As the year draws to an end we would like to thank you all for making 2017 another a successful year. We are now working with a partner in Uganda, in addition, to our five long term partners in Kenya and hope to add more partners in the region next year.
We are incredibly grateful for all the support and encouragement we have received which has resulted in our income approaching £250,000 with a growing number of repeat and ongoing donations.
All of us at CHASE Africa would like to wish you a peaceful and happy Christmas and to thank you for helping to give thousands of families a brighter future and helping to safeguard the environment for future generations.
We would like to finish the year with some photos and news from Henry's very recent trip to Africa. Between the 20th of November and 7th of December Henry visited all of our partners in Uganda and Kenya, his marathon journey saw him cross the equator eight times and travel over 2,000 km by bus, car, plane and motorbike! His trip took him from Kampala to Arua, in northern Uganda, then east into Kenya with stops in Kakamega, Mogotio, Marigat, Nakuru and Nanyuki - all before heading to Nairobi and catching a flight back to the wintry UK.
Highlights from the trip include a day spent with a Dandelion Africa Mobile Clinic in Marigat, and a visit to Mount Kenya Trust's forest restoration work in Karui. The photos below give a taste of what Henry got to see...
Mobile Clinic – Marigat – Baringo County
Top: two "clowns" who entertain the children during the clinic – these guys are funny, and much appreciated. Centre left: the team of volunteers that help Dandelion Africa at their day-clinic and do practical work to keep things running smoothly. Centre right: women wait in line for services whilst children watch the entertainers. Bottom left: Kefa who was diagnosed HIV+ 14 years ago and nearly died, but then started receiving anti-retrovirals and has a new lease of life. He uses his story to encourage others who are newly diagnosed HIV+. Bottom right: preparing medicines at the day-clinic pharmacy.
Forest Restoration – Karui – Mount Kenya
Top: Joseph, Charlene and Humphrey who work for Mount Kenya Trust in a part of the Mount Kenya national park that is being replanted using the PELIS (Plantation Establishment and Livelihood Improvement Scheme) principle – food crops interspersed with indigenous, mostly cedar and olive, trees. The whole area was illegally settled in the 1980s. The people living there have been rehoused and now, the forest is coming back. Centre left: a view across the area being restored. MKT are working on a total of 650 hectares, with several hundred smallholders operating the scheme. Centre right: five year old trees on an adjacent site. Bottom left: wildlife returns – a heron enjoying the restored forest. Bottom right: this stream used to be polluted with human waste and farm runoff – it now runs clear which the down-stream communities appreciate hugely!
