We have started the second week of Community Health Worker (CHW) training. We are now covering reproductive health. Their final week-long training will be in June, and then they’ll be officially certified CHWs! The scene reminded me strongly of medical school. There were lectures on healthcare (the head nurse, the public health officer, the reproductive …
There’s No Cheating With Phones Running an effective Water and Sanitation Program requires lots of data collection. We need to know: Are our staff and volunteer educators actually teaching Nuru farmers groups how to remove disease-causing germs from their water? Are people actually practicing the water treatment practices they’ve learned? Is the attendant at the …
Nuru CEO Jake Harriman and Agriculture Field Staff inspect the shamba’s of Nuru farmers’ maize. Shamba is the Kiswahili word for farm fields.
Recently Foundation Team 4 had the pleasure of welcoming Kelsey Timmerman, author of Where Am I Wearing to Nuru International’s pilot project in Kuria, Kenya. Kelsey is also a freelance author and currently working with World Vision. He spent the 3 days learning about all aspects of Nuru’s work, as well as interviewing some of …
In this field video update, Healthcare Program Manager David Carreon and CED Program Manager Aerie Changala clear the path to the Nuru house using machetes. Just part of daily life in Nuru’s project in Kuria, Kenya.
Well, I’m not a woman and my roar is pretty weak but I’ve been learning a lot about the roar of women and frankly I’m a bit jealous. The education program has been looking to make a big impact and trying to be strategic about the interventions we put in place. We are looking to …
What do flyers, cell phones and road trips have to do with clean water in Kuria? On March 25th I posted a video blog showing a group of men and women putting their marketing skills to work to promote clean water in their communities. The educational flyers the well committees created that day have been …
For much of April our Foundation Team was on home leave, leaving the project here in Kuria in the capable hands of our Kenyan staff. I went over the deliverables for the month with my team feeling a little nervous because of the heavy use of technology during my time away (so many things can …
Even a Warrior Can Hit a Breaking Point Today I cried for my Kenyan friend and colleague. Today we held what have come to be known as “Nuru Days,” the one day per month where we gather all of the Nuru managers together for a special leadership training event. The staff members really soaked up …
Next Task… Get Married! The final week?! How did that happen? I’m tying up loose ends, giving as much as I can, and planning to leave exhausted on March 31st when we all go on break. This work is incredible – it takes my whole heart and leaves me spent at the end of every …
Awakenings “Habari umeamuka?” Evans said… as he said every morning at 5:45am. I was tired and had just finished the pathetic little workout that I do these days to try and maintain some level of physical fitness. I unlocked the gate and shook Evans’ hand. “Tutaonana jioni,” (see you tonight) I said. He smiled and …
A very important part of the Nuru model is to exit the project and leave it in the hands of the local staff to continue to scale out throughout the country and help lift communities out of extreme poverty. As the Education Program Manager, a big part of my job is to equip the education …
Teaching Management with Kangas and Kitenges John: “I asked for 2 Kitenges, different sizes, with green and yellow, and I asked for money back.” Janine: “Well how much money did you give?” John: “1500/=” Janine: “And how much was the Fabric?” John: “Let me just ask?”
Two of the Water and Sanitation Managers are my old friends and I have just met the other two. Lucas supervises the WatSan Program for all of Nuru Kenya (which continues to include more communities as we scale), Eliza manages the division called Isibania (named after the town) where Nuru began our work, and Elias …
I took my first “business trip” today (March 10th) to Kehancha where many of the government officials for the Kuria West District are located. It is also the town where the Maranatha Early Childhood Teacher Training College where we are sending some teachers to get certificates and diplomas in Early Childhood Development (ECD). We had …