Remba Island
Reischo Academy is found in Nyanza Province, Homa Bay county, In Mbita District ; Mfangano Division. It is about 150 Kilometers from Kisumu City. This area has two main rainfall regimes: high rainy season experienced in March – May, and low rainy season experienced between September –November. Remba isle suffers crop failures due to land terrain.
Remba Isle has a population over 5000 people. Most of these people are illiterate. Their main source of income is derived from Lake Victoria through fishing activities. The fishing incomes are supplemented with subsistence farming and small business enterprises e.g hawking, shop retail, transportation, hardware, hotels and resturants, open air market e.t.c Different methods of fishing are used in this area. Some of commonly used method is that of Gill Nets, seining, hook line and trawlers. Other methods that are not environmentally friendly are the use of toxic chemicals. Poison is applied into the Lake where fish is presumed to be. Dead fish is then harvested and sold to the consumers. This has an added toll on the health of the people. Poison method is deliberately used because of the decline in the fish reserves due to over-fishing, and also a need to have reasonable catch within a short period of time. The later method is considered illegal since it is detrimental human life. |
1. Education
Remba Island has neither a Secondary nor an ideal Kindergarten School. It has one (1) Primary Schools supported by the Government of Kenya (GoK) that has a total of over 300 pupils who attend classes in iron walled and iron sheet roofed temporary buildings. This only school is congested and is not well equipped with better scholastic materials as would be required of a school that offers Basic Education. Since most of the people within the Remba Island community are illiterate, they generally do not have any education vision at all. Instead, the children are lured to undertake fishing activity as an alternative since it provides some additional income to their parents and food in form of fish. Apparently, Reischo Academy is of immense value to the few who have been sensitized by fruits of education and are therefore inspired to compete for education goals,which can only be achieved through a sophisticated education set up, of course this is absolutely wanting.However it is presumed that we are in the process of building a strong foundation to curve a niche in the academic scenario from ECDE to Primary and ofcourse upto Secondary level.
2. State of Health
There is generally poor sanitation in Remba Island. 75% of the total households have no latrines. Human refuse is disposed in the nearby bushes, which is later washed in to Lake Victoria. This has exposed these people to a battery of water borne diseases such as typhoid, dysentery, cholera, bilharzia (schistomiasis). The Lake water which is the main source of drinking is therefore contaminated with faecal matter and other ill-health debris rendering it unsafe to be taken raw. The people also feed poorly on unbalanced diets. This has particularly affected negatively the children. The victims suffer from malnutrition and stunted growth. Suba District leads in the rate and number of HIV/AIDS victims in Kenya with a prevalence rate of 31%. This is one of the highest in Sub Saharan Africa.
3. Justification of the Project
Arising from the above, it can be seen that this project is very important to the community of Remba Island in particular, and the wider Nyanza society, Kenya and the Lake Victoria Region in general.
The importance of this development goes a long way in addressing the following:
1. Provisions of safe water to control the incidences of the water borne diseases are rife in this area. This will lead to the improvement of the health of the people in general.
2. Food Security empowerment. Remba Island community and its environs suffer from intermittent crop failures as a result of loss of fertility of the soils coupled with occasional shortages of adequate rainfall. This has exposed the local population to famine. The project has a component of improved farming and food security. The project is interested in passing on the modern agricultural skills and techniques to these people to rehabilitate some parts of the areas lying fallow.
3. Provision of affordable education especially to the pre-scholars. The presence of single school that only offers Primary Education is a bit of disservice to the Nursery going children. Reischo Academy strives to fill this gap that the Government of Kenya (GoK) has not been able to do, as the say goes “a stitch in time saves nine.”
4. Protection of the environment arising from deforestation particularly in the Lake Victoria Kenyan Region. Suba District is found in the Lake Victoria Basin. It is in the riparian catchment area that is supposed to have an adequate plant cover that hold the top soil and sieve the waste that eventually finds its way into this Lake. The vegetation has been mercilessly dealt away with for some reasons as seen from the above. This is dangerous to the Lake because it hastens the process of siltation on the bed on the Lake reducing the rates of evaporation of the water and hence accelerating the drying process. It also allows toxic components to enter the Lake in great quantities making the water to be unsafe for human consumption and livestock. The project is intervening in this aspect.
5. Provision of eco friendly shelters-the Cob Houses. These use cheap and locally available materials, and are not like the locally made huts that need a lot of poles, and grass. These are durable, comfortable and less prone to the rampant tropical African bush fires.
6. Health intervention as far as the HIV/AIDS pandemic is concerned in this area. Since this area has been thoroughly hit by this scourge, the project cannot be run if there are no people to benefit from it. The community will be sensitized on how to avoid this dreadful disease and to live with it for those who are already victims.
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT KENYA
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Kenya is one of the countries in East Africa bordering Uganda in the West, Tanzania in the South, Somalia in the East, Ethiopia in the North and Sudan in the North West. Kenya also borders the Indian Ocean in the East and is a member of the East African Community.
LOCATION
The location is an adoption of colonial manipulation. Prior to 1963, the country was colonized by Britain who had their touches in the area since 1890s, and became a colony in 1920. It lies along latitude 0 Degree Centigrade and longitude 35 Degrees Centigrade East on the equator.
POPULATION
Kenya has a population of over 30 million and covers an area of 582,646 sq.km. The currency being Kenya Shilling. The population of Kenya is composed of Highland Nilotes, River Lake Nilotes, Plain Nilotes, and the Cushites. Examples in each of the aforementioned groups is Turgen, Luos, Maasai, and Agikuyu respectively. Agikuyu being the largest community of about 22% of the total population. Highland Nilotes live in Rift valley, River Lake Nilotes are found along the Lake Victoria region, Plain Nilotes in Rift Valley, Bantus in central part of Kenya, Cushites in North Eastern and a portion of the Arabs in the Coast. Besides these, some of the European settlers who came in the colonial era have maintained both citizenship and settlement for instance the Lord Dale mere Family in the Rift valley of Kenya. There are 43 communities in Kenya with various cultural background and speak different languages. English and Swahili are the official languages. Kenya is densely populated in the south due to high humidity.
CLIMATE
There are two rainy seasons in Kenya, long rains occur between March-May and short rains between August-October. Kenya experiences warm temperatures during the day and cold during the night. The temperatures vary between 17-36 degree centigrade. Kenya receives three types of rainfall i.e. Relief, Frontal and Convectional. Relief rains occur in the mountains, Frontal in the Semi-Arid areas of Kenya ( Eastern Part) and convectional along the lake regions. The temperature in the country is varied attributed to altitudes and continentality, for instance Nairobi’s temp. is between 17-28 degree centigrade yearly while the North eastern part of the country varies from 28-36 degree eg Lodwar, Mandera and Wajir. The Equator lies a stride the Equatorial Doldrum. The country also has modified tropical vegetation as a result of relief, population pressure and existence of many lakes.
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Agriculture is the main economic activity and serves as the backbone of the country. There are also economic activities which include fishing, mining, trade and tourist attraction which earns the country foreign exchange. Crops grown in Kenya include Maize, Millet, Cotton, Tea, Coffee, Finger millet, Sunflower and Pyrethrum among others. Large percentages of the farm produce are for subsistence though the crops like Tea, Coffee, and Pyrethrum are exported.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Kenya is embedded with a lot of natural resources which include Lakes, Rivers, National Reserves/Parks, Natural Forests, with Great Rift Valley escapement being tourist attraction feature and other physical features like Mountains, Mt. Kenya being the highest 5199 Metres. Lake Victoria is the largest fresh water Lake in Africa. It’s shared by the three East African countries i.e. Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. It’s also the source of river Nile, the largest river in Africa. The Lake serves over 30 million people either directly or indirectly.
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION/ ADMINISTRATION
Since independence, 1963, Kenya has been a single party state until 1992 when Kenya became a multiparty state. Currently there are over 20 political parties in Kenya. Kenya has been known for political stability, peace, and hospitality to tourists/visitors until last year, 2007 when the general election was alleged rigged by the Government. This caused violence’s across the country. The Post General Election violence drastically affected most of the economic activities and pushed many people to the danger walls of poverty. The President of Kenya who is also the Head of the State is His Excellency, Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister is Hon. Raila A. Odinga and the Vice President being Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka. For administrative purpose, Kenya is divided into 8 Provinces, namely Nyanza, Western, Nairobi, Rift Valley, Central, North Eastern, Coast and Eastern with 47 counties and over 100 districts.
URBANIZATION
There are many big towns in Kenya which include Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa - a port city on the shores of the Indian Ocean, and Eldoret among others. Nairobi is the Capital City with an estimated population of 3.4 people. It is a primate city and beehive of economic activities.
Mombasa has an estimated population of 1.4 people and Kisumu of about 400,000.
TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
The transport systems in Kenya include Air, water, Roads and Railway-One way system. The country has poor Road infrastructure. This is worse in the rural areas where most of the roads become impassible during the rainy seasons. There are many Airports in Kenya with Jomo Kenyatta being the largest. Communication systems in Kenya include Post Offices, Mobile phones which uses Safaricom and Celtel Net works, Kenya Telecom, Internet Services (Net works are not always available). Other systems are Radio with Kenya Broadcasting Cooperation and Fm Stations-Community based.
EDUCATION SYSTEMS
The Education system in Kenya is 8.4.4. This means Eight years in Primary, Four years in High School and Four years in the University. Prior to this was 7.4. 2.3 - Seven years in Primary, Four years in High School, Two years in Advanced Level and Three years in the University. The current system was meant to equip the learners with technical skills for self reliant. This has not been practically achieved due to lack of adequate personnel and training materials.
The Government offers Free Primary and Secondary Education and also provides instructional materials like books and the parents/guardians offer other needs like uniforms for the learners. There are three academic calendar terms in the year in both Primary and Secondary Schools. The academic term runs from January-March, May-July and September -November.
The months in between are holidays. At the end of eight years, a pupil sits for the National Exams-Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (K.C.P.E) and sits for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (K.C.S.E.) and at the end of next fours in a high school. There also other tertiary colleges which offer both technical and business courses to those who do not meet direct University entry requirement.
The subject taught in Primary are Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, and Social Studies punctuated with other Co-Curriculum activities. While in secondary schools subjects offered are Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, History and Government, Geography, Fine Arts, Computer Sciences, Business Studies, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Religious Studies. Foreign Languages like French and German are also offered. English, Kiswahili, and Mathematics are compulsory while others are optional.
Child dropout of school is high especially in rural areas and along the Lake regions where children join fishing industry, early marriages and other forms of child labour in order to meet their basic needs. The roots cause of this is poverty, which subjects many families/households to go with one meal a day with an economic strength of less than 1 dollar a day.
Kenya has greatly shined in games like athletics and boxing. In history are Kipchoge Keino and Moses Tunui, currently there many others. Kenya is proud to have produced the renounced female boxer, Congestina Achieng. This has put Kenya in the world's game map and recognition.
Kenya is one of the countries in East Africa bordering Uganda in the West, Tanzania in the South, Somalia in the East, Ethiopia in the North and Sudan in the North West. Kenya also borders the Indian Ocean in the East and is a member of the East African Community.
LOCATION
The location is an adoption of colonial manipulation. Prior to 1963, the country was colonized by Britain who had their touches in the area since 1890s, and became a colony in 1920. It lies along latitude 0 Degree Centigrade and longitude 35 Degrees Centigrade East on the equator.
POPULATION
Kenya has a population of over 30 million and covers an area of 582,646 sq.km. The currency being Kenya Shilling. The population of Kenya is composed of Highland Nilotes, River Lake Nilotes, Plain Nilotes, and the Cushites. Examples in each of the aforementioned groups is Turgen, Luos, Maasai, and Agikuyu respectively. Agikuyu being the largest community of about 22% of the total population. Highland Nilotes live in Rift valley, River Lake Nilotes are found along the Lake Victoria region, Plain Nilotes in Rift Valley, Bantus in central part of Kenya, Cushites in North Eastern and a portion of the Arabs in the Coast. Besides these, some of the European settlers who came in the colonial era have maintained both citizenship and settlement for instance the Lord Dale mere Family in the Rift valley of Kenya. There are 43 communities in Kenya with various cultural background and speak different languages. English and Swahili are the official languages. Kenya is densely populated in the south due to high humidity.
CLIMATE
There are two rainy seasons in Kenya, long rains occur between March-May and short rains between August-October. Kenya experiences warm temperatures during the day and cold during the night. The temperatures vary between 17-36 degree centigrade. Kenya receives three types of rainfall i.e. Relief, Frontal and Convectional. Relief rains occur in the mountains, Frontal in the Semi-Arid areas of Kenya ( Eastern Part) and convectional along the lake regions. The temperature in the country is varied attributed to altitudes and continentality, for instance Nairobi’s temp. is between 17-28 degree centigrade yearly while the North eastern part of the country varies from 28-36 degree eg Lodwar, Mandera and Wajir. The Equator lies a stride the Equatorial Doldrum. The country also has modified tropical vegetation as a result of relief, population pressure and existence of many lakes.
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Agriculture is the main economic activity and serves as the backbone of the country. There are also economic activities which include fishing, mining, trade and tourist attraction which earns the country foreign exchange. Crops grown in Kenya include Maize, Millet, Cotton, Tea, Coffee, Finger millet, Sunflower and Pyrethrum among others. Large percentages of the farm produce are for subsistence though the crops like Tea, Coffee, and Pyrethrum are exported.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Kenya is embedded with a lot of natural resources which include Lakes, Rivers, National Reserves/Parks, Natural Forests, with Great Rift Valley escapement being tourist attraction feature and other physical features like Mountains, Mt. Kenya being the highest 5199 Metres. Lake Victoria is the largest fresh water Lake in Africa. It’s shared by the three East African countries i.e. Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. It’s also the source of river Nile, the largest river in Africa. The Lake serves over 30 million people either directly or indirectly.
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION/ ADMINISTRATION
Since independence, 1963, Kenya has been a single party state until 1992 when Kenya became a multiparty state. Currently there are over 20 political parties in Kenya. Kenya has been known for political stability, peace, and hospitality to tourists/visitors until last year, 2007 when the general election was alleged rigged by the Government. This caused violence’s across the country. The Post General Election violence drastically affected most of the economic activities and pushed many people to the danger walls of poverty. The President of Kenya who is also the Head of the State is His Excellency, Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister is Hon. Raila A. Odinga and the Vice President being Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka. For administrative purpose, Kenya is divided into 8 Provinces, namely Nyanza, Western, Nairobi, Rift Valley, Central, North Eastern, Coast and Eastern with 47 counties and over 100 districts.
URBANIZATION
There are many big towns in Kenya which include Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa - a port city on the shores of the Indian Ocean, and Eldoret among others. Nairobi is the Capital City with an estimated population of 3.4 people. It is a primate city and beehive of economic activities.
Mombasa has an estimated population of 1.4 people and Kisumu of about 400,000.
TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
The transport systems in Kenya include Air, water, Roads and Railway-One way system. The country has poor Road infrastructure. This is worse in the rural areas where most of the roads become impassible during the rainy seasons. There are many Airports in Kenya with Jomo Kenyatta being the largest. Communication systems in Kenya include Post Offices, Mobile phones which uses Safaricom and Celtel Net works, Kenya Telecom, Internet Services (Net works are not always available). Other systems are Radio with Kenya Broadcasting Cooperation and Fm Stations-Community based.
EDUCATION SYSTEMS
The Education system in Kenya is 8.4.4. This means Eight years in Primary, Four years in High School and Four years in the University. Prior to this was 7.4. 2.3 - Seven years in Primary, Four years in High School, Two years in Advanced Level and Three years in the University. The current system was meant to equip the learners with technical skills for self reliant. This has not been practically achieved due to lack of adequate personnel and training materials.
The Government offers Free Primary and Secondary Education and also provides instructional materials like books and the parents/guardians offer other needs like uniforms for the learners. There are three academic calendar terms in the year in both Primary and Secondary Schools. The academic term runs from January-March, May-July and September -November.
The months in between are holidays. At the end of eight years, a pupil sits for the National Exams-Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (K.C.P.E) and sits for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (K.C.S.E.) and at the end of next fours in a high school. There also other tertiary colleges which offer both technical and business courses to those who do not meet direct University entry requirement.
The subject taught in Primary are Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, and Social Studies punctuated with other Co-Curriculum activities. While in secondary schools subjects offered are Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, History and Government, Geography, Fine Arts, Computer Sciences, Business Studies, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Religious Studies. Foreign Languages like French and German are also offered. English, Kiswahili, and Mathematics are compulsory while others are optional.
Child dropout of school is high especially in rural areas and along the Lake regions where children join fishing industry, early marriages and other forms of child labour in order to meet their basic needs. The roots cause of this is poverty, which subjects many families/households to go with one meal a day with an economic strength of less than 1 dollar a day.
Kenya has greatly shined in games like athletics and boxing. In history are Kipchoge Keino and Moses Tunui, currently there many others. Kenya is proud to have produced the renounced female boxer, Congestina Achieng. This has put Kenya in the world's game map and recognition.