Let’s take a look at how we spent the money donated last year: (This does not include the money Lonnie spent building the nursery school, nor the money we have used for the boy’s home. I simply have not had a chance to go through their paperwork and computerize it yet. Also keep in mind that Kenya is still very much a cash society, and many of the places we buy food from are kiosks, or some guy standing on the side of the road. We don’t get many receipts, read any, from those retailers. So the following is not 100% accurate, but as close as I can get it. Disclaimer done, on with the lists and charts.)
The largest expense of the year for us was food.
- 1,270,770.00 KES or at current exchange rates $14,598 U.S. dollars
That’s a lot of food! This was 29% of all the money we spent for the year. Prices were high last year, hopefully they will at least stop rising this year. That’s 3 meals a day for 20 people plus whomever else happens to be at the house, 7 days a week, 365 days.
Needless to say I’m looking at ways to reduce our grocery bill. Right now we are looking for farmers that we can buy direct from, and thereby cut out the middlemen. We could also use another freezer to help in buying more meat at wholesale.
Next category is household expenses. This includes our cook and housekeeper, cleaning supplies, repairs, any furnishings, and our chickens.
- 498,901.00 KES or 5,731.20 USD
Living with all these children equals a lot of messes! We spent roughly 11% cleaning and cooking up after everyone. We also built a chicken coop, bought wood to build Andrew a bed, and cultivated a little more than 2 acres. (Not our 2 acres. We have a little co-op thing going on with the owner.)
Next up is rent.
- 434,250.00 KES or 4,976.97 USD
Thankfully Ali owns his own place, so we do not have to rent a place for the boy’s home. I’m also thankful that Kate was able to find a big house in a nice neighborhood for a really good price. (FYI we live with the orphan no more girls. All in the same house. We have attempted to create family for them. One of the side effects of this is less money outgoing to rent. Since we only have one house instead of two.)
We spent 9% of all incoming funds on relief efforts in the community.
- 402,436.00 KES or 4,612.45 USD
We buy food, medicines, clothes, and whatever else folks need. These are usually severely impoverished families, usually single moms or grandmothers, and more often than not sick.
Actually this category is hard for me to be accurate with. So many times I make these decisions while out and about, or after a hurried phone conversation or text message, and simply fail to log where the money went. Or I’ll set off with money for something else and get sidetracked by someone in need.
Also bare in mind that this is not inclusive of any money designated for Ben and this work in the community. He keeps his own records, and just like the boys home’s paperwork I have not entered the data yet. This does not include the orphan-care.
What’s next? How about the 4.1% we spent on vehicle maintenance.
- 182,020 KES or 2,084.28 USD
We have old vehicles, and well the older they are the more likely something will need to be repaired or replaced. Cars are expensive in Kenya, and I just don’t see us buying a newer one anytime soon.
We spent 3.7% on electricity.
- 164,769 KES or 1,886.33 USD
School Fees, 3.5%
- 154,000 KES or 1,763.02 USD
One of our girls was out of school last year, but has returned this month. The school they are attending is nice, but not so nice as to be exorbitantly expensive.
Our biological children are homeschooled, and some of their grandparents help buy books for them. Thanks.
Eagerly awaiting the next percentage point? Me too, let’s go.
2.0% on transport.
- 90,830 KES or 1,040.43 USD
Parking fees, taxis, motorcycle taxis, tuktuks (3 wheeled contraptions,) and other automobile expenses not related to repair and gasoline.
This includes any public transportation expenses, like when the girls go and visit relatives during the school holidays.
Here’s the 1.8% we spent on gasoline.
1.8% went to personal hygiene.
This is remarkably low considering that we have a house full of girls.
The graph is hard to read now, many smaller percentages squeezed together. Like these:
- 1.8% on internet access
- 1.6% on gifts for the children
- 0.9% on customs duties for parcels
- 0.9% on water
- 0.8% on educational expenses not related to school fees
- 0.8% on clothing
- 0.8% on cell phone bills
- 0.7% on entertainment
- 0.6% on computer (I bought a new external hard drive and printer)
- 0.4% on insurance for the vehicles
- 0.4% on newspapers, magazines, and books
- 0.4% on cooking gas
- 0.3% on medicines for our own household
- 0.2% on balls, swimming, and other sporty related stuff
- 0.2% on school text books, we recycle keeping this cost down
- 0.1% on toys
There are others, but for my sanity's sake we’ll stop here. I do from time to time order books from Amazon, download a song or two from Itunes, and buy software. Those expenses are in dollars, and I have the software set up to deal with shillings only.
You might also notice that we do not pay ourselves a salary. The project is our life, so our food, housing, entertainment, and everything else is taking care of there. When we feed the children, we are feeding ourselves.
Despite the down economy we were able to feed, school, and house all the children (and ourselves.) We fed, clothed, and took care of many people in the community. Thank you so much to all those who gave so we could give.
