We are guests of Partners Worldwide (PW), an organization that partners business people in the developing world with business affiliates from North America. We were invited to come and see what they are doing in Kenya (since we were already planning to go to Ethiopia), and see if there was an opportunity for us, meaning Dave, to get involved.
Today we went to see the work of one of the local organizations that PW has been assisting. Their main goal is to reduce poverty by providing agricultural and business development services. Two of the board members, Nicolas and Peter, whom we met yesterday, were our tour guides.
They took us up and down the bumpiest red dirt roads you have ever seen. I was sure we'd lose the bottom of the car, but Alex was an excellent driver and knew which potholes to avoid. Somewhere, high up on the Kenyan highlands on the edge of the forest we found two farmers eager to show us their farming operations. They eek out a living on a few acres of land, but with the encouragement and loans from the co-operative, they have been able to improve their vegetable cropping practices (i.e. buying certified seed) and improve the milk output from their few dairy cows with hopes of expanding the herd with good pedigree cattle. I'm impressed with their determination to make a better life for themselves and their families.
We also stopped at a beautiful spot overlooking the Rift Valley. It was an amazing view of a wide valley with extinct volcanic mountains in the middle of the valley. The wind was chilly as we are more than 2,500 meters above sea level. That's higher than Sulphur Mountain in Banff! We all enjoyed pizzas on the deck, overlooking the Valley.
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| Rift Valley Look-off |
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| Inter-planted corn, kale and broccoli |
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| Peter, Nicolas and Dave waiting for the pizza |
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| Such a variety of plant life on the farm. |
What a learning experience this day has been.
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