The quality of life has changed in many parts of Africa.  Communities have transformed and many changes have been experienced as a result of better access to education, health, and technology.  However, in many other places, villages seem to have been stuck in the past.  Poverty is rampant, preventable illnesses still kill people, access to safe water and sanitation is unavailable, children fail to complete school, progression to higher learning is limited, and environmental degradation exacerbates an already bad situation. 

The above seems to characterize our community in North Alego, Siaya County.  In this community of nearly 50,000 people, there is only one public primary healthcare facility with an average access distance of nearly 15 km. Whereas the number of primary schools has increased over time, secondary schools are limited.  In addition, the quality of infrastructure in these schools is wanting. There are limited facilities for teaching science and other technical subjects. School dropout is high, especially for girls as a result of early pregnancy and distance in access. Progression to higher levels of education is limited and college-level graduation rates remain low. In our community, incomes are low and poverty rampant which makes access to essential basic social services low.  The low-income levels lead to the inability of parents to take their children to better-performing schools whose costs they cannot afford. There is no running water and waterborne diseases are common. Due to deteriorating soil quality, food production is low leading to high levels of malnutrition.