Br. Felim Ryan FSP
Patrician Brothers
Eldoret, Kenya
Br.
Felim Ryan FSP , Patrician Brothers, works
alongside the Assumption Sisters of Eldoret as
part of their Irrigation & Farm Project in
Eldoret, Kenya.
This project is on a 10-acre farm in Keiyo
District of Kenya, about 50 kilometres from
Eldoret. It is an area of real hardship in the
Great Rift Valley where the temperature is
usually 30-35 C and it regularly suffers from
drought for 6-7 months of the year. The
Assumption Sisters of Eldoret acquired the farm
in 1993. They fenced off the land and planted
fruit trees, orange, mango, paw-paws, and
bananas there. Between the fruit trees they also
planted vegetables such as soya beans, tomatoes,
carrots, finger millet, ground nuts and so on.
The produce goes towards the running of the
Morning Star Rehabilitation Centre in Eldoret,
run by the Sisters to support the numerous
street children and potential street children.
The main aim of this project was to uplift the
lifestyle of the local people and to make them
self-sufficient.
We achieved this through various ways including:
providing an all-year-round water supply in
order to provide fruit and vegetables for the
Morning Star Rehabilitation Centre; employing
local men and women; installing water pipes to
conduct water from the source at the escarpment
to a water tank on the farm; replacing the
existing 6,000 litre tank which was leaking and
running irrigation pipes from this to various
water points on the farm; fencing the remaining
acres as protection from wild animals; extending
the area under fruit trees and vegetables;
replanting most of the fruit trees where they
have failed to develop because of drought; and,
finally, planting trees around the perimeter
fence to prevent soil erosion.
During 2007, with the establishment of a
reliable water supply, with the fencing of the
whole property and with the arrival of a
community of Sisters living on the farm which
ensures constant supervision and efficient use
of the land, the project has strengthened and
the Sisters, as a Congregation, are committed to
living there for the foreseeable future.