Friends of Londiani is based in the town of Londiani, which is 220 km northwest of Nairobi, in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya.

The local District is the Kipkelion District and it is comprised of seven administrative Divisions, namely Londiani, Chilchila, Sorget, Kunyat, Kipkelion, Kamasian & Chepseon. Each of these divisions is divided into locations (22 in total) and sub-locations (69 in total). A sub-location has approximately 1,000 households which would be between 3,000-5,000 people. The Kipkelion District has a population of approximately 205,000 (2008).

Londiani Division is a rural area and according to the Kenyan Population Survey of 2003, the population of this Division is almost 60,000 with a population density of 90/km².

The census reports that almost 28% of the urban population and 41% of the rural population of the Division live below the poverty line (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2004).

The majority of the local population relies on locally grown produce from small family owned plots and this “subsistence farming has been traditionally based on crops such as corn, which is a basic local food, manioc, beans, sorghum and fruit” (Gorta).

Agriculture & Infrastructure

At District level, according to the Population Survey (2004), over 70% of people plant regular crops for household consumption.

This Population Survey found that almost half the population live in traditional homesteads, informal shacks or houses built from mud blocks and over 65% of the respondents have no electricity in their dwelling units. Over half the homes have no running water.

Parts of this District have poor infrastructure and the unpaved roads make transport difficult. During the rainy season they often become impassable.

Health Conditions

In 2002, over 3,000 people tested positive for malaria at the local District hospital. However, it is understood that many more were infected but did not attend the hospital (World Health Organisation, 2005). 

The AIDS pandemic has affected this area and there are many AIDS orphans though exact numbers are not available.

Nationally the statistic for adults infected with HIV (aged 15 years to 49) is 6.1% (UNESCO, 2006).

The true extent of the problem however is unconfirmed as AIDS often goes undiagnosed and often there is a stigma attached to being identified as HIV positive. 

The Population Survey (2004) showed that when asked the following question: “Are the following health conditions common in your district?”,  over three-quarters of the respondents said HIV/AIDS was common, 91.5% said malaria was common and 70.2% said typhoid was a common health condition in the District.

Healthcare Provision

Healthcare is divided into Clinical or Curative care which incorporates health facilities, hospitals and the staff thereof; and Public Health which includes water, sanitation, health promotion and disease preventative programmes.

In the Kipkelion District, there are 51 health facilities though as of August 2008 five of these had no nurse.

The Hospital in Londiani Division has recently been upgraded to a District Hospital although it is lacking in facilities and equipment.

The Kipkelion Division also has plans to build a District Hospital in the next five years and has secured some funding from the Government.

One of the biggest pressures on the local health services is a shortage of basic medicines such as painkillers and antibiotics.
 

Education

There are many primary and secondary schools in the District offering a choice between public and private education, day schools and boarding schools. 

Within Londiani Division there are 34 public primary schools, 4 private primary schools and a special needs school for students who are deaf.

In 2007, the total number of students in primary schools was 20,555 students and 446 teachers (Ministry of Education). Nationally UNESCO claims that the average enrolment rate in primary school is 75% so this would imply that there are approximately 6,852 children not attending primary school in the Londiani Division.

Free primary school was introduced in 2003 although the expense of uniforms and books can still be too prohibitive for parents to send their children to school.

The enrolment rates for secondary school is 42% (UNESCO, 2006). However since then, in 2008, secondary school fees were abolished. 

This may have been one of the factors contributing to the lower enrolments at secondary level.

Teacher shortages are common and the Londiani Division was short 107 teachers in August 2008. The pupil to teacher ratio in primary schools in the District is 1:42 (UNESCO, 2006). Although the figures supplied by the local Ministry of Education indicate a 1:46 ratio at primary level.