Namanga is located right at the border between Kenya and Tanzania. Many tourists are passing by the local border station. They bring safe incomes for the population there. This is why more and more people move to Namanga. For the Masai, this is a huge problem, because they are pushed away of their original territory. Even though they can profit by the growing town and for example go to school there, for most of their small kids the way is too long to walk and so they are staying at home in the end.
In Namanga, we maintain very good relationships with the people and project partners. For instance, we support an orphanage there, where the children can grow up and go to school. In addition, we are cooperating with another school, run by the Masai Foundation, a local NGO.
The Adventist church members also provide many volunteers to help in the orphanage and support the widows of Namanga. They have saved money for a long time, in order to build a pretty chapel, but climate change has put a spoke in their wheel. Nowadays one year, rainy season fails and the other one it pours down more than twice as much as it normally does. A while ago, next to their church building there was a little stream, which only carried little water during rainy season. Today, this little stream becomes a raging river that destroys everything in its way during the rainfalls. It has started to wash away the plot and has already removed 50m of the property. Thereby, an abyss of around six meters directly behind the church has grown. The government is ready to close the church for reasons of safety.
The congregation is desperately asking for help and we are searching for engineers and professionals, who can come up with a solution for this problem. Ideas, energetic help and financial support for this challenging project are very much welcomed.
