Today the team had a full tour of the Empowering Lives International (ELI) facility in Kipkaren. This included the training center, community building, the kitchen, and a small store run by women from the village. These women are generally single mothers or widows. They make crafts and sell them at the small store onsite to provide for their families. They are very talented, and the team will certainly bring back some souvenirs.
The outside of the grounds features a very large garden and a tomato greenhouse. The garden includes lettuce, kale, cucumbers, papayas, and many, many other vegetables. The garden is an example of other produce that be grown besides maize (corn). Kenyans traditionally have grown only maize, which is dried in the sun and sold. However, due to drought all summer, and now a late rainy season, the maize harvest is very, very small. When other vegetables are grown, the Kenyan people can feed their own families, and sell the excess to make a profit for themselves.
There is also an agri-forestry area where fast-growing trees are cultivated. The philosophy is when you cut down one tree, plant two others in it's place. The agricultural students tend the gardens and agri-forestry areas as part of their studies. The garden also has an apiary - a bee-keeping area, as well as a tilapia fish pond.
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