Help Mfangano Island to improve Health & Education

Co-organized

Tim Treske and Claudia Fuchs are organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

The Matter & Motivation - Why support?
Whoever has been travelling through Kenya or any other African country like Namibia, Botswana, South Africa etc. has probably benefitted a lot from the hospitality of the local people, who in many cases don't have much but give a lot - be it great experiences on Safaris that turn into everlasting memories, great food, landscapes & photo opportunities for the many of us who are passionate travellers & photographers - or be it just some smiles and interesting conversations in the daily interaction.

On our way through Kenya we have met Samuel who is living on Mfangano Island.
He is a 54-year old teacher by profession but also a dedicated local community leader of the registered Sagrema Foundation as well as multiple community based organizations (C.B.Os) in and around Wakinga also working in close collaboration with the Mfangano Education Fund.

After getting to know Samuel and the people on Mfangano Island we decided to change our travel plans, focusing for now on the support of the projects and local communities on the island.

As part of that we are of course supporting directly on the spot on the island wherever we can. This is helpful for the local community and definitely also a great (learning) experience for us - however as you will see below it is not necessarily skills & time that are needed here but rather materials & tools to enable the people to help themselves.

The Timing - Why support now?
Needless to say that there is no wrong timing to support when looking at the infrastructure and conditions on Mfangano Island. However, same as in almost any part of the world, Covid-19 has worsened the situation especially for the poorest. This is mainly due to the strict but necessary lockdowns which have been imposed by the Kenian government (likewise as in most other countries) to keep the number of infections as low as possible. As a result of the movement restrictions many people lost their small businesses and therefore their income.

The Location - Where is support needed?
Mfangano Island is located within Lake Victoria in the boundary waters of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The population on the island increased from around around 16,000 people in 1999 to around 50,000 people as of now. The island is 65 km² in area and rises to 1,694 m at Mount Kwitutu. Due to its remote location its even more difficult to provide basic infrastructure for education & healthcare.

The People - Who needs support?
Most people are working as fishermen or farmers, the average income for a whole family on the island is significantly below 200 USD per month mostly ranging from only 1 to 5 dollars per day and therefore significantly lower than in many other parts of Kenya. Due to the remote location, building up, sustaining and further improving even basic health and education infrastructure for the people here remains a continuous challenge.

The Progress - What has been achieved so far?
Samuel with the Sagrema Foundation, the Mfangano Education Fund and the connected local community based organizations are already driving and planning projects in different areas. Multiple young & motivated local and foreign volunteers are available to support the initiatives with their skills and knowledge even or especially in Covid-19 times.

The current focus can be divided into four main areas :

• Access to Learning & Education
Already today the Sagrema Foundation and Mfangano Education Fund are supporting schools and students by supporting families with paying school fees, school uniforms as well as classroom furniture, learning material and equipment. The demand of the schools however significantly exceeds the limited funds available.

• Community Healthcare Accessibility
As the current basic health facilities are far away, only accessible by foot (almost no cars on the island) and massively overcrowded due to the significantly increasing population during the past years, there is a strong need to improve healthcare accessibility to especially reduce child & maternal mortality and increase life expectancy overall with a simple healthcare facility.
To achieve this the basic structures for a new small Health Center are currently being built based on the funding currently available (see picture below), which is however by far not sufficient to complete and equip it.

• Women & Youth Empowerment
The Women’s and Youths microfinance initiative has been established already on a smaller scale and helps to self-enable people to stabilize their incomes, raise their standard of living, and reorientate themselves and their families. Many small loans already brought big changes to impoverished women and Youths, who use the money to begin or expand small businesses.

• Establishment of organic farming & reforestation
Some workshops with farmers regarding sustainable management of their natural resources have been conducted already. In addition some basic reforestation activities including fruit-tree production have been initiated.

The Goal - What do we want to achieve?
• Access to Quality Learning & Education
The goal is to improve both the access to education for students by supporting their parents e.g. in financing mandatory school uniforms as well as improving the education infrastructure itself with basic things such as learning material, desks and a printer for the teaching staff.

• Community Healthcare Accessibility
The goal is to further built and also equip a basic Healthcare Center for the people of the local Wakinga community and surrounding areas to provide accessibility to Healthcare. It is strived to equip it as per WHO medical device requirements for a Level 2 facility in Kenya (see Link at the end)

• Women & Youth Empowerment
The Women’s and Youths microfinance initiative has been established successfully in a smaller scale in various groups on the island. To further extend it and meet the additional demand due to Covid-19, additional funds are required which can be loaned out to the people within the local community on very small interest rates. In addition not only microcredits but also basic tools such as a welding machine are to be provided to support people build up businesses and improve living standards.

• Establishment of Organic Farming & Reforestation
The goal is to further conduct workshops where farmers learn about crops that will nurture the soil and provide nutritional benefits, and also about land-clearing methods that leave trees and bushes in place as wildlife habitat. In addition basic farming equipment should be provided to improve productivity and food production within the existing areas to prevent destruction of existing natural resources, primarily forest. At the same time reforestation activities need to be pursued - also including fruit-tree plantation to strengthen food production for the local communities.

The Tracking - How are investments & progress made transparent?
Updates on projects including description and pictures will be posted directly within this campaign in the News section you can find below.
We will personally align with Samuel and the team to decide on and track the necessary investments on an ongoing basis.

It will be ensured that all donations go directly into the initiatives mentioned above, however the share of the individual projects is not fixed and will be decided on an ongoing basis to maximize the expected benefits for the community and meet the most crucial needs.

Your Impact - How can you help?

As you can see people, skills, knowledge & time to work as well as a variety of partially already running and well planned initiatives and organizational structures are already there - what is missing is the funding and materials to realize the initiatives efficiently and complete them successfully.

Therefore please help us with your donation to pursue the initiatives and help to improve the life of the people on Mfangano Island.

As you will see in the list below most goods and tools needed are focusing on enablement of the people allowing them to self-improve education, productivity, income, healthcare and living standard.

Please find below some examples showing what is currently needed and could be bought with your donations:

• 1 Euro (or any other amount) - Help to further strengthen the existing Microfinance Initiative of the local Wakinga community providing microcredits for people with low income and no access to financial services to pay for e. g. school fees or build-up of small businesses

• 5 Euro - Learning material for two primary school or highschool students incl. exercise book, pen, pencil, rubber & sharpener to help them actively participate in class lessons*

• 10 Euro - Purchase of seeds/seedlings incl. planting for around 25 trees to establish and further extend fruit tree production & reforestation in the Wakinga area

• 27 Euro - Purchase a school desk to reduce overcrowding on currently available desks and allow proper learning (see list of schools below)*

• 50 Euro - Purchase, setup and maintain a grazing yard for up to 50 chickens to enable multiple families within the communities to feed themselves by breeding chickens

• 75 Euro - Purchase of a simple plough (to be pulled by bulls) for farmers of the local Wakinga community to improve efficiency and maximize food production

• 120 Euro - Purchase of a basic but efficient monochrome laser printer including printing, copy and scanning for enabling teachers to provide learning materials such as handouts to their classes

• 170 Euro - Equipped hospital bed for the planned and currently being build Wakinga Health Center

• 225 Euro - Purchase of a welding machine for the local community as a new income generating and living standard improving tool to produce metal fences, doors and windows

• 275 Euro - Purchase of a water purifiying system to transform water from Lake Victoria into drinking water for up to 30 people in Wakinga community and surroundings

• 500 Euro - Purchase of around 50 school uniforms (price for school uniforms vary from 7 Euro for girls to 13 Euros for boys)*

• 1,000 Euro - Pay the full Healthcare Center staff for the new Wakinga Health Center for approximately two months (one additional nurse will be deployed and paid by the government)

• 5,000 Euro - Full furnishing and equipment of planned Wakinga Health Center as per World Health Organization (WHO) medical equipment list and pricing for Level 2 facilities in Kenya (see link below). Funding for the building materials is mostly covered already and currently being built (see pictures below).

Please note that all amounts listed above are derived from a variety of specific products identified as useful and cost-efficient based on Kenyan (e. g. printer, water-purifying system) and local (e.g. for seeds, simple plough) market prices in Kenyan Schillings. Transportation fees to the Island are not yet included but will be kept to a minimum where possible.

The amount you want to donate is of course not bound or limited to any of the amounts stated above - the Sagrema Foundation, Mfangano Education Fund and surrounding communities are thankful for any amount which you want and can donate.

Thanks a lot for your support!

Feel free to also share with friends, families & personal network!

More Information & Links can be found here
• Article from "Die Zeit" about healthcare situation in Kenya during Covid (German language only)
• Article from "New York Times" about the fishermen of Mfangano Island
• Mfangano Education Fund Website
• Sagrema Foundation Website
• World Health Organization Medical equipment list for Level 2 facilities (Currency is KSH)

* The schools which need to be supported are particularly Kakiimba Primary, Sena Primary, Kitenyi, Mauta and Takawiri (Primary schools) as well as Wasamo Girls School, Mauta, Sena Secondary and Uozi (Secondary Schools).

Please find below some additional impressions from our first days:

Kitenyi Primary School