Mandera (Kenya)

Mandera is located in the very north eastern part of Kenya, bordering Ethiopia and Somalia. It takes two days travel by road from Nairobi to Mandera (approx.1100 km). The capital city of Somalia, Mogadishu is about 400 km away. Sadly, Somalia is still in a state of anarchy, in bad condition and very insecure with warlords contending for power.

The north-eastern province of Kenya and the other side of river Daua, which marks the border to Ethiopia, is mainly populated by "Kenyan Somalis". Generally, they have been Muslim for several hundred years, with a nomadic background. There are about 40,000 people living in and around Mandera, which is semi-desert, most keeping camels, goats, sheep and cattle.

The Mandera DIGUNA team (consisting of 6 - 15 staff members from Kenya and Germany) is involved mainly in supporting the Mandera Youth Polytechnic School. It actually belongs to the Government and we help with the running of the school, constructing new and maintaining existing buildings. A lot of young people are interested with the courses offered in the school which include Dressmaking, Tailoring, Carpentry, Masonry and Metal Work. In addition we have computer packages like Windows, MS Office, Hardware, Photoshop, and soon there with be Secretarial and Accounting courses as well. Besides all this, the Polytechnic runs an agricultural project with a small farm located next to the river for demonstration and training. There are different plantations on the farm including fruit, vegetables and animal fodder production, as well as a small dairy goat project with improved dairy breed.

Working at the school gives us good opportunities to get in touch with the local community and makes it possible for us to help people both practically and spiritually.