Mission

The mission of Friends of Londiani is to work with the people of Londiani and its surrounding villages to develop and complete sustainable community projects to enable and empower the people to achieve an improved quality of life based on their values and become the authors of their own development. The Friends of Londiani will endeavour to achieve these goals in a spirit of co-operation and mutual respect with one another and with the people of the area. This partnership will enable members of Friends of Londiani to further develop skills and a deeper cultural understanding.

Vision

The vision of Friends of Londiani is for the people of the Kipkelion District of Kenya to have an improved quality of life based on Kenyan values. This development will occur through participation in community projects. The projects will be implemented through partnerships based on the local communities self-identified needs in the areas of health, education, water provisions and sanitation.
The importance of cooperation will be evident in the work of the charity and its sustainability will be apparent through the involvement of the communities and their ownership of the projects

Legal status

Friends of Londiani was founded in 2002 by a group of Irish volunteers who worked in partnership with the people of Londiani on community development projects. A Board of Directors was established in 2005 and the group was officially registered as an Irish Charity. FOL is recognised by the Revenue Commissioners as having registered charity status and the charity number is CHY16505. Friends of Londiani is a Limited Company registered with the Companies Office since February 2005 and the registered company number is 398094.

Friends of Londiani Ireland works in partnership with Friends of Londiani Kenya, a registered Non-Governmental Organisation in Kenya.

Organisation

Board of Directors and Management Team - find out who we are
FOL is governed by the Board of Directors. The Board is composed of 9 Non-Executive Directors plus the Executive Director. The Board meet 3 times a year and has ultimate responsibility for directing the affairs of Friends of Londiani, ensuring it is solvent, well-run and delivering the outcomes for which it has been set up. The Board is responsible for the strategic direction of FOL, safeguards the ethos of FOL and is responsible for the audit and finance of Friends of Londiani including money, insurance and legalities.

The Directors have responsibility for, and are aware of the risks associated with the operating activities of FOL.

Adequate systems of internal control are in place which aim to ensure compliance with laws and policies, ensure efficient and effective use of resources, safeguard assets and maintain the integrity of financial information produced. Financial information is subject to detailed review at Board level.

In between Board meetings, the day-to-day management of the organisation is delegated to the Management Team. This team consists of the Executive Director and three members of the Board. They meet on a monthly basis and ensure the actions from Board meetings are carried out, organise national events and coordinate the organisation of volunteer projects.

Focus Groups
Friends of Londiani has five Focus Groups that are run by individuals who volunteer their expertise and time to FOL across a number of key areas – both programme and organisation. They report directly to the Executive Director.

Staff & Operations

Day to day operations are undertaken by the Executive Director who is the sole staff member of FOL Ireland. From time to time 3rd party services are provided to FOL and these are coordinated by the Executive Director. These include suppliers, auditors and solicitors.  

Volunteers

The Board of Directors wishes to gratefully acknowledge the work of Friends of Londiani volunteers here in Ireland and in Kenya. FOL relies on its volunteers to participate in its development education programme and fundraising activities. Communities in Kenya depend on the spirit of volunteerism to achieve their desired project aims. FOL regularly runs Harambee volunteer projects which enable Irish volunteers to experience the community development projects in Kenya.

Programme Areas

These programmes are based on helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, implementing the Kenyan Ministry of Health Community Health Strategy and are in line with the Government of Kenya Kipkelion District Plan.

• The Health Programme includes public and clinical health and involves FOL working closely with the Ministry of Health to ensure consistency with mainstreaming opportunities and the Ministry of Health “Norms & standards for Health Service Delivery” document.
• The Water Programme looks at the sourcing, quality & security and distribution of water to the District. This includes management, metering & maintenance of the water supply and ensuring access for villages across the District.
• The Education Programme includes both formal and non formal education and includes supporting the Kenyan education system and community education.
• The Bethel Children’s Home Programme is developing as a Healthy Homestead.  There is a children’s home, school, tea room, a farm and a water source within the compound. Based on the Healthy Village plan and the Millennium Development Goals, the needs and the services provided by the home will be improved so as to better meet the wider needs of orphans currently in the region and children (of all conditions & abilities) in the future.
• The Development Education Programme is to deepen peoples understanding of global issues and encourage people to act to create a more just and equal world.

Programme Objectives 2008-2011

Health Programme Objective: To consolidate the existing district & community level health services so that they best meet community needs and to consolidate the "Healthy Village" model in those villages where it has been introduced and to roll-out the "Healthy Village" model to the remaining villages as part of a coordinated approach to community healthcare in Londiani

Water Programme Objective: To provide potable water to villages from secure sources with well-managed distribution systems consistent with the "Healthy Village" development plan.

Education Programme Objective: To consolidate the work in the school & community-based education structures and develop a strong relationship with the District Ministry of Education and design a 3 year Education Programme .

Future Developments

FOL has a three-year strategic plan in place for the period of 2008 to 2011. This plan commits FOL to continue its work in the programme areas explained above. FOL’s ethos of volunteerism will continue to be an integral part of FOL’s work and the key partnership with Friends of Londiani Kenya will continue to develop. FOL Ireland has completed an organisation development process in Ireland and will support FOL Kenya through a similar process to ensure sustainability of all levels of the organisation.

Links
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