Turkana profile

New Ways works with overseas partner organisations who deliver the projects we fund. The majority of our funding goes to the Missionary Community of St Paul the Apostle (MCSPA) who are based in Turkana northern Kenya.

Four people are profiled below - each with a unique contribution to the work in Turkana, each with a different background, each with an enthusiasm about all that is being done and the difference that this makes - Joseph, from down country, who coordinates the Kaikor project; John  from Turkana, who digs the dams; Peggy from London who teaches sewing and runs the guest house; and Cyril from Mombasa who wrote the Kaikor project plan and has accountancy training. A mix of backgrounds and skills which go to make the projects successful.

Joseph Ekutan

Joseph is 36 years old and he has been working with the Missionary Community for 10 years but has been living in Turkana for much longer - about 18 years and is from down country where life is not so hard as in Turkana.  He has two children, a 2 year old boy (pictured, with Joseph) and a 6 year old girl.
 

Joseph is the Kaikor project co-ordinator - this project involves a number of Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres with the objective of feeding over 1200 children every year for at least three years, improving the life expectancy of children under 7 years and providing the children's community with health care and agricultural skills

Joseph is enthusiastic about the impact of the project on the development of the people and on the children. People are much healthier and that has really helped. The project is really making a difference.

What other changes would he like to see?  Two things - an investment in the agriculture and some small bikes to help the lives of the teachers so that they can go around and visit the sick mothers.

What is his view of New Ways and the Missionary Community? One of the things he said was the Missionary Community are doing a lot more for Turkana than the government (echoing the points made by Lord Alton in his House of Lords speech reported above).  The project New Ways and the Missionary Community are doing is a great help to Turkana especially the northern arid areas and the people  really appreciate the support and help and very much hope it will continue for a long time.  He thinks that the way that New Ways supports the community is 'just fantastic'.

John Kamoya

John Kamoya is 20 years old helps run the earth pan dam project. His involvement with New Ways goes back many years since New Ways sponsored him for 8 years at school and 2 years at college.

He trained in welding and fabrication and now, for the earth pan dam project he actually runs the digger/JCB that digs out the earth pan dam. This is a job which requires a skill and also flexibility since sometimes they are fixing the earth pan dam and other times they are building from scratch.

How does he feel about his life and work?  He says that he is very happy working for the community and glad to have come back up to Turkana.  The difference is now that he has a career. Not only that but he is very aware of how important the role is since access to water means that people are healthy and they have a better quality of life.  For John himself it is important to be able to make a difference.

Peggy Campbell

Peggy Campbell was born in July 1932 so now she is 76.  She has been in Turkana since 2002, a significant change of lifestyle for a lady of 70! She was familiar with the region before as, from 1998 to 2002 she would come to Turkana for 3 months to train the ladies on how to sew.   Her programme of teaching the ladies to sew has now provided a group of them with a career.  She currently has three ladies working for her and they make the uniforms for the nutritional nursery schools that are supported also by New Ways and other grant making bodies.

Peggy's involvement with New Ways goes back to her time in London when she became involved as a result of meeting Albert Salvans in Kentish Town. Having made the transition to life in Turkana, she now feels very relaxed, loves Turkana and feels at home there.

Besides the sewing, Peggy helps look after the little guest house, based in Lokitaung  She has two boys that have been living with her, Simon who is 14 and John.  Simon is now at school in Napetat.

Cyril Matekwa

Cyril Matekwa, who is 38,  has been working with the Missionary Community since 1999.  He is in charge of Kaikor and has been working there as an accountant for 5 years.

Cyril was bought up in Mombassa and moved to Turkana, where life is more challenging, because, in his heart, he wants to help people.  Cyril has been a prime mover at Kaikor since the beginning- in fact he wrote the project for Kaikor having discussed it with Albert. In the process he added to his basic education by going on to do some finance training

He was keen to talk about the importance of the nursery schools and how they help children suffering from malnutrition.  He says it is great to see how all the children's health improves, their education improves, access to water improves and they are now able to do some agriculture.  People are really beginning to see how good it is for them. 

What would a typical day look like? For him, in a typical day he will go to the office, look at possibly buying  materials/goods for the project , read reports from the teachers, work on the accounts, and discuss with the mobile clinic what problems need to be solved.

The key thing he wants to say is how doing this job, being able to help the children, he is so grateful for the support that New Ways gives. Why? Because now less children are dying and they live a much happier life.