About Us
From 2002 Geoff was the link correspondent for Crick United Benefice, in the UK Diocese of Peterborough, and the parish of Chebukutumi in the Diocese of Bungoma in Western Kenya. He was also a member of the diocesan link committee since his first mission to Bungoma in 2007. Geoff is a retired Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Canadian born Diannah, who was a headteacher in UK with school links to Wamono, helped to set up the charity following our visit in 2009 but has now returned to Canada.
There were about 40 links which existed between churches and schools since the diocesan link was set up in 2000 by the Bishop of Peterborough, The Rt. Rev. Paul Barber and the first Bishop of Bungoma, The Rt. Rev. Dr. Eliud Wabukala, who in 2009 was appointed the Archbishop of Kenya and kindly agreed to be our patron. The diocesan link was closed on 31 December 2016 but our charity continues to support the needs of Bungoma Diocese.
During his mission in 2007 Geoff was shocked to witness the extreme poverty and desperate water needs across the whole diocese and determined to do something about it on his return. Through a grant from the UK charity Wilmslow Wells for Africa he was able to fund a 50000 litre underground harvested water tank for his link school at Chebukutumi where the children were without water for 4 months of the year and also a new hand dug well at Mapela, see 1st Newsletter in News. He then sought a survey of the water needs across the whole Bungoma Diocese which led to their joint mission in 2009 to determine the highest priorities and the subsequent launch of this charity whose sole objective is the relief of poverty. The charity's activities are in 6 key areas Water, Schools, Churches, Health, Orphans and Communications.
Bungoma Diocese headquarters are based in Bungoma which is the principal town of 60000 people in the Bungoma District which has a total population of 1,000,000. It is located in Western Kenya close to its border with Uganda and north of Lake Victoria. Although the region is on the equator the climate is milder than expected due to the general altitude of around 1500 m. 50 km to the north lies Mt Elgon at 4000m. The Google map below shows the location of Bungoma and the approximate extent of the diocese. Use the controls to zoom in or out and pan to explore the area.
The extreme and humiliating degree of poverty which has inspired us to set up this charity is typical of many sub Saharan countries but has been exacerbated in this region through lack of development and infrastructure. There are very few tarmac roads and virtually no electricity in rural areas or access to clean water. The region is based on subsistence farming which struggles to support the high density of the population.
