Hey everyone,

I have been pretty busy for a while, hence my silence, but I assure you, I shall try and be more communicative in the future. I have just finished a tour of all CLEAR projects in Kenya, which is very insightful as to how much people can do with so very little. We missed out on some USAID funding, and when I did some follow-up to find out why we did, I was informed that the amount we asked for, and the work we said we would do with it did not match. It was too much work for too little money!! Since we are a largely volunteer based organisation, we do get to do a lot of work for very little money. Our staff earn Kenyan salaries, not typical NGO salaries. However, next time if what they want is a bloated budget to believe that we can do the work, I am sure I can add a few zeros to my request!

The work is going on great. This week is the Judiciary open day, supposed to demystify the legal process to the general members of the public. CLEAR is participating by putting up a desk at Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret Open Day. Nairobi is the capital and is super competitive, CLEAR was not invited to participate here. We are happy to chip in where we can.

CLEAR Kisumu has finally taken off! The first paralegals are being trained this week in an area called Gwassi. We finally got our digital camera, so pictures should be up soon. We have managed to catch up with our programme work, so hopefully the delay of the start will not alter our goals. The team is very motivated, and I am sure we shall get the best from them. They return from Gwassi on Wednesday in time to prepare for the Judiciary open day, scheduled for Friday the 20th.

Enough from me for now, do take care and God bless you all.

—

Joy Mdivo