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|  | | Baraka Villagers (Kenya) | | | | | | The challenges facing those engaged in the development process can be many and varied –as is illustrated by one particular case which confronted extension staff in the Lare division of Nakuru District when they began their work.
The challenge presented itself when Self Help began working with a group of 26 families who had been resettled by the Catholic Dioscese of Nakuru, and allocated small farm holdings in Njoro, following their eviction after the infamous ethnic clashes in the Lare division in the mid 1990’s.
Problems caused by the severe drought and famine conditions which prevailed in the region following their resettlement in 2000 meant that these families often depended upon the assistance and support of more settled neighbours, and also worked for long hours as casual labourers for more established farmers in the locality.
‘Whenever somebody needed a house girl, they would turn to this village since most children were not going to school, further worsening their plight’, explained Self Help’s programme manager Josephat Mbui. |
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| The Self Help/Baraka College extension team provided the villagers with seeds for planting, as well as training and support with livestock production and other sustainable farming techniques, and by 2004 they had moved to a position where many were producing surpluses, and had healthy stocks of poultry, sheep and goats in their compounds.
Group leader James Mwenga asked on behalf of the villages for assistance in tackling another problem with burdened them too – and related to how they were commonly described by their neighbours and others as ‘refugees’, despite the passage of time since their displacement.
The team asked the locals what name they would want to be referred to, and after some consultations the name ‘Baraka” (meaning blessing) was agreed upon by the villagers and the visiting team. An effort was set in train thereafter to always call the villagers ‘Baraka’, and after this had been done by extension workers, as well as other partners such as Ministry of Agriculture officials, Egerton University and Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) representatives, others in the community began to do likewise.
Today the 26 families are very proud – of their achievements in sustainable farming, in soil and water conservation activities, and also with the identify that they are establishing in the community that they now call home.
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| | | | | Self Help Africa is a limited liability company. Company number: 105601 Charity No. 6663 (Ireland)
The organisation has offices in Ireland at: Annefield House, Dublin Road, Portlaoise, Co. Laois Tel: 00 353 (0)57 8694034 - Fax: 00 353 (0)57 8694038, and in the United Kingdom at : Second Floor Suite, Westgate House, Dickens Court, Off Hills Lane, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY1 1QU. Tel : 0044-(0)1743 277170
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