Sunday the 22nd of January 2023 was truly a memorable day for the Jamii Bora Trust family, a day that lived up to all the hype and expectations of both staff, residents and members alike. It was a celebration and an affirmation of the Trusts’ mantra ‘YAWEZEKANA’ which is a Swahili word that means ‘it is possible’. In the past year this mantra had truly come to life because their flagship low income housing project at Kaputiei New Town that had slipped away from them for 12 years was returned back to them in September 2022. This injected a new energy into the Trust because now it is time to finish what they started and with their original vision that will allow the poor to own homes at an affordable price.
This was the groundbreaking of the area where the new Neighborhood 1 is to be built, it will consist of 250 new housing units consisting of two and three bed-roomed houses to be completed within the year.
A celebration would not be complete without guests and this particular one had very special guests all the way from the United States. The Micro Financing Partners in Africa (MPA) team consisting of Sr. Antoinette Temporiti(Founder), Leah Brinson (Development Director), Julie Shearburn(Board Member), Janet and Mojeri (photographer and content developer) were in attendance on this particular day. They have been long time partners of the Jamii Bora Trust and had come to see for themselves what could possibly be the first successful low income housing project in Kenya since independence.
It was an early start with the guests arriving and being received at the Production Center of the Kaputiei New Town. This is where the residents are producing concrete hollow bricks and roof tiles for the upcoming 250 new units, so far they have produced enough to build 100 units. Guests were taken through the Process of producing the raw materials step by step and practically.
The next part of the program was the Thanksgiving service that was held at the Children’s Home located within the town. A Jovial Ingrid Munro (Founder and Managing Trustee of Jamii Bora Trust) made introductions between her Kaputiei New Town team and MPA team. She also introduced the different aspects of Jamii Bora Trust which mainly included Yawezekana Sacco health insurance and Levuka Rehab Center. Mr Tom Thiong’o the Director of Levuka and Brian a former alcoholic now transformed to a pastor gave testimonials on how the Levuka program works and encouraged residents to seek help through them, since it was clear that there was an alcohol problem within the town. It was also announced that starting the following week, there would be an outpatient wing of Levuka opened at Kaputiei New Town. Residents were appreciative for the initiative and also asked that the health insurance be implemented for residents as soon as possible.
Sr. Toni gave a vote of thanks on behalf of the MPA team and said that she had been encouraged by the Jamii Bora Trust founder and would continue to support the trust however she could. This part of the program ended with a session of praise and worship.
The main event of the day followed after a short prayer and dedication of the grounds where the new neighborhood was to be build. The sound of the big machines then took over and the bulldozer and truck were now in charge , the field was dotted with brightly colored orange and luminous green safety vests. After a few scoops of the bulldozer by the professionals Mrs. Munro and Sr. Temporiti each decided to take the bulldozer for a spin and get a few scoops of their own. It was difficult to tell that they were first timers once they got the hang of it.
The day ended with tree planting exercise for the guests from MPA assisted by the youth football team from Kaputiei New Town. Each of them planted a tree at the Children’s home that shall be nurtured until they visit again. I think it was symbolic that the event ended with our guests putting down roots in Kaputiei New Town.