-  27 April 2007, by Gregory Akall, Kenia. Mrs.Veronica Ekuam was just another woman in Kalemngorok division of Turkana district, north-western Kenya struggling with whatever meagre earnings she could get, to cater for her family. At one point, she tried harvesting sap from the aloe plant walking deep in the dangerous terrain to make a decent harvest. She knew what she was doing was illegal and at the end of the day she would then sell the hard toiled sap for a throw away price, to the first middle man she would meet.  Then Practical Action, an international development agency working with poor communities to help them choose and use technology to improve their lives today and for…

 25 April 2007, by Gregory Akall in Nairobi, Kenya. Despite the Kenyan Government"s ban on cigarette smoking in public places, smoke in the kitchen continues to be overlooked-yet it is a killer among vulnerable rural households. Practical Action has been working with communities to highlight these problems and in that time over 300 households in rural areas of Kisumu have turned to fireless cookers and Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). - For people like Eunice Odhiambo,there is no more smoke in her kitchen since she started using a fireless cooker and (LPG).For many years women like Eunice have cooked on a typical three-stone wood fire-fires that expose their families to health problems cause…

 25 April 2007, by Gregory Akall in Nairobi, Kenya. The residents of Maraba in Kenya have seen the Nandi hills become a hive of activity as The Maraba Milk Vendors Group use donkeys to transport over 600 litres of milk a day. The donkey transport the milk over mountainous terrain of Ndurio to low-lying Karunga in Miwani,where they sell their milk to the City bicycle transporters from Kisumu City,50 kilometres away from the Nandi Hills escarpment. -  Before Practical Action, in collaboration with the Kenya Society for the Protection of Animals (KSPA) began working with the villagers, their lack of knowledge about animal husbandry meant that the donkeys were too exhausted, and over b…

-  23 April 2007, by Gregory Akall. Twelve kilometres away from Isinya town, Kajiado, lies Enkirgirri; a remote rangeland that has for a long time been a hive of mining activity, with splaying quarries that make lives difficult for the predominantly pastoralist local community. As you drive through the dusty earth road from Isinya towards the Enkirgirri Area, expansive trenches full of water and that are ringed with mounds of stony sand announce just how immeasurably the environment has been depleted.This is not to mention the danger that lurks in the stagnant water that usually collects in the deep troughs during rainy seasons. Mrs. Margaret Kimeres, a resident, says due to massive exc…

 19 April 2007, by Gregory Akall and George Kamau. As you pull through the vast Kibera slum, the populous informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya"s capital city with over 750,000 residents, polluted natural waste water drains filled with human waste tells the story of the non-existent basic services amongst the dwellers. The residents struggle to access basic services has been a myth to many. But for Mr. Edward Kamau, he has called Silanga village his home for over 20 years since he moved into Nairobi city from his rural home on the slopes of Mt.Kenya. -  Since I moved into my plot, I have learnt to cope with the environmental conditions. "It has been a trying moment for me and my fa…

-  My name is Gregory Akall, an independent male Kenyan journalist based in Nairobi. I am a features writer with a specialty in development communication issues; with particular emphasis on pastoralists" and slum dwellers with no access to the media in Eastern Africa. Mine is to comfort the uncomfortable and explore the role we as the media can play in trying to change the lives of minorities for the better in developing countries in the region.I have been practicing journalism for over seven years working with both the media and international development agencies. My areas of main interest are human interest issues(women,girls,children,travel and tourism),environment,health,sanitation,…