Kakamega

:Kakamega" is also the genus of the Grey-chested Illadopsis ("Kakamega poliothorax"), a bird"

Kakamega is a town in western Kenya lying about 30 km north of the Equator. It is the provincial headquarters of Western Province. It is also headquarters to the Kakamega District which is one of the eight districts of Western Province. The town has a population of 73,607 (1999 census). [ "Population of Local Authorities" (with towns), Government of Kenya, 1999, webpage: [http://treasury.go.ke/cbs.go.ke/pdf/authority.pdf GovtKenya-Population-PDF] .] Kakamega is less than 100 km north of Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya and a port city on Lake Victoria.

Local Inhabitants are mostly the Luhya tribe, whose economic activity is mainly farming and fishing. Local companies include the West Kenya Sugar company.

Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology is a new institution of higher learning created by an act of parliament in December 2006 is in the heart of Kakamega town on the Kakamega- Webuye road. It is expected to spur growth in this capital of Western Province.

Kakamega forms a municipality with ten wards (Amalemba, Bukhulunya, Central, Mahiakalo, Maraba, Matende, Milimani, Musaa, Shibiriri and Sichilayi). All of them belong to Lurambi Constituency, which has a total of fifteen wards. The remaining five are located within Kakamega County Council, the rural council of Kakamega District [Electoral Commission of Kenya: [http://www.eck.or.ke/downloads/pollingcentres.pdf "Registration centres by electoral area and constituency"] ] .

Kakamega was the scene of a gold rush in the early 1930's, fueled partly by the reports of the geologist Albert Ernest Kitson.

Kakamega area receives a very high amount of annual precipitation and contains Kakamega Forest, a preserve which is a remnant of a rainforest that stretched west through Uganda.

International Not-for-profit Activity

Although Kakamega is not the focus of a large number of aid agencies, some international non-profits are involved in the area. Among them are the ones listed below.

Kakamega Orphan Project is a Quaker founded initiative that helps local Kakamega children who have been orphaned by AIDS. This non-profit provides meals, education, shelter, healthcare, and other essential support structures to over one hundred needy orphans. It is funded by a US partner organization, the Friends of Kakamega. [ [http://www.friendsofkakamega.org "Friends of Kakamega"] ]

CES Canada (Community Education Services Canada) is a Canadian non-profit based in the greater Toronto area, supported especially by Kenyan expatriots. This organization provides access to education for AIDS orphans and other AIDS-affected children. [ [http://www.cescan.ca/ "CES Canada"] ]

ACCES (African Canadian Continuing Education Society) is a Canadian non-profit that provides long-term funding to needy students from primary school all the way through technical college, nursing school, or university. [ [http://www.footprintsrecruiting.com/content_779.php "ACCES"] ]

The "Health Aid Kenya" project is improving the qualities of health services - collecting surplus laboratory and hospital equipment at Danish hospitals etc., and create changes at dispensaries and health centres in the Kakamega district and surrounding areas in Western Kenya. The main focus is to install microscopes and electricity (solar cell panels) at specific locations and thereby secure proper diagnoses of malaria in the rural areas. The project also provide needed equipment to Kakamega Provincial General Hospital - and support the hospital create a pathological department which which the hospital is preparing in coorperation with the local university.

Rainforest

As a rainforest, the canopy of the trees has grown into a thin mesh of interlocking top branches that block most sunlight from reaching the ground below, resulting in less vegetation at the ground level. With few bushes along the darkened forest floor, the main obstacle is ancient fallen tree trunks blocking the paths between the standing trees. The German funded project BIOTA East is working in the forest since 2001, whereby firstly forest inventories for all sorts of life forms were performed and the aim is to find strategies for a sustainable use of the forest.

More than 400 species of birds have been found in the Kakamega rainforest. The many song birds fill the air with various birdcalls.

Kakamega is also home to Africa's largest and most aggressive cobra, the Kakamega forest cobra. Reputed by locals to spend a lot of time in the trees, stories abound of fearsome attacks on unsuspecting passers-by. Other snakes in the area include the forest adder, black mamba, and the green mamba.

Notes