Impact

Friends of Earth Wind Fire and Water have funded these projects at NECC:

• a 200-meter borehole (well) with solar activated pumps (reliably provides potable water for the Centre’s household needs year-round)

• 12 solar panels with six storage batteries added to the original two panel solar array (enhancing the electricity capacity at the Centre)

• in 2022 a new, gently used, outreach van replaced the 2012 original (a community asset serving more than 150 villages within a 300 kilometer radius)

• a fixed-dome biogas digester (cooking with methane gas)

• a solar hot water system (heating more than 300 liters a day)

• a solar refrigerator (refrigeration is most uncommon in rural Kenya)

• a cutting-edge irrigation system including a dam, alluvial pan, raised water tank, two greenhouses and drip-irrigation (keeping two acres of farmland productive year-round)

• two solar pumps (circulating water in the aquaponics system)

• an 18,052 gallon water retention tank (providing a reliable water source all year)

• the original classroom equipped with TV monitor, DVD player and gas generator (for viewing videos)

• a “living” fence (securing the compound and farm from predatory animals)

Education at the Centre

• More than 41 programmes are offered at NECC. All lessons are combined with an HIV/AIDS prevention segment.

• Over the past 15+ years, more than 16,000 youth have been educated at the Centre.

• 20,000 adults have visited the Centre for lessons and practicums.

• NECC has trained more than 12,000 individuals in sustainable agriculture.

• Through the Youth Training Programme, 600 young people have been educated in sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation best practices since 2010. Ten youngsters participate in three sessions each year during the three school holidays.

• The successful Water Friendly Farmers initiative retrains adult farmers and boasts more than 2,000 farmers currently implementing what they learned at the Centre.

• Newly introduced in 2019 NECC trains farmers in Permaculture onsite in five day sessions.

• In 2023 Josphat started a Climate Change Mitigation course, training 40 students from four local schools.

Outreach and Community Service

• Josphat has taken his vision and message to 150 villages as far away as 300 km.

• Josphat’s wife, Tabitha, serves as his essential partner in operating the Centre, a partnership model uncommon in Kenyan culture.

• Since 2005, NECC has been responsible for the acquisition and planting of more than 10,000,000 tree seedlings in schoolyards, communities and the Eburru Forrest. More than 3,000,000 were planted in 2019 alone.

• Josphat has joined Eburru Rafiki (friends of Eburru Forest), a community-based initiative to protect and restore the Eburru Forest thus creating a sustainably-managed landscape for future generations of Kenyans, while benefiting the global community.

• The NECC apiary houses 14 beehives in and around the farm. Honey, a traditional medicine, is sold to the villagers. The bees are pollinators, especially important to a farm such as NECC.

• Elected PTA Chairman at Emmanuel Primary School Josphat brought his full agricultural/environmental expertise to bear. He led the school in creating a daily hot lunch programme, construction of a permanent Kitchen, and a garden to grow fresh vegetables using a drip irrigation system. He helped initiate a capacity building programme and access funding for an assembly platform and a library.

• Josphat has been instrumental in environmental issues at a divisional level, hosting the governor of Nakuru County and 50 delegates at NECC to discuss environmental issues and poverty eradication programming.

• NECC has partnered with World Vision to educate 500 women on unhealthy cultural practices such as female genital mutilation and early marriage.

• Construction of a kitchen providing improved nutrition and diet at the World Vision hostel for rescued girls in Ndabibi Kipkonyo was made possible through a joint effort by World Vision, friends of NECC and local communities.

• Josphat works with pastors and primary school teachers to spread an environmental “self-help” message.

• 18 tribes living in the Ndabibi region have been served by NECC.

International Exchange

• After lengthy planning due to a prolonged Covid hiatus, a group of eight students from University of the Arts visited NECC in January 2024.

• NECC has attracted international attention through partnerships with the University of Leicester in the UK, and University of the Arts, and St. Lawrence University in the United States.

• Groups of 50 students from the agricultural Birka School in Sweden have visited NECC to observe and learn organic farming practices.

• The Amani Institute brings trainees and trainers to NECC from some 27 countries.

On a personal level the Gast and Macharia families have created their own cultural exchange:

• In 2011, 2016, 2019 and again in 2023, Josphat visited America to share ideas on sustainable agricultural and environmental issues with like-minded groups and to raise funds for future projects at NECC.

• Since 2008 the Gasts have regularly visited Josphat, Tabitha and family to witness first-hand the full scope of NECC’s achievements and the measurable impact of Josphat’s energy, diligence and wisdom on surrounding communities and their leaders.

• During the Gasts’ 2013 visit they were honored to be “Best Couple” at Josphat and Tabitha’s Anglican Church marriage in Ndabibi, albeit 21 years and three wonderful children after their traditional Kikuyu ceremony.

Josphat visited Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell during his 2011 visit to the U.S. He lectured, learned, and exchanged current concepts on sustainable farming/environmental best practices while also thanking and engaging donors.