26 Sep 2011: Milestone for the Birth of International Association for Human Value (IAHV) Kenya
The Art of Living board members met this morning at the Sarit Centre to sign the necessary document to formally register the IAHV Kenya, inspired by Guruji's vision for a stress-free and violence-free world. Monika flew in from Lamu, met us at Children's Garden Home for a 7.30am chat, and Alvin went along with her and Paul to meet the rest in the city.
Paul, Moses and Monika at Children's Garden Home.
Devna, Paul, Alvin, Kirit, Monika and Sonal.
Seva Project #3: Dining Hall Tables & Benches
Handmade tables and benches.
The children benefiting from the hands-on learning guided by carpenter Fester.
25-26 Sep 2011: Business 4 Youth Training Course
To help Moses and his student committees plan and manage the various Little Fingy's self-help projects well, Alvin conducted a 2-night "Business 4 Youth Course" for 15 students. Certificates were awarded to those who completed and presented their business plan to Alvin.
Gabriel presenting his business plan for the Little Fingy's Kuku Farm Project.
Muge contributing his ideas on how to market and which customer segments to target.
27 Sep 2011: Cow Consulting with Mr Mini Patel, owner of Kigwa Farm
Referred by Raj, we drove to Kiambu with Lazarus to seek out Mini Patel, who owns a beautiful farm cum home. We found his place easily and went aknocking without any appointment. Mini is so kind a gentleman who offered us invaluable advice.
He has over 300 Jersey cows and he introduced us to Professor Mutiga whom we discovered later to be another kind hearted gentleman and cow expert.
Mini keeps peacocks as pets. He showed us around his house, his garden, part of his farm and his kennel of barking German Shepherds.
28 Sep 2011: Safari at Nairobi National Park
It was so thoughtful of AOL teacher, Ms Devna Pandit, who is also director of Boma Holidays Ltd, for sending us a safari vehicle complete with a driver for a morning visit to the Nairobi National Park. The 4WD van has a huge open top for an all-round viewing of wildlife. We spotted a good variety of animals here.
We invited Sylvia to come along as she has not visited the park for a long time. The park fees were US$40 per adult and US$20 per child, and only Ksh.300 per local.
Two Lions lying in the grassland with city skyline in the background - kinda misfitting sight...
We soon spotted the Capped Buffalo - another respected member of the Big Five.
Another Big Five member - the Rhino, which is well protected round the clock in the park.
> A proud Ostrich.
A gentle Giraffe munching away at the leaves.
< Staring match with an Eland.
The Secretary Bird, aptly named after its office attire of 3-quarter pants.
> Piercing stare of the Marshall Eagle.
< Tree Hyrax.
Not-so-handsome warthog on the prowl.
We met some 'handicapped' animals - a zebra that has lost its tail, and an impala with a missing horn.
Robyn atop the 4WD safari van.
> Sylvia, Robyn and Jin at the ivory burning site. Ex-president Moi torched over US$1m worth of ivory in 1989 to signify the commitment to crush the ivory trade to save the elephants.
Picnic and viewing point within the Nairobi National Park.
Is that a lion behind the bush?
28 Sep 2011: Kazuri Bead Factory
From Nairobi National Park, we went to the Kazuri Bead Factory to see how this amazing outfit helps poor and single women earn a living by manufacturing beaded jewellery.
They have machines to mix their own clay and provide employment to over a hundred women and men in making beads from clay, doing pottery, glazing and firing with huge kilns, and of course, sale and guiding for visitors.
Women hand moulding clay beads.
Bowls, cups and plates are created using moulds.
A massive glazing workshop for beads.
Hand glazing of beads one at a time.
Hand assembly of bead jewellery.
Hand glazing of tea pots, cups and plates.
The Kazuri Shop displays its full range of products.
Sylvia and Robyn at the Kazuri Shop.
It was an inspiring visit to Kazuri. What began as a self-help initiative for single women has today flourishes into an international brand of immense success. Little Fingy's can do it too!
Thank you, Devna and Boma Holidays Ltd, for such a lovely treat, and thanks also to Diki Diki, our guide-cum-driver who possesses very good knowledge of the wildlife and brought us to a superb local eatery.
30 Sep 2011: Visit to Karuturi Farm, Lake Naivasha
We met Mr Nagesh Karuturi, CEO of Karuturi Farm, at Amrita Children's Home and he invited us to visit his farm. He is a proponent of social investment and we were keen to get to know him better. Moses drove us to get an inside look at the world's largest rose grower and exporter. So we returned once again to Lake Naivasha.
Karuturi provides free housing, water/electricity, healthcare and schools for its 20,000 staff.
The Karuturi Hospital offers a full range of medical care from dental, delivery to surgery. Free for staff and low cost for the local community. It's run by 2 doctors.
Karuturi runs a nursery, a primary school and a secondary school that provides subsidized education to over 2000 children of its staff.
Robyn and children.
Children and Alvin.
1 Oct 2011: Art of Living Satsang with Ashvin and Varsha
We met Art of Living devotees, Ashwin and Varsha, at Amrita Children's Home and they warmly invited us to have lunch at their beautiful home at Westland.
After lunch, we went to another Art of Living devotee, Vanita's home to celebrate her birthday with a satsang, led by Ashwin and Varsha.
A wonderful satsang in Nairobi!
Thanks, Ashwin (1st from R).
1 Oct 2011: Singapore Children's Day Celebration
We got back to Children's Garden Home by 8pm to join in the 4-in-1 celebration with all children and staff:
Singapore Children's Day (Kenya's is not on 1 Oct)
Eggs for the children from our own Kuku Farm
Inaugural use of new dining tables and benches
Bozza's adoption of Diana approved by the judge
The children sang and danced.
Wonderful traditional dance performance.
The 3 mothers also danced!
We love our new dining hall tables and benches!
It was considered a sumptuous dinner for there were eggs (from kuku farm), meat (sponsored by us), bananas and soda drinks (sponsored by Eugenio and Alessandra Bozza).