25.04.2012 - Mission Fanya Concluded
End of April our - for now - last FANYA mission returned home to base. During the four missions we were able to bring more than 140 tons of supplies to the ailing people of the Turkana region. Nearly Since July, 2011 nearly 1,000 donors had donated over 100,000 Euros to make those missions possible. For many people, our aid came just in time.

What will happen in the future?

The drought in Turkana is now over, it has finally started to rain. Urgent support will no longer be required for some time. But there are still areas in Kenya where hunger is omnipresent every day. For instance, the people in the region of "Kinango" have been living under terrible conditions for many years. A lot could be achieved there with a just few thousand Euros because Kinango is only 2 hours by car away from South Coast.

We would like to share our knowledge and keep contributing to society. If we could find partners who would support such aid projects (even at a smaller scale), FANYA will live on..

 

16.12.2011 - Mission Fanya to Continue in 2012
Beginning of December our third FANYA team returned from the Turkana region. This time the volunteers recruited from Mekaela Academies staff only.

FANYA 2 had already left our volunteers shell-shocked from the what they had seen. This time it must have been even worse, because the helpers went into the villages to visit the people who were unable to come to the distribution points themselves. What they experienced there has changed their lives.

Those impressions have convinced us that we mustn't give up yet, and we are planning a fourth convoy for next year. HelpAlliance has already made a large donation so FANYA 4 should definitely happen.

We have installed a little picture gallery of our FANYA missions on our website.

 

22.11.2011 - Third and Probably Last Fanya Transport on the Way
Our third and most likely last relief mission should be heading to the Turkana region by the end of November.

The main sponsor of this mission will be HelpAlliance from Lufthansa and Condor. The fund-raising efforts of the Diani Beach hotels was less successful than expected and can cover only a fraction of the cost. At least the hotels will be sending volunteers for this mission and pay for their travel expenses, too.

After the last mission will have been completed we would like to publish a short documentary from the many private videos which were taken during the missions on our website and on Youtube.

 

14.09.2011 - A Second Famine Relief Transport Heads Towards Turkana
After our first relief mission had been such a huge success we have now managed to send the second relief convoy on its way to the North. The volunteers will again distribute food in the area around Lodwar in Turkana.

This time the mission is made up of volunteers of our teachers and parents of our students. Employees of two hotels of Diani Beach, Hotels Diani Sea Resort and Diani Sea Lodge, have joined the mission, too.

As well as support from Lufthansa's and Condor's HelpAlliance these two hotels have decided to join the Fanya campaign. Every week they make announcements to their guests and collect funds. That is of course easier when some of the hotels' staff have personally been on site in Turkana and can tell you about the impressions and their experiences first hand.

We are hoping that 12 hotels of Diani Beach area will join our project by the end of this year. That provided, we would be able to send a convoy every other month or even week..

 

15.08.2011 - First Fanya Relief Mission Successfully Completed
Tonight, the last remaining volunteers will return to their home in Diani Beach and Ukunda. All, but one.

Jackim will probably have to remain in Eldoret Hospital until Thursday. On Friday, his wife Rachel will take him back home.

Jackim's operation - his cervical was fixed with a titanium plate and four screws - went without complications according to his doctors. We will not know before a couple of days if Jackim will be able to use his legs again, and to what extent. Currently he is making very slow progress, but we couldn't have hoped for more after such a massive injury.

Apart from Jackim's accident our mission was a complete success. We should be able to send at least two more convoys in the next few weeks, because several hotels from Diani Beach as well as HelpAlliance from Lufthansa and Condor have joined our project.

It is amazing which dimensions this project has reached with your help in such a short time.

What, if this were just the beginning?

 

29.07.2011 - Establishing Fanya Famine Relief Mission
More than 3 million people are starving in the North of Kenya. As usual, the children suffer most from the famine.

The staff of Mekaela Academies no longer wanted to sit still watching the disaster happen and collected some money together with some parents. They want to start a relief mission into the next refugee camp in the North. About a dozen teachers have volunteered to join the mission. They will accompany the transport and distribute food themselves. Most volunteers come from an area which is less than 70 miles away from the next refugee camp, and they know exactly what to do where they are heading.

The Deputy Administrator of Mekaela Academies will lead the mission party. Because the cost for the lorry, fuel, accommodation and provisions of the volunteers is covered by the funds collected by our staff and the parents, we may spend every donated Euro on food. The aid will reach the suffering people in the refugee camp fast and directly.

Micki has started a donation campaign here on Helpedia.  The ambitious target of her campaign are 10,000 Euro, but that needn't be the end of it.

We hope to send the (first) lorry in the direction of Lodwar, Northern Kenya, in August. We will keep you posted on this website.