Why we do what we do where we do it.

Unless you have been to Kenya and witnessed the poverty first hand, it is difficult to understand just how hard life can be. The statistics just don't do the stories justice, so I'll just give you a few:

• 1.4 billion people in the world live on less than $1 per day (2005);
• 18% of women and 12% of men in Nyanza Province, where our headquarters are located, are infected with HIV. One third of girls are married by age 18 (2008); and,
• 77 out of every one thousand children born in Kenya in 2003 did not reach their first birthday.

But you knew that. Or if you didn't know that, you probably had the feeling that there was something terrible happening in the world that you just didn't want to know about. It's that feeling that makes you change the channel when you see African kids on TV.

That's the thing about Happy Villages. We know that that feeling is only necessary for long enough to motivate us to action. There is no need to feel helpless and hopeless. There is no need to shut your eyes to reality and pretend poverty doesn't exist. You can join us and do something about it.

The first thing to do is to follow this blog and sign up to our newsletter. Get educated. Open your eyes. When you see how you can help, you won't want to close them again.

The Happy Villages Story - Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in a land far, far, away... well in Kenya, actually ... a group of friends lamented that so many people in the world suffer in extreme poverty. Washington, Reagan, Dorothy, Phannice, Dennis, Michael, Alison and George had always believed in taking action rather than talking about problems. But at this stage they needed to talk. All agreed that the degree of synchronicity in their thinking was amazing. The six Kenyans and two Australians decided to form a committee to start a Non Government Organisation (NGO) for the relief of poverty.

The ideas came tumbling out, one after the other. We want to align our aims with the Millenium Development Goals, we want to be an inspiring and fun organisation, we must be honest, transparent and accountable, it is essential to properly consult and engage with the communities that we work with .... our vision is of a world without extreme poverty. Who could argue with that? Who would want to?

That's how, on a balmy tropical evening, at Mike's kitchen table, Happy Villages was born.

We are currently seeking registration in Kenya as a Non Government Organisation and hope that it will be finalised in March this year.