Orra: our newest project in Kenya
The first project funded by the Just Around the Corner Art Auction was meant to be at a remote site called Nyiroyia. However, tribal unrest in the area at the end of 2011 forced Milgis Trust and the Voss Foundation to reevaluate the security and effectiveness of building a water system at that place and [...]
Nyiroyia! (and other news from Kenya)
Now that the glorious rains have ended (more about that later), work is finally able to get started in Nyiroyia, the site of our newest water project in Kenya with our partners Milgis Trust. Nyiroyia is located in the Marsabit district, an extremely arid area east of the Ndoto Mountains, near the Samburu region of [...]
Samburu Accounting 101
Sustainability and community empowerment are of utmost importance to the Voss Foundation; every single one of our projects aims to make sure our beneficiaries can take ownership of and maintain their own wells and water systems after implementation is complete. One way we achieve this is by encouraging villages to enact a very small water [...]
Swari Project: Update and Lesson Learned!
Our president and founder, Knut Brundtland, and our European Representative, Cecilie Malm Brundtland, just came back from a trip to visit our Kenya projects! As soon as they arrived in the Samburu region, they were met by two eldermen who came to say hello and thank Voss Foundation for our work — the first time [...]
Samburuland, Kenya: Drought Report
As The New York Times reported earlier this month, the Horn of Africa is currently suffering from “the worst drought in 60 years.” Fortunately, our friend Helen from Milgis Trust has assured us that all three of the Voss Foundation wells in Kenya are working perfectly despite the severe water shortage. Unfortunately, many people from northeastern [...]
Ndonyo Nasipa Project: Final Report
It’s been less than a year since the completion of our second Women Helping Women project, but access to clean water has already had an incredible impact on the Ndonyo Nasipa community. The community’s women and girls, who were burdened daily with the task of carrying water, have especially benefited from the new well. The [...]
Swari Project: Update
It’s been over a year since the opening of the water system in Swari, and we have some great news on our continuing success from our friends and partners at Milgis Trust: Currently in construction in Swari is a new health clinic funded by the government. This clinic would not have gone ahead without the [...]
Latakwen Project: Update
More than two years after implementation, the Latakwen project is going strong! We have just got some great new updates and have learned that the village continues to grow significantly. For more information, please check out the full report from our partners, Milgis Trust. Thank you so much for your support on our project in [...]
VIDEO: Samburu woman thanks Voss Foundation
A Samburu woman thanks our Women Helping Women delegation at the opening of our most recent Ndonyo Nasipa well in Kenya. In the Samburu language, “thank you” is “ashauling” and “water” is “ngare” — if you listen closely, can you hear her say those words?
VIDEO: Walk to the Well: Women Helping Women – Ndonyo Nasipa opening trip
A delegation of Samburu women lead some of our Women Helping Women donors to the water opening ceremony at Ndonyo Nasipa:
Ndonyo Nasipa Project: Update
Our partner Milgis Trust sent some great photos of the implementation and construction of the well that will serve the water system at Ndonyo Nasipa. The Ndonyo Nasipa project is the Voss Foundation’s third water system in the Samburu region of Kenya, with Milgis Trust, and the second Women Helping Women project. For more photos, [...]
Women Helping Women II: Ndonyo Nasipa (European Edition)
We are excited to announce the launch of our second European Women Helping Women program! Women Helping Women is an international grassroots campaign wherein a group of women join forces to change the lives of an African community with access to clean water. The newest Women Helping Women / Kvinner hjelper Kvinner project will be [...]
Women Helping Women visit to Swari
In February 2010, some of the Women Helping Women supporters traveled to Kenya to attend the opening ceremony of the water project they had funded in the Samburu village of Swari. To bring clean-water access to Swari, nearly 150 Norwegian women donated NOK2000 each. Every single contribution went directly to help women and girls in [...]
Poem about water, from a Swari girl
Last week, Voss Foundation European Representatives Cecilie Malm Brundtland and Anette Krosby attended the opening of the Swari project in Samburuland, Kenya, along with some of the Norwegian women who helped to fund the water system through Women Helping Women. We will post some more photos and reports from the trip soon, but thought you [...]
Swari project: Update
We recently got an update and some pictures of the Swari project currently underway in Kenya, from Stella at Milgis Trust: The pipeline trench is now fully completed and the kisima (water hole) is currently being dug for the solar water pump – this will be approximately 30-40 feet. Pete made a great judgement with [...]
Swari project: Update
Some more updates and photos of our Swari project, from our friends at the Milgis Trust! The first photo, above is of a meeting earlier this month. It shows the Swari area chief Mr. Lenkaaka giving a speech to the Swari community (mostly women) and thanking Milgis Trust and Voss Foundation for bringing water to [...]
Kenya projects: Update on Swari and News from Latakwen
Due to poor Internet access in Samburuland, we just received two consecutive emails at once from our friends at Milgis, updating us on the preparations to begin in Swari and the continued success of the Latawken project. Stella writes: I’m afraid to report that the Milgis ecosystem and its surrounds is yet to receive a [...]
Swari: Women Helping Women Project update
Stella, our fantastic friend at Milgis Trust in Kenya, sent us some photos of Swari, our Women Helping Women village in the Samburu region. She also sent some beautiful photos of the Samburu women our Norwegian women are helping. Thank you, Stella!
Drought report from Kenya
Many people have been asking about how our friends in Kenya are faring with the severe water shortage. As The New York Times reported on September 7, a “devastating drought is sweeping across Kenya.” Unfortunately, as you can see in the map above, also from the Times, the Samburu fall squarely in the water-starved area. The [...]
Swari: Project update
An email from our friends at Milgis Trust over the weekend: We are hoping to arrange to have the supplies up at Swari in the next week or so as our technician is going to Nairobi on Monday to check through all the supplies and make sure everything is in order before the lorry leaves. It [...]
Update: Women Helping Women / (Kvinner Hjelper Kvinner)
140 women have already joined our Women Helping Women /Kvinner Hjelper Kvinner Norwegian fundraising campaign! Once all the donations have been remitted to the Voss Foundation, we will be able to fund the entire Swari water project in Kenya and hope to begin working on our next. The first woman to join was Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland — [...]
Swari!
The Voss Foundation has identified our second project in Samburuland, Northern Kenya, in the village of Swari! The current situation and village structure in Swari are very similar to Latakwen — the Voss Foundation’s first project with the Milgis Trust in Kenya. The Latakwen project was formally completed in March, when the access to fresh [...]
Women Helping Women / Kvinner Hjelper Kvinner
We are excited to announce the launch of the 2009 Women Helping Women campaign! The program commences this summer in Norway with hopes of going global in the near future. The Voss Foundation calls on Norwegian women to support our next water project in Samburuland, Kenya. Your contribution will help women and girls in the [...]
Latakwen: completion report
With the completion of our first project, the Voss Foundation can begin to measure the impact of the work we are doing. Carol Ann Gleason, an affiliate of Illumine Group, the consultancy helping us evaluate our projects, just returned from a visit to Latakwen and filed a very encouraging report. Some excerpts: …[The Voss Foundation [...]
