It has been long since I wrote to let you know how we are faring. We have had a great year 2016. This is despite crop failure. Our people are very resilient.

• Six of the girls we support either through the bursary venture or as a Women Group managed to go to University, Three to Teachers College and one to a Medical School in September this year. The ongoing ones are doing very well at school.
• We also ventured into counseling and disaster management. This too has gone very well. We settled two families whose abode was destroyed by rain and a fire and we are proud of this. During May/June/July we ventured into a very delicate field.
• We identified a young man with a family of four very young children who could have succumbed to HIV/AIDS and assisted them to get medical help and were successful in getting him to accept his status and get assistance. This was the most difficult of the tasks we have ever undertaken. Today he is all smiles and strong enough to go back to his motorcycle business.
• We have realized that we need to do more on health matters for our community. We are going to map out how we can assist the community to accept Health insurance which goes at 500ksh per month, per family. We have yet to convince the community that this is a worthwhile venture.

Mary,

Has mentioned that each year the grandmothers and other women plough the fields with oxen and each drought the loose a few.  Each dry season gets harder and harder.

Would your company, foundation like to donate to sponsor a tractor?  Over 200 hundred children could benefit from having access to more food.  Grandmothers, widows and families would have access to more food.

Massey Ferguson 4 wheel drive ksh5,525,000 with 3disc plough. This is special offer for two months.(64,000 US dollars)

Massey Ferguson 275-2vweel drive=72HPTractor with 3 discs plough ksh.3,305,000. ( 38,000 US dollars )

News from Homa Bay Kenya.

Dear Joseph and Lois

I was off the internet for three weeks and this was uncomfortable because I felt I was either missing something or getting my friends worried for that silence. Thanks for caring. We had an internet problem.

We are getting very good rains at the moment and of this goes  for another 4 weeks, our crops will do well.

Today, Theresa received the 300$ for her windows and she is very grateful. When her windows are fixed, I will take pictures and sent them over. This gift has come in really handy since on 22nd of this month we have a homecoming party for her son Ayub who was ordained a Catholic priest two months ago. We as women share her joy for this particular celebration.

  Theresa standing in front of kitchen outbuilding which she built from mud and straw.

On Friday, we all meet for prayers and sharing at the parish in Raruowa. I will be exited to capture the joy the women have for having water at their door step. I will combine their reactions with photos that I will take after a door to door visit within a week or two and send in my report.

My love to you all,

Mary

Hello Grandmother Circles US,

ksh= Keyan Schilling

Chicken coop project report.

Grand Total Cost of Chicken coop       ksh143,896   US $1,713.07
Cash received from Grandmother Circles US

Ksh  144,000  US$1714.31

Members of the St. Monica Grandmother Circle are very grateful for the completion of the two chicken houses. One house is at Teresa Aduda’s home. They made this choice of a central place near the Raruowa Mission because it is easily accessible to them and any visitor who wishes to see it and also because taking care of poultry is a difficult task and they thought Teresa is well suited for this task.
The other house is at Mary Lieta’s home. This home also is easy to access and Mary Lieta can manage to take care of the poultry well.
The women now have a total of 42 birds in the two houses.
Challenges
·         The chicken in both houses were eating their own eggs. An  Agricultural officer advised that they get food supplements with calcium and that problem was reduced
·         When the young ones were hatched, some chicks were being eaten by the older chicken. We had to remove the young ones from the house until they were one month old
·         Sourcing for chicken feed was quite difficult as some members were unable to contribute. Permission was given by the members for some of the eggs to be sold so that food can be bought.
·         Not more than one cock can be housed in each coop. The cocks were sold off and this was a source of income for the group.
Benefits
This project is still small and the benefits are not very large as yet.   We can proudly record the following:
·          Poultry multiply out of danger of any epidemics.
·         Birds can be sold for cash
·         Eggs are sold for cash
·         Anyone with visitors can request for a bird to slaughter
·         Members are given a sense of togetherness through joint ownership of the project
·         The selling of eggs and extra cocks gives income which at the moment goes towards the feeding of the birds.

We shall make reports of our progress as frequently as possible.
Mary Lieta

A special request was made recently for us to assist a grandmother with getting a window put into her stone house that she built with her own hands.  Yes it is true.  Before her husband died he taught her how to carve out rock from the small quarry they had on their property.  

She chiseled stone brick by stone brick out of the earth, squared it and then lift it out of the quarry.

Grandmother Circles US with your support will be sending the funds this week for the window.  Grandmothers Rock!

  Thank you for supporting this window of opportunity!

Lois Mineau

News to know from Homalime,.