acres of land to be used for the project. There was an overwhelming sense of commitment towards community empowerment. In addition, the community selected their local board of governors, and two Piye Founders as international coordinators.

Current Activities
•    Community donated 3 acres of land for the project in 2007. The land is frequently cleared of weeds and a sign-post has been constructed.
•    Piye Incorporated donated school textbooks worth Ksh. 10,000 (equivalent to AUD $200) to Ongeche Primary School in 2007
•    Two Piye supporters, Peter and Sally Edington from Sydney visited the Ongeche Community in August 2007. They conducted a one week computer training workshop.
•    Piye donated NZD$2400 (Ksh 108,000) in 2008. The funds have been used by the community to purchase chairs and a tent. These are for use during community meetings and available for hire by other communities.
•    Piye donated 300 desks and 300 chairs to be shared between Ongeche Primary School and another local primary school.
•    Scholarship Fund: PIYE is sponsoring six orphans through their high school education.

Chairman Mr Aguko with 2 committee members

ONG’ECHE VILLAGE BACKGROUND

Location
Ongeche is situated in North West Kano, Kisumu East District, Nyanza Province in Kenya. It is approximately 20 kilometres south of the city of Kisumu. Ongeche village is roughly 6 kilometres west of Ahero and 3 kilometres from Korowe market along the Korowe-Nyang’ande dirt road. The community has approximately 5000 people.

Overview of the community
Ongeche village is endowed with black cotton soil which receives fertile silt during annual seasonal flooding. Land consolidation has not been effected. Consequently, individuals own a number of economically unviable small plots of land. The land is tilled seasonally in December and January each year. The community grows sorghum, finger millet, maize and rice. Through the Kenya Government Work for Food Programme the community has dug a canal connecting river Nyando to Lake Victoria. The canal cuts across the proposed project area. The canal has huge potential for irrigation during the dry season. However, there is a need for clean, safe drinking water.

There is an alarmingly high percentage of single and double orphaned children at Ongeche. The percentage of orphans attending Ongeche Primary and Secondary Schools are  66% and 34% respectively. Many grand-parents have lost their children to HIV/AIDS and other epidemics and therefore have the huge burden of caring for their orphaned grandchildren. These grandmothers who are often in their 70’s, do not have the resources, strength or knowledge to successfully consolidate their land for massive food production. They therefore remain extremely poor.

The community’s greatest natural resource is manpower. The people of Ongeche have clearly demonstrated their zeal to be the key driving force behind all projects. This resource only needs to be refined through appropriate education and grassroots technology vocational training.

The Ongeche community has traditionally raised cattle, goats, sheep and chicken. However, all the animals suffer high annual mortality in tandem with seasonal weather fluctuations. Environmental protection and improvement is of concern within the community. The community members aim to undertake reforestation
with the vigour it deserves. The challenge lies in redesigning the landscape through planting of indigenous as well as exotic trees. In this era of high energy cost, reforestation is vital for communities such as Ongeche who are reliant on firewood.

Ongeche Community Group
The Ongeche Community Group is registered with the Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services of the Kenya Government. The group consists of local village members, some of whom form the Board of Governors overseeing the day to day planning and running of programs.

Peter Edington, a PIYE supporter & Lillian Owinyo at the project site.She is a committee member of the Ongeche Primary Health Care and Community Development Group.