A chance encounter brought people together who otherwise would never have met - and it changed the future of everyone involved. Terry Umbach, John Mwendwa and the villagers of Ndandini in East Kenya are forever united because of the encounter.
Umbach (with his wife Jan) is a senior travel consultant with Travel Masters in Sechelt, and in September 2007, they led a group on safari in Kenya. Prior to the trip, one of the participants asked if they could visit a school and take supplies with them for donation.
Umbach said that within days of that request, a different courier than they normally see came into the office. They got to talking and it just so happened that the man's father, John Mwendwa, grew up in and was running a school in the area Umbach's group was going to visit.
In a leap of faith and not really knowing where they were headed, Umbach led his group into the desert in vans following a two-wheel track in the dirt. Mwendwa, now a Vancouver resident, owns property near the village they were to visit and the group stayed the night at his home.
The next day, Umbach and his group finally reached the Ndandini village. "We were the first white people to visit this remote village. Imagine coming around a corner and seeing over 500 people waiting for you to arrive," Umbach said.
Umbach said the day gave him just a hint of village life as they were entertained with scheduled events, but some things became remarkably clear. The gifts for the children and bags of rice and flour they brought were nowhere near enough help. The village was in desperate need of a well for water, alternate fuel sources for cooking and a bigger school with modern technology for children and to assist in adult education.
"Since then, our group has provided the village with enough mosquito nets to protect everyone in the village from the malaria carrying mosquitoes," Umbach said. "A hydro geological survey is underway to determine the best way to provide a deep, water well for this village that has been suffering from drought for 10 years. We provided a solar-powered light for the school and are also actively developing a solar-powered TV/DVD system."
Fast forward to summer 2008. Umbach has been raising funds and awareness of this remote village through various measures. He started with emailing everyone he knew about his experiences, then, he became a director with Alliance Charity Foundation (ACF) that works on behalf of the Ndandini. In turn, it is registered with Give Meaning, a web-based organization that can sponsor charitable events and groups until they attain their own registered charitable foundation number with the government. Give Meaning collects monetary donations on behalf of ACF without taking a stipend. Umbach has also given presentations to Sunshine Coast service clubs in the hopes that one of them might pick up ACF as a project and create a sustainable, long-term fundraising solution. While Umbach works towards the well, he is also trying to get other initiatives going with the Ndandini that include building more classrooms for the school and providing each household with a $25 solar cooker that uses the sun's heat rather than wood, which is scarce, to prepare hot meals.
For more information on Umbach and the Ndandini or to donate, read his posts on the Give Meaning web site at www.givemeaning.com/project/alliancecharity.
