Proposal - Stage 2

Monday was a good day. After an early morning workout I rode to the office to find that the result of our proposal request was available from the DAO (District Agricultural Officer). Since the Peace Corps book on grants that I used as a guideline in writing my proposal (they don’t hand this out for the first six months but I managed to swipe one from a volunteer that has been here for awhile) claims the longer you have to wait before getting a response the more likely it is you will get the funding, I was really disappointed to hear they had already decided, I assumed, to can the project. So with a heavy heart I hopped on my bike again to go into town. By the way, my bicycle has quite possibly the cheapest, most uncomfortable seat of all time. I won’t get into details about it, but since I haven’t completely ruled out having children someday I convinced my father to mail me something better....thanks again Dad.

Now back to the story: So I ride my bike into town and pick up the envelope with the results, and wonder of wonders, we were approved for the grant. Not that we are home free yet, but we are getting closer. The approval committee in Kakamega decided our plan was feasible, and sent it on to Nairobi to be finalized for the funding to come our way. Out of the entire Western Province we were one of only two organizations approved for funding, but unfortunately we were ranked second of the two. So in order of priority they will take care of providing the funds to the group picked first before coming to us. Also, the people in Nairobi could look at our grant and decide not to fund it after all. I’m told this is highly unlikely though, as they stay so “busy” they do not even read the proposals and leave that to the committees at the province level to decide.

Also, the donor expects the applicant organization to fund 15-20% of the total cost of the project. Since this was my first attempt at a Kenyan grant application I was unaware of this. When I wrote the proposal I explained how the farmers would show their support by purchasing the materials for the drying racks and assembling them, but the costs of this endeavor is far from the 15% minimum contribution required. We are going to have to rewrite the budget so that we are tying in a larger percentage of our own funds for this initiative, which may prove difficult since our funding is limited.

Anyway, I’m hoping for the best and it seems the most difficult hurdle has been crossed. I’ll keep everyone posted.

Yesterday I went to Busia again to talk to the farmer field school network there, and they seem to be about where the Kakamega Network was two years ago. They have recently acquired an office and are in the process of getting a computer. They want me to spend a lot of time working with them on finding markets and computer training. Busia is a two hour matatu ride away on a good day, so I’m really not too excited about the prospect of riding back and forth regularly. Their network is huge, with over 4000 farmers and hundreds of field school groups, so if I can take any knowledge that has been beneficial to the Kakamega Network and bring it to Busia I guess I’ll feel obligated to cram myself into Matatus for over four hours a day. I even proposed involving them on the flour project assuming that it takes off and is successful.

So that’s what’s new with me. I’m planning a camping trip in the rainforest this weekend, might go rafting on the Nile in Uganda in the near future, and hope to climb Mt. Elgon this month, so I’ve got a few adventures to look forward to. I found a lead for inexpensive wheelchairs and am in the process of seeing if anything will come out of that, and I’m heading to the border town of Migori in a month to work with an orphanage there. So email, write, and call me, I miss everyone. You’ll be proud to learn I've sent two letters to the states today, and many more are coming soon.

Random thing I like bout Kenya: When the Cane Trailer drives through my village, it’s like the ice cream truck is in town. Barefoot children run after it screaming enthusiastically, gathering the sugar cane that falls from the back of the truck. Often, the children here shout “howuryou” (just one word for them) at me with a mouthful of sugarcane.

Random thing I don’t like about Kenya. The accounting software on our computer, which I’m assuming was kept up to date by the previous volunteer, shows an account balance of about 300,000 shillings. Our bank statement shows an account balance of 144,000 shillings. Where did all the money go? There are no receipts or transactions anyone knows about to account for it. I’m running by the bank and scheduling a meeting next week to figure it out.