Maragoli Community Development Foundation

“Expenses education 4,750 total 4,750”

“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 strategic plan conceived by the local board of governors and international trustees in 2014, macodef devoted increased effort this year toward local sustainability through the expansion of income-generating activities. The rental of tents and chairs and provision of cyber services continued apace, while the sale of agricultural products enjoyed its most successful year yet. In addition to growing and selling popular local vegetables, the local board invested revenues in procuring staple foods-maize and beans. Obtained during the harvest season when commodities are abundant and prices are low, these products were stored at the resource center and sold at a profit in later months. Napier grass, grown in the resource center compound and sold as livestock feed and roof thatching, continued to be a fruitful venture, while the poultry operation encountered challenges due to a local epidemic that struck the chickens of many surrounding homes and farms. Crucial lessons were learned from both successes and setbacks, lessons that expand macodef's capacity for self-sustainability. Importantly, profits from income-generating activities were invested development projects chosen by the local board, accentuating the principle of local control and multiplying the effect of contributions from abroad.”

“Education: the education sector continues to represent the core of macodef's development efforts. Every january, vigina secondary school staff identify candidate beneficiaries of the joshua and salome bunyoli scholarship funds, providing tuition and uniforms for promising students who lack the economic means to attend school. In 2018, twenty-seven students received full or partial scholarships to attend high school at vigina, and for the first time, the foundation supported three full scholarships for students at nearby ideleri secondary school. While primary school is fully supported by the kenyan national government, significant costs nonetheless remain for younger students. To defray these costs and keep more students in school, macodef provided uniforms for dozens of students at vigina primary school.”

“Resource center: the resource center in vigetse village is macodef headquarters. Its bricks-and-mortar presence is a highly visible symbol of organizational strength, while the activities hosted there represent the most potent and persistent embodiment of the foundation's mission in the community. It is the site of our administrative office, a laboratory for small-scale pilot efforts of potential development projects, and a training site for participants in ongoing initiatives. A unique community hub for all ages, the resource center continues to provide a gathering place for local students, members of stakeholder groups, and customers for services and agricultural goods that fill local economic niches and help raise funds for projects. O the resource center hosts a library that is frequented by students who are studying to prepare for high-stakes standardized exams, making expensive study guides ("revision books") available to students of all economic means. O it provides internet, computer and printer access ("cyber services"), technologies that are almost completely absent in local homes, as well as a place for the many local folks who lack home electrical services to charge mobile phones, an increasingly crucial tool for communication and banking for kenyans at all levels of income and wealth. O it is a marketplace, where agricultural products are sold. O it is a training center for those who will develop new skills, such as tailoring, and use them in support of development projects. O it is a gathering place for all members of affiliated local stakeholder groups at their annual meeting. In 2018, senge, a new stakeholder group comprised of recovering alcoholics gathered there for mutual support and to provide volunteer service in the center's upkeep and agricultural efforts.”

“Days for girls: macodef has long recognized the special importance of girls' education for successful community development. One point of vulnerability for schoolgirls is the limited access to costly feminine hygiene products, often leading to several missed school days every month. In 2018, we addressed this challenge through continued partnership with the days for girls foundation, whose goal is to increase access to quality menstrual care and education. Using patterns and training from days for girls, macodef manufactured and distributed reusable pad kits to over six hundred girls at schools in vigina and vigetse. In addition, several local women and men were trained and employed to make the kits, adding both immediate and future economic value to the enterprise. Nascent expansion efforts sought to provide a manufacturing center for pad kits that will be distributed to schoolgirls over a broader geographic area in western kenya, potentially increasing macodef's outreach and influence. Emergency fund: assistance of our neediest neighbors was once again a passionate interest of the local board of governors. Especially notable this year were the purchase of a wheelchair for ngayira vindizi, a victim of a motorcycle taxi (piki piki) accident, and the replacement of the roof on the home of leah eboyi. At the year-end stakeholders' meeting, dozens of solar lamps were distributed to needy households, enabling students to study into the night, after the conclusion of school, the long walk home, and farm-related chores. Other families were supported with small grants to seek medical assistance for acute illnesses.”