It’s close to midnight when I get this WhatsApp message: “I can’t get to the house due to raining water. The river has cut off our access for tonight😢“ The friend texting me is a social entrepreneur, one of the people in the slums (and still living there). He has achieved so much in life…
Category: Urban life
Life in the cities
Young mothers with children with albinism empower themselves and upcycle – connecting the dots
Last week I visited Jane again in Nairobi. Jane has founded “Positive Exposure Kenya”, a NGO that cares about people with albinism (PwA) and inclusion. I visited her together with my Social worker from Western Kenya who also engages a lot for PwAs in Webuye. Together, we try to make the impact bigger, to build…
This was different from other hackathons – what students think about our V4change program 2019
The winners of our Making More Health Venture4change program 2019 in Nairobi have been announced. Congratulations to the the team Alive365!!! The students from the Kenyatta and Strathmore University have participated in six learning modules, visited the slums, developed an idea on hygiene for slum habitants, pitched in front of a high level judging board…
Safety trainings for schools in Kenya – that’s health, too!
The Making More Health safety book for schools and students in Kenya The safety book is our basic training material for teachers, students and parents in Kenya. The book contains topics such as how to ensure to make schools safer, eg that there are no strangers in the school yard, how to teach about safety…
Kisumu – sun kisses for lake Victoria and a huge need for water purification
Kisumu City is a quiet port town on the shores of Lake Victoria. In early times known as Port Florence and as the final train station of Kenyans railway from Mombasa through Nairobi to the western border line with Uganda. For people who are interested to visit Kenya not just as standard tourists for sure…
Childhood in the slums
October,10th is a national holiday in Kenya. Today, there is no school. It has rained last night. The small pathways are muddy, when I walk through the Mukuru slums today to visit my friends. There are many children around the shops and in the front of small huts. What they do? They look out for…
Nice memories from Homa Bay
Homa Bay is a small town at Lake Victoria. There is no big tourism although the surroundings and landscapes are very colorful and attractive: The fishing boats, the fishing markets, the Homa hills … the town itself is built along a bay and has ca. 65000 habitants. Also one of our Making More Health Social…
Partnering and a beauty salon in the slums contributing to sustainability
Sometimes just sitting together and exchanging experiences from NGO and Business backgrounds is really helpful. If we start working together not only in and for concrete projects with the target groups, but exchange knowledge also on our daily challenges, it creates a lot of impact – and a win to everyone. That’s what happened two…
Ever seen a small paradise in the slums in Eldoret?
It’s very busy today in Langas, the second largest slum in Kenya. Here in Eldoret is market day today. At the right and left along the main roads in Langas an uncountable number of vendors offer a bit of everything. It seems that people join the main roads coming “out of nothing”: Small doors in…
A welcome dance by elderly women in Langas slum, Eldoret, Kenya
It was a very emotional day today. A day where we met children and elderly women in the center of Solwodi (a non- governmental organization) in the slums of Langas in Eldoret, Kenya. When we arrived we were welcomed by the women in tribal clothes and a real nice dance: Have a look here (video,…
Eldoret – the first leadership week linking business thinking to social will start soon
Today, it was a huge preparation day for me and my local project managers and people I’m working with: finalizing logistics, field visits, checking if all is organized in the guest houses and the agenda details. In a few days here in Eldoret, more than 20 managers from different countries and functions will arrive and…
When students learn from people living in slums – time to rethink on how we run idea competitions
The ongoing Venture4 change competition*, a kind of hackathon for students in Nairobi is close to an important milestone. After having developed over weeks an idea on how to make more health in slums happen, after having participated in six different modules and meetings with social entrepreneurs, professors and business people, 5 student teams from…
Go Kenya, go future! 