| I first met
Grace Andiki at a meeting with elders in Bondo in 2001 while
seeking ideas on the priority actions that the District
should take with international support to address the
scourges of recurrent drought and HIV/AIDS which were
inflicting enormous damage on the people of the area. While
the men, who dominated the meeting, put forward hugely
ambitious multi-million dollar project proposals, Grace
pointed to the emergent challenge to the community caused by
the very rapid rise in the number of orphans in the
District. She saw the importance of getting orphans into
school, so that they could be equipped with the learning and
life-skills that they would desperately need in future,
without which they would be condemned to live on the fringes
of local society.
When I returned to Bondo a few months
later, at her own initiative, Grace had completed a survey
of all the school-age orphans in East Yimbo and had begun to
create the Got Matar Community Development Group as a
vehicle through which to engage key people in planning,
priority setting and programme implementation.
I have been able to return to Got Matar
several times and have been impressed by the amount which
has been achieved with the modest resources which we and
others have contributed since 2001. This encourages me to
believe that the Secondary School project has a high chance
of success. |
When I talk to members of my family as well
as friends about contributing more towards better
livelihoods for the most disadvantaged people in rural
Africa, they often say that they would really like to be
more generous but are concerned that the funds might go
astray. Others question whether the small amounts that they
can give can possibly have a real impact on peoples’ lives.
In the case of Got Matar, all the precedents indicate that
funds will be carefully managed and well spent and that even
very small gifts can make a huge difference for the poorest
people in the area. I am absolutely certain that the
opportunity for home-grown secondary schooling will ensure
that many young people, especially orphans, will stay longer
in school and acquire the knowledge and practical skills
which will enable them to escape permanently from the dire
poverty and chronic hunger that now afflict so many people
in Western Kenya. If educated within the area, more will
stay on there after leaving school and provide the skills
needed for further development.
My wife and I are determined to make a
substantial contribution towards the costs of the programme.
I am sure that we can count also on your generosity. We
undertake to keep you regularly informed of the amount of
funds raised and of implementation progress.
If all goes well in Got Matar, as we hope,
it could set a precedent for similar initiatives elsewhere
in the country.
Andrew
MacMillan
1st September 2006
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