Chanzo Kenya e.V. – Hoffnungsquelle für Kenias Kinder

About us

Since March 2017, Chanzo Kenya - Source of Hope for Kenya's Children e.V. has been a non-profit organization
that pursues the goal of enabling a healthy and self-determined life for children and women in Kenya in particular by means of versatile project work. Chanzo is our name in Swahili and means SOURCE.
Here our focus is on supporting basic services, education and health, with which we want to create a source of hope. We see ourselves as a source for new ideas and support for the activities of the villagers to improve their living situation. Our projects should be a source of hope for the villagers to take their lives into their own hands in order to create a better and more stable basis for a healthy life.
We have chosen the village of Mwandogo with its 500 villagers because it is a typical hinterland village. It is located about 80 km away from Mombasa, 35 km away from the Kenyan coast, just before the Shimba Hills National Park.
Our main goal is to help people to help themselves and, if necessary, to help avert humanitarian catastrophes that threaten their existence. In the implementation of our projects, we are guided primarily by the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals / SDG's

Projects:
• KenyAid: Starting with the drought disaster 2017 in East Africa, we launched the KenyAid campaign to take action against hunger and malnutrition. Since our focus is on supporting the villagers of a village in the back, we enable KenyAID to provide the villagers with necessary food, which they otherwise no longer have access to due to poverty and emergency situations. Water supply has also been a priority from the beginning. As a result of our first KenyAid campaign, there is now an additional rain catchment tank in the center of the village. KenyAID is still used whenever self-supply can no longer be guaranteed. Depending on the amount of donations, however, our relief actions can often only be a minimal help in these times of need. So far, however, these actions have helped them to survive. Currently, due to the Corona lockdown, the relief supplies also include hygiene products such as soaps.
• UJI: UJI is a breakfast porridge made of corn flour, sugar, water and milk, which is consumed boiled. It is very popular with the children. Food is often only enough for one meal a day in most families, especially in difficult times, and this is prepared in the evening. To give the children a good start to the day and the energy they need to learn, this project is very important to us for the well-being of the children.
• Water supply: WASH is a well-known project among international aid organisations. It is about providing water for drinking and daily life = WA, providing sufficient sanitation = S and ensuring hygiene = H. In this sense, the installation of water tanks and the construction of the well in the village of Mwandogo are just as much a part of it, as is the construction of toilets and the planned further water supply for sanitary and hygienic measures.
• School sponsorship: School sponsorships enable children - especially girls - to attend school and thus have the chance to lead a self-determined life. Only through education is change possible. The decisive factor here is that through this we prevent the early and forced marriage of girls and, above all, the traditional female genital mutilation / FGM of girls. "Female genital mutilation has nothing to do with culture, tradition or religion. It is torture and a crime that must be fought." ( Waris Dirie) In this sense, we want to help villagers rethink traditions and make them positive. For this reason, it is equally necessary to involve boys and also support them through sponsorships.
• Makuti: Makuti are bunches weaved leaves from a coconut plant caked Mnazi in Swahili. They are mostly found in coastal region of Kenya. Makuti roofs are typical roofs in Kenya, which consist of the makuti commonly used on site, i.e. dried and linked palm leaves, which have to be repaired after about 6 years. The production of Makuti roofs is a widespread source of income, since the roofs - comparable to our thatched roofs - are often used in Kenya for huts, houses and hotels because the air can circulate very well underneath. Since we at Chanzo Kenya e.V. would like to offer the people in the village of Mwandogo self-help, the idea arose to create an income, especially for women, by producing such makutis.
• Health: A lack of daily hygiene due to extreme poverty and lack of water promotes the development of sand fleas in dry, dusty soils, which are responsible for the very common skin disease, which is also known as "jiggers". With only the simplest and inexpensive means such as soaps, disinfectants and a pair of sturdy shoes, those affected can participate in everyday life again, laugh, live and go to school. Since 2020, we have been in contact with a Kenyan doctor who will examine the situation in the village more closely in order to clarify how to proceed. Likewise, we provide funding for medical assistance in acute emergencies.
• Agriculture In the agricultural sector, it is important to initiate a change in thinking and to support the villagers in planting old varieties of vegetables and cereals that are more drought-resistant. This also includes the basics of ecological agriculture. For this purpose, we want to cooperate with Kenyan NGOs that can actively accompany the villagers in this process and impart new knowledge. The first changes have already been made by the villagers of Mwandogo on their own initiative. They have planted more cassava and additionally sweet potato, passion fruit and a new variety of mango tree.
• Solar cooking: In Kenya, like in many African countries, people cook on the 3-stone oven. A lot of wood is used for this, which the women have to collect in a laborious and time-consuming process. When it comes to cooking, the CO² emissions are very high, which is a major health burden, especially for infants. Infants are also at great risk of getting burned. A more resource-efficient, environmentally friendly and safe cooking method such as fireless solar-powered cooking is one solution. After attending the multi-day "AfriShiners* Solar Workshop", 2 villagers introduced new cooking methods. A young woman is now producing solar drying cabinets and teaching the other women how to use them. She will learn to make briquettes in another workshop as soon as it is possible again.
• Goat farm: With our goat project we want to prevent malnutrition of infants and small children. Mothers should have the opportunity to offer goat milk, which is well tolerated by African children, in addition to their mother's milk. In addition, this goat project makes it possible to ensure the self-sufficiency of families.

Barbara Becht is founder and 1. chairwoman of Chanzo Kenya e.V. - Source of Hope for Kenya's Children.

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.