Friday 11 December 2009

Santa runs for Global Footsteps

Howard Marshall pictured here, dressed as Santa, with Ania Standish, ran a half marathon in our linked community of Torun. Glenn Standish (our man in Torun) sent this short report:

Global Footsteps member Howard Marshall successfully took part in Torun's annual Santa Claus half-marathon (today is St Nicholas Day). Howard did very well at completed the 21km route in 2hrs 33 mins (a personal best for him...which is quite a feat considering he was wearing a full Santa outfit complete with white painted-on beard!).

Howard was running in aid of Global Footsteps. Thanks to all those who have sponsored him. And for those who haven't there is still time to sponsor!

A short film has been made of his run...and once we edit the raw material...Howard will no doubt show it to you all one evening. You can contact Howard to say well done at 07slr@tiscali.co.uk.

Well done Howard!!

Thursday 26 November 2009

Kosimbo Women's Clinic


In June and July a team from Global Footsteps visited a volunteer run health clinic in a rural part of the Kisumu region of Western Kenya. The clinic was set up by a widow, Margaret Kawala, who wanted to make access to basic medical care easier for widows and orphans in her remote home village. Kosimbo volunteers managed to build a very basic medical centre, dig a borehole to gain access to fresh water, while also contributing to the building and running of the local school. When our team visited the project seemed to be operating well. But the need for more work and resources was clear. The health clinic needs to be open more often, the school needs books, pencils, uniforms, teachers and computers and more boreholes are needed so that people don't have to walk miles to fetch the dirty water of Lake Victoria.

Since July conditions have become more difficult for Kosimbo and life has become harder for the people of the village as a result. Crucial funds from the Kisumu Rural Community Development Fund have been diverted to other projects. Because of this and some other more troubling, deeper, cultural reasons Mrs Kawala has found it increasingly difficult to keep the project alive. She recently sent me the following email:

morgan,

how are you. i have not been myself for the last four months and was almost giving up on kosimbo widows group.
it has taken me a while to realise that this project was started with a purpose of helping the widows and our orphans.
It also took me time to realise that very few people appreciate a person interested in development and especially if the person is a woman and a widow . But this has given me the courage to be a stronger person and work hard for kosimbo to be able to improve the lives of the widows, ophans and needy in our community.
since i have not communicated for sometime, im not sure of the plans you have for kosimbo. i will give you an update after your reply.
thank you
margaret

On December 12th Global Footsteps is screening a documentary made during the June/July Global Venture. The Kosimbo project is featured and we will be giving a fuller update on the latest developments. You can get a sneak preview on youtube

Kosimbo is crying out for help and support, but more than anything it needs recognition. Kosimbo is in many ways a pioneering project and of huge value not only to those directly benefiting from its services, but also as an example for other villages to follow. Please send messages of support to Margeret and her team via: kosimbo@yahoo.com

Global Footsteps is an inter-cultural linking and sustainability charity. We very much encourage anyone who would like to travel to Kisumu to volunteer with the Kosimbo project. Whatever your skill set there will be huge amounts of things you can contribute.

Please email us on globalfootstep@googlemail.com for more details. Projects like Kosimbo need support from partners in the richer parts of the world, please offer what you can even if it is only kind words.

Wednesday 4 November 2009

1st (proper) Global Footsteps Book Club meeting - 22nd October 2009

Justine chaired our first (proper) book club meeting, below she describes
what happened!

"....sexually explicit language and imagery, deep dark thoughts,
suicide, grief, mental illness, political angst.... just some of the
things discussed during GF's first book group meeting - not in a
getting to know you session with it's new members you'll be happy to
hear but in relation to the first book read by the group and up for
discussion.

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami is a deliciously discussable book as
we found out! Murakami is a Japanese author who has written many other
books that have quite a dream like quality to them. NW is essentially
about mental illness, the Beatles and is set in 1960's Tokyo covering
the highs of lows of student life For a full review please see
html There were mixed views in the group but it had seemed to have
successfully sucked all of us in as there were some quite strong
opinions expressed as we shared our thoughts, and the evening turned
into a most enjoyable one with some new friends made..

Here are some quotes from the book, which are typical of Murakami's
poetic prose:-

"You were so nice to me when I was having my problems, but now that
you're having yours, it seems there's not a thing I can do for you.
You're all locked up in that little world of yours, and when I try
knocking on the door, you just sort of look up for a second and go
right back inside."

"If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can
only think what everyone else is thinking."

"There is absolutely nothing to be gained from sleeping with one
strange woman after another. It just tires you out and makes you
disgusted with yourself."

"Only the dead stay seventeen forever."

"Life doesn't require ideals. It requires standards of action."

"A gentleman is someone who does not what he wants to do but what he
should do."

"Of course life frightens me sometimes. I don't happen to take that as
the premise for everything else though. I'm going to give it hundred
percent and go as far as I can. I'll take what I want and leave what I
don't want. That's how I intend to live my life, and it things go bad,
I'll stop and reconsider at that point. If you think about it, an
unfair society is a society that makes it possible for you to exploit
your abilities to the limit."

"Don't feel sorry for yourself. Only assholes do that."

"Letters are just pieces of paper. ... Burn them, and what stays in
your heart will stay, keep them, and what vanishes will vanish."

They are also making it into a film for autumn 2010 http://www.
haruki-murakamis-norwegian-wood/ and if you want to know more about the
id=

Looking forward to the next meeting on 3rd Dec where we will be
reading the Great Gatsby. See you there!

Tuesday 3 November 2009

'Feel' by Joshua Sanger


'Feel'

The rush kicks in.

Sound of step.

Leaves fall passed my eyes flowing rythem and wonder.

Measure life not by experience. Not by achievement. Certainly not by status.

By love.

Can you say you love?

Kissed by the most raw of moments.

I love.

From the front line of Climate Change


In July Global Footsteps visited Kariandusi Primary School in Kenya. Karianduri is a school on the margins, located in the Rift Valley it suffers severely from drought which brings many other problems. I received a message from their headteacher, Aman Echakari together with some recent newspaper clippings. Very sobering stuff:

It has been many months of ravaging and devastating drought with dry bones and skulls attesting to the magnitude and severity of the drought, scores of people have been left hopeless, desperate and in a state of despondency ! Areas once inhabited have since been forsaken, deserted and left desolate! The bare grounds that once flourished with bounteous life and splendour has quickly turned into ominous plains of death.

Climate change is set to significantly and permanently change and alter the course of life for many parts of the world! Consequently many people will be forced out of their original homelands due to extreme weather conditions characterized by prolonged drought, famine, erratic rains, flooding, and rising water levels in the sea due to global warming.

As the stiff competition for the scarce and wildlife are set for a bloody confrontation and encounters! Cross-border conflicts are gaining momentum each day. Communities especially the pastoralist are up in arms against each other to protect and to exercise absolute control over water holes and grazing grounds. This like any other conflict has and will continue claiming lives and causing massive destruction of property thus subjecting and confining many in abject poverty. We are at the edge of being edged out by the rapidly expanding deserts and at the high risk of being swept into the ocean by the violent and turbulent floods.

We must act with urgency and move with speed to free our planet from the devastating effects of climate change. Our leaders must come down from their ivory tower of parochial politics and get intouch with the harsh reality facing those who have been devasted by the effects of climate change. They must listen to the cry of wailing women whose children have been swept away by floods! They must be moved by pictures of malnourished and starving children in Turkana Kenya. They must be TOUCHED by images of dead human bodies who had to die in conflict over scarce resources! They must be moved by pictures of women in Africa who have to walk for kilometers in search for water. Who have to risk their lives just for water!

As a school, we’ve started campaigns to sensitize the community on mitigation, measures to combat climate change. We are using public for a to create awareness. We’ve started a fish pond to teach local alternative source of income. We,re harvesting rain water and using it in tree planting. We are starting a tree nursery that will enable the community access seedlings at affordable price.

Thanks: WE MUST NEVER GIVE UP.


If you want to get some money to Aman's school please contact globalfootstep@googlemail.com and we will ensure it gets there.


Tuesday 27 October 2009

1.42am 26th October 2009 'Dominic and Amel'

I asked Josh Sanger to write something for our blog. He looked out the window and came up with this 'image'...

Timeless they sit.

The treacle tinted candlelight weeps sensation and moment.

Entwined together like antique beads in a bracelet.

An untold tale that needs no motive or narrative.

Collective?

This is the two.
The duo of notes twisted together to create Lou Reeds symphony.

Dedication.

Simple silence.
This is the place they belong. Still.
Amongst the chaos and mess of 'we'.

True beauty.

Thursday 22 October 2009

Retrofit Game


The Empire State Building is getting a Green Retrofit at the moment. Our 'FootSteps building is also undergoing some sustainability inspired changes. Have a go at the Empire State Building Retrofit game! Click HERE to start!

Hint: Try dragging something you look through first!

Friday 9 October 2009

'Friends of Nowder' meeting @ FootSteps


We held a really excellent meeting here at FootSteps last night, to discuss the formation of a new charitable trust ‘Friends of Nowder’ which will operate in the UK to raise money for The HRA Foundation, a community capacity building project in the Sylhet region of Bangladesh. The HRA foundation was set up by Bangladeshi born Cheltenham resident Arosh Ali, a member of Global Footsteps; we have been working closely with him to develop the foundation.


As word has spread about the HRA several individuals have expressed an interest in finding out more. With this in mind Arosh Ali and Global Footsteps invited them all to FootSteps to enjoy some homemade ‘Curry with Love’ The meeting was intentionally informal with the aims of getting everyone acquainted with each other, The HRA and the proposed new charitable trust. Our guests shared experiences of Bangladesh and offered a lot of useful advice on positive ways forward for the HRA and ‘Friends of Nowder’. Cheltenham MP, Martin Horwood, a long time supporter of the project dropped in to confirm his backing of the project, it is hoped that he will agree to become the Patron of ‘Friends of Nowder’. Jerry and Sue Barr of Transition Cleeve who have both visited Bangladesh were very enthused by the project as were Professor Stephen Martin and his wife Maureen. Stephen and Maureen offered a lot of excellent advice and suggestions both in terms of what the project could achieve in Bangladesh and what needs to be done here in the UK to raise funding and profile. The meeting was also attended by Leo Guttridge, Mary Paterson, Dennis Mitchell, Nicola Oliver and Morgan Phillips from Global Footsteps who are all keen to be involved in the project.

The nucleus of a strong and experienced team seems to be evolving, arrangements are being made for a second meeting, this time in Broadway with James Powell when we hope to make further progress on the establishment of Friends of Nowder.

You can read more about The HRA FOUNDATION on our website

The Autumn Programme is nearly over!

Our Autumn Programme here at 'FootSteps' is drawing to a close, it has been really successful, thanks to everyone who came along to our events! For the sake of posterity and so that we can all still access specific webpages below is the Autumn Programme that was. But, do not fear for when the Autumn ends winter begins and we have lots of things going on to get you through the colder months, please keep and eye on our events page:

Autumn Programme

Friday 28th August, 2009. 12.00pm - 11.59pm: Fundraising Event: Tour de Inner Ring Road @ 'Footsteps' and Cheltenham Inner Ring Road

Thursday 10th September 2009. 6.30pm - 8.00pm: Global Footsteps Gardening Community: Inaugural Meeting @ 'Footsteps', 16 Portland St, GL52 2PB

Thursday 17th September, 2009. 6.30pm - 8.00pm: Global Footsteps book club: Inaugural Meeting @ 'Footsteps', 16 Portland St, GL52 2PB

Friday 18th September, 2009. 4pm onwards: The Handbook of Sustainability Literacy Launch event (Invite only) @'Footsteps', 16 Portland St, GL52 2PB

Sunday 20th September, 2009. 7.30pm : Hiroshima!!! - Remembered; Revisited; Regretted? @ Friends Meeting House, Warwick Place, Cheltenham

Saturday 26th September, 2009. 4pm onwards: Positively 16 Portland Street: Totally unplugged music @ 'Footsteps', 16 Portland St, GL52 2PB

Thursday 8th October, 2009. 6.30pm onwards: Freinds of Nowder @ 'Footsteps', 16 Portland St, GL52 2PB

Thursday 15th October, 2009. 6.30pm onwards: Stitch and Bitch Club @ 'Footsteps', 16 Portland St, GL52 2PB

Thursday 22nd October, 2009. 6.30pm - 8.00pm: Global Footsteps book club @ 'Footsteps', 16 Portland St, GL52 2PB

Monday 28 September 2009

The Eternal Ethic

Below is an essay written by Global Footsteps founder Dennis Mitchell, it is titled 'The Eternal Ethic'

Life in 3D

Introduction

The ultimate privilege of existence is to be alive and conscious. Leading a full life as a human being requires the fusion of three imperatives:-

- to blossom personally,

- to live in harmony with others,

- to exercise prudent stewardship of the Earth for posterity.

The personal blossoming is a natural impulse and needs little introduction. The ‘living in harmony with others’ is rather more contentious including, as it does, competitors from both human and non-human life-forms. But it is the third imperative which is least considered since its only advocate is spiritual, informed via the human conscience.

The following reflection concentrates on this aspect, particularly in the light of the current crises engaging global attention.

“The eternal ethic”

The Earth’s Wealth

The virtue of the concept of money is that it facilitates the quantification of so-called goods in such a way that one can rate them to a greater or to a lesser extent in the regard that humanity gives to them. By harnessing the concept of proportionality, human beings can exchange alternative goods to their mutual satisfaction.

The actual valuations may vary considerably with time and depend on the circumstances and the attitudes of those conducting an everyday monetary exchange; i.e. the valuations are arbitrary – they have no foundaton in natural reality.

There was a time when money was related to a particular commodity – GOLD.

This gave a semblance of real worth but this, again, was an arbitrary convention adopted by humanity; meaningless to non-human life-forms.

In the current climate, both literally and metaphorically, carbon emission rating has the virtue of being a meaningul, quantifiable parameter in the wellbeing of all life forms on Earth. Trading in carbon emissions could prove a far better foundation for human transactions, especially if it is on an equitable per capita basis that could also encompass and allow for the sustainable requirements of an evolving natural world.

A start has been made on the transition from the current monetary fiction to one based on carbon emissions. It is complex in implementation and it may be that shortcomings appear which make it less than ideal. For instance, if fossil fuels continue to be used for energy generation, justified by the successful adoption of carbon capture and storage, the extent to which humanity consumes them may continue unabated or even accelerate, assuming the Earth’s temperature envelope can be stabilisied near current levels.

It is arguable that ancient fossil fuels may be exhausted in the matter of a few millennia and that this would be inequitable in regard to future generations of all life forms. The rationale here is that during a particular phase of Earth’s existence the Sun’s energy was converted to fossil fuels. In effect these became tantamount to an immense deposit in the Natural Bank. It is reckoned by leading scientists that some of this investment, the oil, will be exhausted within a few generations of humanity’s current lifestyles. Gas and coal are also finite and vulnerable within a millennia or so.

The total borrowing for current expenditure via these ancient deposits is said to be three times as much as the current revenue received from the Sun’s rays, and the borrowing rate is increasing.

Perhaps the foundation for the natural currency could indeed be the Sun’s energy, which provides a relatively stable annual revenue. That suggests that the imperative for humanity is to live and evolve within this limit shared fairly and taking account of non-humanity. The transition to such a system may be just as complex as would a transition to carbon emission quotas. Scientists may at least be able to come up with a figure for how much energy remains embedded in fossil fuels and how much annual revenue arrives via the sun.

The Human Component

Such commodities as energy are not the whole of the Earth’s wealth, simply one dimension of it. In evolutionary terms the Earth is worth far more than Mercury, Venus, (or Mars, etc..) on which the Sun’s rays also fall. There is value in the form of DNA and the whole inventory of genomes. Is this quantifiable? Should the life-forms living today be accorded worth in relation to the complexity and sophistication of their genetic make-up with humanity coming out on top? Should our payment for consumption be based on our intake of DNA? Questions for our distant successors, if any. Then there’s the whole enigma of rating humanity’s “intellectual property”.

(This particular rant is free, by the way).

It could be argued that perpetuating the evolutionary process is the greatest imperative of existence and the exhaustion of lifeless fossil fuels is simply a necessary phase; that the real story in life is survival of the fittest; that humanity has proved to be the most enterprising to date so its genome trumps all others. It deserves the rewards. Why share any wealth with inferior species? As to its intellectual property, maybe the invention of the concept of money has been its greatest achievment to date.

So, back to ‘Square One’, except to say that humanity is nothing if separated from its bio-diverse environment. Otherwise try living alone on the Moon, or Mars, without Earth’s sustenance.

So, though there may be inequality among species, humanity is dependent on other life-forms with which it is integrated. It cannot reasonably own them. Its attitude has to be one of prudent stewardship, conducted mindful of the ‘precautionary principle’.

Even a capitalist would have to adopt such an ethos. A socialist might well allow non-human life-forms a fair share of sunshine on its co-operative farms and national parks. A prudent ecologist would leave huge areas of the Earth as inaccessible to humanity and impervious to human influence.


Eternal Values

At some point in time the Sun will run out of energy. It will expand and consume the whole of the planetary system within its envelope, becoming a ‘red giant’. No doubt life on Earth will have expired long before that. It is comforting to suppose that an intervention by some supernatural being will have anticipated this risk and made provision. This cannot be depended on. It is ‘wishful thinking’ - a matter for prayer.

Other ‘outer space’ interventions, eg huge meteorite collisions with Earth, may well have ended life as we see it long before. Thus humanity’s existence, as we know it, is not eternal. It may well end before that of other Earthly life-forms.

There is an integrity to creation such that life forms are interconnected and interdependent, but no single life-form, so far as we know, is crucial to life. Certainly life on Earth could continue without humanity’s existence.

Whether humanity should ever care about life on Earth after its own extinction is a nice point. My view is that it should, if only so that there remains the possibility of new life forms emerging which, likewise, go on to develop consciousness, curiosity and imagination. They may then discover the large archive of knowledge effectively bequeathed by humanity. In that case, if life amounts to anything more than ‘the here and the now’, human life will not have been without eternal significance.

That way of looking at life and its evolution is altruistic. Suppose we take a more human self-interest approach whilst recognising that life on Earth is still evolving.

Since procreation, mutation, propagation and interdependency appear to be intrinsic to life on Earth, which is an evolving process, then humanity has a natural interest in caring for the well-being of all life on Earth of which it is an integral part. This is tantamount to an over-riding obligation of stewardship.

This attitude is reinforced in humanity, in contrast to other life forms, for several reasons:-

a) it has a rapidly expanding consciousness of self and of its relationship to the rest of existence;

b) it has the capacity to make the Earth virtually uninhabitable for life as we know it, were it so minded. In fact it is arguable that it is already doing this, inadvertently, via climate change and extinctions of other life-forms (possibly via unwitting genetic engineering too)

c) its own raison-d’etre relies on its natural urge to perpetuate its own species

d) it has a growing understanding of some of the threats to life on Earth, both within Earth, within the solar system and from so-called ‘outer space’.

e) it has curiosity, imagination and inventiveness to the point at which it can attempt to counter potential threats to the Earth, or at least to defer them, e.g. by deflecting an incoming meteorite that is heading along a collision course with Earth (or the Moon whose gravity pull can affect the Earth’s behaviour)

f) its archive of accumulated understanding of existence needs to be preserved and available to future generations for at least as long as there are conscious, sentient species surviving on Earth. Otherwise what is the point in eternal terms of human curiosity and discovery?

g) Finally, there’s the other humanitarian, conscientious principle of ‘those who make the mess should clear it up’.

So human self-interest demands continual stewardship. The integrity of creation, manifest in life on Earth, demands that such stewardship extends across all life forms. The extent to which humanity should be engaging in genetic engineering is more debatable. In this respect the operative obligation is one of absolute prudence – applying the precautionary principle in circumstances such that there can be no possibility of unforseen outcomes.

So, humanity’s role is to continue to blossom culturally, in line with the greatest ethical obligation conceivable being eternal stewardship. I term this “pefoloe” being the “Perpetuation of Evolutionary Flourishing of Life on Earth”.

AMEN!

Ethilogue

The most apparent immediate threat to Earth is that of Climate Change (according to most informed scientific opinion). The damage that could be wrought by an all-out nuclear war is also of major concern. The gradual extinction of other life forms and, potentially, the inadvertent negative consequences of genetic engineering may also raise alarms, as would the continued exponential growth in the population of humanity, especially if the existing mindset of ever-increasing material growth globally persists.

Let us assume that humanity does embrace the ethic of eternal stewardship and does not precipitate is own premature extinction through perverse behaviour. It would still be faced with outer space threats to life on Earth. How could such be delayed, if not avoided? It seems that we may arrive at yet another about turn – a moral justification for the use of nuclear-armed rockets to deflect an incoming meteorite. Maybe?. Currently, that’s fanciful. Future star-gazers may prophesy but scientists would need credible evidence before reaching for the nuclear button.

May humanity cross that bridge when it comes to it. By then we will all be ‘global citizens’. National military arsenals will be an aberration from the distant past.

It all begins with Step One whereby all nations emulate Japan. Having suffered the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan opted via Article 9 of its constitution never to fight a war again. So far, it hasn’t.

Dennis Mitchell (Sep 2009)

Thursday 10 September 2009

Gardeners Community


We've just had the first Global Footsteps Gardener's community meeting and it was a really great success, so many ideas and so much enthusiasm for this!


As so much was discussed I think it’s best to keep to the main points and provide some (hopefully useful) links!


Arran and Tina came from the University and told us all about the Edible Garden project they set up on the FCH campus. You can find out all about it on this PDF file (it takes a while to load, but its worth it!) They told us that they need plenty of volunteers to help them keep the Garden going. In fact this Saturday (the 12th) they are building a compost area. Mary, who lives in a flat and came along tonight looking for some sort of community garden to be involved with will be going along to help out. Anyone else who wants to come along will be very welcome, please email Arran for more details: astibbe@glos.ac.uk


Melanie Hamm, who co-runs the group, told us all about her Garden (see photo) and shared her traumatic experience of trying to deal with Slugs. She has tried Beer traps, but found it very difficult, she has been wanting to avoid using slug pellets, but is having trouble finding a better alternative to staging a round the clock monitoring and removal by hand! Arran admitted that they had turned to organic slug pellets, which are really not too bad on the environment (well apart from the slugs) and have no negative impacts on the food chain above them.

A useful book Plants for a Future was mentioned. Another useful looking book on this subject is Plants for the Future


Dennis had some questions about Pond digging. According to Arran it is a good idea to have at least one part of the pond over a metre deep, so that frogspawn can be free from frost in the winter. Dennis had trouble with losing water from the pond as he had been unsure how to line in properly. He has resolved to have another go and the Gardeners group were quick to volunteer some help to 'Dig for Dennis and Beryl's Pond', we'll be setting a date for one weekend soon anyone who wants to help out please get in touch!


At the edible garden they used Geotextile and Butyl rubber to line their pond, apparently it is important to have an overlap of 2 metres for the lining!

Some ideas for the future:
1. Invite Mike Bush to talk about Permaculture

2. Invite Rowan Middleton to talk about Biodynamic principles

3. Pay a visit to an allotment in Cheltenham to understand better how they work and to dispel some of the myths surrounding things like waiting lists!

4. Visit some local 'open gardens'

5. Work out a way to exchange vegetables and plants through the Global Footsteps group.


We'll soon be posting details of the next Gardeners event, please keep an eye on the website for more details or email us on globalfootstep@googlemail.com

Wednesday 5 August 2009

Email from Karianduri School


While on our Global Venture to Kenya we visited Karianduri School in the Rift Valley. It was a special place to be and is one of the enduring memories of the venture. I have just received a very nice email from Karianduri headteacher, Anam Echakari, which I thought I'd share with you:


Dear Morgan,


Thanks a lot for finding time to be with us. It was such a great pleasure and privilege to have you in our school. And for the brief moment you interacted with us you lit our hearts with hope and confidence.


When we look at the world around, our hearts writhe and groan in pain. The devastating effects of global warming and the impacts of climate change have wrecked and altered the course of lives for scores.


Food security, water security, vanishing habitats, rapid spread of diseases, escalating carbon emissions and shrinking water levels is an is an eminent sign that our planet is under siege.


From a tiny remote village remote in Africa to the modern and sophisticated city in Europe, we are all under threat of extinction ! And unless, there is a concerted effort by all and Sundry to reverse this phenomena, we and those who will come after, may not have a place to inhabit.


Thanks a lot for what global footsteps is tenaciously doing to alleviate these global challenges by sharing knowledge and information and offering practical solutions to some of these endemic problems, I am confident that communities will essentially be transformed the ruined live & livelihoods be restored. This may involve huge sums of money, but what will finally be achieved is priceless.


We are joining your caravan as we go round the world campaining by playing an active in tree planting initiatives, carrying out environmental education communities respond with tenacity.


We have already started a tree nursery that we expect to generate 10,000 seedlings annually. We are also in the process of recycling waste paper as a mitigation measure against waste.


Thanks a lot for your kind donation of Kshs. 2,000. This will go towards purchasing tree seedlings . This of course will be a footstep that you will be able to trace even after a very long time.


I wish you all the best in your endeavours!


Thanks a lot.


Anam Echakari


Donating £20 to a school to help them plant some trees does feel a little bit like, as Sean Locke puts it, turning up to an earthquake with a dustpan and brush, but it all helps and if we all give it a bit it adds up! If you want to get some money to Aman's school please contact globalfootstep@googlemail.com and we will ensure it gets there.

Rites of Passage

Here is another post from Howard following the latest Global Venture:

Death is reflected in different ways depending on the cultural & religious practices unique to that community.

In Kenya funerals of the Christian religions take place on Saturdays.

Priests both Roman Catholic & Anglican travel the length of the country to bury their dead in the place of birth or their home town on a Saturday.

When interviewing priests of both the Catholic & Anglican faiths the concept of cremation & burial in municipal cemeteries is usually unheard of. They couldn’t understand why funerals in Europe take place on weekdays. To them Saturdays is the most convenient day as people are less likely to be working on a Saturday. They were also very disapproving of cremation that is standard practice in most parts of Europe.

Apart from the Sikh & Hindu community cremation is unique to them and not normally practised by other religions including Christianity.
The Kenyan people have a very matter of fact approach to death & there way of dealing with it is very different to that of European traditions.

The death of a loved one is very much a fragmented (DIY) Do it yourself arrangement. Unlike in the United Kingdom where a funeral director takes care of all the arrangements.

On weekdays in the local market you will see carpenters making coffins along the roadside. A practice unheard of in many parts of the western world.

On Fridays the municipal mortuaries are open to the public to collect their loved ones. However there is a restriction. If the family don’t have the money to pay the mortuary fees they are charged rent for each successive day the deceased remains in the mortuary. This often means they cannot be buried the following Saturday as planned.

Having overcome the obstacle of mortuary fees and your loved one being released from municipal refrigeration the process is still very complicated.

Whilst in Kisumu I witnessed many systems of primitive carriage for the conveyance of a coffin. Two of these included balancing a coffin on the crossbar of a bicycle or using a beer crate trolley. One of the priests I spoke to said it was not unusual to put the deceased on the roof rack of a car. For those that can afford it a hearse may be hired. An African hearse is not the same as we are accustomed to in Europe. Very practical they will use a Ford transit van. The seats are removed on one side to accommodate the coffin with the family sitting in what remaining seating space is available alongside.

Death is always a very emotional time for those intimately involved. It is very important that this taken into consideration by those directly & indirectly taking part. My experience in Kisumu was that the selling of a coffin was no different to the person on the next market stall who may be selling fruit & vegetables.

However in a country that is very poor materially they remain very strong in their Christian Faith. The African people approach death in a way that most Europeans couldn’t cope with. This is to their credit and shows how much we take for granted in the Western World.

Despite them being poor we have a lot to learn from them in a very materialistic world. What is important is that they never give up on their faith. They are very strong people both physically & spiritually.

Howard Marshall. Kisumu, Kenya. June/July 2009.

Tuesday 14 July 2009

Visit To St. Lukes Parish

This blog is a little late, but better late than never! Its entirely my fault that it is late, but it is well worth a read....

Tuesday 07th July 2009

Visit To St. Lukes Parish, ACK, Manyatta, Kisumu, Kenya.

This morning I visited St. Lukes Church, Manyatta, where I was shown around the Parish & his Archdeaconary by the Pastor Canon Shadrick Jackim Owour.This was quite an eye opening experience as the Parish is in quite an impoverished slum area of Kisumu. Canon Owour s Parish was close to the epicentre of post election uprising of 2007. Only 100 yards from his church are the destroyed ruins of homes occupied by members of the Kikuyu Tribe.Despite the trouble church services still took place during that time of unrest. Many people could not get to church due to road blocks. At the same time time the Vicar could not always get out of the Vicarage to visit his parishoners for the same reason. When I interviewed Canon Owour later that morning it was quite horrifying what he saw and many experienced during that time of unrest. He and his wife kindly put people up in the vicarage who had lost their homes for their own safety as well as providing them with a place of shelter.

Outreach Projects.

Many of the roads around Kisumu are dirt tracks so Canon Owour showed me around the Parish in his much needed 4X4 vehicle. A lot of the communitities are not in the most accessible places and cannot afford transport to the main church at St. Lukes. As a result they have a number of Mission Areas where they are building churches accessible to the local community they intend to serve. I was shown 2 of these projects.

Herald Church.

This church when completed is in a rural area on the outskirts of Kisumu, close to where the post election violence took place. It is uncertain when the project will be completed due to funding. The churchs current structure consists of wooden uprights that supports a corrugated metal roof.

Riat. ACK Church.

This church is situated on higher ground with a scenic view of Lake Victoria in the distance. We were met by the Church Warden who lives nearby. He showed us the ambitious architects plans for a new church building on this site. Due to many factors including funding this project will be ongoing and will probably not come to fruition in many of our lifetimes. It appears to be a long term project. The existing church is a mud hut with a corrugated metal roof, which although functional is not ideal in the long term.I get the impression that people like churches, particularly in many of these rural areas as they bring small communities together. It doesnt matter what their religious beliefs are they often look upon the church as a source of help and support as well as being the focal point of that small community.

Howard Marshall.

Wednesday 8 July 2009

The Rotary Relief Fund Kisumu

Yesterday afternoon, Alice, Aby and I met up with some people from the Rotary Club in Kisumu...

Tuesday 7th July

It was another busy day today, we met in town before heading over to see an old friend of our very own Dennis Mitchell, Sat Jobanputra at his beautiful home in Kisumu town centre. He moved into this house when it was built in 1937. He told me how the city had changed dramatically in the proceeding years. Kisumu sprang into existence in 1901 when the British completed the Mombassa – Nairobi – Kisumu railway, built to link the Indian Ocean to Africa’s biggest water body, Lake Victoria. The Lake is the origin of the great River Nile and Kisumu is on its coast. Mr. Jobanputra was born here and told me that during his lifetime the population has risen tenfold from 50,000 to 500,000. He has watched it spread outwards as more and more people arrive here from the surrounding rural areas in search of work. What they find is a difficult life, over 50% of the people live in slums or shanty towns, some of the poorest in Africa. Although the city centre, at the moment, is coping with the volume of vehicles here, it is surely only a matter of time before it becomes as gridlocked as Nairobi (or London!)

Mr. Jobanputra, now retired, used to be an active member of the Rotary Club in Kisumu. We wanted to know what the Rotary Club had done here in response to the Post Election Violence in late 2007. He took us to meet an American couple Dan and Patty Schmelzer at their home in Kisumu town centre. Dan and Patty are heavily involved with the Rotary Club here and were instrumental in the Rotary relief project that was launched in the wake of the post election violence. The relief project is ongoing and utilises the US $20,000 fund they accumulated from around 20 different organisations, of which Global Footsteps was one. Dan reported to us what they have achieved. They spent the money in three key areas. 1. Emergency food relief, 2. Provision of medical services, 3. A peace initiative.

1. Food: Four local volunteers went into the slum areas to uncover individuals and families who were badly effected and were on the brink of starvation. They helped around 1,200 people to stave off hunger
2. Medicine: Two medical camps were set up in the rural areas to help people needing basic treatment for illnesses and injuries. On top of this they funded life saving operations for people who were very badly injured during the violence.
3. Peace: A headline grabbing and very effective initiative was set up by Rotary to promote peace in the city. They wanted to spread a message of peace and settled on an innovative way of doing it. Rather than spending money on billboards they decided to approach the local 'boda boda' bike taxis. A boda boda is a push bike with a seat on the back for a passenger who pays around 30 pence to travel a distance of around 2-3 kms in the city centre. Rotary decided that they would make t-shirts with the slogan 'Peace begins with me' and they distributed them gradually to 1000 boda boda cyclists who wore them as they travelled around town carrying passengers. This made the cyclists themselves committed to the peace movement and their enthusiasm rubbed off on the other residents of the city. Rotary gave the cyclists small financial incentives to keep wearing the t-shirts which facilitated the good will between them.

As an extension to the boda boda peace initiative Rotary helped the wives of the cyclists to set up businesses. They did this through a micro-finance initiative as a Small Micro Enterprise Programme (SMEP). This has been very successful and continues to grow as women take out and pay back loans of increasing size to grow their businesses from side of the road shacks to down town shops.

Rotary has spent $10,000 of the $20,000 originally donated, the focus has now shifted to sustainable long term development. Through the SMEP they are helping environmentally and socially sound businesses to start up and grow.

Dan has promised to send us an interim report, when he does I will ask permission from him to publish it on our main website.

Dan and Patty also run Capstone Ministries Child and Family Restoration Outreach in Kisumu, please visit their website: http://www.capstoneministries.org/