Ndumberi

Ndumberi is a municipality division in Central Province, Kenya. It is located at around 1°9′25″S 36°48′25″E / 1.15694°S 36.80694°E / -1.15694; 36.80694Coordinates: 1°9′25″S 36°48′25″E / 1.15694°S 36.80694°E / -1.15694; 36.80694, in the elevation of about 1,820 m. The surrounding catchment has a population of about 18,000. It located 3 km NW of Kiambu, the capital of the Kiambu District.

Road improvements in 2008 have made this village more accessible to Nairobi in under 30 minutes by auto. The village is likely to see more development as Nairobi's rapid development pushes forward through Kiambu and into smaller villages.

Ndumberi Coffee Growers Co-Operative Society

The town is surrounded by hilly Kikuyu farmland, mostly coffee and tea plantations. About 20% of the coffee production comes from small-share landowners and co-operatives. One of these is the Ndumberi Coffee Cooperative, which was inaugurated by Kenya's first president Jomo Kenyatta when it was formed in 1960^[1]. Mars Drinks purchases its beans from this co-operative to produce Kenyan Dawn, a self-billed "sustainable coffee choice." It has wet mills in Ndumberi, Riabai and Ngaita. In 2006, the company launched their sustainable coffee chain and started the Ndumberi Coffee Improvement Project.^[2] In addition to improving farming conditions with new equipment and facilities, Mars Drinks helped the co-op become UTZ Certified.^[3] This worldwide certification program sets a standard for responsible coffee production and sourcing.

PEFA Mercy Medical Centre

In August 2007, PEFA Mercy Medical Centre opened in Ndumberi as another regional clinic. Operated by PEFA (Pentecostal Evangelical Fellowships of Africa) Mercy Ministries as an outreach of the Kiambu Central PEFA Brethren, the clinic was supplied by donations from Boise Idaho through the work of Genesis World Mission, Hands of Hope Northwest, Eagle (Idaho) Nazarene Church, Capital Christian Center, and Compassion International - Australia. The partnership between PEFA and some of these organizations extends back to 2003 when annual medical camps were held in Ndumberi, as well as 48 km northwest of Ndumberi in Kirasha (Kamae). A nearby forest camp in the Kieni forest is home to over 4000 internally displaced people who are poverty stricken. Their plight is exacerbated by the government's forcible removal from the forest and relocation to a 3-acre (12,000 m²) plot. Expansion International, formed in Meridan Idaho, started in 2008 with intentions to develop projects in Ndumberi and other places in Kenya.^[4]

Ndumberi Golf Club

The Ndumberi Golf Club and Sports Ground, popularly known as St. Andrews^[5], has the distinction of being a football field, as well as a golf course, and was formed in 1963.^[6] It has produced several well known Kenyan golfers. It is located along Kiambu road, but not in Ndumberi itself per se. In 2008, residents complained that the Kiambu Municipal Government destroyed part of the Sports Ground as part of improvements going on in the area.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

1. ^ http://www.sweetmarias.com/coffee.africa.kenya.php
2. ^ http://www.brightertomorrow.info/Ndumberi-Initiative-Homepage.htm
3. ^ http://www.utzcertified.org/index.php?pageID=141&subID=9037
4. ^ http://expansioninternational.org/index.php/projects/
5. ^ http://www.marsgroupkenya.org/multimedia/?print&storydate=2005-04-23&StoryID=104056
6. ^ http://www.kgu.or.ke/courses/ndumberi.html

External links

• Genesis World Mission, a partner with the PEFA Mercy Ministry since 2006
• Hands Of Hope, the organization which shipped a container to support the PEFA Mercy Medical Center
• Expansion International