Locals Support Village in Kenya

By Carissa Nichols

September 15, 2008

The Women's Center at Virginia Tech and the International Women in Need (IWiN), a student-run non-profit organization at Virginia Tech, have teamed up to sponsor an African benefit dinner and silent auction.  The event will take place at Gillie's in downtown Blacksburg, on Sunday, Sept. 21.

Proceeds from the dinner and auction will go to the "Corn Mills for Kenya" campaign, which sponsors the Koriko Moyie Women's Group in Kenya's Ngeta Village. Kathy Lokale, program coordinator of the Women's Center, said, "We were approached by their community" for help.   

The women of the Ngeta Village want a power mill in order to establish a business that they can use to support their families.  As for now, Lokale said the women of the village devote seven hours a day to grinding corn with stones.  Even after spending several hours grinding corn by hand, the women of the village can only produce enough to last one day.

According to the IWiN website, the Ngeta Village is "a village where at least half of the children have lost one or more parents to HIV/AIDS and where subsistence farming is the norm, the number of people who need help is overwhelming."

A corn mill would allow the women to spend more time with their families while helping them financially, too.  Lokale said the money earned from the mill would be used toward educating or providing for their children and grandchildren.

Twelve people from Kenya came to Blacksburg and donated handcrafted items to be auctioned off for the event.  Squires Student Center houses a display case of these items.

Tickets for the auction and dinner are $15 for non-students and $10 for students and children with free admission to those under five.  Advance tickets are available but some will be sold at the door as well.

Lokale said the Women's Center and IWiN prefer for people to buy their tickets in advance in order to know how much food needs to be prepared.

Five women from Africa have volunteered to cook; therefore there will be authentic African food for the dinner.  The cuisine presented will be vegetarian in nature.

The doors open at 6 p.m. and dinner will start at 6:30 p.m.  The silent auction ends at 8:30 p.m..

The Women's Center and IWiN have a goal of raising $7,000 within two years.  The funds raised will contribute to the purchase of a power mill and a structure to protect the mill.

Once the corn mill is given to the village Lokale said, "our [long term] goal is to send students over to see how things are going and to [experience] a cultural exchange" if opportunity allows.