Michael Odula in his own words

www.cathinafrica.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/michael-odula-in-his-own-words/

A HOLYDAY WITH A DIFFERENCE

In this kaleidoscopic society, life is constantly changing and this has a big impact on the international multi – billion tourism industry. This includes changing trends in accommodation, tours, cruise ship facilities and countries to visit and explore.

If you follow the “gurus” you will be informed that less people are interested in beach holidays only. Getting a suntan and lazing on the beach is slowly but surely becoming outdated. A lot of people are getting increasingly tired of spending nights in bars and discos with sumptuous meals being the only highlights of the day.

TOURISTS CHANGE OF ATTITUDE
Tourists now desire something new, exciting and different. They are calling it “a holiday with a purpose”! Tourists now want to go back home feeling refreshed after an action packed holiday full with real life experiences.

This segment of tourism market is growing fast and suppliers are being forced to adjust. The name of the game has been changed to include plenty of activities and adventures for both the mind and the soul. This new “holiday with a purpose” includes interactions with local people (besides the hotel staff) because they know how to give the tourists the feel and heart beat of the country. Some tourists are even keen to physically work on the community projects alongside the locals. What such guests seek is a totally relaxing holiday full of exciting stories to tell back home. A beach holiday could never provide or match such a holiday with a difference.

TOURISTS WITH PHILANTHROPIC CHARACTERISTICS / INTERESTS
Many Tourists desire to travel but the prohibitive costs of hotel accommodation makes this dream hard to realize. Therefore, an increasing number of travellers are now opting to take a home based kind of tourism , at times called “people to people educational tours”, for the purpose of social integration and cultural immersion staying in a rural village setting. In this case the tourists will spend their savings supporting a community project, for example on education, health, Agriculture, women group projects and sop forth. Their support and generosity could also include paying school fees to the orphans and vulnerable children in secondary (High) schools or helping the less fortunate in one way or another, instead of spending such lots of money in a hotel.

For this group of tourists, their preference lies in spending their holidays with local families and staying with them in the village which enriches their experiences and allows them to enjoy home generosity and hospitality.

Kenya fits perfectly within this context of new holiday concept as Kenyans are friendly and open. The country’s breath-taking sceneries make the experience beautiful and memorable. Recently, a lady visited the country and travelled to Rusinga Island on Lake Victoria to do a survey on local herbs and medicinal plants. She wanted to find out which medicinal plants were harvested and how the local people were using them. She wanted to learn how to preserve this traditional knowledge for years to come and she was introduced to a local medicine-man who has established a Herbal Clinic in the island. Both the lady and he herbalist worked together for some months at the clinic.


There are also other memorable examples whereby such tourists have immensely contributed towards the development of community projects in Rusinga Island for example a tourist from France and his family back in France have supported Milimani Academy, a school for orphans and vulnerable children in the locality. One lady from USA supported to erect a permanent fence for horticultural project belonging to a local women group, and yet another one recently from Brazil assisted a host family to install a solar system to provide light and also to charge mobile phones in a rural village not yet connected to the National Grid. In February this year, a couple from Spain / Ireland by names Viviana and Neil who had come to Lake Victoria Permaculture Net work projects as volunteers donated two laptops to facilitate ICT training for the local youths and also cash to purchase school supplies, porridge ingredients and salary for three months for teachers at Milimani Academy.

Odula family hugely appreciates all the assistance and support given to the community projects and also needy individuals in Rusinga Island on Lake Victoria in Kenya by such tourists and volunteers to the island.
Apart from financial contributions to the community needs, such tourists also provide volunteer services involving physical work with the local community members. And eventually these tourists go back home hugely satisfied and full of exciting stories to tell.

lvicperm@yahoo.co.uk
Victor Odula – Kenya


http://www.youtube.com/odulafamily

Rusinga Island on YouTube!

In this video Michael Odula talks about the permaculture farm at the Odula family home. Visit the Odula Family YouTube channel to see more videos!

A Holiday With A Difference

In this kaleidoscopic society, life is constantly changing and this has a big impact on the international multi-billion tourism industry. This includes changing trends in accommodation, tours, cruise ship facilities and countries to visit and explore. If you follow the "gurus", you will be informed that less people are interested in beach holidays only. Getting a suntan and lazing on the beach is slowly but surely becoming outdated. A lot of people are getting increasingly tired of spending their nights in bars and discos with sumptuous meals being the only highlights of the day.

Tourists Change Of Attitude

Tourists now desire something new, exciting and different. They are calling it "a holiday with a purpose"! Tourists now want to go back home feeling refreshed after an action-packed holiday full of real life experiences.

This segment of the tourism market is growing fast and suppliers are being forced to adjust. The name of the game has changed to include plenty of activities and adventures for both the mind and the soul. This new "holiday with a purpose" includes interactions with local people (besides the hotel staff!) because they know how to give the tourists the feel and heartbeat of a country. Some tourists are even keen to physically work on the community projects alongside the locals. What such guests seek is a totally relaxing holiday full of exciting stories to tell back home. A beach holiday could never provide or match such a holiday with a difference.

Tourists With Philanthropic Characteristics/Interests

Many tourists desire to travel but the prohibitive costs of hotel accommodation makes this dream hard to realise. Therefore, an increasing number of travellers are now opting to take home-based kind of tourism, sometimes called "People to people education tours", for the purpose of social integration and cultural immersion staying in a rural village settings. In this case the tourists would spend their savings supporting a community project, for example, on education, health, agriculture, women groups projects and so forth. Their support and generosity could also include paying school fees to the orphans and vulnerable children in Secondary (High) Schools or helping the less fortunate in one way or another, instead of spending lots of money in an hotel.

For this group of tourists, their preference lies in spending their holidays with local families and staying with them in the village which enriches their experiences and allows them to enjoy home generosity and hospitality.

Kenya fits perfectly within this context of new holiday concept as Kenyans are friendly and open. The country's breathtaking sceneries makes the experience beautiful and memorable. Recently, a lady from the USA visited the country and travelled to Rusinga Island on Lake Victoria to do a survey on local herbs and medicinal plants. She wanted to find out which medicinal plants were harvested and how local people were using them. She wanted to learn how to preserve this traditional knowledge for years to come and so she was introduced to a local medicine man who has also established an Herbal Clinic in the island. Both the lady and the herbalist worked together for some months at the clinic.

These are also other memorable examples whereby such tourists have immensely contributed towards the development of community projects in Rusinga Island. For example, a tourist from France, and his family back home, have supported Milimani Academy, a school for orphans and vulnerable children in the locality. One lady from the USA supported to erect a permanent fence for an horticultural project belonging to a local women's group. Yet another visitor from Brazil assisted a host family to install a solar system to provide light and also to charge mobile phones in a rural village not yet connected to the national grid.

The list of community projects assisted continues, for in February/March this year, a couple from Spain/Ireland who had come to work at Lake Victoria Permaculture Network projects as volunteers donated two laptops to facilitate IT training for the local youths and also cash to purchase school supplies, porridge ingredients and salary for 3 months for teachers at Milimani Academy, a pre-school for orphans and vulnerable children in the locality. The volunteers also worked to set up small permaculture farm at the host family farm.

Odula family hugely appreciates all these assistances and support given to the community projects and also needy individuals in Rusinga Island on Lake Victoria in Kenya by such tourists and volunteers to the island.

Apart from financial contributions to the community needs, such tourists also provide volunteer services involving physical work with the local community members. And eventually these tourists go back home hugely satisfied and full of exciting stories to tell!

Michael and Jane Odula Host Family Project - Kenya

IntroductionThe Kenyan Host Family Project, based on Rusinga Island, on Lake Victoria, was started in 1995 but became more active from 2000 onwards with the emergence of the internet on the region.
The project initiators are Michael (60), a former high school principal and a UNEP Global 500 Laureate (1990), while Jane (50), is a former teacher and a social worker trained in Canada. Both are now fully involved in promoting sustainable development programs in their own community.

Goals and Objectives
To promote global partnership, friendship and co-operation for the purposes of skills and innovative technologies transfers involving professionals of various kinds worldwide.

Project Description

The family undertakes the following programs / activiuties

• The family manages a Preschool / Nursery school and lower primary school.
• Feeding program for orphans and vulnerable children at the school.
• Lobby and Advocacy on the Rights of the Child, counselling and spiritual nourishment including psychological support to the children.
• School supplies and equipment and classrooms construction
• Adult continuing Education
• Resource (Library)
• Organizes seminars, workshops on a variety of themes related to sustainable development based – Agenda 21 Initiatives (Rio Earth summit 1992)
• Subsequent Rio + 20 initiatives – REDD plus initiatives to reduce deforestration and carbon dioxide emissions through dialogues and practical activities and experiences, to include environmental conservation education and public awareness creation.
• Hosts voluntourists / volunteers through family based accommodation to enhance social intergration and inter-cultural immersions, to be treated to typical African hospitality in the villages.
• Out door activities to include: hiking, fishing, boating, canoeing, mountaineering etc. organizes visits to places and sites of historical and geographical importance, namely; nearby Ruma National Park, hot springs, bird islands on Lake Victoria, Tom Mboya Mausoleum and Museum and many others and study tours for interested parties.

SOCIAL SERVICES   

• Providing support to orphans and vulnerable children, the sick, the elderly and the handicap.
• Providing consulting services i.e proposal writing, registration procedures to community based organizations.
• Manages an Education Sponsorship schemes for bright orphans to pay school fees in High Schools to enable them to continue with their education. Girl child education in African societies have been compromised by sex, stereotypes , prejudices, , discriminatory attitudes and customs against Girls but in favour of boys. The family  also lobbies and advocates for girls to go to school to achieve social, economic and political empowerment and also provides sanitary towels to the High school girls in the locality

RICEELL NEW PROGRAMS ENVISIONED

Services and education

Ø  Tools/software/ICT

Ø  Mentorship / leadership training

Environment / Technological innovation

Ø  Clean Tech/Alternative energy sources i.e solar, wind etc.

Ø  Green building.

Ø  Green jobs / job creation.

Ø  Eco-village on a Rusinga mountain side.

The family is open to explore new avenues and ideas thoughts for cooperation on supporting Autogestion and community building.

Localization
Rusinga Island is a 45 km2 on Lake Victoria, on the western Kenya, at about 70 km from the Equator. It is around 500 km from Nairobi and the main way to get there is by buses (matatus) through Homa- Bay and Mbita (the nearest town). Otherwise one can travel by air up to Kisumu and from there to Homa-Bay then Mbita by buses.

Weather
Since we are near to the Equator, it is generally hot during the day (25 – 35C) and fresh by the night (12 – 20C).

What to bring?
Comfortable light and decent clothing for the day and a warm sweater or jacket. Mosquito repellent, malaria tablets (consult your doctor before departure), personal medicine, sunscreen, hat, comfortable shoes and slippers, any other items you think would be necessary for you.

Accommodation
Accommodation is at the family’s guesthouse, where they will be provided with beds and adequate beddings. And are encouraged to eat local African dishes which most of them find quite appetizing. Electrical energy is still arriving in the island, and our home just got a solar system installed, to provide lighting at night and energy for cell phones. No internet is available within a 5 km radius.

Resource Unit
A Resource Unit (library) is also put in place at the guest house, full of books, magazines, etc…

What to do during the stay?
Arrangements will be made for you to do quite a variety of duties and services, working in community projects which will provide a totally new experience in life and we do hope you will find them quite exciting.
Examples of working places:
- Milimani Academy, founded by Odula Family, where most of the toddlers are orphans and vulnerable children from the local community whose ages range from 3 to 8 years.
- A local primary school and a high school within the same locality.
- At a local herbalist clinic working with traditional medical practitioner.
- Organic and permaculture farm.
- Agro-forestry and tree nursery establishment.

The anticipated work pattern is organized that you will find free time to do something else, ie: study local languages, read books, visit friends and interact with local people, go fishing, trekking and hiking, etc.

Duration
From 1 week to 3 months, or more.

Bureaucratic Conditions
As soon as you land on the Nairobi International Airport Jomo Kenyatta you will be given a tourist visa valid for 90 days (3 months) at the cost of 50U$$. If asked you should say you are a tourist, not that you are coming to work because for this activity the authorities normally required other and more complicated procedures, which for you is unnecessary.

Charges
US$ Dollars 10 per day/ per person
Euro 8 per per day / per person
The charges cover food and accommodation only.


For further details and information contact:
Michael and Jane Odula Host Family
P.O. Box 132
Homa-Bay 40300
KENYA
Phone: +254 702416420
Email: manodula@yahoo.co.uk