Maragoli Community Development Foundation

“Expenses entrepreneurship/sustain 600 education 6,140 community resource ctr 3,907 emergency fund 100 total 10,747”

“The primary mission of the maragoli community development foundation is to assist the maragoli people of western kenya in improving their quality of life through the funding of sustainable development projects that they themselves conceive and implement. Funded projects focus on improving access to quality education and health care, the protection of the environment, the improvement of agricultural productivity, the support of local enterprises, and other endeavors that will benefit the daily lives of community members.”

“Entrepreneurship and sustainability: in keeping with the 2014 strategic plan, macodef continued trials and implementation of various income-generating activities, with the aim of greater independence and sustainability of the foundation's activities. After trying many different western and indigenous crops in 2016, efforts this year focused on those that were most profitable, especially local vegetables (sukuma wiki, mutele, and others) as well as napier grass for roof thatching. The poultry project also saw growth, with several hens becoming reliable egg layers. Profits from these efforts were used to buy maize at market during the harvest season. The grain was stored at the resource center and sold at a profit at the retail level as prices increased between harvests. Rental of a large tent and set of chairs was used frequently by local people to accommodate family gatherings, especially funerals. Additional growth of income-generating capacity will be important for the foundation's future. 2017 was a year of important lessons and nascent profitability.”

“Education: macodef provided important support for local schools, with projects focusing on schoolgirls and needy students. Once again, approximately 40 orphans and underprivileged students received support through the joshua and salome bunyoli scholarship fund. Dozens of students at vigetse primary school received uniforms in january, and twenty-seven students at vigina secondary school received full- or half-tuition scholarship. Macodef also helped support the purchase of microscopes for the vigina secondary school science laboratory. In 2018, we seek to expand scholarship support to needy students at nearby ideleri secondary school. Collaboration with the non-profit, days for girls, continued with renewed vitality in late 2017 with the purchase of additional materials for sewing washable sanitary pads for schoolgirls at the local primary and secondary schools. This project aims to improve academic performance of girls by reducing absenteeism during menstrual periods, especially for those whose economic circumstances put the purchase of menstrual products out of reach. We expect these efforts to contribute to improved test scores in 2018 kcse and kcpe exams.”

“Community resource center: the resource center hit its stride as a community hub, expanding its role in providing internet and print/copy services, television news, electricity for mobile phone charging, and an expanded library for local students at all levels. New shelves were constructed for the library and stocked with books. Most popular are "revision books," study guides for the high-stakes standardized exams students take at the end of class 8 (kenya certificate for primary education or "kcpe") and form iv (kenya certificate of secondary education or "kcse"). At roughly 2,500 kenya shillings per subject, these expensive guides are well beyond the means of most families and even many schools. The macodef library enables student access to both the books and a comfortable, well-lit study area. While the resource center is now "on the grid," electricity blackouts are common in kenya. Solar-generated electricity provides an important backup that is popular for many individuals to charge their mobile phones. Phones are no luxury in kenya. They are not only crucial for communication, they also serve as an important means of commerce and bill-paying through mpesa and other phone-based banking services. While many homes still lack electricity, families nonetheless rely on reliable phone charging for many routine daily activities. The resource center is also the hub for macodef's local income-generating activities, which expanded throughout the year.”

“Health center: the vigetse women's health clinic, founded with substantial financial support from macodef, grew in importance this year as government health care facilities experienced a hiatus in operations related to the political upheaval late in the year. Beyond its primary role in distribution of antiviral medications to treat hiv, the clinic administered treatment to many more patients for a wide range in illnesses, including malaria, parasitic infections, high blood pressure, and diabetes emergency fund: the local board of governors prizes their role in providing a social safety net for vulnerable and impoverished neighbors. The needs and requests will always be greater than the capacity, but they were able to fund construction of new houses for two local men (saul endoho and isaac endoho) whose mud and thatch homes had crumbled to the ground. Living alone and in poverty, and beset by health problems ranging from mental illness to age- related frailty to jiggers , these folks were unable to recover without macodef assistance. They now have small but clean and well-built houses with corrugated aluminum roofing.”