Great trip this October! We’ve now set up a partnership with 2 Women’s Groups in one large village, roughly 2,000 families, and a doctor and pastor in another village of 2,000 with the Kambo Tribe in the Karanga area near the city of Mwingi about 1 and 4 hours respectively west and northwest of Nairobi.

The 2 Women’s Groups are headed by Sarah Nzanani and Emma Mwania. They teach ladies of the villages how to become self-sufficient and own businesses such as planting avacados for harvest and sale, making and selling charcoal for home heating and cooking use, making and selling bricks, raising chickens for sale, growing vegetables for sale and also running a catering business. They also teach simple math because many of the older ladies cannot add or subtract – necessary knowledge if you own a business. The doctor we will now work with is Dr. Winnie Ngami who holds a Masters Degree in Public Health and Treatment and Pastor Frederick Mbuvi of the AIC Karanga Church. Chief of the tribe Samuel Mwangangi of the County of Kitui, Sub-County Mwingi also attended our seminar held at Jackson’s parents’ home and was very impressed with our work. These are the home villages of our coordinators on the ground Barnabas Mutua and Jackson Kanga.

50 filters were distributed during 2 seminars in these 2 villages along with 5 new Chujio Filters. These filters do the exact same thing as the ones we currently use. The only difference is a slower flow rate, however, the local population doesn’t mind due to the fact that the water is cold when cleaned, probably due to the clay pot filter, where our water when produced is room temperature. The local population also likes the looks of the new one much better because it blends into the décor of the homes in a much more esthetic way. It’s also much easier to clean. No disassembly and no backflushing – just a simple light scrubbing and rinse with even dirty water. The Board decided Oct.17th to begin purchasing and distributing the Chujio Filters.

We had a very productive meeting with the owners of the Ceramic Pot Filter factory in Limuru, Kenya and can purchase these new filters for almost half the cost of our current filters. The owners are Agatha Kamwana who started her ceramic factory in 1986 producing ceramic flower pots of all kinds and her daughter Dr. Wanja Wamburgu who in 2006 began manufacturing the Chujio Filters for individual home use. The Chujio Filters are based on the ‘Potters For Peace’ model. They are 6 liter low-fired clay pots with no lead content and dipped in a ‘colloidal silver solution’ which then when dried sits in an 8 liter heavy duty plastic bucket which comes with a spicket, lid and brush for cleaning. These filters are approved for use in Kenya by the KENYA BUREAU OF STANDARDS, the MINISTRY OF HEALTH and the KENYA MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE. Chujio Filters are also endorsed by the WHO and the CDC.

I also tested water samples from the main dam in Barnabas’ village and a ‘bore hole’ sample from the bottom of the dried up dam in Jacksons’ area. Both water sources are highly contaminated with E.coli indicating the presence of typhoid, cholera and a number of gastrointestinal parasites which cause dysentery and diarrhea. Dr. Winnie Ngami confirmed these results during a conversation the next day.

We’re now taking our efforts to deliver clean water to Kenya to the next level!

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

Robb (65)

Robb Luther is a Partner at the Inbound Agency, Pittsburgh Internet Consulting and Vice President of Business Development. He has been diligently working for the past 20+ years helping B2B companies grow their business through improvements in website usability and conversion rate optimization.

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