The Jersey "Unity Group" is made up of members of the following churches in St Helier, the main town on the Island:- St Columba's Church of Scotland, All Saints Anglican Church, Salvation Army, St Helier Catholic Parish and St Helier Methodist Centre.In 2005, a meeting was addressed by Paul Okumu, a Kenyan citizen working in Jersey, who had become an adherent at St Columba's. He spoke of life in his village of Nyalkinyi, which is in western Kenya, near Homa Bay on Lake Victoria. The village was very poor, and one of the main things which they lacked was access to good drinking water, the nearest source being several miles away. It was decided that the "Unity Group" would fund the boring of a well for the village. In early 2006, the borehole was installed. The picture below shows the completed borehole in the background.Having assessed that more could be done to help the villagers, a Group team went to Kenya in November 2006 to help to build a Health Centre and to set up a School Feeding Programme. The foundations of the Health Centre can be seen in the foreground.
The next two photographs show the building of the Health Centre. The accommodation block is in the background of the first picture
The feeding programme, to give the school children at least one good meal per day,involved the purchase of two fields, which are cultivated by the local villagers. Cattle and chickens were also bought. The picture below shows the children at their meal break.
This last photo shows members of the ecumenical team from Jersey.
At the beginning of this year, emergency aid was sent to the village following the rioting in the wake of the disputed elections.
The next two photographs show the building of the Health Centre. The accommodation block is in the background of the first picture
