$1480 and still rising...it's a flood... must be a full moon :)

up to $1430 and counting!

$1315.00 for KIBISOM and counting...

... through your generous donations! Thank you thank you!

I will let you know how Esther intends to put these funds to use soon!

Thank you thank you!

www.bikingpserspective.blogspot.com

BIKING from Seattle to Portland...for KIBISOM!

I am biking from Seattle to Portland on July 11th and 12th.

That's right... 200 miles in 2 days!

You can support this adventure by donating a few cents per mile to KIBISOM, a women's group that I worked with on Rusinga Island, Kenya in 2007. Your donation to this group will keep me cranking when the muscles start to ache!

Please visit the donation page here: http://kibisom.eventbrite.com

Stay tuned to this site for information about the projects that your donations will support!

Last year we raised close to $2000 at a fun benefit concert in Palo Alto for KIBISOM. These funds went to purchase a water tank subsidized by CARE International ($500), and school fees for a boy named Nelson Mandela.

Funds we raise this year through this bike ride will continue to support Nelson (he has 2 more years of school), and a young woman named Irean Owino who joined Sindo Girls Secondary school this year.

Esther works hard to distribute funds equally in the community. She will inform me of the most pressing projects and you will learn about how your donations are being utilized through this blog!

School Fees for Kibisom Youth

Nelson Mandela on one of our walks on Rusinga Island.

While living on Rusinga Island, Nelson would stop by from time to time to see if I wanted to get out for a walk in the beautiful countryside. Our favorite walk took us to the top of a nearby hill where we could take in stunning 360 degree views of Lake Victoria. Nelson was full of questions on these strolls, and I did my best to answer them. Esther, the founder of Kibisom, informed me after one of these walks that Nelson is an excellent student, but it is unlikely that his grandmother will have the funds to send him to the nearby secondary school.

Funds raised at the cocktail party benefit on February 8th in Palo Alto will allow Nelson to attend high school next year!

Kibisom in "Food First"

You can access a report written in the field about Kibisom published online by "Food First" at:

http://www.foodfirst.org/node/1700

KIBISOM: Come and Learn

“To mobilize global and grassroot responses to address the needs of orphans and vulnerable children, people living with HIV/AIDS, and local, neglected, illiterate women.”

The view from the top of a hill near KIBISOM.

To the novice eye Rusinga Island looks like paradise. The hills rise majestically from the blue waters of Lake Victoria and seem to beckon one to explore and to learn about the people who call this place home.

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KIBISOM (Kiagasa Breast Feeding Single Mothers/Orphaned Child), translated from the local language, Luo, means “come and learn” and is a registered women's group project and community based organization. It is located in the middle of Rusinga Island, approximately 8 kilometers from Mbita, on the shores of Lake Victoria.

Esther Evelyne Odhiambo

KIBISOM was founded by Esther Evelyne Odhiambo and her friend Elizabeth in 1996 and aims “to mobilize global and grassroot responses to address the needs or orphans and vulnerable children, people living with HIV/AIDS, and local, neglected, illiterate women.”

According to Esther, when she moved to Rusinga Island from Nairobi in 1995 deaths from AIDS were so common that up to 6 people were perishing in the community daily.

Most of the people dying from HIV/AIDS were young parents who left behind their children to be cared for by their already overlooked, food insecure and oftentimes illiterate grandmothers. KIBISOM was established to help support these grandmothers through health trainings, income generating activities, and other forms of gourp counseling.

Nelrcilla is pictured here with four of the eight grandchildren who she supports next to her outdoor kitchen where she is boiling maize.

There are a number of sources of food insecurity in this region which include: HIV/AIDS and other diseases such as malaria and TB, limited access to water, healthcare, and education, and limited economic activity to increase self-reliance.