Raymond's - Organic Food KENYA

Hello, I am Claudia and am trying to raise money for a friend of mine, Raymond; he, his wife and friends started an organization in Kenya; Organic Food Kenya. I believe in their organization and I believe in helping people in any way we can! Every day they work hard as a community, and with our donation, we will help them grow as a one! It doesn't matter where we come from or how much we have; together we are stronger. I asked Raymond to write something for this GoFundMe so I could add it in; who better than him to tell HIS STORY; My name is Raymond Benson Orenda, I am married to my sweet wife Jacky and we are blessed with one baby boy called Allan Raymond who is turning 2 and a half now. We live in Western Kenya and as a community leader, my mission is to bring Organic permaculture to my region. We are a community of small farmers facing changing weather patterns, low investment, and relative isolation. The learning and connection we have experienced already by being involved in organic permaculture have been transforming and my dream now is to build on that by becoming a qualified and experienced permaculture teacher myself. I left my county for the first time late last year to study permaculture design at LAIKIPIA with teachers from PRI KENYA after my Agricultural College Course and this was a life-changing experience for me! I am already teaching and sharing the ideas in my community near Lake Victoria and my ambition is to become a better and more effective teacher. When I came back from the PDC I managed to mobilize the community members and formed a CBO (Community Based Organization) and Organic Food Kenya is the name of this organization it is run by 8 volunteers that is I Raymond Orenda who is the founder and the coordinator of the CBO, Grace Oyoko who is the secretary, Jackline Otieno who is the treasurer, David Omondi who is my vice, Pauline Adhiambo, Benta, Hellen and Rose and our focus is to develop a working organic farm that not only provides organic food but aid in the education of farmers in organic practices and the importance of clean and safe drinking water source. (www.organicfoodkenya.com) The importance of Organic Permaculture education in communities is measured not just in the creation of clean food but in the creation of community. People naturally gather around water and food and it is the base of all civilizations and a clear path to the future is created in the process. Organic food Kenya is teaching the community members to become SMART FISHERMEN/WOMEN, fishing themselves and their families out of poverty, lack of food, minimal or no illness permanently, instead of giving them fish for a day. Organic Food Kenya is developing a farm where sustainable agriculture and permaculture are put together and the community members are involved to participate, learn, work, see, feel, taste, eat and implement in their own farms under the supervision of (OFOK) in making sure the transformation is achieved. The farm is already working and a number of groups are involved, and its success lies on the fact that a human being is created with the unlimited capability of creating things, first in the mind and then actualize through implementing and that is what ORGANIC FOOD KENYA (OFOK) stands for. When communities are provided with opportunities to work together creating food and water security it offers so much more because of the healing power that comes from feeding ourselves and our families. The practice also removes many fears of the future and of course, clean water is key to all of this. The truth is that when there is clean water there is life and when that source is contaminated the project itself becomes impossible. Organic Food Kenya knows that no human being is useless thus all community members are included regardless of sex, age, race, and status. The most marginalized groups of people like the orphans, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWAS) and the old are all catered for in this project. We have been working tiresomely with our volunteers both locally and internationally, planting our small food forest, planting sweet potatoes, kales, cowpeas, and black nightshade. We are always updating our supporters/followers with pictures in every step we make. Apart from working on this our demonstration farm, I always walk to the villages to train families on how to grow healthy food for their families. Permaculture teaches how to learn from nature to build resilient systems that are more than sustainable; they regenerate degraded lands and also help build community. These are exactly the kinds of help we need in Africa now and our aim is to create a beacon of hope, inspiration, and learning for our brothers and sisters in Kenya and around the world. We are in the lookout of people like you to help us transform our community, in return we will certainly be grateful but more importantly, we will be determined to reach out to and share this experience with as many people as we can. You can learn more from our project website at www.organicfoodkenya.com and like our page for updates. https://www.facebook.com/organickenyaproject/  Regards! Raymond, Jacky and Baby Allan (OFOK FOUNDERS) and OFOK TEAM Please donate $1, $5, $20, $100 or a Share. We truly thank you!