This statement deals with a rural development project maintained by the ÖED (Austrian Development Service) In the Western Province of Kenya. The main problem of this part of Kenya is the rapidly growing population entailing many other problems like shortage of land, shortage of jobs (especially outside the agricultural sector), shortage of money etc. Schools seem to burst at the seams and every year they produce a vast number of school leavers facing an uncertain future. In 1982, when an Austrian volunteer was working in the region, he suggested the setting-up of an integrated rural development project by the ÖED keyed to the principles of self-reliance. The project was started the same year with the intention to Improve the quality of the population’s standards of living by e.g. pointing out the lacks of traditional agricultural cultivation, by showing a way to set up jobs outside the agricultural sector by establishing craftman’s workgroups etc. Up to 4 Austrian volunteers were working simultaneously at this project. In 1988 the author of this statement had the opportunity to visit the project’s region to look for answers to questions like: Which were the efforts of what parts of the project to what parts of the population? The statement is an effort to answer these questions – at least to some extent.
