Magazine

News from projects 'Kandongu' and 'FaMoja' (On the FaMoja farm, Br. George, longtime friend pays us a visit and explains to a neighbour's boy the characteristics of our trees) "I don’t believe in charity. I believe in solidarity. Charity is vertical, so it’s humiliating. It goes from the top to the bottom. Solidarity is horizontal. It respects the other person and learns from the other person. I have a lot to learn from other people." - Eduardo Galeano If the project work in

- on security concepts and other illusions According to the website of the German Foreign Office, I should never have travelled to Kenya in 2012. Safety warning due to increased danger of terrorism, robberies, tribal conflicts, traffic accidents, piracy, malaria, Aids.... According to my GP at the time, who gave me 7 vaccinations in 2012 as a precautionary measure, it would be my own fault if I died in Kenya, because after being bitten by a rabid dog I would have to expect da

From the secrets of Kenyan communal life - crisis-proof? There is no recipe for community life. For education neither. And yet we often think we know that our way is the only right one. Kenya's family and community life, which I initially perceived as "superficial" and "cold," today inspires deep admiration in me and proves - especially in this time of crisis - to be a role model. Parents who give their children away? Where I grew up, it is already assumed to be an extremely

A live video from Kenya on the theme "Kenya - I do it my way". Br. Francis Macharia is a longtime friend, school director in the Kandongu project, member of the FaMoja project and as a Brother dedicated to community service, an exciting person to learn more about Kenyan community life. This live contribution was made in the context of the digital beatmass Cologne Klettenberg under the theme "Kenya - I do it my way."

Welcome to the invitation video for the Beatmass "Kenya - I do it my way", 30.05.2021. With contributions from my project partner Br. Francis Macharia from Kenya and me. More info about the live stream here: https://beatmesse.de

Latest from the projects Hello everybody, I am happy to be able to contact you once again with news from Kenya. This time I am especially proud, because I feel that - together with your help - some very important milestones have been set! I have now spent 6 months in Kenya, during which I have been reminded once again of how valuable the steps have been that we have taken together over the past 8 years- even if not always in a straight line, sometimes in zigzags and backwards

Water solution after 12 years or What I learned from the struggle with drought In February 2021, just in time for Corona time, the water supply in the Kandongu project could be secured! Almost 400 children, 7 hectares of the school's own farm and the community of about 20 brothers and workers on site are supplied. This place is an example for the whole area. 12 years of struggle with drought 10 water barrels were purchased in 12 years, hundreds of meters of rain gutters were

Project Kandongu launches bread project, the first in the entire region Bread- what is that? "Don't say bread, say Super Loaf" is how the manufacturer of the "bread" brand advertises its product, which has taken over Kenya and East Africa almost entirely in the past decade. None of the small stores on the roadside doesn't carry it, this sweet, soft, white "bread" that everyone loves and which, through European glasses, can only be called sugared white toast - even though peop

The practice of being that knows no skin color, no grades, no judgements At the Institute for Intuitive Training Cologne, I have been freeing and strengthening the connection to my intuition - the very own voice of my Self - in various trainings since 2018. This unique practice, which does not understand spirituality as a bubble, but locates and integrates it directly in life, has become the conscious engine of all my decisions, my creation and my existence. Since February I

Debate on European aid workers in Africa I would like to draw your attention to this Spiegel article by Heiner Hoffmann, Nairobi, which addresses an issue that directly affects 'Njoki' and which, in my opinion, has not yet received enough publicity. Click here for the Spiegel-Article! Even though the "White Saviorism" debate is complex and certainly not easily thought of in terms of black and white, it speaks to exactly what I have been privileged to learn over many years of

A new face, that wants to think outside the box After 7 years, Njoki gets a new website - and sets a sign also in the outer appearance, which has long been lived in the inner project work: Njoki sees itself as a joint project between partners in Germany and East Africa - not as a "development aid project" à la "white saviorism". Njoki builds on the potentials she experiences in life and exchange with East African cultures - not on German assertions about "African" needs and r

On the importance of completing two dormitories A German-Kenyan-Italian joint project Two dormitories - what for? In Kenya, it is common for children of a certain age to sleep at school, like in a boarding school. Both parents and teachers believe that this is important for the education and development of the children. At our school it is especially important for those who live in very difficult circumstances. A life at the school, with a community, a structure, hot meals an

News from on site: How do I experience the Corona situation here? - Archive from 25.01.2021 Hello all, I wish you all a wonderful and healthy year 2021! For me, this has started very exciting, I was able to experience the turn of the year in Kenya and am still there. What is actually the Corona situation here? The pandemic is hardly noticeable here. Not only because of the low numbers of infections - well, that may be because there is hardly any testing. Also because of the a

Lecture at the Institute for Intuitive Training Cologne about my own growth in and with East Africa (Archive from 01.08.2020) --> For more details click here. At the Institute of Intuitive Training? Yes, I couldn't think of a more coherent place to share my experiences and stories about my project work with Kenya. Traveling to Kenya at 18 years old with 0 knowledge of the country was an intuitive decision that has proven to be perhaps the most important in my life. No experie

A result of German-Kenyan creativity FaMoja has a new face: the "leafling" is the result of a drawing by Kenyan schoolchildren and the creative design of graphic designer Sanna Nübold from Cologne, Germany. Environment and living being are merged in this logo of a project that grows wings and stands on its own feet at the same time.

"They gave me the name Njoki" by Jana Winterhalter. Sat, 07 Nov 2020, 6pm. (Archive from 15.10.2020) "They gave me the name 'Njoki' - the one who went to come back." JW Narration in words and pictures: Impressions from eight years of project work and life in and with East Africa Out of a thirst for adventure, I had traveled to Kenya at the age of 18 in search of vastness, red earth and smiling people. I found them. And with them the life that plays between these 'picture book

By Kenyans for Kenyans - Starting signal for FaMoja project (Archive of 30.01.2020) It is done! After 8 attempts and countless night shifts, the Kenyan core team of Project FaMoja succeeded in having their vision certified as a non-profit CBO (Community Based Organization). In order to remove the appearance of a family project, the CBO was not registered under the project name FamiliaMoja, but under the title "Kijani Kabiriri Empowerment". Thus, an essential foundation has be