We were enthralled to hear about the work of this charity when Nic Seller, one of the founders of The Friends of Kadzinuni, joined one of our Zoom meetings.
Nic and his wife, Elaine discovered Kadzinuni in 1998, and formed the charity in 2003, since when they have raised and spent over £300,000 supported by their patron, Joanna Lumley. They have also developed a strong working partnership with their local Rotary Club on Mombasa since 2001.
The charity has provided the village with a medical centre, and recently financed a refurbishement project for the buildings which have been open for 16 years.
Education is also a high priority, with over half of their funds going to Education Bursaries, a further 10% goimg into Primary School programmes, and 4% on the Primary school buldings themselves.
Nic told us about a recent project, in conjunction with the University of Exeter, to provide sustainable ways to make charcoal from agricultural waste. Since the Kenyan governement banned the felling of timber for the production of charcoal, over the last five years the project has developed BioChar – now an established brilliant fuel for cooking stoves, as well as providing a dressing for the land to enhance crop production.
The project uses coconut shells and maize husks as the raw material
Of course, like the rest of us, Kadzinuni has had to cope with COVID-19 in 2020, and this became in important priority for the Charity. Through specific fundraising they have managed to raise £4,000 which has:
- 300 tapped buckets for handwashing stations
- 10,000 litres of soap gel
- 2,800 litres of hand sanitiser
- 6,400 face masks (made locally on the sewing machines that they provided a few years ago.)
- £1,000 on food supplies for the disabled and vulnerable
- £300 on Health education sessions.
We have supported the Friends of Kadzinuni in their great work in the past and we were again impressed by the continuing commitment and benefits that they deliver.