Thank you for your email and input regarding Algae. We have been doing extensive research on algae production for several years now and are very excited with the results. This will be a significant portion of the fish production system and animal feed supplement portion of our work, as well as a potential health supplement for human consumption. I would be happy to discuss this further with you if I had an email address. Perhaps your daughter could give it to me.
Thanks,
Calvin
Monday, June 22, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Kenya Trip # 65 (May 24 - June 5, 2009)
Departed
Friday, December 26, 2008
2008 Year End Summary
As 2008 comes to a close, we at Dominion Farms look back with a better understanding of human nature and a realization of what it takes to do business in Kenya.
The year 2007 ended with a presidential election and high hopes by the people of Kenya for meaningful change. Previous terms had been marked by unfulfilled promises, political strife, corruption and lost hope, but the Kenyan people labored on in their poverty with the hope of change from this election. New political parties were energized by the fast-paced nomination process and emotions ran high. Voter turnout was tremendous with much fanfare and expectation on all sides. Millions lined up to mark their paper ballots on the 27th day of December – the majority confident that their opposition candidate would soon be their new president.
The count was slow and tedious for a couple of days and international poll observers were present. Suddenly the Election Commission ordered the observers to leave. The incumbent President was declared the winner and was sworn into office within an hour of the announcement. Irregularities appeared everywhere and the opposition cried foul, with almost universal support from around the world. That the election had been stolen was obvious to everyone.
All hell broke loose. Gangs of youth were encouraged by political operatives on both sides to loot and burn the properties of members of the other party. Then the violence escalated from political activism to ancient tribalism. Tribalism has remained a festering problem in Kenya with tribal rivalries going back for centuries. Upon independence from Britain in 1963 the method of warfare turned to politics and old emotions had been repressed for 45 years. But the political process had failed the majority of voters and those old animosities surfaced again. People were hacked to death simply because of their tribal affiliation – often by their neighbors. Refugee camps sprang up for those fleeing their homes and swelled to over 500,000.
For weeks the country was shut down. The worst atrocities were in the Kisumu area south of Dominion Farms. The city was on fire and nobody seemed to really care. Where was reason? Where was compassion? Where was the heart of God in his people? How could a people destroy their own workplaces and homes? The cry was for justice but few were listening. As video of the destruction flashed across the TV screens of the world, attention began to build and mediators began to arrive. Weeks of negotiation would take place with dignitaries such as Kofi Annan and Secretary Rice, but progress was slow. The killing and burning continued. In some places ethnic minorities fled to churches to be burned alive inside by rival tribal members. Scores long unsettled were brought to the forefront and justice was dispensed on the spot. Traffic to the western part of the country was cut off by gangs of thugs on the roads. No food or support could get through. The railway lines were torn up and the airports were closed.
In the midst of this our farm still had to operate. We were just beginning to recover from the flood of 2007, with most of our dikes back in operation and our irrigation systems repaired. Now this tragedy. Our farm shut down on Dec. 20th for the elections and for Christmas, with senior staff scheduled to return on Jan. 3rd. That became impossible. Our Managing Director was in South Africa; our rice manager was in the US along with our director of maintenance. The rice mill operator and the field manager were both Kikuyu men and would have been killed if they returned. Only a skeleton crew of mechanics remained near the farm. Crops needed attending with nobody to do the work and none of the skilled people there to help. We were precariously low on fuel and were out of fertilizer and herbicides.
Emergency plans were made to stretch everything as far as possible and use the staff we had. Over the phone from 8,000 miles away the American managers and I had to explain how to operate the combines, how to run the mill, and how to plant a crop. We allocated fuel to the milling operation as priority #1 so food would be available for the local people and we opened an outlet for them to buy it directly. This was a life saver for many near the farm. Food prices had tripled but we sold for less than the supermarkets had charged prior to the election. These are our neighbors and they needed our help. The weather was good and dry but we had no fuel to develop new fields or even replant those harvested, so hundreds of acres sat idle.
Finally the airports opened back up for incoming flights and I was on the first plane going into Nairobi. Steve got back and most others filtered in, but not the Kikuyu employees. Most departments had no leadership and only a handful of workers in each, but work had to get done. When I arrived in Nairobi I met with the US Embassy but they were still trying to figure out what to do. The business community had big meetings to find a solution but nothing seemed viable and dire predictions abounded. Finally I made it to Kisumu and then on to the farm during a lull in the fighting. It was good to be back but a strange mood persisted. The strain was visible on every face and there was a feeling of hopelessness and anger - with no solution in sight.
I met with the church leadership of Nyanza Province who were just wringing their hands as their towns went up in smoke. They sang of how great it was to be in the Army of the Lord, and how they would rather die in the Army of the Lord than anything else. They spoke of the scripture which states, “Who can defy the army of the living God” and I challenged them with “who can find the army of the Living God.” They had told all of their people to remain hunkered down in their houses while children were destroying their cities. In Kisumu a group of churches representing over 100,000 members was held hostage by as few as 100 unruly youths. Very sad. The churches of the world today (not just in Africa) have lost much of their power and authority and have become wimps in the eyes of many. They say they will not let it happen again?
The farm operations returned to as normal as possible and we prayed for fuel and fertilizer, but supplies were short and far away. Fuel on the black market climbed to as high as US$20.00 per gallon and our own employees schemed how to steal it from us. Some were caught but how much got away is anyone’s guess. Character is tested in times of opportunity where greed can easily overtake one’s judgment.
Crude roadblocks were regularly encountered at bridges and along roads, with money demanded for passage and threats made along the way. I was always able to get through by talking to the people and made a few friends in the process. We were not there to take their freedom from them but only to be a source of food in a trying and hungry time.
During this time I received a request to meet with a member of the County Council with which we have a lease for our land. He came in demanding a bribe for the new council of around $30,000 and this was summarily rejected. The stupid thing was he did so in writing, and saying that if we did not pay there would be trouble for us. I had seen this sort of thing before so many times but never had taken them seriously.
Violence erupted again after two opposition Members of Parliament were killed. The first murder rekindled the rioting and all hell broke out again. The wife of our Managing Director tried to make it to the airport to send her children off to South Africa but got caught between two violent road blocks and had to spend the day at a police post there. They made a run for the farm that night with two police officers along as escorts. After laying as low as they could while the police fired their weapons out the windows, they made it back without injury.
Upon the death of the second MP from the opposition party, I knew it was time to get out of Kenya, but the sixty miles of roadblocks and rioting between the farm and the Kisumu airport would have been too dangerous for one vehicle. We arranged with the police department in Siaya for five officers armed with automatic weapons, three security guards and two 5 ton trucks for the trip to the airport. We had space for a few Kikuyu refugees who were fleeing their homes in predominately Luo western Kenya. The Dominion Farms van filled with the officers and refugees led the way, I was next with a senior officer and the two trucks brought up the rear. We were traveling as fast as we could go until we hit roadblocks, whereupon the officers bounded from the van to secure the areas, while the drivers and others proceeded to clear the area for passage of the vehicles. We stopped seven times before reaching Luanda. Once the police got out of the van the crowds scattered, and we would resume our journey. In Luanda there was a major traffic problem involving fuel trucks bound for Uganda. The main roads were blocked so a convoy was being formed to try to get through on the back roads. The President of Uganda had been a supporter of President Kibaki, and according to some a co-conspirator in the election rigging, so the opposition was determined to prevent anything from reaching Uganda.
Further down the road at Maseno it was the same scene except there were fires burning on the road, telephone poles pulled down and general mayhem. The greatest challenge became apparent as we approached Kisumu. Shipping containers and burned-out cars and trucks littered the road. Signs, rocks, poles and burning tires blocked the lanes and at one point it did not look like we would make it. Then a remarkable thing happened. The rebels who were stopping everyone saw the Dominion sign on the front of the van and began to clear the way and to lead us through the smoke to the other side. Cheers went up as we passed by and God had surely solved the problem. The police could hardly believe their eyes.
Shortly we were at the airport where two executives from Total Fuel met us to accept a very large check for fuel but admitted to us they did not know when they could deliver it. I got off at the airport and thanked the officers, shook their hands and then they and our driver left to take the Kikuyu to safety. I flew back to Nairobi with a plane loaded with bodies from the war. In all about 1,500 people were killed in the crisis, hundreds of thousands left homeless and 6,000 businesses destroyed. Eventually a peace accord was reached for a coalition government and peace returned. March, April, May, and June were filled with rain and rice could not be planted until July, which pushed our first real production of the year to October. It was a very long period with little revenue. The disturbance cost Dominion around 1 million dollars in destroyed or lost crops in unplanted fields, setting us back once again.
On my next trip back to Kenya the county council made their bribery threat more persuasive. On my first day at the farm one council member attempted to incite the local people to take over our farm. I could not understand his logic, as I had worked hard to entice a major investor to come and invest in the community. He was coming in a few days to check out the opportunities and I was trying to get things ready for him. The crowd grew and the shouting became louder and I was getting mad. It dawned on me that the councilman’s threat was real. The pieces finally fit together in my mind. We had paid an annual ground lease payment of 600,000 Kenya shillings (US$95,000.00) and it had been diverted to a private bank account in Kisumu and was secretly distributed to members of the council. They subsequently realized that the county’s largest source of revenue would be missed and that Dominion had the records to prove it was paid. Because their initial attempt to extort a second payment was rebuffed and because they had issued us a written receipt for the lease payment, they were compelled to finish off Dominion for good, as we had the records to prove their misdeeds. Where was that extortion letter? Soon I was on the television and radio with the evidence and the noise abated. Although we were assured that the councilmen would be prosecuted, nine months later no arrests or charges have been made. While typical, this behavior is a shame as many investors in the world are waiting to see the rule of law routinely and universally applied before considering investment in Africa.
The rural people of Sub-Saharan Africa still live in poverty and despite all of the promises made by world leaders for change, little has improved. Corruption runs so deep and poverty is so widespread that it seems overwhelming, but we have hope that our programs of pooling small acreages for large scale out-grower production will find wide-spread acceptance and success. But while Dominion can show the way, we cannot do it all.
The last few months at the farm have been uneventful as we’ve concentrated on improving our production, advancing our community out-grower program with local smallholders and building the youth camp. The farm is again a peaceful place full of optimism. Our missions to build a sustainable business, to help bring food security to Kenya and to introduce the next generation to a better way of life are unchanged. We continue to avoid the trap of enabling rural people to live in poverty in favor of helping them understand and implement those activities that will lead them out of poverty.
The report of December trip is attached below.
Kenya Trip No. 62
November 28 through Dec. 11, 2008
This trip began the day after Thanksgiving and my flight from Oklahoma City to Chicago was spent sitting beside Larry Jones of Feed the Children. Larry and I have become friends over the past few months and I admire all he is doing across the world. In Kenya Feed the Children feeds 120,000 children every day. He continues to undertake this and so many other good causes in the world, with so many lives depending on the organization in emergencies, disasters, and for feeding the most impoverished people.
In Chicago we met up with Barbara Waterston and after a few minutes of chatting we parted for our flights. I did not sleep very much so arrived in London tired, which made for a great sleep on the next flight to Nairobi. It is always good to be back but it does not take long to remember we are in Africa. Approaching the city center we were met with a pile of scattered rocks in the road trying to make oncoming traffic keep out of one lane. As we passed a man’s crushed body lay in the street as people sailed on by. There was enough concern for someone to scatter some rocks but no action to help the person or remove the body. Our driver was not concerned and explained that eventually the police would have the body collected.
Sunday morning we were met by Ronald Boone and his father. Ronald is our land leveler and our temporary rice crop manager. His father, a retired rice farmer came to visit and was returning home to the US. We said good bye, and the three of us headed for the plane to Kisumu. Ben met us at the airport and we headed for the Disciples of Mercy campus, a project which Ben and Jenny Ochieng built which now includes a school for around 600 kids from the slums, a medical clinic, a church, vocational school, and outreach to the community. This was a special day for the church as their pastor of 12 years was leaving the Church and it was a going away party. The message was great and he and his wife spoke telling his story of recent years. They were both certified teachers and have worked their way up through the various positions of administration, education, planning, and Senior Pastor. As I sat there and listened to them speak I could not help but think about what a good Camp Director team they would be. So experienced in so many aspects of our program; Barbara was squirming all over her seat just feeling that these people would be so good for us. The night before we had prayed that we would find the right people to help us and that Ben and Jenny would be involved; our prayers seamed to be right in front of us. A husband and wife team perhaps made for us.
Lunch was at Ben’s house where we asked questions about the pastor. He had given his resignation only knowing that it was time for them to move on. He did not want to pastor another church, but felt he was to move on to training others and was waiting on God to lead him to the next assignment. Ben and Jenny said they would be perfect for us, and wanted to know if we would like them to approach the pastor about his interest. Obviously we did, and we would wait to see the reply.
The farm looked beautiful as we came over the hill. It had been dry for the past week and new land was being cleared. Ronald is performing the double duty of leveling new fields and managing rice fields as we search for a permanent replacement for our rice crops manager. Due to a brief period without technical talent, we lost a few fields to disease and weeds but salvaged others and the crops generally look good. Thankfully Ronald has picked up the slack, and the new fields are coming on strong. The spray plane is back in action after a bad accident with a large crane (bird) and is working good. Land leveling is about to begin in earnest as the ground dries out from the short rainy season.
Monday began in Steve’s office reviewing the farm operations and the camp situation. The farm is finally coming out of the effects of the civil disturbance related to election violence earlier this year. After lunch we had a staff meeting with department heads and things are progressing well. The attitude is upbeat and they are planning for the future. Ronald, Steve and I then went for a tour of the land under development, and what a change has happened in the seven weeks since I was there! I believe we have now cleared an additional 800 to 1,000 acres of land and I drove and walked where few had dreamed possible. Water from the rainy season is pouring off the land and it is beginning to dry out. To clear the land the grass or papyrus is first cut or knocked down where it is allowed to dry for about a week, after which it is burned - followed by several passes with a disc. It sometimes takes weeks to dry out from the sun and wind before leveling can begin. As we move deeper into the swamp it is more level and will be easier to build fields in. We will hire locals to hand clear the wettest areas and hopefully by the end of January we will be up to perhaps1000 acres of cleared and drying new ground, on top of what we now have. We have allowed hundreds of local people to come into the recently cleared land ahead of us at their risk to plant crops. It has been well received by them and probably 1,000 acres are now in their crops. Their harvests are coordinated with the progress of our land leveling crews.
Jenny called to say that the pastor and wife team is really interested in our camp. They will be here on Wednesday for an interview. We are hopeful!
Tuesday morning began with a fish farming update with Enos and Steve. We are now in our fourth generation of breeding and we are very pleased with the results. Our current fish generation is yielding around 35% meat as opposed to 24% in the wild fish of the area. A yield of 1.0 grams of fish is now grown for every 1.50 grams of food consumed by the fish is fantastic and is a tribute to Enos and his wife’s hard work. It is now time to move from the research lab into commercial-scale operations. Now we just need to find the funds in these troubled financial times to get infrastructure underway. There is a demand for the supply of fingerlings to the locals for their small scale aquaculture operations. We sell some now to the commercial operators for bait to use in Lake Victoria. We may be able to start construction without any electrical power and I will work on the engineering of this system.
Steve and I then went for a tour of the farm and the recently-cleared lands. Ronald came along to show off his new work. What a difference has taken place. Deep into the land we found huge areas if grass fields which were being cut, burned, and plowed. One driver with the curious nickname of Squirrel supervises the work and knows every bit of the land. He knows where it is high ground, low ground, and what is in between. We recently constructed a major drainage ditch and associated dyke across the farm. It was overseen by Doug Conner (our head mechanic and infrastructure engineer) so is now known as “Doug’s Ditch”. This will stop any water from backing up on the developed land during rainy seasons. The area protected now totals around 4,800 acres of land, of which about 800 acres are now ready to be developed and leveled. Squirrel says it will take him 2 months to get the area protected by Doug’s Ditch cleared, but time will tell. Squirrel is a young man who raised himself after his parents died and nobody would have him after about age 12. He taught himself English and now is one of our best workers and drivers. He can not thank us enough for giving him a chance and we appreciate his good attitude. We will continue to press on and plant everything we can before the long rains come in April. The rice mill looks good and the installation of the second line is complete except for the electrical installations which will not be completed until we get all of the switch gear and wire from the containers in transit from the US.
Our hanger is finally being built and the roof should be on in a couple of weeks. At least the plane will be protected in the worst of storms. Chicken coops are about finished for the first 1000 chickens and the chicks are now 30 days old. Of the 1021 chicks purchased, we now have 1018 good looking birds. Egg production will begin in a month.
Finally we had a meeting with the Siaya county council. Same story, they are out of funds and looking for how Dominion can support them. They left empty handed but are always seeking new ways to get funds from us. Part of the process of change is to have the local government bodies understand how proper business relations exist within the bounds of contracts and agreements. Over time an understanding is being established within the framework of the documents, and that is good.
Thursday morning, all morning, was spent building and going over budgets for next year. In the afternoon, Chris and Florence arrived with Ben and Jenny for a long job interview. They are definitely interested in operating the Camp and have great qualifications, but this is a matter for much prayer and consideration. They can clearly do the job. The evening was spent at Steve’s home with the other managers for snacks, which ended up being enough for a meal. I was tired and left a little earlier than the rest for a good night’s sleep.
Thursday morning Austin was at the farm to discuss the-out grower program and our progress with the community. He has many people ready to get on board with the program and we need expand our search no further. We will concentrate on around 2500 acres of jatropha and amaranth grain. The cotton program we earlier proposed is dead as the Government decreed the price of raw cotton to be 30ksh per Kg, which would result in a loss on each Kg purchased, as the world price of cotton has fallen around 40% in the past few weeks.
Our fish food growing area will include the planting of banana trees to shade the duckweed from excessive sunlight. This will ultimately result in about 1000 acres of bananas when we are complete, yielding up to 100,000 bananas each day. I hope the campers like bananas and there is a great market for them in Kisumu since most are imported from Uganda.
The afternoon began with discussions about the Kenya Youth Camp. Much has changed here. The foundation that has funded most of the camp’s Phase I construction costs has elected to concentrate on its existing camp projects in the US. Dominion Farms is grateful for the extraordinary contribution the Eagle Sky Foundation has made to the project and the company is committed to pay for the necessary costs for its completion and operation. Phase I will contain 1000 beds, requiring some redesign of the project, now underway. This training camp will have tremendous impact on thousands of young lives. It will train the next generation to become self sufficient, responsible people. It will be operated by Dominion Children’s Foundation (a 501C3 not-for-profit US corporation) with help from contributions of money and in-kind work from those who will help transform the lives of the next generation. We plan to be in full operation by January of 2010 and run at least ten 3-week sessions annually, touching the lives of ten thousand young Kenyans each year. The camp will emphasize body, mind, and spirit and will include the following vocational training venues:
1. Dairy operations (for which Feed the Children has graciously donated the seed capitol to make this happen)
2. Poultry operations (we already have 1000 chickens and will expand to 15,000 chickens).
3. Gardening and farming which will include up to 150 acres in a variety of crops. Farm training will include courses in rice, amaranth grain, sorghum, sugar cane, vegetables and other crops.
4. Fish Farming and fish food crops and feed production.
5. Fish processing for which a local processing plant has agreed to assist.
6. Baking which a local bakery has agreed to assist.
7. Sewing operations where we need donations of equipment and expertise
8. Hair dressing and make-up application to help build self-esteem and develop job skills
9. Cooking and food preparation which will be taught in the camp kitchen.
10. Equipment maintenance for both camp and farm equipment.
11. Carpentry for making of furniture, cabinets, and construction purposes.
12. Paper, mattress, and craft making for camp purposes and for sale to the local markets.
13. Building maintenance with emphasis on preventive procedures.
14. Building construction of new buildings, roads, and infrastructure.
15. Bio-digester construction and operation for sanitary disposal of waste products and energy production from same.
16. Soap making from bio-diesel waste products.
17. Landscape installation and maintenance for farm and camp facilities
18. Bio diesel crops and production from jatropha, castor, fish oil and various other products including the transesterfication of these products.
19. Computer and communications skills for the modern world.
20. Water and waste water treatment programs utilizing the camp facilities as training facilities.
These programs will be supported by Oklahoma State University and Oral Roberts University from their schools of Agriculture, Veterinary, Business, Communications, and various other disciplines. Both schools hope to have international degrees for which credit will be given for time spent on our farm and working in the camp and community settings. Many training venues will be integrated into the farm operations and be as self-supporting as possible. To reduce the net cost of operations as much as possible, most courses will produce items for sale to the public through retail distribution centers now being established by Dominion Farms. The sales proceeds from this practical vocational training will offset costs to the camp, making it possible to operate with less dependence on donations
The camp will emphasize training in health-related issues including HIV/Aids education and prevention, much needed in an area of 30% infection rates for the general population. For many of those attending this will be their first experience with using a toilet or a shower, or even turning on a light switch. Treated running water will be a new experience for most. The HIV/AIDS problem will be tackled head-on with a no holds barred approach to the problem. Abstinence will be the emphasis for the program along with other prevention methods. A Godly emphasis will be placed on the sanctity of life and international organizations will be involved in the support and delivery of this program.
The spiritual portion of the camp will be done in conjunction with the local churches, including all denominations. Hopefully each of the youth attending will leave with a firm foundation in their relationship to God and a strong moral base with which to move forward in life.
Dominion Children’s Foundation will be looking for more outside partners to assist us in the planning, development and operation of this project and will appreciate any help offered.
This foundation has been offered a long term leasehold interest in 800 acres of land near Guthrie, Oklahoma to construct and operate a training center for Americans who will be deployed to mission and community development assignments in emerging countries. It will be leased by Jones International Ministries (Feed the Children) to Dominion Children’s Foundation for the purpose of preparing people to function efficiently in the developing world. It will be operated by the foundation in conjunction with Oklahoma State University and ORU. The program will prepare graduates to meet the challenges facing them in isolated rural villages that lack the conveniences and support common to Americans. The center will feature housing with no electricity, running water, indoor toilets, and modern communications, allowing students to gain confidence in their ability to be self-reliant in primitive settings. Many of the same courses to be developed for the Kenya Youth Camp will be included in the program. Dairy, gardening, poultry, bio-fuel, bio-digesters, cooking, equipment maintenance, and construction will all be part of the daily life at the facility. To equip this facility we will need used equipment including tractors, disc, trucks, trailers, etc. as well as animal handling equipment. Here it will actually be beneficial for items of equipment to break down – so we can train students how to deal with such contingencies and to rely on the resources at hand. If the students do well here, they will thrive in the developing world. More about this will be announced in the near future.
On both Friday and Saturday, Barbara was on the road checking on many of the schoolchildren that are supported by Dominion Children’s Foundation in the Siaya and Bondo areas. She visited as many of their homes as possible to ascertain living conditions and visited with teachers about their performance in school. All but one is orphaned- unable to provide for their school fees and physical needs. Living in mud huts with relatives or friends, these kids simply need a helping hand to get them through a tough period of their lives, and Dominion provides tuition scholarships, supplies and uniforms to as many as we can. Much more is needed, however, as young parents continue to die from the ravages of HIV/AIDS and malaria. As a former teacher, Barbara is a natural at getting to the core issues with each child and evaluating their needs and aspirations.
On Friday morning bright and early, Steve and I were off to Nairobi for several meetings. First was with a foundation interested in supporting our efforts to develop our fish farm quicker than otherwise possible. They want to put emphasis on the outreach of their supported programs to the local communities which we will be doing by creating out-grower programs whereby local farmers will supply materials for making fish feed and we will in turn supply budding fish farmers with fingerlings and aquaculture technology. We will be doing this through both the camp and specialized training for the community farmers. We do not know if the grant will be approved but are hopeful.
Next we met with Teresa, a young lady from near our farm who is an aspiring model. She would like to represent Dominion as the face of our Prime Harvest brand rice. Teresa is around 6 ft 4 inches tall and has a commanding presence about her. Soon the conversation came around to the camp and she volunteered to get involved with our hair dressing and make-up programs for the girls. It just seems that everyone has a heart to help the impoverished kids of Kenya.
The final meeting was with the largest engineering firm in Kenya to explain the structural steel system and roofing systems we have imported into the country. I believe the entire engineering staff was present as I explained the benefit of the systems we are now able to manufacturer. I am hopeful this can work out as a great system and provide continued support for the camp. There was great interest. By 9:00 we were back at the farm.
Saturday morning we finalized our 2009 farm budget – the first year in which revenue will exceed expenses (assuming that the rains don’t come to hard and that there will be no civil disruptions or other events that could occur only in Africa). Saturday afternoon was time to meet with the community of Bar Olengo located about 6 KM (4 miles) from our office. They had been calling several times a day for a week. When I got there a group of elders had gathered and wanted to make sure I had not forgotten them. They have gathered over 2000 acres together to be part of our jatropha bio-fuel project. I assured them the program was on the way, with the best of hybrid seeds coming next year from the top research university in India. These new varieties yield fruit in just 8 months as compared to 3 years from the old varieties, so they are well worth waiting for. Their major concern now was for snake bites when they cleared the land. I assured them we always have anti-venom on hand, and it is administered free of charge to anyone who needs it. At $150.00 per dose this stuff is not cheap but we have saved around 15 lives in the past two years. Cobras, black mambas’, green mambas’, puff adders, and pythons make for tough neighbors, but somehow these people have learned to live among them with. The community wants to build the chairs and tables for the camp and will provide samples of their product when I return in a few weeks. This contract will provide work for many. I would rather pay for primitive but sturdy wooden chairs and tables ($10,000.00 +-) than plastic ones made in China. I really hope this works out and helps build an industry. This meeting gave me a chance to just sit and talk one-on-one with the men of the area who really loosened up to speak about their situations and relationships with their wives and children. I hope I had an influence.
Sunday was spent at the farm reinforcing relationships with the farm managers outside of the work settings. I helped clear and burn off the land for the fish farm, and did some re-design work for the project to enable an earlier start. One of our local rice retailers came by to thank us for giving him a chance and trying to figure out how to be more involved. He is a fine young man who once protested our farm but now has a business selling our rice and providing support for his family and community.
Doug Connor and Dan Yenner (our crop duster pilot) had dinner with us that night and then we needed to get packed for a 6:00 AM departure on Monday morning. It was lots of fun, and good food.
Monday in Nairobi Steve and I met with the leaders of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN) to describe the community farm program we have been expounding. A few weeks back in Washington, DC I met with Jacque Douff, Director General of FAO, and he loved the idea. He has been expounding a similar idea as the solution to poverty for the subcontinent for some time now but has been unable to get such a program underway. He stated that FAO would soundly support our program and this was the beginning of the process. It was a great meeting, with knowledgeable people and enthusiastic support. An hour later we were in the office of the Minister for Regional Development, Hon. Fred Gumo. For months now he has known of our community farm program and now believes we may actually be able to get it done. When we first described it to him, he responded that it would solve the problems of Africa if only it could be done, but thought it would be too tough to accomplish. He now is a great supporter, and we will get the prototypes underway soon. While Steve and I were in meetings Barbara spent the day a Nakumatt, a store comparable to a Super Wal-Mart in the US. There she obtained prices for about everything which will be needed at the camp, encompassing 15 pages of items. The final meeting was with a freelance writer from the US doing stories on the Church in Africa who wanted an interview from us. At 11:30 the plane left for London and I slept for the first 6 hours of the trip.
Arriving at 5:20 in the morning we were picked up by Vitalis Ndeda and his wife Tanya, and commenced a whirlwind of events over the next few days. The first part of the day was regarding truck parts and interviewing carbon credit firms, with the evening being a reception at KPMG regarding the Millennium Initiative of the Earth Institute and the United Nations. Leaders from all over Africa and the developed world were there and new acquaintances were made. We made it back to the hotel by midnight, after riding the tube, trains, and walking a series of places. It was cold and we really did not have the right clothes for the weather.
Wednesday was an all-day conference to encourage African investment, and 6 countries were represented. Some were hopeless in their quest to hide their problems and ignite a spark of interest. In the Kenya presentation there were 2 businesses represented, one being Dominion. When I told our story the mood of the audience seemed to change from one of despair to hope. Everyone appeared to admire the Dominion plan and from there forward everyone used Dominion as an example. Many requests for business cards and appointments and any officials of organizations like the UN and UNIDO wanted to know more. The Millennium brochures were full of pictures of our farm to show a success story in the area. When the questions came I addressed corruption for the blight that it is and the crowd applauded while some government officials cringed. One new direction of the Millennium organization will be to act as an intermediary between business and Governments where corruption is getting in the way. This could be a major breakthrough for investors.
After explaining the training centers in Kenya and in Oklahoma the leaders began to realize that Dominion’s integrated plan may be the most pragmatic, effective and achievable approach to poverty reduction that has yet been advanced. Some of our harshest critics were also present but after a few hours began the process of coming forward to make peace, explaining they really had no idea of what we were really doing in Kenya. Before the day was over the strongest of them had become a friend and had offered his help. A freelance writer for several papers asked for an interview and I agreed to do so on Thursday evening.
Thursday was a slow day and Barbara and I got in a little Christmas shopping and a lot of work on documents before going to the home of Vitalis and Tanya for dinner. After dinner the reporters came by for an interview. They were amazed with what has been accomplished and could not understand why we have stayed through such trying times of corruption, war, and difficulties. By 11:30 PM we were on the road towards Heathrow Airport and a few hours sleep before leaving for home. We left through Terminal 5, which is a new $1.5 billion facility. With all of the recent bailouts of the financial industry, it put that amount of money into perspective.
Kenya is improving and there is high hope for Africa, but it will take time. We have been at this for 8 years now and have had the land for over 5 years. We never thought it would be so hard or take so long. But this is Africa and it will still be Africa tomorrow, so patience is in order and perhaps always will be.
The past 12 months in Kenya have brought war, crop failures, torrential rain and local unrest to Dominion, but with the help of God we have overcome them all.
May God shed his light and his blessing on the people of Africa so they may learn to live and prosper, held securely in his hand.
The year 2009 is set to be a great year full of challenges and we cannot wait.
Dominion Farms Ltd.
The year 2007 ended with a presidential election and high hopes by the people of Kenya for meaningful change. Previous terms had been marked by unfulfilled promises, political strife, corruption and lost hope, but the Kenyan people labored on in their poverty with the hope of change from this election. New political parties were energized by the fast-paced nomination process and emotions ran high. Voter turnout was tremendous with much fanfare and expectation on all sides. Millions lined up to mark their paper ballots on the 27th day of December – the majority confident that their opposition candidate would soon be their new president.
The count was slow and tedious for a couple of days and international poll observers were present. Suddenly the Election Commission ordered the observers to leave. The incumbent President was declared the winner and was sworn into office within an hour of the announcement. Irregularities appeared everywhere and the opposition cried foul, with almost universal support from around the world. That the election had been stolen was obvious to everyone.
All hell broke loose. Gangs of youth were encouraged by political operatives on both sides to loot and burn the properties of members of the other party. Then the violence escalated from political activism to ancient tribalism. Tribalism has remained a festering problem in Kenya with tribal rivalries going back for centuries. Upon independence from Britain in 1963 the method of warfare turned to politics and old emotions had been repressed for 45 years. But the political process had failed the majority of voters and those old animosities surfaced again. People were hacked to death simply because of their tribal affiliation – often by their neighbors. Refugee camps sprang up for those fleeing their homes and swelled to over 500,000.
For weeks the country was shut down. The worst atrocities were in the Kisumu area south of Dominion Farms. The city was on fire and nobody seemed to really care. Where was reason? Where was compassion? Where was the heart of God in his people? How could a people destroy their own workplaces and homes? The cry was for justice but few were listening. As video of the destruction flashed across the TV screens of the world, attention began to build and mediators began to arrive. Weeks of negotiation would take place with dignitaries such as Kofi Annan and Secretary Rice, but progress was slow. The killing and burning continued. In some places ethnic minorities fled to churches to be burned alive inside by rival tribal members. Scores long unsettled were brought to the forefront and justice was dispensed on the spot. Traffic to the western part of the country was cut off by gangs of thugs on the roads. No food or support could get through. The railway lines were torn up and the airports were closed.
In the midst of this our farm still had to operate. We were just beginning to recover from the flood of 2007, with most of our dikes back in operation and our irrigation systems repaired. Now this tragedy. Our farm shut down on Dec. 20th for the elections and for Christmas, with senior staff scheduled to return on Jan. 3rd. That became impossible. Our Managing Director was in South Africa; our rice manager was in the US along with our director of maintenance. The rice mill operator and the field manager were both Kikuyu men and would have been killed if they returned. Only a skeleton crew of mechanics remained near the farm. Crops needed attending with nobody to do the work and none of the skilled people there to help. We were precariously low on fuel and were out of fertilizer and herbicides.
Emergency plans were made to stretch everything as far as possible and use the staff we had. Over the phone from 8,000 miles away the American managers and I had to explain how to operate the combines, how to run the mill, and how to plant a crop. We allocated fuel to the milling operation as priority #1 so food would be available for the local people and we opened an outlet for them to buy it directly. This was a life saver for many near the farm. Food prices had tripled but we sold for less than the supermarkets had charged prior to the election. These are our neighbors and they needed our help. The weather was good and dry but we had no fuel to develop new fields or even replant those harvested, so hundreds of acres sat idle.
Finally the airports opened back up for incoming flights and I was on the first plane going into Nairobi. Steve got back and most others filtered in, but not the Kikuyu employees. Most departments had no leadership and only a handful of workers in each, but work had to get done. When I arrived in Nairobi I met with the US Embassy but they were still trying to figure out what to do. The business community had big meetings to find a solution but nothing seemed viable and dire predictions abounded. Finally I made it to Kisumu and then on to the farm during a lull in the fighting. It was good to be back but a strange mood persisted. The strain was visible on every face and there was a feeling of hopelessness and anger - with no solution in sight.
I met with the church leadership of Nyanza Province who were just wringing their hands as their towns went up in smoke. They sang of how great it was to be in the Army of the Lord, and how they would rather die in the Army of the Lord than anything else. They spoke of the scripture which states, “Who can defy the army of the living God” and I challenged them with “who can find the army of the Living God.” They had told all of their people to remain hunkered down in their houses while children were destroying their cities. In Kisumu a group of churches representing over 100,000 members was held hostage by as few as 100 unruly youths. Very sad. The churches of the world today (not just in Africa) have lost much of their power and authority and have become wimps in the eyes of many. They say they will not let it happen again?
The farm operations returned to as normal as possible and we prayed for fuel and fertilizer, but supplies were short and far away. Fuel on the black market climbed to as high as US$20.00 per gallon and our own employees schemed how to steal it from us. Some were caught but how much got away is anyone’s guess. Character is tested in times of opportunity where greed can easily overtake one’s judgment.
Crude roadblocks were regularly encountered at bridges and along roads, with money demanded for passage and threats made along the way. I was always able to get through by talking to the people and made a few friends in the process. We were not there to take their freedom from them but only to be a source of food in a trying and hungry time.
During this time I received a request to meet with a member of the County Council with which we have a lease for our land. He came in demanding a bribe for the new council of around $30,000 and this was summarily rejected. The stupid thing was he did so in writing, and saying that if we did not pay there would be trouble for us. I had seen this sort of thing before so many times but never had taken them seriously.
Violence erupted again after two opposition Members of Parliament were killed. The first murder rekindled the rioting and all hell broke out again. The wife of our Managing Director tried to make it to the airport to send her children off to South Africa but got caught between two violent road blocks and had to spend the day at a police post there. They made a run for the farm that night with two police officers along as escorts. After laying as low as they could while the police fired their weapons out the windows, they made it back without injury.
Upon the death of the second MP from the opposition party, I knew it was time to get out of Kenya, but the sixty miles of roadblocks and rioting between the farm and the Kisumu airport would have been too dangerous for one vehicle. We arranged with the police department in Siaya for five officers armed with automatic weapons, three security guards and two 5 ton trucks for the trip to the airport. We had space for a few Kikuyu refugees who were fleeing their homes in predominately Luo western Kenya. The Dominion Farms van filled with the officers and refugees led the way, I was next with a senior officer and the two trucks brought up the rear. We were traveling as fast as we could go until we hit roadblocks, whereupon the officers bounded from the van to secure the areas, while the drivers and others proceeded to clear the area for passage of the vehicles. We stopped seven times before reaching Luanda. Once the police got out of the van the crowds scattered, and we would resume our journey. In Luanda there was a major traffic problem involving fuel trucks bound for Uganda. The main roads were blocked so a convoy was being formed to try to get through on the back roads. The President of Uganda had been a supporter of President Kibaki, and according to some a co-conspirator in the election rigging, so the opposition was determined to prevent anything from reaching Uganda.
Further down the road at Maseno it was the same scene except there were fires burning on the road, telephone poles pulled down and general mayhem. The greatest challenge became apparent as we approached Kisumu. Shipping containers and burned-out cars and trucks littered the road. Signs, rocks, poles and burning tires blocked the lanes and at one point it did not look like we would make it. Then a remarkable thing happened. The rebels who were stopping everyone saw the Dominion sign on the front of the van and began to clear the way and to lead us through the smoke to the other side. Cheers went up as we passed by and God had surely solved the problem. The police could hardly believe their eyes.
Shortly we were at the airport where two executives from Total Fuel met us to accept a very large check for fuel but admitted to us they did not know when they could deliver it. I got off at the airport and thanked the officers, shook their hands and then they and our driver left to take the Kikuyu to safety. I flew back to Nairobi with a plane loaded with bodies from the war. In all about 1,500 people were killed in the crisis, hundreds of thousands left homeless and 6,000 businesses destroyed. Eventually a peace accord was reached for a coalition government and peace returned. March, April, May, and June were filled with rain and rice could not be planted until July, which pushed our first real production of the year to October. It was a very long period with little revenue. The disturbance cost Dominion around 1 million dollars in destroyed or lost crops in unplanted fields, setting us back once again.
On my next trip back to Kenya the county council made their bribery threat more persuasive. On my first day at the farm one council member attempted to incite the local people to take over our farm. I could not understand his logic, as I had worked hard to entice a major investor to come and invest in the community. He was coming in a few days to check out the opportunities and I was trying to get things ready for him. The crowd grew and the shouting became louder and I was getting mad. It dawned on me that the councilman’s threat was real. The pieces finally fit together in my mind. We had paid an annual ground lease payment of 600,000 Kenya shillings (US$95,000.00) and it had been diverted to a private bank account in Kisumu and was secretly distributed to members of the council. They subsequently realized that the county’s largest source of revenue would be missed and that Dominion had the records to prove it was paid. Because their initial attempt to extort a second payment was rebuffed and because they had issued us a written receipt for the lease payment, they were compelled to finish off Dominion for good, as we had the records to prove their misdeeds. Where was that extortion letter? Soon I was on the television and radio with the evidence and the noise abated. Although we were assured that the councilmen would be prosecuted, nine months later no arrests or charges have been made. While typical, this behavior is a shame as many investors in the world are waiting to see the rule of law routinely and universally applied before considering investment in Africa.
The rural people of Sub-Saharan Africa still live in poverty and despite all of the promises made by world leaders for change, little has improved. Corruption runs so deep and poverty is so widespread that it seems overwhelming, but we have hope that our programs of pooling small acreages for large scale out-grower production will find wide-spread acceptance and success. But while Dominion can show the way, we cannot do it all.
The last few months at the farm have been uneventful as we’ve concentrated on improving our production, advancing our community out-grower program with local smallholders and building the youth camp. The farm is again a peaceful place full of optimism. Our missions to build a sustainable business, to help bring food security to Kenya and to introduce the next generation to a better way of life are unchanged. We continue to avoid the trap of enabling rural people to live in poverty in favor of helping them understand and implement those activities that will lead them out of poverty.
The report of December trip is attached below.
Kenya Trip No. 62
November 28 through Dec. 11, 2008
This trip began the day after Thanksgiving and my flight from Oklahoma City to Chicago was spent sitting beside Larry Jones of Feed the Children. Larry and I have become friends over the past few months and I admire all he is doing across the world. In Kenya Feed the Children feeds 120,000 children every day. He continues to undertake this and so many other good causes in the world, with so many lives depending on the organization in emergencies, disasters, and for feeding the most impoverished people.
In Chicago we met up with Barbara Waterston and after a few minutes of chatting we parted for our flights. I did not sleep very much so arrived in London tired, which made for a great sleep on the next flight to Nairobi. It is always good to be back but it does not take long to remember we are in Africa. Approaching the city center we were met with a pile of scattered rocks in the road trying to make oncoming traffic keep out of one lane. As we passed a man’s crushed body lay in the street as people sailed on by. There was enough concern for someone to scatter some rocks but no action to help the person or remove the body. Our driver was not concerned and explained that eventually the police would have the body collected.
Sunday morning we were met by Ronald Boone and his father. Ronald is our land leveler and our temporary rice crop manager. His father, a retired rice farmer came to visit and was returning home to the US. We said good bye, and the three of us headed for the plane to Kisumu. Ben met us at the airport and we headed for the Disciples of Mercy campus, a project which Ben and Jenny Ochieng built which now includes a school for around 600 kids from the slums, a medical clinic, a church, vocational school, and outreach to the community. This was a special day for the church as their pastor of 12 years was leaving the Church and it was a going away party. The message was great and he and his wife spoke telling his story of recent years. They were both certified teachers and have worked their way up through the various positions of administration, education, planning, and Senior Pastor. As I sat there and listened to them speak I could not help but think about what a good Camp Director team they would be. So experienced in so many aspects of our program; Barbara was squirming all over her seat just feeling that these people would be so good for us. The night before we had prayed that we would find the right people to help us and that Ben and Jenny would be involved; our prayers seamed to be right in front of us. A husband and wife team perhaps made for us.
Lunch was at Ben’s house where we asked questions about the pastor. He had given his resignation only knowing that it was time for them to move on. He did not want to pastor another church, but felt he was to move on to training others and was waiting on God to lead him to the next assignment. Ben and Jenny said they would be perfect for us, and wanted to know if we would like them to approach the pastor about his interest. Obviously we did, and we would wait to see the reply.
The farm looked beautiful as we came over the hill. It had been dry for the past week and new land was being cleared. Ronald is performing the double duty of leveling new fields and managing rice fields as we search for a permanent replacement for our rice crops manager. Due to a brief period without technical talent, we lost a few fields to disease and weeds but salvaged others and the crops generally look good. Thankfully Ronald has picked up the slack, and the new fields are coming on strong. The spray plane is back in action after a bad accident with a large crane (bird) and is working good. Land leveling is about to begin in earnest as the ground dries out from the short rainy season.
Monday began in Steve’s office reviewing the farm operations and the camp situation. The farm is finally coming out of the effects of the civil disturbance related to election violence earlier this year. After lunch we had a staff meeting with department heads and things are progressing well. The attitude is upbeat and they are planning for the future. Ronald, Steve and I then went for a tour of the land under development, and what a change has happened in the seven weeks since I was there! I believe we have now cleared an additional 800 to 1,000 acres of land and I drove and walked where few had dreamed possible. Water from the rainy season is pouring off the land and it is beginning to dry out. To clear the land the grass or papyrus is first cut or knocked down where it is allowed to dry for about a week, after which it is burned - followed by several passes with a disc. It sometimes takes weeks to dry out from the sun and wind before leveling can begin. As we move deeper into the swamp it is more level and will be easier to build fields in. We will hire locals to hand clear the wettest areas and hopefully by the end of January we will be up to perhaps1000 acres of cleared and drying new ground, on top of what we now have. We have allowed hundreds of local people to come into the recently cleared land ahead of us at their risk to plant crops. It has been well received by them and probably 1,000 acres are now in their crops. Their harvests are coordinated with the progress of our land leveling crews.
Jenny called to say that the pastor and wife team is really interested in our camp. They will be here on Wednesday for an interview. We are hopeful!
Tuesday morning began with a fish farming update with Enos and Steve. We are now in our fourth generation of breeding and we are very pleased with the results. Our current fish generation is yielding around 35% meat as opposed to 24% in the wild fish of the area. A yield of 1.0 grams of fish is now grown for every 1.50 grams of food consumed by the fish is fantastic and is a tribute to Enos and his wife’s hard work. It is now time to move from the research lab into commercial-scale operations. Now we just need to find the funds in these troubled financial times to get infrastructure underway. There is a demand for the supply of fingerlings to the locals for their small scale aquaculture operations. We sell some now to the commercial operators for bait to use in Lake Victoria. We may be able to start construction without any electrical power and I will work on the engineering of this system.
Steve and I then went for a tour of the farm and the recently-cleared lands. Ronald came along to show off his new work. What a difference has taken place. Deep into the land we found huge areas if grass fields which were being cut, burned, and plowed. One driver with the curious nickname of Squirrel supervises the work and knows every bit of the land. He knows where it is high ground, low ground, and what is in between. We recently constructed a major drainage ditch and associated dyke across the farm. It was overseen by Doug Conner (our head mechanic and infrastructure engineer) so is now known as “Doug’s Ditch”. This will stop any water from backing up on the developed land during rainy seasons. The area protected now totals around 4,800 acres of land, of which about 800 acres are now ready to be developed and leveled. Squirrel says it will take him 2 months to get the area protected by Doug’s Ditch cleared, but time will tell. Squirrel is a young man who raised himself after his parents died and nobody would have him after about age 12. He taught himself English and now is one of our best workers and drivers. He can not thank us enough for giving him a chance and we appreciate his good attitude. We will continue to press on and plant everything we can before the long rains come in April. The rice mill looks good and the installation of the second line is complete except for the electrical installations which will not be completed until we get all of the switch gear and wire from the containers in transit from the US.
Our hanger is finally being built and the roof should be on in a couple of weeks. At least the plane will be protected in the worst of storms. Chicken coops are about finished for the first 1000 chickens and the chicks are now 30 days old. Of the 1021 chicks purchased, we now have 1018 good looking birds. Egg production will begin in a month.
Finally we had a meeting with the Siaya county council. Same story, they are out of funds and looking for how Dominion can support them. They left empty handed but are always seeking new ways to get funds from us. Part of the process of change is to have the local government bodies understand how proper business relations exist within the bounds of contracts and agreements. Over time an understanding is being established within the framework of the documents, and that is good.
Thursday morning, all morning, was spent building and going over budgets for next year. In the afternoon, Chris and Florence arrived with Ben and Jenny for a long job interview. They are definitely interested in operating the Camp and have great qualifications, but this is a matter for much prayer and consideration. They can clearly do the job. The evening was spent at Steve’s home with the other managers for snacks, which ended up being enough for a meal. I was tired and left a little earlier than the rest for a good night’s sleep.
Thursday morning Austin was at the farm to discuss the-out grower program and our progress with the community. He has many people ready to get on board with the program and we need expand our search no further. We will concentrate on around 2500 acres of jatropha and amaranth grain. The cotton program we earlier proposed is dead as the Government decreed the price of raw cotton to be 30ksh per Kg, which would result in a loss on each Kg purchased, as the world price of cotton has fallen around 40% in the past few weeks.
Our fish food growing area will include the planting of banana trees to shade the duckweed from excessive sunlight. This will ultimately result in about 1000 acres of bananas when we are complete, yielding up to 100,000 bananas each day. I hope the campers like bananas and there is a great market for them in Kisumu since most are imported from Uganda.
The afternoon began with discussions about the Kenya Youth Camp. Much has changed here. The foundation that has funded most of the camp’s Phase I construction costs has elected to concentrate on its existing camp projects in the US. Dominion Farms is grateful for the extraordinary contribution the Eagle Sky Foundation has made to the project and the company is committed to pay for the necessary costs for its completion and operation. Phase I will contain 1000 beds, requiring some redesign of the project, now underway. This training camp will have tremendous impact on thousands of young lives. It will train the next generation to become self sufficient, responsible people. It will be operated by Dominion Children’s Foundation (a 501C3 not-for-profit US corporation) with help from contributions of money and in-kind work from those who will help transform the lives of the next generation. We plan to be in full operation by January of 2010 and run at least ten 3-week sessions annually, touching the lives of ten thousand young Kenyans each year. The camp will emphasize body, mind, and spirit and will include the following vocational training venues:
1. Dairy operations (for which Feed the Children has graciously donated the seed capitol to make this happen)
2. Poultry operations (we already have 1000 chickens and will expand to 15,000 chickens).
3. Gardening and farming which will include up to 150 acres in a variety of crops. Farm training will include courses in rice, amaranth grain, sorghum, sugar cane, vegetables and other crops.
4. Fish Farming and fish food crops and feed production.
5. Fish processing for which a local processing plant has agreed to assist.
6. Baking which a local bakery has agreed to assist.
7. Sewing operations where we need donations of equipment and expertise
8. Hair dressing and make-up application to help build self-esteem and develop job skills
9. Cooking and food preparation which will be taught in the camp kitchen.
10. Equipment maintenance for both camp and farm equipment.
11. Carpentry for making of furniture, cabinets, and construction purposes.
12. Paper, mattress, and craft making for camp purposes and for sale to the local markets.
13. Building maintenance with emphasis on preventive procedures.
14. Building construction of new buildings, roads, and infrastructure.
15. Bio-digester construction and operation for sanitary disposal of waste products and energy production from same.
16. Soap making from bio-diesel waste products.
17. Landscape installation and maintenance for farm and camp facilities
18. Bio diesel crops and production from jatropha, castor, fish oil and various other products including the transesterfication of these products.
19. Computer and communications skills for the modern world.
20. Water and waste water treatment programs utilizing the camp facilities as training facilities.
These programs will be supported by Oklahoma State University and Oral Roberts University from their schools of Agriculture, Veterinary, Business, Communications, and various other disciplines. Both schools hope to have international degrees for which credit will be given for time spent on our farm and working in the camp and community settings. Many training venues will be integrated into the farm operations and be as self-supporting as possible. To reduce the net cost of operations as much as possible, most courses will produce items for sale to the public through retail distribution centers now being established by Dominion Farms. The sales proceeds from this practical vocational training will offset costs to the camp, making it possible to operate with less dependence on donations
The camp will emphasize training in health-related issues including HIV/Aids education and prevention, much needed in an area of 30% infection rates for the general population. For many of those attending this will be their first experience with using a toilet or a shower, or even turning on a light switch. Treated running water will be a new experience for most. The HIV/AIDS problem will be tackled head-on with a no holds barred approach to the problem. Abstinence will be the emphasis for the program along with other prevention methods. A Godly emphasis will be placed on the sanctity of life and international organizations will be involved in the support and delivery of this program.
The spiritual portion of the camp will be done in conjunction with the local churches, including all denominations. Hopefully each of the youth attending will leave with a firm foundation in their relationship to God and a strong moral base with which to move forward in life.
Dominion Children’s Foundation will be looking for more outside partners to assist us in the planning, development and operation of this project and will appreciate any help offered.
This foundation has been offered a long term leasehold interest in 800 acres of land near Guthrie, Oklahoma to construct and operate a training center for Americans who will be deployed to mission and community development assignments in emerging countries. It will be leased by Jones International Ministries (Feed the Children) to Dominion Children’s Foundation for the purpose of preparing people to function efficiently in the developing world. It will be operated by the foundation in conjunction with Oklahoma State University and ORU. The program will prepare graduates to meet the challenges facing them in isolated rural villages that lack the conveniences and support common to Americans. The center will feature housing with no electricity, running water, indoor toilets, and modern communications, allowing students to gain confidence in their ability to be self-reliant in primitive settings. Many of the same courses to be developed for the Kenya Youth Camp will be included in the program. Dairy, gardening, poultry, bio-fuel, bio-digesters, cooking, equipment maintenance, and construction will all be part of the daily life at the facility. To equip this facility we will need used equipment including tractors, disc, trucks, trailers, etc. as well as animal handling equipment. Here it will actually be beneficial for items of equipment to break down – so we can train students how to deal with such contingencies and to rely on the resources at hand. If the students do well here, they will thrive in the developing world. More about this will be announced in the near future.
On both Friday and Saturday, Barbara was on the road checking on many of the schoolchildren that are supported by Dominion Children’s Foundation in the Siaya and Bondo areas. She visited as many of their homes as possible to ascertain living conditions and visited with teachers about their performance in school. All but one is orphaned- unable to provide for their school fees and physical needs. Living in mud huts with relatives or friends, these kids simply need a helping hand to get them through a tough period of their lives, and Dominion provides tuition scholarships, supplies and uniforms to as many as we can. Much more is needed, however, as young parents continue to die from the ravages of HIV/AIDS and malaria. As a former teacher, Barbara is a natural at getting to the core issues with each child and evaluating their needs and aspirations.
On Friday morning bright and early, Steve and I were off to Nairobi for several meetings. First was with a foundation interested in supporting our efforts to develop our fish farm quicker than otherwise possible. They want to put emphasis on the outreach of their supported programs to the local communities which we will be doing by creating out-grower programs whereby local farmers will supply materials for making fish feed and we will in turn supply budding fish farmers with fingerlings and aquaculture technology. We will be doing this through both the camp and specialized training for the community farmers. We do not know if the grant will be approved but are hopeful.
Next we met with Teresa, a young lady from near our farm who is an aspiring model. She would like to represent Dominion as the face of our Prime Harvest brand rice. Teresa is around 6 ft 4 inches tall and has a commanding presence about her. Soon the conversation came around to the camp and she volunteered to get involved with our hair dressing and make-up programs for the girls. It just seems that everyone has a heart to help the impoverished kids of Kenya.
The final meeting was with the largest engineering firm in Kenya to explain the structural steel system and roofing systems we have imported into the country. I believe the entire engineering staff was present as I explained the benefit of the systems we are now able to manufacturer. I am hopeful this can work out as a great system and provide continued support for the camp. There was great interest. By 9:00 we were back at the farm.
Saturday morning we finalized our 2009 farm budget – the first year in which revenue will exceed expenses (assuming that the rains don’t come to hard and that there will be no civil disruptions or other events that could occur only in Africa). Saturday afternoon was time to meet with the community of Bar Olengo located about 6 KM (4 miles) from our office. They had been calling several times a day for a week. When I got there a group of elders had gathered and wanted to make sure I had not forgotten them. They have gathered over 2000 acres together to be part of our jatropha bio-fuel project. I assured them the program was on the way, with the best of hybrid seeds coming next year from the top research university in India. These new varieties yield fruit in just 8 months as compared to 3 years from the old varieties, so they are well worth waiting for. Their major concern now was for snake bites when they cleared the land. I assured them we always have anti-venom on hand, and it is administered free of charge to anyone who needs it. At $150.00 per dose this stuff is not cheap but we have saved around 15 lives in the past two years. Cobras, black mambas’, green mambas’, puff adders, and pythons make for tough neighbors, but somehow these people have learned to live among them with. The community wants to build the chairs and tables for the camp and will provide samples of their product when I return in a few weeks. This contract will provide work for many. I would rather pay for primitive but sturdy wooden chairs and tables ($10,000.00 +-) than plastic ones made in China. I really hope this works out and helps build an industry. This meeting gave me a chance to just sit and talk one-on-one with the men of the area who really loosened up to speak about their situations and relationships with their wives and children. I hope I had an influence.
Sunday was spent at the farm reinforcing relationships with the farm managers outside of the work settings. I helped clear and burn off the land for the fish farm, and did some re-design work for the project to enable an earlier start. One of our local rice retailers came by to thank us for giving him a chance and trying to figure out how to be more involved. He is a fine young man who once protested our farm but now has a business selling our rice and providing support for his family and community.
Doug Connor and Dan Yenner (our crop duster pilot) had dinner with us that night and then we needed to get packed for a 6:00 AM departure on Monday morning. It was lots of fun, and good food.
Monday in Nairobi Steve and I met with the leaders of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN) to describe the community farm program we have been expounding. A few weeks back in Washington, DC I met with Jacque Douff, Director General of FAO, and he loved the idea. He has been expounding a similar idea as the solution to poverty for the subcontinent for some time now but has been unable to get such a program underway. He stated that FAO would soundly support our program and this was the beginning of the process. It was a great meeting, with knowledgeable people and enthusiastic support. An hour later we were in the office of the Minister for Regional Development, Hon. Fred Gumo. For months now he has known of our community farm program and now believes we may actually be able to get it done. When we first described it to him, he responded that it would solve the problems of Africa if only it could be done, but thought it would be too tough to accomplish. He now is a great supporter, and we will get the prototypes underway soon. While Steve and I were in meetings Barbara spent the day a Nakumatt, a store comparable to a Super Wal-Mart in the US. There she obtained prices for about everything which will be needed at the camp, encompassing 15 pages of items. The final meeting was with a freelance writer from the US doing stories on the Church in Africa who wanted an interview from us. At 11:30 the plane left for London and I slept for the first 6 hours of the trip.
Arriving at 5:20 in the morning we were picked up by Vitalis Ndeda and his wife Tanya, and commenced a whirlwind of events over the next few days. The first part of the day was regarding truck parts and interviewing carbon credit firms, with the evening being a reception at KPMG regarding the Millennium Initiative of the Earth Institute and the United Nations. Leaders from all over Africa and the developed world were there and new acquaintances were made. We made it back to the hotel by midnight, after riding the tube, trains, and walking a series of places. It was cold and we really did not have the right clothes for the weather.
Wednesday was an all-day conference to encourage African investment, and 6 countries were represented. Some were hopeless in their quest to hide their problems and ignite a spark of interest. In the Kenya presentation there were 2 businesses represented, one being Dominion. When I told our story the mood of the audience seemed to change from one of despair to hope. Everyone appeared to admire the Dominion plan and from there forward everyone used Dominion as an example. Many requests for business cards and appointments and any officials of organizations like the UN and UNIDO wanted to know more. The Millennium brochures were full of pictures of our farm to show a success story in the area. When the questions came I addressed corruption for the blight that it is and the crowd applauded while some government officials cringed. One new direction of the Millennium organization will be to act as an intermediary between business and Governments where corruption is getting in the way. This could be a major breakthrough for investors.
After explaining the training centers in Kenya and in Oklahoma the leaders began to realize that Dominion’s integrated plan may be the most pragmatic, effective and achievable approach to poverty reduction that has yet been advanced. Some of our harshest critics were also present but after a few hours began the process of coming forward to make peace, explaining they really had no idea of what we were really doing in Kenya. Before the day was over the strongest of them had become a friend and had offered his help. A freelance writer for several papers asked for an interview and I agreed to do so on Thursday evening.
Thursday was a slow day and Barbara and I got in a little Christmas shopping and a lot of work on documents before going to the home of Vitalis and Tanya for dinner. After dinner the reporters came by for an interview. They were amazed with what has been accomplished and could not understand why we have stayed through such trying times of corruption, war, and difficulties. By 11:30 PM we were on the road towards Heathrow Airport and a few hours sleep before leaving for home. We left through Terminal 5, which is a new $1.5 billion facility. With all of the recent bailouts of the financial industry, it put that amount of money into perspective.
Kenya is improving and there is high hope for Africa, but it will take time. We have been at this for 8 years now and have had the land for over 5 years. We never thought it would be so hard or take so long. But this is Africa and it will still be Africa tomorrow, so patience is in order and perhaps always will be.
The past 12 months in Kenya have brought war, crop failures, torrential rain and local unrest to Dominion, but with the help of God we have overcome them all.
May God shed his light and his blessing on the people of Africa so they may learn to live and prosper, held securely in his hand.
The year 2009 is set to be a great year full of challenges and we cannot wait.
Dominion Farms Ltd.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Trip Number 59
This trip began on Saturday May 10th in Oklahoma with a flight to Dallas and then 9 hours to London. I slept a little but was tired by the time I got to Europe. 1 ½ hours on the ground and we were off to Nairobi for 8 more hours of flight. This time I slept for about half the time which was good. I met a man from Canada that was working on medical intervention for the people of East Africa and wants to talk further about working together. My entire luggage arrived and I was at the hotel by 11:00 pm, and in bed by 12:00 but sleep was short. Up at 6:00 am it was time to get some work done for the meetings of the day.
The day began with a meeting between Steve, our managing director, and me to discuss the issues at hand. Next we were off to the cardboard box company to work on packaging materials for the fish shipment, and other products we sell. They will make up samples and come up with prices over the next few weeks. It looks like, for the fresh fish, their product will have problems. This will require other vendors or us to make a workable product. Lunch was with the Managing Director of the Lake Basin Development Authority. They would like to team up with us in our programs, to bring agricultural development to the impoverished land owners around our farm. We will provide the market for the product, the processing plants, training and expertise, while they provide the extension agents, the legislative support, and the funding for their part. We meet tomorrow to go to the next level of approval with the Minister and Permanent Secretary of Regional Development, to outline and start the process to implement the programs envisioned. This partnership should make for better government support of the programs and the passing of laws to make the programs work more efficiently. The main emphasis for now will be on cotton and Jatropha Curcus (oil-bearing tree).
Next we were off to meet with the Railway executives and try to negotiate better rates and schedules. The railway is now a private entity and the manager is a friend of Steve’s. This was a very good visit and for the materials coming for the camp, will result in a large saving. If we can keep our containers down to a maximum of 48,400 pounds (22 tons) each, they will load two on a single railway car.. A deal was worked out to utilize empty back haul trains to send our products to Mombasa. At around 60% of normal rates, when we get to where we have need of this service, it will be especially valuable to transport excess fuels for export.
Two hours of e-mail catch-up and we were off to a 2 hour meeting with the irrigation specialist. The best meeting of the day! We were there at the right time as some programs are about to end and others are to begin. It appears that we will qualify for grants on some large irrigation projects, and we fit the model very well. There is a new program coming, which will allow us to have our community farms programs partially underwritten if we purchase the products and build the processing plants. I will be spending a lot more time on this. I will need favor on all of this and ask for God’s help here as it could really break things loose, much of it requiring minimum payments. Time to get some sleep!
Tuesday, began with a little extra waiting to get some meetings set up and then we were off to the Tata truck and bus dealer. We need a couple of new vehicles to replace some old and fuel thirsty ones, and our Tata vehicles have held up well. While there, I was able to check out a new super cheap truck which looks very intriguing. The Ace is a 2 cylinder diesel and can carry ¾ of a ton at slow speeds. It can not go over 65 kph (40mph) which is fast enough for the farm. It gets 18 km/liter or around 42 mpg on diesel. The busses look great as well but take up to 6 months for delivery.
Next in line was a long meeting with the Minister of Regional Development, the Permanent Secretary of Development, and the Managing Director of Lake Basin Development Authority. The new government is trying to put their best foot forward and offering to smooth our path in obtaining approvals such as the enterprise processing zone for our fish farm. They wanted to hear all about our proposals for the Jatropha and cotton out grower program. They want to be a team member and do their part. Much enthusiasm was there and proposal papers will be made soon, for a way forward. When I explained the community farm program to them, they loved it but doubted we could ever find people willing to join the program. I explained we had numerous locations ready to go and they encouraged us to begin the program, as this would be the thing that changes Kenya from poverty to prosperity. It was a very good meeting. I am hopeful.
Next was a meeting with a research company that was involved with studying the effects of the removal of trees in the watersheds and the effect on the rivers of the area. There was particular emphasis on the Mara River. The representative was very knowledgeable and will put us in contact with others involved and provide much information. He is now working on projects in Somalia. We were off to the airport and on to Kisumu, then a drive to the farm, arriving at around 9:20 pm. A couple more hours of catching up on e-mail and I slept till dawn.
Wednesday morning began with an early trip around the farm to see the work on the spillway and then to review the recently repaired dykes. It had rained during the night and all was muddy. The dam looks great and the new gates will perform well as soon as the hydraulic unit is able to be hooked up. The materials just arrived in the last container. The spillway is being filled up and compacted but it is not yet finished due to the rains. Another 1-2 weeks and it will be done. After reviewing the work I decided to relocate the emergency spillway to another area which will be in a current rock formation so no concrete work will be required; a substantial savings in both money and time. At the dyke repair area we have began the process of digging a drainage ditch across the swamp. This was the first test of our marsh buggy, and what a machine it is. At 38 feet long, 15 feet wide, and sitting about 20 ft. high, it floats on water, runs thru deep mud and digs like mad. To move it to the other side of the swamp to start the canal, they just went straight across. The whole community on the other side was there to see what kind of a machine could travel across this mess. In four days time they had dug about ½ mile of canal. I believe it will take about 3 passes to complete the excavation and build up a reasonable dyke. I walked thru the swamp to the work area on mushy but drained land, something that perhaps nobody has ever been able to do before we got there. What a place, with papyrus over 20 feet tall and rotten vegetation everywhere. An interesting fact recently discovered about swamps is that they emit enormous amounts of methane gas from the rotting and decaying vegetation. Methane is 21 times stronger than CO2 in damaging the atmosphere and contributing to global warming, so our work not only creates producing land in a country lacking food, but it helps the atmosphere as well. Soon it will dry once and for all, and be prepared as farm land. After I got back out of there, I was told of a worker that lay in a hospital bed recovering from a snake bite. He had been working in the area where I had walked. This is another life, among several, which has been spared with the anti-venom we keep on hand at all times. I also now realize that the swamp has something in common with Oklahoma; no-see-ums, or some kind of similar bug.
Soon we were in a meeting with Austin, a very astute retired gentleman that works for us on a consulting basis. He has been our representative to the community regarding our out grower program and the community farms. We worked thru the model and assumptions to be made in order to present the Jatropha proposal to the locals and the youth, as well as financial partners. Obviously there will be opposition as we once again come against the powers of poverty which so often rules over these people, but the outcome will be worth all the effort. Millions of schillings will be put into the hands of the people and thousands will be employed, changing life for generations to come. The Kenya Youth Camp will be an integral part of the changing of the mindset of many, to allow them to move from poverty into prosperity. A bit of lunch and then I was off to a video interview with a young American graduate student doing a documentary on the business climate in Kenya. People are always amazed at what it takes to do business in Kenya.
A couple more meetings and a good meal, followed by a few hours of answering e-mails and it is late again. Goodnight.
Thursday morning! Well, it was not a good night for sleeping. Our new cook was not there on Thursday because she was very ill; her HIV had progressed to AIDS and she was going downhill fast. The house boy did the cooking and left the doors open while doing so. The house was full of mosquitoes and I had to go on a killing spree. I got about 20 of them but more were there. At 2:00 am I was killing them with insecticide INSIDE my netting. In about 10 days I will find out who won; if I get malaria, they got the upper hand. The cook is beginning a regiment of drugs and we all hope she makes it, but as I left the camp she had slipped into a coma. She is a 45 year old woman infected just like so many others.
The morning began with a comprehensive review of our farm production. The war prevented us from finishing so many fields and planting them before the rains came, and then there was the bad fertilizer problem which has held down our yields, but the latest harvest is coming back closer to normal. Next I was off to Siaya for a meeting requested by the youth leaders of the area. About 60 of them were there, and it was arranged by them. Politicians and older people were not there. These young people were great, but their plight is so desperate, and they need so much help.
The latest statistics indicate the following:
· Currently 67% unemployment for ages 15-30 years
· 45% of the population below age 24
· 75% of the population below age 30
· 32% of the population between age 16 and 25
· 65% of population HIV positive between age 16 and 25 years
· Siaya district has a population of 500,000 of which 374,000 are considered to be the youth
· 69% of the youth have only a single parent
About ten of the leaders told of the needs of the community as they relate to the youth. These people are desperate. They have no marketable skills, no property, no money and no jobs. They want the youth camp so badly to train them for the future. They are tired of the traditions, the corruption, and the poverty. Simply put, they are depressed, idle, sick, and without hope. Many are now forced to be beggars and there is nobody left to beg from in the area. Yet they have ambition, and want to have goals and dreams just like the rest of the world. Because so many are not married, they cannot own land which means that they can’t even grow their own food unless they squat on other’s land. On the surface it looks hopeless but there is hope and we can help them find that hope. They have nobody else to turn to.
I spoke to them for 2 ½ hours and they hung on every word. As I explained the economic situation of the area, they understood what lay before them, and they know they must make things work. I spoke to them about their sex habits and the death that lay before so many; they said they would change. They asked for training in poultry, dairy, sewing, vegetable farming, cereal farming, horticulture, baking, and various other vocations. They begged to have us purchase products which they might grow. They want to learn, yet nobody will teach them; they know not which way to go, and every path leads to nowhere. They need loans to start businesses yet they have no land or goods for collateral, and no training to do the business. The politicians and elders they have put their trust in have failed them, and oppress them from moving forward, so all they can turn to is begging, theft, prostitution, and extortion. That is not the way they want to go, so they are crying out in desperation to Dominion for help. Please be our mentor was their cry; let us partner with you; you lead and we will follow, but please do not abandon us. It was heart wrenching, to see such passion and so much desperation at the same time.
I explained the community farms program, the Jatropha, the camp, the cotton program, and told of our limitations, and our priorities and assured them we would be there; I do not know how but we will be there, and we will be a solution they can count on. Only God knows how it will be done but we will be there, and there will be hope restored once again.
They have asked for another meeting on Saturday closer to the farm with more youth so I will be there. This will be a tougher group with less hope, more despair, more anger, and less understanding so I will need the wisdom of God to get thru to them, to try to bring hope, and build trust that they will follow to a new destiny free from traditions, and touching a new and better life.
Well it is almost midnight again so time for bed.
Friday was a planning day for the farm, with the department heads. It is time to start interjecting rotational crops, and rebuild some of our soil. We are looking at legumes like cow peas, and vetch, or red clover which are almost forgotten crops in a modern world of chemical fertilizers, but in the early part of last century were essential elements to good farming. These were never introduced too much of Africa as chemicals were available. As the price of chemicals soar, these will again be needed to fill the gap. We hope to teach the people how to use them as well.
Saturday we planned out the marketing strategy for the rice. Soon we will begin direct marketing to the communities thru the use of our own outlets, contracted to youthful leaders to operate. We have the first one ready to go in about 2 weeks and hope to have 10 by the end of the year. The supermarkets are very important in the cities but in the rural areas direct marketing is the way to go; we are simply copying the model of Coca-Cola. Our real problem is we just do not have enough rice to sell yet. With another year of production we hope to be up to 50 outlets.
The afternoon was a meeting with the local community to explain the Jatropha project and the cotton project. It was very hot. The meeting was well received but it was hard to understand if they really know what is being said, as the education levels are extremely low. As soon as the session was over the people from south of the farm requested a meeting for their area. It was to be on Monday. I took a long walk and watched the sunset, ate a good meal and then after a couple of hours of proposal writing for financial institutions I went to sleep.
On Sunday I was tired and was slow to get out of bed, but about 8:30 decided to drive towards Siaya, and ended up in Kisumu around 10:30, so I went to church with Bishop Zephaniah. This was a surprise to the church as I had spoken there before. I said a little but I needed to be sitting in the pew that day instead of being in the pulpit. I took the long way home, and then checked on the progress of the dyke building across the swamp. We were about 1/3 the way across or around a kilometer. Steve and I had a meal and I then I finished the report I needed for Monday. At midnight it was time to sleep.
Monday started with a trip to the local medical clinic. This is very close to our facilities and recently we extended the electrical service to them. We wired the facility and provided water to them some time back, as well as constructing a lab. We utilize their services regularly for malaria testing, taking care of injuries, utilizing the snake anti-venom and checking out the workers. With our help and funds they have greatly upgraded over the past couple of years and now have 24 hour medical coverage. There are 4 nurses and one clinical officer, one lab tech, and one public health person on duty now. Anti-retrovirals are available, malaria testing, birthing and a host of other things going on. They were very thankful for the help we have given. They have much empty space and need a few more items of medical equipment to qualify as a full hospital, and be assigned doctors. I enquired as to their abilities to help with sick kids at the camp and they were eager to do so with minimal costs. Filling more beds would give them more capabilities, and a better quality of service. We will look into this. Next was a work planning session for the next 3 months utilizing our construction equipment. Much of the heavy lifting is now done and we will need to sell a couple of pieces and replace them with more farm friendly equipment. The second line of the rice mill is currently being installed.
A late afternoon meeting was held with the leaders from the Bondo side of the farm. They are very anxious to find a way out of the poverty cycle they are now in. Most people in the area are now down to one meal a day, as food and money are in short supply. I explained the jatropha and cotton programs to them and then the community farm program. The loved the jatropha and cotton and were at first skeptical about the community farm plan, but after detailed explanations most are seriously considering the plan. They trust Dominion here more than perhaps the other side and there is no opposition, only people trying to figure out what to do. The average income for an owner of 2 acres of land according to them is 3000 KSH ($50.00) annually, which would increase 6-10 folds for getting with it on our programs. The meeting lasted for about 2 ½ hours and was extremely good. They are now anxious to get to the next stage of the process, and presented a couple of petitions to seek our help and give their support.
Back to the farm and we worked on the sales operation plans for opening our own outlets and the site license application for site no. 1 is now sent in.
Tuesday morning I was up at dawn and a drove to Kisumu to catch the plane to Nairobi, where we met with financiers regarding partnership with them to accomplish our goals with the local people. So many hoops to go thru and so much delay but who knows, it might be possible to make it happen.
Next we were in a meeting with the Minister of Water, and explained our program to her. She was really supportive and very excited and will start the ball rolling to get her and the cabinet up to speed to assist us to move things along. She called the Prime Minister, and he as well was not aware of the program. She will be working with Steve during the next few weeks and promoting our program to qualify
By 4:00 pm we were in the airport and getting ready to go to India. The trip to Bombay was uneventful and we both got a lot of work done, arriving at around 2:30 am. We made it to the hotel within the hour and were quickly off to sleep. At 9:00 am we had a meeting with the steel supplier for the Youth Camp. They seem to be good to work with but we needed to straighten out a few things about the freight to Kenya, so we can economize on the shipping. We were able to do some checking on TATA trucks and busses here and it might save some money to purchase here and ship to Kenya rather than buying there. At 12:30 pm the plane left for Coimbatore and it was a good flight. A hot curry mutton lunch and about 30 minutes sleep, and we arrived at our destination. A quick ride to the hotel and here I am now, a bit tired but somewhat excited about spending time tomorrow with the research institute.
I have not been to India for several years now and it has really improved, even in rural areas. The slums still remain and many simply sleep on the streets but things are getting better. The younger generation is aggressive, the education level is much improved, and the dress has changed, especially with the younger women, many of whom dress in western styles. As I listen to the news I hear that the price of oil has just passed $130.00 per barrel.
Thursday we met Sagun Saxena and after a brief breakfast headed to the Tamil Nadu University to meet Dr. Paramathma, perhaps the world’s best expert on breeding oil bearing trees like jatropha. The day was spent learning the latest on these plants. This state of the art research program has moved along fast over the past few years. So much has happened to develop better trees with better yields and faster crops; it is imperative that the right seeds are planted. The hybrids look very promising and eventually clones will take over as the preferred plants. Yields of 1500 liters per acre are just a few years around the corner, but for now the select breeds will have to do, and under irrigated conditions around 1000 liters are possible, still not bad. Unfortunately, with no irrigation the yields can be as low as 1/3 that amount. Some trees are yielding fruit within 9 months of transplanting.
It was a long day of going through labs, fields, processing development experiments, and the like. We returned to the hotel, had a good but hot meal and then worked on e-mails until late that night.
Friday we were off about 6:30 am for a commercial jatropha operation about 100 km (60 miles) away. We left early and avoided the major traffic, as we drove through the countryside from village to village. There are people everywhere in India, but somehow they get along with each other. The roads were paved and constructed fairly well. When we first arrived we met with the Managing Director and then we were on a tour of the processing plant, the plantations, and the research farms. The yields were impressive for some of the materials and not so good for others. No pictures were to be taken for security purposes. This research is considered proprietary property with patents being sought for development work. We had a traditional hot Indian breakfast served on palm leaves, which was nice but you needed a fire hose to put out the fire. Next we went to the countryside to see two plantations. The people at the first were very happy with the crop but at the second, which was not irrigated, they were not sure yet and will make their decisions after the third year. They were all hard working common people, and were very nice to us. We left for a meeting in Coimbatore at 2:00 pm and were running late.
The driver took a different route back and it was driving in India again as I remembered it. The system does work but what a ride! The cars talk to each other, with hoots, honks, toots, beeps and sometimes a blast of desperation. The drivers are the orchestra leaders, as well as the players; they are so used to doing their job that even when nobody is near they still just keep up the act. Drive as fast as possible, up behind the trucks, and get on the horn as requested by the signs on the back of the trucks. Hooting and honking, then out into the traffic, just enough to get by, and back in most of the time. Lights flashing and horns blowing, the vehicles face each other at highway speeds and then someone must be the chicken and get to the dirt. Twice we about met but each time the other was the chicken. It is very nerve wracking and Steve just closed his eyes to try to ignore the situation and try for some sleep. About 2 ½ hours later we were back at the hotel. Next we were at a Chemical and Biological company which makes many natural substances for farm operation and some may work for us, but I am a skeptical about others.
The evening was spent working on e-mails and catching up on things back home. Skype is a wonderful tool to keep in touch with home when on the road. Even my granddaughters get in on things, looking into the camera and telling of their days activities. The pictures are not always the best but we are at least able to see each other live, and it is virtually free.
Saturday was the time for all to head back to their homes. Sagun and Steve have a 3:00 pm flight while mine is not until 8:00 pm tonight, so we reviewed and planned our way forward with this poverty alleviation project up until 1:00 pm when they had to leave for the airport. There are no quick answers to areas of the world where education is so low, superstitions so high, traditions so repressive and poverty so prevalent; but it must begin somehow, and it may as well be with us. Our plan will never make anyone rich or famous, but if it can keep people from being forever poor and desperate then it will be a success, at least in God’s eyes and those who we help.
As I sit here in my hotel I wonder again why God sent me to such an impoverished area of the world full of every problem imaginable. Was it to change that area or was it to begin to touch the world through business and a caring heart of Godly people. Who are those Godly people that will lay aside their ambitions and take up the cause of changing the world, seeing only thru the eyes of Christ at a hurting people? It is not just my little corner of Kenya that needs the help but so many areas; India, Liberia, Cameroon, Uganda, Sudan, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, Burundi, Botswana, Rwanda. These are all needing help and have asked Dominion to come. The challenge is there for the taking; I believe there is a way, but it will not be easy.
Africa is appropriately described as the land of drought, flood and pestilence, but God still hears the prayers of his people. It is not easy to do business as has been proven to me over the years, but the satisfaction is there when the lives are changed, and hope is restored. This year started off with a flawed election which resulted in a war, which was followed by now 10 weeks of rain, so moving forward in the development of the farm has been severely hampered, but it will go on, as the situations allow.
If the caring people of the world do not take action, not by sending another missionary to teach people how to die, but by giving of themselves and committing the resources God has given them to the lives of these people, they will only be remembered for their greed and self centered lives.
As I get ready to leave for a 28 hour trip home I wonder if history will remember so many of us for our power, our wealth, or for our hearts; the real question however is, what will God remember us for?
Please pray for Kenya, and Dominion Farms.
Calvin
The day began with a meeting between Steve, our managing director, and me to discuss the issues at hand. Next we were off to the cardboard box company to work on packaging materials for the fish shipment, and other products we sell. They will make up samples and come up with prices over the next few weeks. It looks like, for the fresh fish, their product will have problems. This will require other vendors or us to make a workable product. Lunch was with the Managing Director of the Lake Basin Development Authority. They would like to team up with us in our programs, to bring agricultural development to the impoverished land owners around our farm. We will provide the market for the product, the processing plants, training and expertise, while they provide the extension agents, the legislative support, and the funding for their part. We meet tomorrow to go to the next level of approval with the Minister and Permanent Secretary of Regional Development, to outline and start the process to implement the programs envisioned. This partnership should make for better government support of the programs and the passing of laws to make the programs work more efficiently. The main emphasis for now will be on cotton and Jatropha Curcus (oil-bearing tree).
Next we were off to meet with the Railway executives and try to negotiate better rates and schedules. The railway is now a private entity and the manager is a friend of Steve’s. This was a very good visit and for the materials coming for the camp, will result in a large saving. If we can keep our containers down to a maximum of 48,400 pounds (22 tons) each, they will load two on a single railway car.. A deal was worked out to utilize empty back haul trains to send our products to Mombasa. At around 60% of normal rates, when we get to where we have need of this service, it will be especially valuable to transport excess fuels for export.
Two hours of e-mail catch-up and we were off to a 2 hour meeting with the irrigation specialist. The best meeting of the day! We were there at the right time as some programs are about to end and others are to begin. It appears that we will qualify for grants on some large irrigation projects, and we fit the model very well. There is a new program coming, which will allow us to have our community farms programs partially underwritten if we purchase the products and build the processing plants. I will be spending a lot more time on this. I will need favor on all of this and ask for God’s help here as it could really break things loose, much of it requiring minimum payments. Time to get some sleep!
Tuesday, began with a little extra waiting to get some meetings set up and then we were off to the Tata truck and bus dealer. We need a couple of new vehicles to replace some old and fuel thirsty ones, and our Tata vehicles have held up well. While there, I was able to check out a new super cheap truck which looks very intriguing. The Ace is a 2 cylinder diesel and can carry ¾ of a ton at slow speeds. It can not go over 65 kph (40mph) which is fast enough for the farm. It gets 18 km/liter or around 42 mpg on diesel. The busses look great as well but take up to 6 months for delivery.
Next in line was a long meeting with the Minister of Regional Development, the Permanent Secretary of Development, and the Managing Director of Lake Basin Development Authority. The new government is trying to put their best foot forward and offering to smooth our path in obtaining approvals such as the enterprise processing zone for our fish farm. They wanted to hear all about our proposals for the Jatropha and cotton out grower program. They want to be a team member and do their part. Much enthusiasm was there and proposal papers will be made soon, for a way forward. When I explained the community farm program to them, they loved it but doubted we could ever find people willing to join the program. I explained we had numerous locations ready to go and they encouraged us to begin the program, as this would be the thing that changes Kenya from poverty to prosperity. It was a very good meeting. I am hopeful.
Next was a meeting with a research company that was involved with studying the effects of the removal of trees in the watersheds and the effect on the rivers of the area. There was particular emphasis on the Mara River. The representative was very knowledgeable and will put us in contact with others involved and provide much information. He is now working on projects in Somalia. We were off to the airport and on to Kisumu, then a drive to the farm, arriving at around 9:20 pm. A couple more hours of catching up on e-mail and I slept till dawn.
Wednesday morning began with an early trip around the farm to see the work on the spillway and then to review the recently repaired dykes. It had rained during the night and all was muddy. The dam looks great and the new gates will perform well as soon as the hydraulic unit is able to be hooked up. The materials just arrived in the last container. The spillway is being filled up and compacted but it is not yet finished due to the rains. Another 1-2 weeks and it will be done. After reviewing the work I decided to relocate the emergency spillway to another area which will be in a current rock formation so no concrete work will be required; a substantial savings in both money and time. At the dyke repair area we have began the process of digging a drainage ditch across the swamp. This was the first test of our marsh buggy, and what a machine it is. At 38 feet long, 15 feet wide, and sitting about 20 ft. high, it floats on water, runs thru deep mud and digs like mad. To move it to the other side of the swamp to start the canal, they just went straight across. The whole community on the other side was there to see what kind of a machine could travel across this mess. In four days time they had dug about ½ mile of canal. I believe it will take about 3 passes to complete the excavation and build up a reasonable dyke. I walked thru the swamp to the work area on mushy but drained land, something that perhaps nobody has ever been able to do before we got there. What a place, with papyrus over 20 feet tall and rotten vegetation everywhere. An interesting fact recently discovered about swamps is that they emit enormous amounts of methane gas from the rotting and decaying vegetation. Methane is 21 times stronger than CO2 in damaging the atmosphere and contributing to global warming, so our work not only creates producing land in a country lacking food, but it helps the atmosphere as well. Soon it will dry once and for all, and be prepared as farm land. After I got back out of there, I was told of a worker that lay in a hospital bed recovering from a snake bite. He had been working in the area where I had walked. This is another life, among several, which has been spared with the anti-venom we keep on hand at all times. I also now realize that the swamp has something in common with Oklahoma; no-see-ums, or some kind of similar bug.
Soon we were in a meeting with Austin, a very astute retired gentleman that works for us on a consulting basis. He has been our representative to the community regarding our out grower program and the community farms. We worked thru the model and assumptions to be made in order to present the Jatropha proposal to the locals and the youth, as well as financial partners. Obviously there will be opposition as we once again come against the powers of poverty which so often rules over these people, but the outcome will be worth all the effort. Millions of schillings will be put into the hands of the people and thousands will be employed, changing life for generations to come. The Kenya Youth Camp will be an integral part of the changing of the mindset of many, to allow them to move from poverty into prosperity. A bit of lunch and then I was off to a video interview with a young American graduate student doing a documentary on the business climate in Kenya. People are always amazed at what it takes to do business in Kenya.
A couple more meetings and a good meal, followed by a few hours of answering e-mails and it is late again. Goodnight.
Thursday morning! Well, it was not a good night for sleeping. Our new cook was not there on Thursday because she was very ill; her HIV had progressed to AIDS and she was going downhill fast. The house boy did the cooking and left the doors open while doing so. The house was full of mosquitoes and I had to go on a killing spree. I got about 20 of them but more were there. At 2:00 am I was killing them with insecticide INSIDE my netting. In about 10 days I will find out who won; if I get malaria, they got the upper hand. The cook is beginning a regiment of drugs and we all hope she makes it, but as I left the camp she had slipped into a coma. She is a 45 year old woman infected just like so many others.
The morning began with a comprehensive review of our farm production. The war prevented us from finishing so many fields and planting them before the rains came, and then there was the bad fertilizer problem which has held down our yields, but the latest harvest is coming back closer to normal. Next I was off to Siaya for a meeting requested by the youth leaders of the area. About 60 of them were there, and it was arranged by them. Politicians and older people were not there. These young people were great, but their plight is so desperate, and they need so much help.
The latest statistics indicate the following:
· Currently 67% unemployment for ages 15-30 years
· 45% of the population below age 24
· 75% of the population below age 30
· 32% of the population between age 16 and 25
· 65% of population HIV positive between age 16 and 25 years
· Siaya district has a population of 500,000 of which 374,000 are considered to be the youth
· 69% of the youth have only a single parent
About ten of the leaders told of the needs of the community as they relate to the youth. These people are desperate. They have no marketable skills, no property, no money and no jobs. They want the youth camp so badly to train them for the future. They are tired of the traditions, the corruption, and the poverty. Simply put, they are depressed, idle, sick, and without hope. Many are now forced to be beggars and there is nobody left to beg from in the area. Yet they have ambition, and want to have goals and dreams just like the rest of the world. Because so many are not married, they cannot own land which means that they can’t even grow their own food unless they squat on other’s land. On the surface it looks hopeless but there is hope and we can help them find that hope. They have nobody else to turn to.
I spoke to them for 2 ½ hours and they hung on every word. As I explained the economic situation of the area, they understood what lay before them, and they know they must make things work. I spoke to them about their sex habits and the death that lay before so many; they said they would change. They asked for training in poultry, dairy, sewing, vegetable farming, cereal farming, horticulture, baking, and various other vocations. They begged to have us purchase products which they might grow. They want to learn, yet nobody will teach them; they know not which way to go, and every path leads to nowhere. They need loans to start businesses yet they have no land or goods for collateral, and no training to do the business. The politicians and elders they have put their trust in have failed them, and oppress them from moving forward, so all they can turn to is begging, theft, prostitution, and extortion. That is not the way they want to go, so they are crying out in desperation to Dominion for help. Please be our mentor was their cry; let us partner with you; you lead and we will follow, but please do not abandon us. It was heart wrenching, to see such passion and so much desperation at the same time.
I explained the community farms program, the Jatropha, the camp, the cotton program, and told of our limitations, and our priorities and assured them we would be there; I do not know how but we will be there, and we will be a solution they can count on. Only God knows how it will be done but we will be there, and there will be hope restored once again.
They have asked for another meeting on Saturday closer to the farm with more youth so I will be there. This will be a tougher group with less hope, more despair, more anger, and less understanding so I will need the wisdom of God to get thru to them, to try to bring hope, and build trust that they will follow to a new destiny free from traditions, and touching a new and better life.
Well it is almost midnight again so time for bed.
Friday was a planning day for the farm, with the department heads. It is time to start interjecting rotational crops, and rebuild some of our soil. We are looking at legumes like cow peas, and vetch, or red clover which are almost forgotten crops in a modern world of chemical fertilizers, but in the early part of last century were essential elements to good farming. These were never introduced too much of Africa as chemicals were available. As the price of chemicals soar, these will again be needed to fill the gap. We hope to teach the people how to use them as well.
Saturday we planned out the marketing strategy for the rice. Soon we will begin direct marketing to the communities thru the use of our own outlets, contracted to youthful leaders to operate. We have the first one ready to go in about 2 weeks and hope to have 10 by the end of the year. The supermarkets are very important in the cities but in the rural areas direct marketing is the way to go; we are simply copying the model of Coca-Cola. Our real problem is we just do not have enough rice to sell yet. With another year of production we hope to be up to 50 outlets.
The afternoon was a meeting with the local community to explain the Jatropha project and the cotton project. It was very hot. The meeting was well received but it was hard to understand if they really know what is being said, as the education levels are extremely low. As soon as the session was over the people from south of the farm requested a meeting for their area. It was to be on Monday. I took a long walk and watched the sunset, ate a good meal and then after a couple of hours of proposal writing for financial institutions I went to sleep.
On Sunday I was tired and was slow to get out of bed, but about 8:30 decided to drive towards Siaya, and ended up in Kisumu around 10:30, so I went to church with Bishop Zephaniah. This was a surprise to the church as I had spoken there before. I said a little but I needed to be sitting in the pew that day instead of being in the pulpit. I took the long way home, and then checked on the progress of the dyke building across the swamp. We were about 1/3 the way across or around a kilometer. Steve and I had a meal and I then I finished the report I needed for Monday. At midnight it was time to sleep.
Monday started with a trip to the local medical clinic. This is very close to our facilities and recently we extended the electrical service to them. We wired the facility and provided water to them some time back, as well as constructing a lab. We utilize their services regularly for malaria testing, taking care of injuries, utilizing the snake anti-venom and checking out the workers. With our help and funds they have greatly upgraded over the past couple of years and now have 24 hour medical coverage. There are 4 nurses and one clinical officer, one lab tech, and one public health person on duty now. Anti-retrovirals are available, malaria testing, birthing and a host of other things going on. They were very thankful for the help we have given. They have much empty space and need a few more items of medical equipment to qualify as a full hospital, and be assigned doctors. I enquired as to their abilities to help with sick kids at the camp and they were eager to do so with minimal costs. Filling more beds would give them more capabilities, and a better quality of service. We will look into this. Next was a work planning session for the next 3 months utilizing our construction equipment. Much of the heavy lifting is now done and we will need to sell a couple of pieces and replace them with more farm friendly equipment. The second line of the rice mill is currently being installed.
A late afternoon meeting was held with the leaders from the Bondo side of the farm. They are very anxious to find a way out of the poverty cycle they are now in. Most people in the area are now down to one meal a day, as food and money are in short supply. I explained the jatropha and cotton programs to them and then the community farm program. The loved the jatropha and cotton and were at first skeptical about the community farm plan, but after detailed explanations most are seriously considering the plan. They trust Dominion here more than perhaps the other side and there is no opposition, only people trying to figure out what to do. The average income for an owner of 2 acres of land according to them is 3000 KSH ($50.00) annually, which would increase 6-10 folds for getting with it on our programs. The meeting lasted for about 2 ½ hours and was extremely good. They are now anxious to get to the next stage of the process, and presented a couple of petitions to seek our help and give their support.
Back to the farm and we worked on the sales operation plans for opening our own outlets and the site license application for site no. 1 is now sent in.
Tuesday morning I was up at dawn and a drove to Kisumu to catch the plane to Nairobi, where we met with financiers regarding partnership with them to accomplish our goals with the local people. So many hoops to go thru and so much delay but who knows, it might be possible to make it happen.
Next we were in a meeting with the Minister of Water, and explained our program to her. She was really supportive and very excited and will start the ball rolling to get her and the cabinet up to speed to assist us to move things along. She called the Prime Minister, and he as well was not aware of the program. She will be working with Steve during the next few weeks and promoting our program to qualify
By 4:00 pm we were in the airport and getting ready to go to India. The trip to Bombay was uneventful and we both got a lot of work done, arriving at around 2:30 am. We made it to the hotel within the hour and were quickly off to sleep. At 9:00 am we had a meeting with the steel supplier for the Youth Camp. They seem to be good to work with but we needed to straighten out a few things about the freight to Kenya, so we can economize on the shipping. We were able to do some checking on TATA trucks and busses here and it might save some money to purchase here and ship to Kenya rather than buying there. At 12:30 pm the plane left for Coimbatore and it was a good flight. A hot curry mutton lunch and about 30 minutes sleep, and we arrived at our destination. A quick ride to the hotel and here I am now, a bit tired but somewhat excited about spending time tomorrow with the research institute.
I have not been to India for several years now and it has really improved, even in rural areas. The slums still remain and many simply sleep on the streets but things are getting better. The younger generation is aggressive, the education level is much improved, and the dress has changed, especially with the younger women, many of whom dress in western styles. As I listen to the news I hear that the price of oil has just passed $130.00 per barrel.
Thursday we met Sagun Saxena and after a brief breakfast headed to the Tamil Nadu University to meet Dr. Paramathma, perhaps the world’s best expert on breeding oil bearing trees like jatropha. The day was spent learning the latest on these plants. This state of the art research program has moved along fast over the past few years. So much has happened to develop better trees with better yields and faster crops; it is imperative that the right seeds are planted. The hybrids look very promising and eventually clones will take over as the preferred plants. Yields of 1500 liters per acre are just a few years around the corner, but for now the select breeds will have to do, and under irrigated conditions around 1000 liters are possible, still not bad. Unfortunately, with no irrigation the yields can be as low as 1/3 that amount. Some trees are yielding fruit within 9 months of transplanting.
It was a long day of going through labs, fields, processing development experiments, and the like. We returned to the hotel, had a good but hot meal and then worked on e-mails until late that night.
Friday we were off about 6:30 am for a commercial jatropha operation about 100 km (60 miles) away. We left early and avoided the major traffic, as we drove through the countryside from village to village. There are people everywhere in India, but somehow they get along with each other. The roads were paved and constructed fairly well. When we first arrived we met with the Managing Director and then we were on a tour of the processing plant, the plantations, and the research farms. The yields were impressive for some of the materials and not so good for others. No pictures were to be taken for security purposes. This research is considered proprietary property with patents being sought for development work. We had a traditional hot Indian breakfast served on palm leaves, which was nice but you needed a fire hose to put out the fire. Next we went to the countryside to see two plantations. The people at the first were very happy with the crop but at the second, which was not irrigated, they were not sure yet and will make their decisions after the third year. They were all hard working common people, and were very nice to us. We left for a meeting in Coimbatore at 2:00 pm and were running late.
The driver took a different route back and it was driving in India again as I remembered it. The system does work but what a ride! The cars talk to each other, with hoots, honks, toots, beeps and sometimes a blast of desperation. The drivers are the orchestra leaders, as well as the players; they are so used to doing their job that even when nobody is near they still just keep up the act. Drive as fast as possible, up behind the trucks, and get on the horn as requested by the signs on the back of the trucks. Hooting and honking, then out into the traffic, just enough to get by, and back in most of the time. Lights flashing and horns blowing, the vehicles face each other at highway speeds and then someone must be the chicken and get to the dirt. Twice we about met but each time the other was the chicken. It is very nerve wracking and Steve just closed his eyes to try to ignore the situation and try for some sleep. About 2 ½ hours later we were back at the hotel. Next we were at a Chemical and Biological company which makes many natural substances for farm operation and some may work for us, but I am a skeptical about others.
The evening was spent working on e-mails and catching up on things back home. Skype is a wonderful tool to keep in touch with home when on the road. Even my granddaughters get in on things, looking into the camera and telling of their days activities. The pictures are not always the best but we are at least able to see each other live, and it is virtually free.
Saturday was the time for all to head back to their homes. Sagun and Steve have a 3:00 pm flight while mine is not until 8:00 pm tonight, so we reviewed and planned our way forward with this poverty alleviation project up until 1:00 pm when they had to leave for the airport. There are no quick answers to areas of the world where education is so low, superstitions so high, traditions so repressive and poverty so prevalent; but it must begin somehow, and it may as well be with us. Our plan will never make anyone rich or famous, but if it can keep people from being forever poor and desperate then it will be a success, at least in God’s eyes and those who we help.
As I sit here in my hotel I wonder again why God sent me to such an impoverished area of the world full of every problem imaginable. Was it to change that area or was it to begin to touch the world through business and a caring heart of Godly people. Who are those Godly people that will lay aside their ambitions and take up the cause of changing the world, seeing only thru the eyes of Christ at a hurting people? It is not just my little corner of Kenya that needs the help but so many areas; India, Liberia, Cameroon, Uganda, Sudan, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, Burundi, Botswana, Rwanda. These are all needing help and have asked Dominion to come. The challenge is there for the taking; I believe there is a way, but it will not be easy.
Africa is appropriately described as the land of drought, flood and pestilence, but God still hears the prayers of his people. It is not easy to do business as has been proven to me over the years, but the satisfaction is there when the lives are changed, and hope is restored. This year started off with a flawed election which resulted in a war, which was followed by now 10 weeks of rain, so moving forward in the development of the farm has been severely hampered, but it will go on, as the situations allow.
If the caring people of the world do not take action, not by sending another missionary to teach people how to die, but by giving of themselves and committing the resources God has given them to the lives of these people, they will only be remembered for their greed and self centered lives.
As I get ready to leave for a 28 hour trip home I wonder if history will remember so many of us for our power, our wealth, or for our hearts; the real question however is, what will God remember us for?
Please pray for Kenya, and Dominion Farms.
Calvin
Monday, April 28, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
March 4th, 2008 Blog Update
Kenya is coming out of its darkest hour in History. The Nation is entering into a time of healing and rebuilding after the post-election crisis. With 1500 people dead and around 600,000 displaced or homeless there will be a very long period of rebuilding and learning how to trust one another. I have the highest of respect for President Kibaki and Opposition Leader, Hon. Raila Odinga for being able to lay aside their personal feelings, and coming together to form a grand coalition government for the sake of the people of the country. It is not going to be easy, and I have to admit that I seriously wondered if it could really happen, but I truly am pleased to see both sides come together in a spirit of co-operation. I congratulate both of these leaders for doing so. Other world leaders including the representatives of the UN, EU, Britton, US, and the African Union who came together to help, including the former head of he UN, Mr. Kofi Annan, were all very instrumental and are to be commended for their efforts.
Now will be the time for the world to put forth their goodwill and their capitol to have faith in this nation and begin to invest funds to develop a land of prosperity and peace from the ashes which only exist in so many areas. The displaced persons need shelter, and the food shortages will soon be coming on the land, so the outside world will be called upon to help, and will be judged for the generosity they need to have at a time like this. Dominion is already there and doing all we can to provide jobs and help to the local community. We will continue to expand our operations to provide food security to the country as rapidly as possible. With rising fuel and fertilizer prices it has become increasingly a challenge. The crisis placed us months behind in our development but with God’s help and the good will of the people we can overcome the setbacks.
We thank all of the local people for their unwavering support of Dominion Farms throughout the crisis time. We all met a lot of new friends as we worked together with the community to be a food supply during this time of crisis.
As soon as possible we hope to resume construction of the Youth Training Center, and the development of the surrounding area for a better future for the lives of the next generation of Kenyans.
May God bless the lives of the people of Kenya and their leaders!
Calvin
Now will be the time for the world to put forth their goodwill and their capitol to have faith in this nation and begin to invest funds to develop a land of prosperity and peace from the ashes which only exist in so many areas. The displaced persons need shelter, and the food shortages will soon be coming on the land, so the outside world will be called upon to help, and will be judged for the generosity they need to have at a time like this. Dominion is already there and doing all we can to provide jobs and help to the local community. We will continue to expand our operations to provide food security to the country as rapidly as possible. With rising fuel and fertilizer prices it has become increasingly a challenge. The crisis placed us months behind in our development but with God’s help and the good will of the people we can overcome the setbacks.
We thank all of the local people for their unwavering support of Dominion Farms throughout the crisis time. We all met a lot of new friends as we worked together with the community to be a food supply during this time of crisis.
As soon as possible we hope to resume construction of the Youth Training Center, and the development of the surrounding area for a better future for the lives of the next generation of Kenyans.
May God bless the lives of the people of Kenya and their leaders!
Calvin
Monday, February 4, 2008
Calvins Blog Report Jan. 20th, thru Feb 2nd 2008
Since my return from Kenya in December of 2007 much has happened in the country. Kenya has lost some of its innocence, trading peacefulness for war like activities. The elections for Parliament were held on Dec. 27th with a massive turnout by all sides. It was a tightly fought battle on all fronts but especially by President Kibaki with his PNU party and by Raila Odinga with his ODM party. Many lesser parties fielded candidates for parliament and some won, however this was definitely a year for change. The past parliamentary members filled their pockets, tripled their salaries, and got almost nothing accomplished during their term except to fight with each other. The population at large had a “throw them out attitude” and they did just that for the most part. Eighty percent of the parliament was to be new blood, 18 out of 20 cabinet ministers were not re-elected, and the ODM party took 99 of the seats as opposed to the president’s party returning only 43 members, a crushing defeat. As the results started to come in things were not looking well for the president and the results showed a resounding defeat for him. Suddenly the counting had to stop, the international observers were required to leave, and somehow the next morning Mr. Kivutu of the electoral commission declared President Kibaki the winner by 230,000 votes. The opposition cried foul and the crisis began in earnest. Roads were blocked, riots broke out businesses were looted, homes burned down and the country went into tribal warfare. The president, a Kikuyu and his vice president a Kamba set the tone for the rest of the tribes as having stolen the election and their democracy. Raila, a Lou and most of the other tribes aligned themselves together to strike back at everything owned by a Kikuyu or Kamba
The ensuing three weeks have wrecked havoc on the Nation. The fuel pipeline was shut down and neighboring countries which rely heavily on Kenya for fuel and transportation of there commodities have also now come to standstills for their economies. President Musiveni of Uganda has been generally known as a dictator in his style of rule, supported Kibaki and reportedly many of the killings in the Lou community were by Ugandan soldiers wearing Kenyan uniforms. If this is true or not I do not know but much evidence points to it. The international community has declared the election as flawed, and the EU has cut off all aid the Kibaki government with the US and Britton seemingly going to follow suit. The people have torn up the railway tracks leading to Uganda to punish their President, and stopped commerce as much as possible. After 3 weeks of uprising approximately 1000 people are dead, 250,000 are homeless and 500,000 are displaced and can not return home. The tourist industry is all but finished for some time. As return to Kenya , I sit on a Boeing 777 about 2 hours out of Nairobi and we have 69 passengers on board, instead of the usual 250.
The food supply is in a crisis mode and beside me sits a relief worker from a French organization going there to try to source food for their relief efforts.
Well now it is Thursday afternoon and I am at the farm. Tuesday was spent going too and from meetings all day long then a flight to Kisumu and finally a drive to the farm. We are located in the territory of much of the riots and destruction of property. I believe that around 70 people were killed in the Kisumu and in Siaya just 16 km (12 mi.) away 6 gave their lives. It appears that The opposition leader, Raila Odinga, is going to hold fast to his position that he won and Kibaki stole the presidency. He firmly says this is a fight for the democracy of Kenya. At 11:00 there was a meeting at the US Embassy to see the Commercial Attaché. Jim Sullivan is a new man on the job, but very willing to assist if we have needs. His opinion of the mess in Kenya was it would not be solved soon or easily but it must be done. He had to leave by noon to go to a business leader’s luncheon, which I was also attending. The luncheon was very informative with speakers from the banking industry, insurance industry, and the manufacturing sector. Some of the highlights are as follows:
· Money supply has been reduced by 30%
· 6000 businesses have been destroyed
· The tourist industry in virtually wiped out for now
· Banks do not have enough capitol to fulfill their loan commitments
· Banks do not expect to receive many payments for loans outstanding and are trying to arrange for a grace period of 1 year to their business customers
· Almost no insurance coverage is provided for the type of damage done, however I believe ours does cover it by special request
· Government revenues are down by 50%
· Capitol is fleeing the country and foreign capitol is hard to come by
· Uganda, Burundi, and others in the area are very hard hit.
· A food shortage is looming
· Manufacturing is off by 20%, trucking by over 50%
· The port of Mombasa is stuck with 21 ships now in the harbor waiting for off-loading
After these presentations the US Ambassador spoke and gave the official view of the US. The US gives in one form or another around $2 billion to Kenya each year while the EU gives around $600,000.00. They plan on using the carrot and stick approach to a solution. The problems are very complex and hard to resolve in a short period of time. This will take some time, perhaps up to 5 years to return to normal. After the presentation he requested a private meeting with me to get my take on the current status and discuss possible solutions. It was a pleasant meeting which I believe was helpful to both of us. Soon I was on to the airport and then Kisumu. I slept soundly on the plane for the 30 minute flight. From the airport I went direct to the farm with a new driver. Our old one was a Kamba and can not return to the area as his life may be taken. As I went down the road, the driver proceeded to tell me the situation, and describing the killing as just a matter fact thing. If a Kikuyu or Kamba come to the area they will simply kill them, no thinking or remorse, just kill them. In his small world he also thought everything was totally back to normal since the fighting in our area had stopped for 2 days. Everyone should just go back to as they were before, unless they were from one of the two tribes, and they were just to be killed. Simplistic, irrational, and explosive thinking is the order of the day. I slept like a log that night.
Wednesday was a busy day at the farm. The other Americans finally returned after being at home for Christmas, and then being unable to return; little had been done for the month they had been gone. Our mechanics had tried to plant fields and keep things going but did not know exactly what they were doing. I was trying to explain to them what to do over the phone from the US during this time and for a few mechanics they were able to get some fields planted, some crops harvested, and kept the place going. I am thankful for their efforts. The locals began to trickle back to their jobs and we had enough fuel to proceed with some operations again. A few of our most talented people may never return since they are Kikuyu and Kamba. Our rice mill has been operated by a mechanic and electrician for a week now and we actually have milled 50 tons of rice. During the month of problems about 300 acres were left unplanted and another 300 became infested with weeds.
Thursday and Friday, Steve Cowell and I went over about every department to see what could be trimmed back to meet the current level of production and figure out our way forward. We will need to send home a number of people at the end of the month. This is the same condition as most companies in the country are in. An estimated 500,000 will loose their jobs. The rebuilding of the dykes was back underway a few days before I arrived and the people had done about ½ mile of it wrong so a re-do was in order, costing us about a week of time. The spillway had to be fixed immediately while the river flows were low, so an emergency approach was put into action. The repairs to the dam had not yet been started so it is also a flat out effort before the rains come to raise the water levels again. The fields looked awful, weeds had taken over so much and so many fields remained unplanted for the month so planting began, and the crop duster was back into the air, for both herbicides and fertilizer. It was a tough time to restart the farm. The rice mill manager is a Kikuyu, so he is history for now at least, so Rick and the mechanics have found out how to make the systems work, but not as well as they should. Our generator needed some more engineering fixes so these were done and more power is now available. The power company is supposed to start up permanent power soon but who knows when this might happen now. In Kisumu the government rice mill was over-run by a mob of approximately 4000 people angry with the government, so the mill is effectively closed for repairs, which will result in more food shortages.
Saturday was interesting. Before leaving the US I requested a meeting with the Pastors and spiritual leaders of Nyanza, and it was arranged for Saturday morning. The trip to Kisumu was uneventful with almost nobody on the roads, and very few people around. The large numbers of police usually present were not there; being called away to so many hot spots around the nation. The road was damaged in many areas due to the protesting people burning tires in the middle of the road to disrupt things; the places will shortly deteriorate leading to large areas of bad roads again. I hope they can be fixed rapidly. The meeting was long, as I spoke for two hours, then we went into questions and finally a plan of action was arrived at. The only thing that will fix the current situation is a move of God in the hearts and minds of the people. The situation has gone far beyond politics, and into long term grievances, resulting in true tribal warfare. People, including children, are being hacked to death with machetes simply because of their tribal affiliation. First it was the Luo after the Kikuyu and Kambe, then the Kalengin and Masai joined in and then the Kikuyu decide to retaliate, so the war is on. In Nakuru over 50 were killed on Saturday, last night another 15 burned to death, and today 43 died in Naivasha. When will this end? The Christian community is usually hunkered down and out of sight but not anymore. On Saturday they will start coming together in mass to pray in the stadiums, and in the parks and show another side of Kisumu to the world. They are going to begin to love their city and to protect it as much as possible and to become the agents of reconciliation for the people.
On Sunday morning I preached the message to Redemption Church, and it was well received. After the service Ben and went to find something to eat and not one place in Kisumu was open to feed us, that we could find, so I headed to Siaya for a meeting there with the pastors of the area. Three hours later they we also set up to come together and protect their city, bringing it together in a time of public prayer, and reaching out to the business leaders, government officials and the people of the city. The preparations begin in earnest this week for the first major rally on Saturday. It was a good day here but in other places the fighting rages on. Revenge is the order of the day; three killings to offset one, is what they are saying. When will it end, can Kofi Annan make a difference where genocide is practiced. I really doubt it; when he was Sec. General we had Darfur, Burundi, Rwanda, Somali, and Zimbabwe, and nothing was stopped. Will Kenya go this way? Not if I can have anything to do with it!
Saturday and Sunday were tough days for Kenya as more rioting broke out in many areas of the country. Approximately 90 people were killed over the weekend, mostly in the rife valley, in a form of ethnic cleansing. People were hacked to death with machete, burned alive or simply shot just because of their ethnic background. Gangs were going house to house to search out people of different blood lines and then just simply killing them. Retribution in the form of three killing for each one was being promised upon the parties, and more killings were on. Kisumu and Siaya were relatively calm but there was a feeling of something in the air. It was a very foreboding to just be there; people huddled together as if plotting their next move. Fires burning along the road and a ladies body stretched out in the dirt with people peering over her as I left Siaya. Should I stop or should I keep going; I did not stop, was that right or was it wrong, I do not know, but I kept on going, looking back in the mirror and feeling somewhat disappointed in myself for not stopping. A few minutes later a young man was begging to have a ride. I made him run for a bit to see he was not armed then let him in. He wanted to let me know how much the people needed Dominion and that they were praying for us. I felt good as I dropped him at his humble village, shaking the hand of a poor humble man, hopefully just like me.
On Monday we woke up to the news that Kisumu had gone back to rioting, looting and attacking those thing owned by Kikuyu. A store and hotel were destroyed, tires set on fire in the roads, and schools forcefully closed. All the roads from the farm to there were blocked but somehow an electrical supplier had made it to the farm for a meeting by leaving early in the morning. Joyce had been caught between two gangs on the road and was trapped for the day and tonight Steve’s wife and children were headed to the airport and got trapped, and are still holed up on the road for the night. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. The meeting with the electrical supplier went well and after my redesign of the system the price was reduced to one half. He left to try to get home and 6 hours later arrived with broken windows and injuries. Our fuel supplies are down to 14,000 liters, or about 2 days for normal operations, so tomorrow we start shutting down, and securing things. All diesel trucks will be parked, large tractors pulled back in and only essential repair items continued along with field preparation for planting. The land clearing and leveling will have to wait. We are desperate for spare parts held up at the ports, unable to be released. 21 Ships are evidently sitting at anchor off Mombasa, so who knows how long it will take. It is now almost 10:30 here at night and Joyce and Steve’s wife Sharon arrived at the farm. Steve was able to hire an armed escort form the Police and I guess that did the trick. Tomorrow will be another day, what will it hold?
Well it is now Wednesday evening and Tuesday was another rough day in some parts of the country but relatively calm around the farm and in Kisumu. On Monday night when Sharon came home our van had police officers in it with them and at the roadblocks put up by the locals the police had to get out clearing the road. During the time of clearing it was a modern day shootout from the Wild West days, or perhaps like in the 20’s with Bonnie and Clyde. Guns were blazing and everyone was lying on the seats as low as they could get. Nobody on our side was hurt; who knows about the other side? The day at the farm was full of meetings with our department heads strategizing on the way forward and which people to terminate. We were desperately trying to get essential things finished before the fuel is gone. The bicycles and four wheelers were brought out to save on fuel and on a river dyke an operator made a mistake which cost us precious fuel and frankly I did loose my cool for a few minutes. This piece must be finished before any large rains get there or we could have severe damage.
The roads were blocked around the farm as a show of solidarity for the ODM and Raila, with people shouting “No Raila, No Peace”. I had to go thru one and was confronted by a mob, but after a couple of minutes of talking we were shaking hands and I was allowed to pass. I drove on saying the same slogan out the window until out of their listening distance. Someone at the farm saw I was in the middle of this and a call came out to come and rescue me. Police were called and many people were headed to the bridge, but it was a non event. These people were just trying to make a show of support for their candidate whom they believe was getting a raw deal, and to help save their democracy in their simple way. It petered out pretty quickly in a couple of hours, as I was probably the only vehicle that wanted to pass for the whole day anyway.
Overnight on Monday in Nairobi a newly elected ODM Member of Parliament was killed by a shot thru the head, at close range as he entered his driveway. This triggered more problems but also made the powers to understand the severity of the problem. It was no longer just the people but now some of the elite were involved. On Tuesday the top officials began to talk, which resulted in relative peace coming on Wednesday, today. The road to Kisumu became open to convoys of vehicles, and I understand Kisumu was at peace. I believe the people are just worn out and hungry. The fighting leads to nowhere, and perhaps they are beginning to understand that.
Today we finalized our lay-off and implemented it for 83 people. It went fairly well with a couple people mad but most just sad. The rice mill is still running and we have been stocking up on milled rice because nobody has the courage to come down the roads. I believe it will be calm for the next few days so tomorrow I will most likely try to make a run for Kisumu and on to Nairobi for the night. I hope and pray the roads are passable. If there is any question I will take armed police with me or stay behind.
Kofie Annan announced today he thought the hostilities would continue for another month and the political solution was at least 1 year away. I believe he may be right, but the economy will not recover for many years. At the coast, 80,000 people have been laid off in the tourism industry. 400,000 people are being terminated in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors and 25,000 have lost their jobs in Kisumu alone. This has created a very big hole for the country to dig out of. The services of Dominion Farms and the youth camp will be needed more now than ever.
Thursday; what a day! The morning began in peace but a laid off rice mill worker broke in to sabotage the mill. He was caught before he could do much damage. Everyone else understood the situation and some even came to thank me for the work they had been given, and say they understood. One more round was made to the main projects; detailed specification on work to be finished was gone over once more and around 2:00 pm I began to pack things up for the trip home. At 2:30 all hell broke loose. Another opposition MP was executed, along with a police officer, and the people were incensed. I knew that if I were going to get out of there it was then or who knows when. Arrangements were immediately made with the local police for protection and off we went to Siaya with 2 officers to Police headquarters, where final plans were put in place. Five men armed with automatic weapons, three security guards, three refugee Kikuyu, two 5 ton trucks and a few more people was what we had. The Dominion van filled with the officers and refugees led the way, I was next with a senior officer and the two trucks brought up the rear. We were traveling as fast as all could do until we hit roadblocks, whereupon the officers bounded from the van to secure the areas, and the drivers and others proceeded to clear the area for passage of the vehicles. We stopped seven times before reaching Luanda. Once the police got out of the van the crowds scattered, and we would resume our journey. In Luanda there was a major traffic problem with the Fuel trucks bound for Uganda. The roads were blocked going there so it looked like a convoy was being formed to try to get thru on the back roads. The President of Uganda has been a supporter of Kibaki, and according to some a co-conspirator in the election rigging so the opposition is determined to stop anything from going to Uganda. The rail lines have been torn up, the roads blocked and the fuel severely restricted.
Farther down the road at Maseno it was the same scene except there were fires burning on the road, telephone poles pulled down and general mayhem, but we got thru. As we approached Kisumu the real problem lay ahead. Containers in the road and burned out cars and trucks along the way; signs, rocks, poles and burning tires covered the road and at one point it did not look like we would make it, then things changed. Those rebels that were stopping everyone saw the Dominion sign on the front of the van and became our friends; they cleared the way and on foot lead us thru the smoke to the other side. Cheers went up as we passed by and God surely took care of the problem. The police could hardly believe their eyes. Shortly we were at the airport where to executives from Total Fuel met us to take a very large check for fuel but then told us they did not know when it would get there. I got off at the airport and thanked the officers, shook their hands and then they and our driver left taking the Kikuyu to safe quarters.
The airplane was 11/2 hours late so much was happening as the planes came and went. Many people were trying to get out. The airport was complete with riot police, and army personal, and fairly secure. I was exhausted and sat down outside to call Sue and let her know I was fine, and then gunfire rang out so I decided it was safer inside a building. One thing I noticed was a hearse and large truck parked near the aircraft area. When our plane did finally arrive it was parked near the vehicles. As we loaded ourselves they were loading on bodies in coffins into the bottom of the plane. A very high up government official sat next to me on the plane and spoke openly about his disgust for what the President had done. As we left the plane a pretty young lady was standing behind me in near tears. She was coming to burry her husband to be, instead of her wedding. I tried to consol her but her reply was simply “life stinks”.
It is 24 hours from now, midnight that I get on the plane for London, I can’t wait.
Friday, the last day here, and so far it has been good. The day started of with a visit to an investment banker to discuss new ventures in Africa and in particular Kenya and Tanzania. It was a very good meeting, and although real large projects do not have a capitol base here smaller ones are possible for good firms willing to take the risks. This could work well with our proposed future programs. We will start building models from which to work on, so that when the timing is right we will be ready to move on. Next was a lunch meeting with our attorney here in Kenya, Mr. Nigel Shaw. We had a pleasant lunch catching up on things and bantering about what was the best solution to the crisis in Kenya. Neither one of us really knew what would happen but we are both very hopeful it will soon return to normal.
My final meeting was with the Managing director of Nakumatt, which is the Wal-Mart equivalent in Kenya. We had hoped to sell rice to them for retail distribution in their stores and in that regard I visited with him about three years ago. He remembered and within 30 minutes we had struck a deal. We will ship the product to the Kisumu store and they will back haul it to Nairobi for distribution in their supermarkets. This is a real blessing to be immediately sold in the largest chain of stores in the country. I am very thankful. They will take delivery of 24 tons next week and all the guys at the farm are excited.
The trip is about to come to a close except for the long ride home. I will be taking a young Kenyan girl with me so she can get medical treatment in Oklahoma City from the University of Oklahoma. She has severe sickle cell anemia and not much can be done for her in Kenya. Her sister Beatrice lives in Oklahoma City and has arranged for her to be treated for no cost, except for getting her their. Dominion was able to provide her transportation and as we cross the Atlantic she is sleeping in First Class while I am in Coach. She has lived in the bush all her life and knows little English so the trip is a real adventure. I pray the medical profession can make a difference for this girl, before she must return home again.
Overall the trip was good with some very harried times in between. I know that Kenya will survive this crisis in time. Perhaps in a month the violence will be over, and in a year there may be a political solution, but it may take years to get the finances of the country back on track. The ethnic issues are a different story. These problems go back for generations and are deeply rooted. The hearts and minds of these people must be changes from the inside and not just a superficial fix on the outside. I believe that a spirit of reconciliation must begin and only God has the ability to bring such a change to pass. Transformation from the old ways to one of understanding God’s love and direction in a person’s life will take time, and can not happen by the changing of a political leader. The events happening here now may be exactly what are needed to effectively make this process begin.
As for Dominion Farms we are an agent of change in the area, and we are here to stay. So many investors and companies have left or are going to leave, but we will stay. As Dominion has taken on the task of supplying clean water, roads, schools, medical clinics and jobs to the area, we have become a sign of stability in the area, a source of hope for so many people, and now we are their life line in a time of food shortages.
For such a time as this Dominion Farms was born. I hope we are up to the task!
Calvin
The ensuing three weeks have wrecked havoc on the Nation. The fuel pipeline was shut down and neighboring countries which rely heavily on Kenya for fuel and transportation of there commodities have also now come to standstills for their economies. President Musiveni of Uganda has been generally known as a dictator in his style of rule, supported Kibaki and reportedly many of the killings in the Lou community were by Ugandan soldiers wearing Kenyan uniforms. If this is true or not I do not know but much evidence points to it. The international community has declared the election as flawed, and the EU has cut off all aid the Kibaki government with the US and Britton seemingly going to follow suit. The people have torn up the railway tracks leading to Uganda to punish their President, and stopped commerce as much as possible. After 3 weeks of uprising approximately 1000 people are dead, 250,000 are homeless and 500,000 are displaced and can not return home. The tourist industry is all but finished for some time. As return to Kenya , I sit on a Boeing 777 about 2 hours out of Nairobi and we have 69 passengers on board, instead of the usual 250.
The food supply is in a crisis mode and beside me sits a relief worker from a French organization going there to try to source food for their relief efforts.
Well now it is Thursday afternoon and I am at the farm. Tuesday was spent going too and from meetings all day long then a flight to Kisumu and finally a drive to the farm. We are located in the territory of much of the riots and destruction of property. I believe that around 70 people were killed in the Kisumu and in Siaya just 16 km (12 mi.) away 6 gave their lives. It appears that The opposition leader, Raila Odinga, is going to hold fast to his position that he won and Kibaki stole the presidency. He firmly says this is a fight for the democracy of Kenya. At 11:00 there was a meeting at the US Embassy to see the Commercial Attaché. Jim Sullivan is a new man on the job, but very willing to assist if we have needs. His opinion of the mess in Kenya was it would not be solved soon or easily but it must be done. He had to leave by noon to go to a business leader’s luncheon, which I was also attending. The luncheon was very informative with speakers from the banking industry, insurance industry, and the manufacturing sector. Some of the highlights are as follows:
· Money supply has been reduced by 30%
· 6000 businesses have been destroyed
· The tourist industry in virtually wiped out for now
· Banks do not have enough capitol to fulfill their loan commitments
· Banks do not expect to receive many payments for loans outstanding and are trying to arrange for a grace period of 1 year to their business customers
· Almost no insurance coverage is provided for the type of damage done, however I believe ours does cover it by special request
· Government revenues are down by 50%
· Capitol is fleeing the country and foreign capitol is hard to come by
· Uganda, Burundi, and others in the area are very hard hit.
· A food shortage is looming
· Manufacturing is off by 20%, trucking by over 50%
· The port of Mombasa is stuck with 21 ships now in the harbor waiting for off-loading
After these presentations the US Ambassador spoke and gave the official view of the US. The US gives in one form or another around $2 billion to Kenya each year while the EU gives around $600,000.00. They plan on using the carrot and stick approach to a solution. The problems are very complex and hard to resolve in a short period of time. This will take some time, perhaps up to 5 years to return to normal. After the presentation he requested a private meeting with me to get my take on the current status and discuss possible solutions. It was a pleasant meeting which I believe was helpful to both of us. Soon I was on to the airport and then Kisumu. I slept soundly on the plane for the 30 minute flight. From the airport I went direct to the farm with a new driver. Our old one was a Kamba and can not return to the area as his life may be taken. As I went down the road, the driver proceeded to tell me the situation, and describing the killing as just a matter fact thing. If a Kikuyu or Kamba come to the area they will simply kill them, no thinking or remorse, just kill them. In his small world he also thought everything was totally back to normal since the fighting in our area had stopped for 2 days. Everyone should just go back to as they were before, unless they were from one of the two tribes, and they were just to be killed. Simplistic, irrational, and explosive thinking is the order of the day. I slept like a log that night.
Wednesday was a busy day at the farm. The other Americans finally returned after being at home for Christmas, and then being unable to return; little had been done for the month they had been gone. Our mechanics had tried to plant fields and keep things going but did not know exactly what they were doing. I was trying to explain to them what to do over the phone from the US during this time and for a few mechanics they were able to get some fields planted, some crops harvested, and kept the place going. I am thankful for their efforts. The locals began to trickle back to their jobs and we had enough fuel to proceed with some operations again. A few of our most talented people may never return since they are Kikuyu and Kamba. Our rice mill has been operated by a mechanic and electrician for a week now and we actually have milled 50 tons of rice. During the month of problems about 300 acres were left unplanted and another 300 became infested with weeds.
Thursday and Friday, Steve Cowell and I went over about every department to see what could be trimmed back to meet the current level of production and figure out our way forward. We will need to send home a number of people at the end of the month. This is the same condition as most companies in the country are in. An estimated 500,000 will loose their jobs. The rebuilding of the dykes was back underway a few days before I arrived and the people had done about ½ mile of it wrong so a re-do was in order, costing us about a week of time. The spillway had to be fixed immediately while the river flows were low, so an emergency approach was put into action. The repairs to the dam had not yet been started so it is also a flat out effort before the rains come to raise the water levels again. The fields looked awful, weeds had taken over so much and so many fields remained unplanted for the month so planting began, and the crop duster was back into the air, for both herbicides and fertilizer. It was a tough time to restart the farm. The rice mill manager is a Kikuyu, so he is history for now at least, so Rick and the mechanics have found out how to make the systems work, but not as well as they should. Our generator needed some more engineering fixes so these were done and more power is now available. The power company is supposed to start up permanent power soon but who knows when this might happen now. In Kisumu the government rice mill was over-run by a mob of approximately 4000 people angry with the government, so the mill is effectively closed for repairs, which will result in more food shortages.
Saturday was interesting. Before leaving the US I requested a meeting with the Pastors and spiritual leaders of Nyanza, and it was arranged for Saturday morning. The trip to Kisumu was uneventful with almost nobody on the roads, and very few people around. The large numbers of police usually present were not there; being called away to so many hot spots around the nation. The road was damaged in many areas due to the protesting people burning tires in the middle of the road to disrupt things; the places will shortly deteriorate leading to large areas of bad roads again. I hope they can be fixed rapidly. The meeting was long, as I spoke for two hours, then we went into questions and finally a plan of action was arrived at. The only thing that will fix the current situation is a move of God in the hearts and minds of the people. The situation has gone far beyond politics, and into long term grievances, resulting in true tribal warfare. People, including children, are being hacked to death with machetes simply because of their tribal affiliation. First it was the Luo after the Kikuyu and Kambe, then the Kalengin and Masai joined in and then the Kikuyu decide to retaliate, so the war is on. In Nakuru over 50 were killed on Saturday, last night another 15 burned to death, and today 43 died in Naivasha. When will this end? The Christian community is usually hunkered down and out of sight but not anymore. On Saturday they will start coming together in mass to pray in the stadiums, and in the parks and show another side of Kisumu to the world. They are going to begin to love their city and to protect it as much as possible and to become the agents of reconciliation for the people.
On Sunday morning I preached the message to Redemption Church, and it was well received. After the service Ben and went to find something to eat and not one place in Kisumu was open to feed us, that we could find, so I headed to Siaya for a meeting there with the pastors of the area. Three hours later they we also set up to come together and protect their city, bringing it together in a time of public prayer, and reaching out to the business leaders, government officials and the people of the city. The preparations begin in earnest this week for the first major rally on Saturday. It was a good day here but in other places the fighting rages on. Revenge is the order of the day; three killings to offset one, is what they are saying. When will it end, can Kofi Annan make a difference where genocide is practiced. I really doubt it; when he was Sec. General we had Darfur, Burundi, Rwanda, Somali, and Zimbabwe, and nothing was stopped. Will Kenya go this way? Not if I can have anything to do with it!
Saturday and Sunday were tough days for Kenya as more rioting broke out in many areas of the country. Approximately 90 people were killed over the weekend, mostly in the rife valley, in a form of ethnic cleansing. People were hacked to death with machete, burned alive or simply shot just because of their ethnic background. Gangs were going house to house to search out people of different blood lines and then just simply killing them. Retribution in the form of three killing for each one was being promised upon the parties, and more killings were on. Kisumu and Siaya were relatively calm but there was a feeling of something in the air. It was a very foreboding to just be there; people huddled together as if plotting their next move. Fires burning along the road and a ladies body stretched out in the dirt with people peering over her as I left Siaya. Should I stop or should I keep going; I did not stop, was that right or was it wrong, I do not know, but I kept on going, looking back in the mirror and feeling somewhat disappointed in myself for not stopping. A few minutes later a young man was begging to have a ride. I made him run for a bit to see he was not armed then let him in. He wanted to let me know how much the people needed Dominion and that they were praying for us. I felt good as I dropped him at his humble village, shaking the hand of a poor humble man, hopefully just like me.
On Monday we woke up to the news that Kisumu had gone back to rioting, looting and attacking those thing owned by Kikuyu. A store and hotel were destroyed, tires set on fire in the roads, and schools forcefully closed. All the roads from the farm to there were blocked but somehow an electrical supplier had made it to the farm for a meeting by leaving early in the morning. Joyce had been caught between two gangs on the road and was trapped for the day and tonight Steve’s wife and children were headed to the airport and got trapped, and are still holed up on the road for the night. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. The meeting with the electrical supplier went well and after my redesign of the system the price was reduced to one half. He left to try to get home and 6 hours later arrived with broken windows and injuries. Our fuel supplies are down to 14,000 liters, or about 2 days for normal operations, so tomorrow we start shutting down, and securing things. All diesel trucks will be parked, large tractors pulled back in and only essential repair items continued along with field preparation for planting. The land clearing and leveling will have to wait. We are desperate for spare parts held up at the ports, unable to be released. 21 Ships are evidently sitting at anchor off Mombasa, so who knows how long it will take. It is now almost 10:30 here at night and Joyce and Steve’s wife Sharon arrived at the farm. Steve was able to hire an armed escort form the Police and I guess that did the trick. Tomorrow will be another day, what will it hold?
Well it is now Wednesday evening and Tuesday was another rough day in some parts of the country but relatively calm around the farm and in Kisumu. On Monday night when Sharon came home our van had police officers in it with them and at the roadblocks put up by the locals the police had to get out clearing the road. During the time of clearing it was a modern day shootout from the Wild West days, or perhaps like in the 20’s with Bonnie and Clyde. Guns were blazing and everyone was lying on the seats as low as they could get. Nobody on our side was hurt; who knows about the other side? The day at the farm was full of meetings with our department heads strategizing on the way forward and which people to terminate. We were desperately trying to get essential things finished before the fuel is gone. The bicycles and four wheelers were brought out to save on fuel and on a river dyke an operator made a mistake which cost us precious fuel and frankly I did loose my cool for a few minutes. This piece must be finished before any large rains get there or we could have severe damage.
The roads were blocked around the farm as a show of solidarity for the ODM and Raila, with people shouting “No Raila, No Peace”. I had to go thru one and was confronted by a mob, but after a couple of minutes of talking we were shaking hands and I was allowed to pass. I drove on saying the same slogan out the window until out of their listening distance. Someone at the farm saw I was in the middle of this and a call came out to come and rescue me. Police were called and many people were headed to the bridge, but it was a non event. These people were just trying to make a show of support for their candidate whom they believe was getting a raw deal, and to help save their democracy in their simple way. It petered out pretty quickly in a couple of hours, as I was probably the only vehicle that wanted to pass for the whole day anyway.
Overnight on Monday in Nairobi a newly elected ODM Member of Parliament was killed by a shot thru the head, at close range as he entered his driveway. This triggered more problems but also made the powers to understand the severity of the problem. It was no longer just the people but now some of the elite were involved. On Tuesday the top officials began to talk, which resulted in relative peace coming on Wednesday, today. The road to Kisumu became open to convoys of vehicles, and I understand Kisumu was at peace. I believe the people are just worn out and hungry. The fighting leads to nowhere, and perhaps they are beginning to understand that.
Today we finalized our lay-off and implemented it for 83 people. It went fairly well with a couple people mad but most just sad. The rice mill is still running and we have been stocking up on milled rice because nobody has the courage to come down the roads. I believe it will be calm for the next few days so tomorrow I will most likely try to make a run for Kisumu and on to Nairobi for the night. I hope and pray the roads are passable. If there is any question I will take armed police with me or stay behind.
Kofie Annan announced today he thought the hostilities would continue for another month and the political solution was at least 1 year away. I believe he may be right, but the economy will not recover for many years. At the coast, 80,000 people have been laid off in the tourism industry. 400,000 people are being terminated in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors and 25,000 have lost their jobs in Kisumu alone. This has created a very big hole for the country to dig out of. The services of Dominion Farms and the youth camp will be needed more now than ever.
Thursday; what a day! The morning began in peace but a laid off rice mill worker broke in to sabotage the mill. He was caught before he could do much damage. Everyone else understood the situation and some even came to thank me for the work they had been given, and say they understood. One more round was made to the main projects; detailed specification on work to be finished was gone over once more and around 2:00 pm I began to pack things up for the trip home. At 2:30 all hell broke loose. Another opposition MP was executed, along with a police officer, and the people were incensed. I knew that if I were going to get out of there it was then or who knows when. Arrangements were immediately made with the local police for protection and off we went to Siaya with 2 officers to Police headquarters, where final plans were put in place. Five men armed with automatic weapons, three security guards, three refugee Kikuyu, two 5 ton trucks and a few more people was what we had. The Dominion van filled with the officers and refugees led the way, I was next with a senior officer and the two trucks brought up the rear. We were traveling as fast as all could do until we hit roadblocks, whereupon the officers bounded from the van to secure the areas, and the drivers and others proceeded to clear the area for passage of the vehicles. We stopped seven times before reaching Luanda. Once the police got out of the van the crowds scattered, and we would resume our journey. In Luanda there was a major traffic problem with the Fuel trucks bound for Uganda. The roads were blocked going there so it looked like a convoy was being formed to try to get thru on the back roads. The President of Uganda has been a supporter of Kibaki, and according to some a co-conspirator in the election rigging so the opposition is determined to stop anything from going to Uganda. The rail lines have been torn up, the roads blocked and the fuel severely restricted.
Farther down the road at Maseno it was the same scene except there were fires burning on the road, telephone poles pulled down and general mayhem, but we got thru. As we approached Kisumu the real problem lay ahead. Containers in the road and burned out cars and trucks along the way; signs, rocks, poles and burning tires covered the road and at one point it did not look like we would make it, then things changed. Those rebels that were stopping everyone saw the Dominion sign on the front of the van and became our friends; they cleared the way and on foot lead us thru the smoke to the other side. Cheers went up as we passed by and God surely took care of the problem. The police could hardly believe their eyes. Shortly we were at the airport where to executives from Total Fuel met us to take a very large check for fuel but then told us they did not know when it would get there. I got off at the airport and thanked the officers, shook their hands and then they and our driver left taking the Kikuyu to safe quarters.
The airplane was 11/2 hours late so much was happening as the planes came and went. Many people were trying to get out. The airport was complete with riot police, and army personal, and fairly secure. I was exhausted and sat down outside to call Sue and let her know I was fine, and then gunfire rang out so I decided it was safer inside a building. One thing I noticed was a hearse and large truck parked near the aircraft area. When our plane did finally arrive it was parked near the vehicles. As we loaded ourselves they were loading on bodies in coffins into the bottom of the plane. A very high up government official sat next to me on the plane and spoke openly about his disgust for what the President had done. As we left the plane a pretty young lady was standing behind me in near tears. She was coming to burry her husband to be, instead of her wedding. I tried to consol her but her reply was simply “life stinks”.
It is 24 hours from now, midnight that I get on the plane for London, I can’t wait.
Friday, the last day here, and so far it has been good. The day started of with a visit to an investment banker to discuss new ventures in Africa and in particular Kenya and Tanzania. It was a very good meeting, and although real large projects do not have a capitol base here smaller ones are possible for good firms willing to take the risks. This could work well with our proposed future programs. We will start building models from which to work on, so that when the timing is right we will be ready to move on. Next was a lunch meeting with our attorney here in Kenya, Mr. Nigel Shaw. We had a pleasant lunch catching up on things and bantering about what was the best solution to the crisis in Kenya. Neither one of us really knew what would happen but we are both very hopeful it will soon return to normal.
My final meeting was with the Managing director of Nakumatt, which is the Wal-Mart equivalent in Kenya. We had hoped to sell rice to them for retail distribution in their stores and in that regard I visited with him about three years ago. He remembered and within 30 minutes we had struck a deal. We will ship the product to the Kisumu store and they will back haul it to Nairobi for distribution in their supermarkets. This is a real blessing to be immediately sold in the largest chain of stores in the country. I am very thankful. They will take delivery of 24 tons next week and all the guys at the farm are excited.
The trip is about to come to a close except for the long ride home. I will be taking a young Kenyan girl with me so she can get medical treatment in Oklahoma City from the University of Oklahoma. She has severe sickle cell anemia and not much can be done for her in Kenya. Her sister Beatrice lives in Oklahoma City and has arranged for her to be treated for no cost, except for getting her their. Dominion was able to provide her transportation and as we cross the Atlantic she is sleeping in First Class while I am in Coach. She has lived in the bush all her life and knows little English so the trip is a real adventure. I pray the medical profession can make a difference for this girl, before she must return home again.
Overall the trip was good with some very harried times in between. I know that Kenya will survive this crisis in time. Perhaps in a month the violence will be over, and in a year there may be a political solution, but it may take years to get the finances of the country back on track. The ethnic issues are a different story. These problems go back for generations and are deeply rooted. The hearts and minds of these people must be changes from the inside and not just a superficial fix on the outside. I believe that a spirit of reconciliation must begin and only God has the ability to bring such a change to pass. Transformation from the old ways to one of understanding God’s love and direction in a person’s life will take time, and can not happen by the changing of a political leader. The events happening here now may be exactly what are needed to effectively make this process begin.
As for Dominion Farms we are an agent of change in the area, and we are here to stay. So many investors and companies have left or are going to leave, but we will stay. As Dominion has taken on the task of supplying clean water, roads, schools, medical clinics and jobs to the area, we have become a sign of stability in the area, a source of hope for so many people, and now we are their life line in a time of food shortages.
For such a time as this Dominion Farms was born. I hope we are up to the task!
Calvin
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