People involved
- Kenya – School: Michael Mweni acts as project leader and intermediary for payments to contractors.
- Kenya – Food: Joseph Matawali, the local supplier who handles purchasing from the wholesaler.
- Netherlands – Foundation: Bob de Jong acts as project manager, responsible for technical and financial assessment, defining the scope and accepting completed work. As treasurer, he proposes payments and keeps the accounts.
Approach
Projects follow a fixed procedure:
- A project is initiated in consultation with the school; either party may take the initiative. The project need is recorded.
- Based on this need, an inventory is made of what is immediately required and what is desired, and a project description is drawn up. This description is published on this page of the website.
- The requirements and wishes determine the scope. One of the local partners then requests a quotation, usually locally.
- The quotation is submitted to the Foundation, where it is discussed and assessed. Sometimes we remove the labour component from the quotation and pay the contractor per day, per crew. We may also decide to have part of the work carried out by the local community, at a lower price or without payment.
This stage ends with full or partial approval, based in part on the available funds. - The agreed amount for materials is paid to Michael Mweni. He then provides invoices or receipts and photos, which Bob de Jong assesses.
- Next, an amount for labour is agreed and paid to Michael Mweni. If we choose payment per day, we agree an advance, which is finalized and settled at the end of the project. In the case of payment per day, he provides an overview of the days worked.
- Completion is accepted on the basis of photos. All completed projects receive a final assessment of quality and completeness during the next visit.
- The Food project follows a similar procedure. A budget for purchasing food has been agreed. Joseph Matawali purchases the food from the wholesaler and accounts for it with receipts. Car hire for transporting the food and the cook’s fee are set at a fixed rate.
- Payments are initiated by the Foundation’s project manager/treasurer and carried out by the chair.
This allows us to account for all expenditure and results.