Kenya

The mention of Kenya stirs up the imagination with scenes of towering giraffes, gentle elephants, and stealthy lions. More majestic than its animals, the people of Kenya live with noticeable dignity despite dire poverty. Less than fifty years ago, the people of Kenya earned independence from England after ten exhausting years of guerrilla warfare and political negotiation. Today, the government of Kenya struggles to support one of the world’s highest population growth rates and the majority of its people live in abject conditions. The lack of clean water and proper education dim the future for Kenya’s growing generation.

Focus

• Malaria prevention and bilharzias treatment
• Schoolhouse construction, desks and scholarships
• Rain harvesting systems
• The Yehu Bank and micro-enterprise: two examples of these micro-enterprise include the Momba Brick Company, which both men and women villagers run, and CHAST (Choice Humanitarian Agricultural Spray Team) of villagers who have been trained by Bayer to spray crops for larger yields

Country Coodinator

Rita de Nicolo Lugogo was born in Italy and educated in the United States. After earning a BS degree in Biology from the University of Connecticut, she joined the Peace Corp as a teacher in Kenya where she met her husband, Juma Lugugo. Rita raised her children in Kenya and earned a PhD from Virginia Tech in Human Nutrition and Foods. Her three children followed her footsteps and received postgraduate degrees in law, medicine, and business. In 1993, Rita became CHOICE’s full-time Kenya director; she usually supervises three expeditions each year to the Coast Province of Kenya.