WISER

The WISER Muhuru Bay Advisory Board recently hosted Mr. Philip Onditi from UNICEF on the WISER landsite to discuss potential partnership opportunities for water development in the region. Mr. Onditi is the regional supervisor for UNICEF-WASH, which stands for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.

After visiting the landsite, walking the proposed WISER pipeline route, and meeting with local community officials, Mr. Onditi requested a full water proposal from the local community board and was enthusiastic about a future partnership. If successful, this would provide the first source of clean, drinking water in all of Muhuru Bay.

As their first visit to Muhuru Bay, UNICEF-WASH joined WISER in committing to lift the education standards for girls’ education and look for ways to provide the basic human right of having access to water.

Pictured to the left is Henry from UNICEF-WASH, Kyalo Kaloki (the WISER Muhuru Bay Advisory Chair and District Officer), Chief Elphalet Ogwang (The WISER Muhuru Bay Advisory Secretary), Andy Cunningham (WISER Executive Director), and Mr. Philip Onditi from UNICEF-WASH.

The WISER Muhuru Bay Advisory Board once again was honored to host Mr. Gavin Bowen and his team from SolarAID to interview and hire five local community members to be the first SolarAID entrepreneurs and franchisees in Kenya. SolarAID has been in Kenya for only two months, now and Muhuru Bay was its first partner community. The local WISER Muhuru Bay Advisory Board assisted in organizing for the job advertisement and day of interviews in Muhuru.

Each candidate was responsible for collecting votes for his/her candidacy. Some candidates gathered more than 200 votes which meant knocking door to door on huts, in some cases 20 km away from each other. The SolarAID team then conducted interviews for each candidate and in the end, five individuals were selected from a candidacy pool of more than 100. Each candidate will now join SolarAID for a week-long training in Nakuru, Kenya and upon successful completion, become a full-time solar franchisee in Muhuru Bay and the surrounding region.

This opportunity not only benefits each candidate, but the entire WISER and Muhuru Bay community by providing the first source of affordable and reliable solar power. The first product for sale has been advertised as a small 8 Watt Solar Panel and LED Lightbulb that can provide much needed light in homes for up to 8 hours in the evening. The panel can also power small radios and charge cell phones. The cost for each unit is 1200 (15 USD) which provides significant cost-savings compared to the kerosene usually purchased for lanterns at night. In just one day, the SolarAID Franchisees collected 208 order forms from the local community at Senye Primary School.

Pictured above is Judith, one of the five new SolarAID Franchisees in Muhuru Bay, Kenya shaking hands with Mr. Gavin Bowen, the in-country manager for SolarAID and with Ms. Ruth Mantle from the SolarAID London Office and her colleague, Fred, from Kenya in the background. WISER looks forward to continuing its strong partnership with SolarAID and congratulates the new solar business team!

The WISER Muhuru Bay Advisory Board recently hosted Solar Cookers International for a full day solar cooking demonstration for the community. In just two hours, the team had cooked an entire meal full of fish, ugali, eggs, potatoes, beans, peanuts, vegetables and even a cake for more than 250 people in attendance with simply the sun. Solar cooking is easy, convenient, environmentally friendly, and in area where there is no electricity or running water, will literally save lives in Muhuru.

In the past, the Muhuru Bay community had no choice but to use firewood to cook their meals which places women, men and children at a significant health risk due to the black smoke. Furthermore, women spend up to four hours a day fetching firewood for the family meals, sometimes walking 5-10 km. If a family does not have the money or the resources to find timber, they often go without food.

Now, with Solar Cookers International, Muhuru Bay has a much needed alternative that is free and reliable: the sun. SCI sold the solar cookers and the solar baskets (that keep the food hot for up to eight hours) for 1200 shillings (15 USD) and more than 50 community members purchased the product that very same day with many order forms being completed as well.

According to the wife of one of the WISER Board Members, “Now I can spend less time, less money, and less of my energy fetching wood and worrying about keeping the food hot - I just place the food in the pot, place it in the sun, and let it do the rest.”

Pictured here is the community celebrating the arrival of the Solar Cookers. WISER looks forward to continuing growing its partnership with Solar Cookers International in the near future with the design of its own solar campus kitchen this coming year.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Durham, North Carolina held an alternative gift fair on December 7th and December 14th. WISER was one of 14 community organizations at the alternative gift fair. If you would like to give a gift that will make a difference, honor your friends and family with a gift to WISER. Please go to https://www.gifts.duke.edu/

Pictured here is Caitlin Harding (WISER), Reverend Hodges-Copple, Jacky Sims (WISER) and Angie Vo (WISER).