Photographic prints: Images are available as fine art archival prints. Pricing for prints are:

• 7 inch x 5 inch – $19
• 12 inch x 8 inch – $50
• 18 inch x 12 inch – $125
• 24 inch x 16 inch – $200
• 36 inch x 24 inch – $250

Canvases: A limited number of images are available as fine art canvases. Each canvas is individually printed and stretched over a wooden frame. Pricing for canvases are:

• 12 inch x 8 inch – $150
• 18 inch x 12 inch – $200
• 24 inch x 16 inch – $250
• 36 inch x 24 inch – $350

Click here to download a summary of our financial needs

]]> http://www.thekilgorisproject.com/?feed=rss2&p=74 0 http://www.thekilgorisproject.com/?p=40 http://www.thekilgorisproject.com/?p=40#comments Sun, 04 Jul 2010 00:24:16 +0000 admin http://www.kilgoris.com/?p=40

As community members from the Ntimigom area watched the success of the first two schools, they began to envision the same dream for themselves. Could they build a school for their youngest students, saving them a 30-minute walk to town? Could they make their church site, a crossing point of two rural roads, a place that would draw community members? Could run a primary school or even a medical clinic in the future?

They answered with a resounding “Yes”. The local tribe donated 10 acres of land, a hillside expanse that looks down on the community, to The Kilgoris Project. The community set to work. Church members began offering trees and cooking skills to further the work.

Though the project wasn’t scheduled to begin until early 2008, church and community members eagerly began construction in Fall 2007. By January 2008, they had enough of a structure to open the school for the beginning of the Kenyan school year. They completed the building a few months later.

With a preschool building filling just two acres, there was room to imagine what else the land could hold. And they need a place to hold the bursting-at-the-seams crowd of kids.

In Fall 2008, they began the project’s fourth school, the first primary school. The first-graders began the year in temporary classrooms moved into a permanent building in September 2009. The school plans to add a grade and a two-classroom building each year.

Church and community members are now plotting their dreams for the remaining acres of their place on a hill.

]]> http://www.thekilgorisproject.com/?feed=rss2&p=40 0 http://www.thekilgorisproject.com/?p=38 http://www.thekilgorisproject.com/?p=38#comments Sun, 04 Jul 2010 00:24:00 +0000 admin http://www.kilgoris.com/?p=38

It may seem like a plot from a movie to have a witch doctor terrorizing a group of villagers, but the scene was no work of fiction in the Oloowang area outside Kilgoris village. For years, a local shaman held sway over the rural population with tricks, spells and incantations. Villagers were afraid to cross the man, lest he curse their families or animals. The man had such a reputation that neighbors referred to the area as Olemismis or “the place of darkness” in the Maasai language.

In 2003 a group of church members wanted to challenge the man and began to build a church for the community. A neighbor donated land, and they erected a crude frame. But when the shaman found out, he intimidated the landowner into retracting his offer.

Two years later, the church members confronted the shaman himself and were able to run the man out of the area. The community rejoiced that they were now free from fear. The stage was set for a change.

With new land donated by a church member and funds donated by The Kilgoris Project, the congregation began work on the church in Summer 2005. They renamed their site Oloowang or “lightness” in Maa.

In January 2006, the start of the Kenyan school year, the Oloowang School welcomed its first students. In this remote area, there is no other preschool within a one-hour walk. The students and parents danced for joy when the doors opened.

Initially the two teachers and about 85 students held class sitting on benches made from rocks and scrap boards learning the alphabet from letters sewn on a discarded feed sack. They now have basic classroom furnishings but lack the outdoor play equipment needed to complete the school.
The school began a feeding program in Fall 2006. This provides each student with a bowl of filling, vitamin-enriched porridge and cup of tea. Since many students come to school without breakfast and/or without a lunch, this gives them energy for their school day.

At the same time, the school installed a new tank, ensuring a clean water supply. Previously the teachers filled heavy cans of water at the pumps of neighboring farmers and hauled them for a little student drinking water. Still the children often drank from stagnant puddles on the walk to school or at recess and, as a result, often had diarrhea or stomach problems. A fresh water collection tank (rain water tank) now provides ample clean water for school and church activities.

The school brought a source of excitement for the Oloowang area. Instead of being known as a dark place, it is beginning to rewrite its story. The bright smiles of the school children could fill books.

While the tea farm provides a long, steady income to the schools, the 5-acre maize farm will earn the schools some shorter-term money.

Workers planted maize in early 2010. Maize, a staple of the Kenyan diet, is harvested twice a year. It is in high demand, but is more susceptible to weather conditions than tea. In good seasons, it will create a high return.

Both the tea and maize proceeds will offset teacher salaries and building expenses.

Through correspondence over the next few years, the McCormacks learned of the church’s desire to help the community by constructing a church building and using it for a preschool during the week. By charging fees on a sliding scale or by giving scholarships, many children would be able to attend school for the first time.

Through a series of donations from the McCormacks, the church began building in May 2001 and completed the structure in late 2003. Congregation members provided much of the labor for the building. Enkijabe Empiris School, meaning Winds of Grace in the Maasai language, opened its doors to two teachers and 75 students in January 2004.

The church brought in American missionary teachers Paul and Donna Tocco of Pennsylvania to assist in the administration and planning. Paul’s skills as a contractor, his job prior to moving to Kenya, helped to keep the project on track. The Toccos live four hours away in Nakuru and run their own pastoral training school. They have a long friendship with the villagers and exchange visits often. The now Toccos serve on The Kilgoris Project Board of Directors, provide safe transfer of funds to the school, as well as in-country oversight for the project.

With the success of the first school/church building, the congregation wanted to offer the same blessing to a neighboring community. They began construction in mid-2005 and opened the Oloowang building to students and worshipers in January 2006. It also boasts two teachers and about 85 students.

Though the churches appreciated the outside investment in their community, they have a desire for self-sufficiency. In May 2006, the McCormacks donated funds for the purchase of a five-acre tea farm. After the initial clearing and planting in Spring 2008, the farm should begin its first harvests in Fall 2010. When the tea plants mature, the monthly income from the farm will offset teacher salaries and expenses for the schools.

After a generous donation of 10 acres from the tribe and the labor of many villagers, the group opened its third school, Ntimigom, in January 2008. It serves more than 100 students. As in the other two schools, the students receive a daily hot meal in addition to their education. In 2009, the Ntimigom community completed a fourth school. This is the project’s first primary school. In its first year, it welcomed a class of 90 and plans to grow by one grade level each year.

Through these four schools, the churches and the tea farm, now known as The Kilgoris Project, the villagers are able to touch their neighbors. Many children are learning for the first time. Parents see hope for the future. And community sees a visible expression of God’s love. .

We developed the Upendo Women’s Cooperative in late 2009 to give an economic boost to some mothers of students.

The 35 women meet weekly to make crafts, discuss business ideas, and offer each other friendship and support. They will sell products in the U.S., as well as develop local business opportunities.

With proceeds from their first craft sales, the women invested in a maize plot.