OUR PROJECTS
Mkonyi Family
Bringing food to the Mkonyi family
Tuesday 15th of Jan 2019
This picture was taken on our first visit to the Mkonyi family in Jan 2019. Our charity has been supporting the Mkonyi family for a number of years bring them food and other supplies.
Mrs. Mkonyi has 12 children in total and one grand-child. Some of the older children have moved away now.
Pictured is a 25kg bag of rice, 40 kgs of maize, cooking oil, tea and sugar as well as some soap for washing their clothes etc. This is a standard food package with the basics of what they need to survive and costs about 50 euro.
This food is only a short term solution but also it is customary to bring something to someone’s house when you are visiting.
In this photo I was trying to take down as much information as possible about the family;
1. The names and ages of the kids.
2. What their normal source of income is.
3. What they think would be a good business
venture so that they could sustain themselves
in the future
4. What they need the most or are most concerned
about
What the mother said she is most concerned about
is the collapse of their house as the rainy season
is coming.
Mkonyi family home
When we told Mrs. Mkonyi that she was getting a new house she was over come with joy!
She just stood with tears in her eyes praying.
No amount of money can compare to the look of sheer joy and happiness in her face.
Shabani, who is local to the area, and without his local knowledge most of this work would not be possible, measures up where their temporary structure will be while we are building their new house.
Work begins straight away. A few simple measurements are taken and then banana trees are cut down and land is cleared to make way for the new house.
Volunteer Wayne Clowry enjoying the work out. Banana trees are surprisingly soft on the inside and full of water.
A machete cuts through them like a hot knife through butter.
We are always looking for enthusiastic people to come and help out.
Material for the roof of the temporary structure which has been built out of beams fashioned by machetes.
Above from left to right you can 1st see a delivery of material arriving. Time was of the utmost importance because the rainy season was approaching.
As many deliveries as possible had to be made while they were still able to reach the site in the trucks.
The 2nd and 3rd picture show the 7-meter pit that the workers dug in less that 2 days. It really is incredible how hard these people work without the aid of machinery.
Pictured is the toilet pit covered over and new toilets set into the floor.
Walls will go up shortly.
Previously the Mkonyi family used an unsafe drop toilet which was not fully covered and also did not have walls surrounding it
A momentous day when their old house came crashing down.
Above are pictures of the children’s bedroom. A total of 6 children were sleeping on the ‘bed’ that is seen here.
The children have lived in these conditions all of their life. Kilimanjaro Direct with the help of some generous donors are going to change their lives forever.
Working with the locals to build as sense of comradery and unity.
They taught us the Swahili phrase;
“Umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu”
“United we stand, divided we fall”
Working together to build a house for a family in need is a beautiful thing.
All of the work is done by hand. No heavy machinery to lift or dig. Filling in the foundation with stones and boulders is arduous work.
We formed a chain to pass rocks to each other to make the process a little easier and to make the work go a little faster.
Large amounts of water were needed for the build. Especially when the mortar was being put down for the foundations of the house. Luckily Kilimanjaro direct had built a house for another family close by.
As part of this project we got water pipes laid 2 kilometers to their house. They were more than happy to let us use their tap and also help us fill up the 20 liter containers. We brought 400 liters to the site at a time and stored in in big barrels. Below you an see some of the pictures.
It really hits home to see the two structures side by side. To the left you can see their cook house which will remain as it is. They will have new kitchen in their house but perhaps still make use of this old building.
On the right of the photo, the Mkonyi family’s new house towers above its neighbour. There will be steps up to a porch area where they can sit outside, welcome guests and enjoy the view
These were the last picture I took before I headed off to the airport. To go from nothing to this is less than 10 days is incredible. More photos will be sent to be as the build continues. I look forward to showing you all the updates as I receive them.
If you have any interest in volunteering, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Also please check out our donate button at the top of this page and click on the link to donate or if you would like to set up a monthly donation it would help us out as...
we really need your constant support.