22 September 2008 - New Partnerships, and a Bright New Future
The Kenya Ceramic Project will soon be partnering with Village Volunteers, an American-based NGO and Common Ground, a Kenyan community based organization operating in the village of Kiminini. These partnerships will allow for the construction of a new high-output factory devoted to the full-time production of filters. The factory will be built at the Common Ground site, and will be much closer to major trade centers and resources, allowing the filters to be produced and transported at a much lower cost. This is a very exciting time for all, as we are getting ever closer to achieving our goal of a self-sustaining filter producing facility! More details to come soon.

Summer 2008 Kenya Trip a Success!
The new Kenya Ceramic Project team has recently returned to Canada, after spending two months in Western Kenya. This year, a team of ten students and volunteers were recruited to continue work on the project and shoot a new documentary film exposing the water and fuel crisis facing East Africa .



Thanks to the work of the team, a fully functioning pilot factory is now in operation, dedicated to producing ceramic filter prototypes for testing and distribution to the community. The first 100 suitable filters are currently being circulated to households with children under the age of five. These families are being surveyed and followed within the community to assess the real life impact of the filters in decreasing the incidence of diarrheal disease.

Machines have recently been constructed to automate the filter making process. This will not only allow for a higher output of production, but will also ensure that the quality of the filters is controlled and remains constant.

Apart from working in the Western Province, team members have been traveling to the Rift Valley, Northern Province, and the Lake Victoria and Nairobi areas, promoting and marketing the filters. Relations have been re-established with UNICEF Kenya and a partnership for the future is in the works to sell and distribute the filters and stoves!

Two volunteers, Carmen Binding and Andrew Lunse from the University of Calgary, are still currently operating and overseeing the project in Kenya. They will remain there through the winter until a new U of A team can be sent in the summer of 2009.

19 May 2008 - First Annual "Kenya Run for Water"
The Kenya Run for Water on May 11th was a huge success! Thanks to all the volunteers and everyone who came out to run. We couldn't have done it without you! Stay tuned for details about next year's run.

Listen to a CBC Radio Edmonton Interview on February 5th, 2008

26 January 2008

Local potter Musa Omumia reviews new designs for KCP stove prototypes

Local workers finish the floor of the KCP factory in Kabula

Sugarcane waste (bagasse) is provided by Mumias Sugar

A kiln dedicated to KCP stoves is constructed in Ekero

Trouble In Kenya: Still Pursuing Our Goal
A full month after disputed elections, much of Kenya still suffers from chaos and disruption. While hundreds of thousands of Kenyans have been displaced due to violence, the Kenyan shilling has hit a ten-month low, transportation and trade has been disrupted, and many necessary goods are unavailable. International funding has been cut and development projects of all sorts have retreated from the country. Yet despite difficulties and resulting setbacks, the Kenyan Ceramic Project (KCP) maintains its hopes of providing affordable and sustainable technologies for the benefit of the environment, the pocketbooks, and the health of Kenyans. As the situation for the millions of Kenyans looks increasingly difficult, KCP's technologies (ceramic water filters to eliminate bacteria from drinking water, high-efficiency cooking stoves to reduce fuel usage and smoke, and fuel alternatives to wood) are even more urgently needed.

Adaptation And Flexibility: Biomass Briquettes As An Alternative Fuel
By working at a grassroots level and listening to the concerns of everyday Kenyans, KCP has been able to adapt as it has progressed. As filter prototyping continued and with increased appreciation of the local situation, it became clear that firewood and wood charcoal required for ceramic firing was not only difficult to acquire, it was extremely expensive. Rapidly increased agricultural land use in East Africa, especially Western Kenya, has resulted in massive deforestation. Using firewood to produce water filters would be detrimental to the environment, as important to the long-term health and survival of Kenyans as clean water. As well, introducing a technology dependent on fuel so expensive for local producers would make it impossible for Kenyans to adopt as their own - essential for the success of KCP. The production of biomass fuel briquettes has thus been pursued: compacting local organic materials (such as sawdust, leaves, and paper waste) for fuel will not only allow water filters to be made cheaper and with less impact to the environment, it will provide another income-generating opportunity for local community-based organizations and give Kenyan families a affordable alternative to wood charcoal for daily cooking. KCP has learned much from the Uganda Gender Rights Foundation (supported by the Legacy Foundation), who has generously shared their knowledge of and experience with briquette production. Meanwhile, the great help from Dr. Lowell Baker, Professor of Ceramics at the University of Alabama, has provided another environmentally-conscious alternative to wood fuel: a sugarcane waste fuel injection system, which will allow the perfection of the water filters to continue while biomass briquettes are developed. Only by paying attention to the local circumstances and remaining flexible was KCP able to adapt to best serve Kenya.

Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Technology For And By Kenya
KCP aims to not simply install externally-developed ideas, but to instead have innovative and helpful technologies adapted for and adopted by Kenya. Nearby help has been employed in all manners. A pilot factory, storage and drying area, and kiln have been constructed by local builders in Kabula for briquette and water filter production. The site has a gate with road access and the potential for expansion. Waste material ('bagasse') from the locally-abundant sugarcane has been provided by the Mumias Sugar Company as the key ingredient in ceramic water filters, which have shown in prototypes to completely eliminate bacteria. (In other areas of East Africa, sawdust, wheat waste, or grasses may be more appropriate.) A local potter, Musa Omumia, has been employed to help produce stoves and water filters. Funding from KCP has allowed him to build a new workshop and a kiln dedicated to stove production in Ekero, where he lives and works with a local women's group.

UNICEF, whose mandate includes clean water access, is interested in facilitating the expansion and proliferation of KCP water filters. The Uganda Gender Rights Foundation has demonstrated that fuel production from local materials can be successfully taught to small women's and community groups for their own use and income. In the same way, manufacturing water filters and higher-efficiency stoves can and will be taught to Kenyans so they may reap all the benefits of their production sustainably. Innovative KCP technologies are purposely simple and inexpensive; their health, financial, and environmental benefits are not to be merely donated, but shared.

Ellison Richmond has recently returned to Kenya after avoiding trouble by visiting the Uganda Gender Rights Foundation. He hopes for peace and stability in Kenya and urges patience and understanding from all sides.