Protect 1800 people on Kokwa Island from Malaria

The floods issue has not been solved yet and the community continue to struggle to make ends meet something which is not easy considering the many challenges they are facing. Our well wishers has fundraised some money to buy community boat which is currently being used by the Kokwa community and mainly assisting school going children as previously reported, the Island was divided by water into two making it difficult for them to close to attend school on the other side. This boat has been very useful to the community as they can now cross the lake with ease without them paying for the services. This is a big step ahead and the community members are very happy and thank all the well wishers who have heard their cry. The temporary dispensary is still useful to the community although with very many challenges as it cannot offer all the necessary services that the community requires but still helping in its own limited means. For the maternity and other major services the community members have to be referred to other major hospitals in the county but sometimes it’s difficult for them to go due to high charges and transport challenges. We hope that our government and well-wishers will join hands to assist this community to put up dispensary structures which will help improve the situation.

After the effects of flooding, the community is slowly coming into terms with the situation although they still count losses. Some well-wishers have offered them a helping hand to enable them at least access basic needs. The floods also affected school going children as the water divided the Island into two therefore affecting many children going to school. This resulted to many missing school for third term therefore affecting their performance. For the dispensary, there has been put temporary structures to serve the community for the time being until the government and well wishers help them put semi-permanent structures and provide them with drugs and medical facilities and equipment. Some community members cannot access medical services due to challenges of crossing the lake due to the division caused by the floods. We have encouraged community health workers to consider visiting these people though they are faced by the same challenge of movement. We have managed to provide bed nets to the most vulnerable households and we are planning to do more fundraising to support Kokwa community members

It is sad to report that this community unfortunately has been greatly affected by the current flooding of Lake Baringo. To our surprise the community dispensary and maternity wing has been covered by water to the top and currently there is no temporary structure to be used as the dispensary and unfortunately they did not manage to save anything from the dispensary therefore worsening the situation. This is a great concern as now community health is not guaranteed. On the other hand many have been displace and most of their belongings washed away by the floods. We have not lost hope and we are focusing on supporting them and encouraging them to rise up again and carry on and encouraging the community health worker to play a big role in assisting in every way possible. Most of their projects have been affected including their kitchen gardens leaving them with little or no hope. It is too sad because in our previous report we were optimistic that this year they won't be affected as the campaign to save the Molo River was being done but unfortunately it was not enough and the rains persisted. We have organized meetings with the affected community to plan on the way forward together and we have agreed health worker should be there for the community despite all the challenges they are currently facing. We are optimistic that our well-wishers together with our government will come to rescue and save this community we will continue with our initiatives and restart those affected by the floods to ensure that the community rises up again. We thank you for this far and your continued support toward Kokwa community's health needs and we invite you to join us once more as we continue to support them.

The campaign to conserve Molo River is still on and the community is very optimistic that this will result to improving their health conditions and more so they will now look forward to more sustainable activities.  Due to increased flooding previously, fear developed in them due to losses they encountered as a result of flooding.

 The community is now practicing the use of neem tree powder which they say its really improving their health condition.  They appreciate the value addition concept they learnt during capacity building sessions and they are ready to work with other neighbouring communities to share with them the importance of the neem tree and the purpose of value addition.  500 hundred people more benefited with the bed nets distributed in April/May 2013 and they said the timing was very perfect as this is the period they received heavy rains which on the negative aspect increases the multiplication of mosquitoes but they were really happy to receive these nets during this period and appreciated the good support from the well-wishers may God bless them.

The campaign on  conservation of Molo river is still ongoing, to ensure that families downstream are not affected any more by floods which are causing havoc to their livelihoods.

So far the project has supported 2000 beneficiaries with bednets, capacity building in environmental conservation and production of neem trees, not only for malaria protection but for its medicinal purposes, they are now drying the leaves of the tree and grinding to make neem powder which is important as  medicinal and for fertilization of the soils.

Neem powder is traditionally used to eliminate internal parasites, including tapeworm and ringworms. These parasitic infections are common in children but it should not be given to very young children .They intend to start selling the neem powder to other members of the community, before embarking in sourcing other markets once it is certified by Kenya bureau of standards.

We thank our donors for their continued support.