Mikinduri Maji Month enlists restaurants for Kenya development project

Mikinduri Children of Hope is looking for support from P.E.I. restaurants as it launches a new development project in western Kenya.

Mikinduri Children of Hope has been active in eastern Kenya since 2004, but has now expanded its focus to a new part of the country:Mageta Island.

The island is in the west of the country, in Lake Victoria, and isless than 10 kilometres long, but with about 11,000 inhabitants.

Ted Grantsaid his group heard about the Island from contacts in Kenya.

"The number of orphans is very high. The schools are falling down," said Grant.

"There's a medical centre there where the nurses have to hold their cell phones in the mouths at night as a flashlight to help ladies give birth."

Maji Month

A partnership with the UPEI School of Sustainable Design Engineering sent professorWayne Peters to Mageta.

Peters concluded what the community needed most was access to clean water, so Mikinduri has launched Mikinduri Maji Month for SeptemberMaji being the Swahili word for water.

Mikinduri has been approaching restaurants on the Island with the aim of partnering on a fundraising campaign. Restaurants would put up tent cards on tables and at cashiers, asking customers to donate a dollar to the campaign.

Owners and servers have also been educated so they can answer questions about the campaign.

Restaurants 'very eager' to help

"We've had great response from the restaurants as soon as they've heard about Mikinduri and what the organization has done so far," said Emily Ross of Mikinduri Children of Hope.

"They're very eager to help out."

Ross, who has travelled to Kenya to work as a nurse, said the idea is to provide some of the very basics: clean waterand electricity in hospitals at night.

The overall goal for the Mageta Island fund is for $100,000.

The foundation hopes to raise $10,000 in September, which will be Mikinduri Maji Month.

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