Kenny Mann's Fundraiser
HONEY! HOPE! HEALING!
A borehole for water will enable us to jump-start this project
https://vimeo.com/833862738?
PROJECT SUMMARY: WE NEED A BOREHOLE!
honey hope healing
This is the solar-powered, 4-tank borehole that we need.
PROJECT SUMMARY
We work with the Maasai community of Kitengela, Kenya, to develop robust sources of livelihood as an addition to the traditional pastoralist lifestyle.
We've started a beekeeping project!
BUT - There is no reliable source of water. The rains come sporadically and are short-lived. So we need a borehole that will go to a depth of 750 feet to reach groundwater.
This water will irrigate roses that we are planting as bee forage in addition to the surrounding flowering bushes and trees.
This water will irrigate vegetables in our greenhouse.
This water will irrigate our red chili field which we are developing as an easy, fast, and reliable source of income that can help to finance the beekeeping project.
This water will keep bees happy and prevent them from leaving.
honey hope healing
MY STORY
My parents were Jewish refugees from Poland and Romania who fled the Holocaust and made their way to Kenya in 1942. My father was a veterinarian and parasitologist.. The British government gave him a job as a meat inspector at the Kenya Meat Commission in Athi River, a tiny settlement just twenty miles southeast of Nairobi. Somehow, he managed to buy land near the meat factory and start a cattle ranch. Our herders were young men of the local Maasai community.
I was born on this farm and, although we lived very separate lives from the Massai and had no common language, their culture and traditions remain deeply etched in my soul. My parents had come with nothing other than their courage, intelligence and expertise. At the age of 77, I have come to realize that the Maasai cattle herders probably made it possible for our family to survive.
1952. Me with Maasai herdsmen, Athi River 2023. Me with Lilian and Nickson Parmisa of Kitengela
It's payback time.
THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND
The Maasai are pastoralists. That means that traditionally, they are semi-nomadic, roaming vast areas of open rangeland in search of grazing for their cattle, sheep, and goats. In Kitengela, which is open land stretching from Nairobi to the Tanzanian border, the community has clung to this lifestyle for over a century. However, with rapid urbanization of the area, land fragmentation, and devastating drought caused by climate change, pastoralism is no longer a fully sustainable lifestyle. During the recent drought, over FOUR MILLION HEAD OF CATTLE died of starvation.
That's why, In 2018, I co-founded an organization called ACACIA MOYO - WHERE TRADITION MEETS TECHNOLOGY (www.acaciamoyo.org). We work with this community to develop more robust sources of income. We have successfully nurtured the women's beading tradition by marketing their work in the US, and that money has sponsored several kids through high school.
THE STORY BEHIND THE BEEKEEPING
One day, while my partner Uli and I were using an uber to drive out to Kitengela, where my brother lives, I discovered that Henry, the uber driver, was a professional beekeeper. In that instant, I knew that beekeeping was a viable solution to the community's poverty, and I hired Henry on the spot to conduct our first few weeks of training.
That very same day, as we visited my brother in his chaotic house, Uli was prowling around among a pile of books on a collapsing shelf. What did he find? BEES ARE WEALTH, written by my father, Dr. Igor Mann, and illustrated by my mother, Erica Mann, for the Kenya Veterinary Services in 1953!! I had no idea! You could say that my ancestors are watching over me.
That's the story behind our beekeeping project!
But there's more.
WE NEED WATER. Bees need water. Bee forage needs water. Our greenhouse, where bee forage is cultivated, needs water. Our red chili field needs water.
That's why we are fundraising for a borehole, that will go down 750 feet to reliable groundwater.
HONEY HOPE HEALING
| WHY BEEKEEPING? |
| Bees pollinate plants and maintain biodiversity |
| WHAT WILL WE DO WITH THE PROFITS FROM SALES OF HONEY? |
BEES ARE WEALTH! NYUKI NI MALI!
With 3 - 4 harvests a year, one single beehive can bring in about
$640 per annum.
Imagine what we can do with 50 hives - or more!
YOU DO THE MATH
HONEY HOPE HEALING
THE PLAN
1) We have two acres of land in Kitengela, loaned free of charge for a period of five years.
2) We purchased 20 beehives in 2022 and gave basic instruction to 25 participants.
First participants in our beekeeping program
3) We are working with Kajiado County government's Beekeeping Cooperative, and will receive up to 50 hives, equipment and training free of charge. The hives will be placed on on our land.
4) We have installed a 9 x 9 meter greenhouse with drip irrigation on our land. It is managed by Jonathan Parmisa, an agricultural graduate from the rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology. In lieu of a salary, he is allowed to grow vegetables for his family. Jonathan will be instructing three other younger Maasai who wish to learn how to grow vegetables.
From l to r: Lorna Omuodo, CEO of eMoto, with 100 rooted rose seedlings that she has cultivated; Project Manager Hussein Lilah, and Greenhouse Manager Jonathan Parmisa
5) Through Lorna Omuodo, CEO of eMoto, Ltd. in Nairobi, we have received 100 rooted seedlings of a very hardy rose species. Once it has matured, it will be planted between our hives as additional bee forage. the petals can also be harvested for biofuel and the flowers sold as bouquets.
This species of rose is extremely hardy and thrives in arid conditions.
6) On our second acre, we will plant red chili pepper, known in Kenya as pili pili. It is extremely popular and there is a ready market for it. We have partnered with Felix Kimani of Lavington EcoRotary Club in Nairobi. his company will provide us with free seeds and training, and will collect the harvests with no need for packaging or marketing. Pickers will be paid in cash.
MAYBE WE'LL HAVE PILI PILI HONEY!
7) We have 35 paid members of our beekeeping cooperative. Most of them are ladies between the ages of 20 and 35 who formed the Iltalala Women's Microfinancing Cooperative.
HONEY HOPE HEALING
WE CANNOT PROCEED WITH OUR PLAN
WITHOUT IRRIGATION
THIS IS WHY WE NEED A BOREHOLE
we need reliable water for
bees
roses
pili pili
$25,000
PLEASE MAKE A DONATION OF ANY AMOUNT
YOUR GIFT WILL ENABLE THIS COMMUNITY TO DEVELOP A
SUSTAINABLE HONEY-MAKING BUSINESS
WE WANT TO SEE THIS
NOT THIS
HELP US TO FUND A
SOLAR-POWERED BOREHOLE
|