The Pen Project

Dear Kevin,
We are about to get the pen project off the ground here in  Tenwek, and I wanted to share the details with you.  In fact, if you don’t mind, I’ll send this note to the folks also.

Jonathan Bii (pronounced Bee) is the head of  the Community Development  outreach arm of Tenwek Hosapital.  He has several projects  which the pen project could support—projects like sand filters for village water, or roofing for community churches.  Jonathan is a very responsible person and will see that the project is administrated properly.   We do not want this to be a missionary supported project because when the missionary goes home the project goes by the way side.

I brought out several pens which I made in Kentucky and gave them to different hospital officials.  One person refers to his pen as a “Presidential Pen.”  The pens pictured are samples which I have made from local woods.  When we put them in the visitor’s store, we sold them all.  Jonathan’s project will be to make pens like this to place in tourist shops in Nairobi and Kericho, a smaller business town just two hours down the road.  Because there is little opportunity for a reliable cash product other than local gardens, this project presents great potential for Tenwek Hospital outreach projects.

Sample pens made of Maasai Cedar, Blugum and Kenyan Ebony

We need to pray for the development of the project because it has great potential for the communities and the churches.  Jonathan needs to find a skilled, trustworthy, craftsman to make the pens, he needs to invest his initial profits in a more substantial lathe then the small one I brought with me, and he needs to establish a secure workshop on the campus  (Sam, I wish we had another one of those containers!).

Thanks for your prayers, we know we can count on you.  Dolly & Vince