Dear All,
We have just returned from a visit to Riziki! In March, travel rules for Covid were relaxed here and then in Kenya. Two weeks later we landed in Nairobi. We had a short visit to the coast, a few days in Eldoret and five nights in Nakuru, visiting Riziki.
It was clear on arrival in Nairobi that Kenya is suffering from drought – everywhere the grass was brown and trees looked very stressed. Tourism has been hit very badly through Covid and the war in Ukraine has led to many increased costs - cooking oil has risen in price five-fold and petrol prices rose by ten shillings a litre while we were there.
Riziki is not spared these problems. Our water tanks, which collect rainwater, have run dry and water has to be bought, delivered by tanker at high cost - £100 a week. The irrigation dam (gathering dirty water that runs down the adjacent road) can hold 800 m³ but it is also dry. Harvests in 2020 and 2021 were poor and we are now relying on our reserves from 2019 (a good harvest). We have been very blessed to have donors covering education costs but these continue to rise as more children have reached secondary and college education. Remote learning has led to extra costs too and we are pleased to report that the internet should soon be available at Riziki, thanks to another specific donation.
The children did not know we were in Kenya until we arrived at Riziki. Liz had assembled them in the lounge and our welcome was amazing. It was a very happy time.
We are pleased to see the increase in our small herd of cows; we now have five adult cows and two young calves with another on the way. Our flock of local chickens has grown considerably and we need to build a new chicken house to hold them.
The sewing machine is now in use. Precious has learned how to sew at school and showed considerable skill with the machine, mending clothes! Hellen, our social worker, has also started using it and Precious is in demand to teach other children, both boys and girls!
In the holidays the girls enjoy doing each other’s hair with elaborate extensions. These will be removed before returning to school. The boys prefer to develop their football and basketball skills.
The children are happy to help with the chores needed in a large family and spent a morning planting maize. We are praying and trusting that sufficient rain will fall for the plants to grow and thrive.
We were delighted that Collins, our first boy to complete his college course (in catering), was able to join us at Riziki for a few days. He made himself very useful in the kitchen and Elizabeth, our cook, was delighted to have him there. He hopes to be able to do a short course to be a pastry chef, if funding is available. He is sure this would open the door to getting a job, probably in a supermarket. Faith, now at university, called to visit too.
The local community is pleased to visit Riziki to have their maize ground, often by one of our young people in holidays.
The school holidays (for the end of the academic year 2021) were coming to an end, making life very busy as the secondary students were preparing to return to their boarding schools. A lot of work is involved to get so many students kitted out. The 2022 school year will have very short holidays between terms to complete it before Christmas.
We are pleased to confirm Liz as Director of Riziki with full responsibility for the day-to-day running of Riziki and we commend Julius for becoming Retired Director, maintaining his roles as accountant and mentor to the children. We have every confidence that Liz will lead Riziki with enthusiasm.
We thank and commend Julius for the years he has spent creating, developing and guiding the growth of Riziki.
He has been inspirational throughout these years and through his leadership has instilled high moral values in the children. They have always been at the heart of what he has done. We pray that he will have many years to enjoy Riziki without the pressures of being Director.
Prayer concerns
We pray for Julius & Liz in their new roles at Riziki
We give thanks for the continued support for Riziki from so many people both locally and internationally and pray that it will meet the needs of the children;
We pray for regular and reliable rains for the whole of Kenya;
We pray for peace throughout Kenya during the coming elections – August 8th;
We pray for our growing number of secondary pupils and university students that they may be able achieve their goals in life.
Current needs and plans
The completion of the new Director’s house;
Collins‘ desire to take the short course as a route to employment;
An extra dam to receive the surplus water when it does rain;
A new chicken shed to house the flock satisfactorily.
Many blessings, Ian & Diana.