Sustainability is the Answer

While we were waiting to get our ride to Kitui, we toured the Nyumbani Diagnostic Laboratory. The lab was opened in 1999 and was one of the first labs in Kenya to not only test for HIV but also continue to monitor a positive patient’s health progress. The lab has the capability to test for HIV, TB, malaria, typhoid and other infectious diseases. The technicians are also able to perform CD4 counts, viral loads and PCR-RNA tests.

But the lab doesn’t just provide its services to the children at the Nyumbani orphanage but also the children in the Lea Toto program, the local community in Nairobi and several labs and hospitals throughout Kenya. In one month, the lab runs about 500 tests.

As 4 PM rolled around, it was time to get in the car for what ended up being one long and bumpy ride. We were on our way to visit the Nyumbani Village in Kitui, Kenya, which is supposed to be about a 3 hour-drive. That is if you don’t sit in 3 hours of traffic in Nairobi alone and if there isn’t construction on the road re-routing you to a different road for part of the way. Thank goodness I remembered to take Dramamine or I would have vomited anywhere and everywhere. This was hands down the worst road I’ve ever been on if you could even call it a road. It’s not paved, there are no signs, lights, lanes, nothing. It’s making my dizzy even writing about it now.

Four hours later, we stopped at the half-way mark and got dinner where I tried a traditional Kenyan dish called jipati. It’s wheat flour that has been fried in a skillet and resembles flat pita bread. Then before long, it was back in the car for another four hours of bumps and jerks. At long last we arrived in the village close to midnight. We were greeted by a volunteer named Ed who showed us to our rooms.


The Nyumbani Village in Kitui is Nyumbani’s response to the rising number of orphans in sub-Saharan Africa. It is projected that by 2010, the orphan population in sub-Saharan Africa will be 30-35 million, of which more than 7 million will be desperately destitute. There is also a rising problem with the number of elders left behind with no one to take care of them. Thus, the hope is that the Nyumbani Village will be a self-sustaining community to serve orphans and elders who have been left behind by the “lost generation” of the AIDS epidemic.


“The whole concept of children without parents and grandparents without parents is a beautiful concept. It makes a family,” said Don, who is a 77-year-old volunteer from Michigan.



The Nyumbani Village, which is the first sustainable and planned response to the catastrophe in Kenya and one of only a few in all of Africa, aims to house 1,000 orphans and 250 elderly grandparents and form new blended families that foster healing, hope and opportunity. The children and grandparents will sustain themselves through agriculture, poultry, dairy projects as well as handcrafts and external services.

Vocational opportunity in the form of training, tools and start-up financing for trades, cottage industry and agricultural endeavors will be provided with the goal of self-sustaining independence, financial security and stability for residents, particularly maturing young people. The Nyumbani Village is truly impacting the far-reaching socio-economic ramifications of the disease. The four main concepts surrounding the village are care and development of orphans, sustainability, environmental respect and poverty reduction.

Sound too good to be true?

Well it's not. It's not only true but has the opportunity to become a model community for other villages not only in Kenya but all across sub-Saharan Africa. The Kenya government and the U.S. government are watching the village closely to evaluate its success.


The Kenya government donated the 1,000 acre site to Nyumbani. The construction of the village was funded by the Vatican from an AIDS children stamp sale.


The school was funded by Jeremy Hunt, a member of parliament in the U.K. And until the village is sustainable, the village is supported by USAID. Nicholas is the mastermind behind the village’s concept and is now the director of the growing community.



The village consists of cottages for the families, staff workers and volunteers; a community center; administrative offices; nursery and primary school; medical clinic; and recreational park and game fields. Each family receives a half-acre of land and access to water. Everything is built on site: bricks, cement, window panels, etc.

A comprehensive water system allows for soil to be rich and fertile in what is a dry and arid region. Crops are watered by a drip irrigation system that is pumped from boreholes, shallow wells and sand-dams. Drinking and cooking water are pumped in from Kitui town by the Kenyan government. Four main organic farms grow vegetables, fruits and beans.

Dairy farming provides the village with milk, several chicken coups provide the village with eggs, and goat farming provides the village with meat. There are no toilets but instead pit latrines that store urine and feces until the village's sanitation team retrieves the waste and transports it to a composting center. The composting center takes cow dung, goat droppings, small branches and human feces and turns it into compost and fertilizer.

The village also grows plants consisting of beans which bio-fuel can be extracted from as well as plants that insect repellent and perfume oils can be extracted from. Over the years, both of these plants can be sold creating revenue for the village.

There is no electricity yet at the village although there are plans to incorporate soon. Three main generators serve the village. The first powers the computers in the administrative office and school.

The second powers the word-working machines in the polytechnic school. And the third works with solar panels to pump water from the boreholes, shallow wells, and sand-dams to the village.



Nyumbani places a special emphasis on education not just in the village but in the children’s home and in the outreach programs in the slums. This is incredibly important because in a developing country like Kenya, education is the gateway to self-reliance.


In addition to the nursery and primary school, the village offers a Polytechnic school, which is a technical school where many people will learn the skills that give them the independence to be sustainable.



The technical school offers training in dairy and fruit, honey and medicinal processing; woodworking; macramé and textiles, carving and leather work; metal work and auto garage. In addition grandparents are constantly weaving baskets with beautiful prints that are sold in town.

Michael and I will be spending another 3 days there later in our trip after which I will share with you more information about the amazing people who lead the village as well as the people who are benefiting from this incredible concept of sustainability.



We headed out for Nariobi at 2 PM and thankfully took a different route that was much smoother. We stopped at a small market and I tried sugarcane for the first time! We returned to Nairobi safely and celebrated Michael’s birthday with a yummy Lebanese dinner at a nearby restaurant. This weekend we’ve been relaxing and preparing for our 7-day safari that starts Monday morning. So this will be my last blog post for a week but I’ll be sure to update you all on my safari adventure as soon as we return.