Submitted by Guest on Tue, 2015-03-03 17:23
- STORIES FROM MAAI MAHIU, KENYA -
Blog By: Amara Watkin-Anson
Greetings once again from the Rift Valley! Yep, I'm back in Maai Mahiu! What started out as a fortuitous placement last year as part of my Global Advocate Fellowship with Mama Hope, has turned into an incredible opportunity to continue work here with CTC. It had been my hope to find a way to continue building on the work we had accomplished in my first trip, and lo' and behold, CTC invited me back as a staff member to grow the UBUNTU farm, Waste Management and Café UBUNTU programs. I could not be more thrilled. This year, I will be working to maximize partnership opportunities, grow the business (well all three actually!) and build staff and organizational capacity. Following and executing the principles of true social enterprise!
I am so excited to share my background in agriculture, food service, and community development on the ground here. I’ve even been able to initiate a weekly staff fitness bootcamp which meets now every Friday for an intense regimen of cardio, strength training, plyometrics, (I don’t take any prisoners!) and often some pickup volleyball or soccer games. I am also equally as excited to learn from and engage the deeply knowledgeable community of brilliance that surrounds me.
Other than weekly workouts, we have some really exciting things underway. While the drought has put a tremendous amount of pressure on the farm, we have still managed to supply the Café with organic veggies and herbs, and our greenhouse is making regular deliveries of delicious tomatoes to an organic restaurant partner in Nairobi (Bridges Organic– recently written up in the Africa Insider). Café UBUNTU is also preparing to host monthly Nyama Choma nights; an opportunity for folks to escape the chaos of Nairobi for beautiful scenery, music, drinks and of course…the much beloved barbeque. All this, and we’re only just getting started!
The road so far has been paved with some incredible successes and I look forward to see many more unfold. This opportunity was undoubtedly made possible by the community here in Kenya, the CTC staff, and Mama Hope, as well as the generous support of countless giants who have helped to build CTC into what it is today! For that I am eternally grateful, thank you.
Check it out:
Café Ubuntu's first wedding!
#CTCBootCamp
Café Ubuntu is rocketing up the ranks on TripAdvisor, help us bring more business to the Café by rating us!