UNCCD Desertification Week26 April 2012 11:19Desertification is land degradation resulting from climatic variations and human activities ... Fighting Desertification25 April 2012 04:18“Soils are the most significant non-renewable geo-resource that we have for ensuring water, food and energy security and building resilience to climatic shocks ... World Water Day21 March 2012 08:01On 22 March 2012, World Water Day highlighted the importance of water and food security ... Building miracles05 January 2012 06:13Sand dams are something of a miracle ... Excellent doubles Big Give target!13 December 2011 11:29Excellent recently took part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge ... Patience pays30 November 2011 10:51Earlier this month, Excellent’s grants and institutions manager, Al Day, spent a week with our partner in Kenya, the Africa Sand Dam Foundation (ASDF) ... Waiting for the right kind of rain20 October 2011 01:18The thirsty countryside of Eastern Kenya is a flurry of activity and anticipation right now ... Joshua Silu Mukusya, Pioneer of Sand Dams, dies05 October 2011 10:09On 5th September we received the tragic news that Joshua Silu Mukusya, the inspiration behind Excellent Development’s foundation, died at the age of 63 ... A sand dam takes Malaika children to school29 September 2011 04:27The children of the Malaika Self-Help Group used to get up early every morning ... Sand dams for Zimbabwe02 September 2011 02:53In Zimbabwe, the progress of rural development is slow with communities consistently identifying water, food and income as their biggest challenges ... Quest volunteers give a dam15 August 2011 01:29The Nzwii villagers in South East Kenya have been suffering from chronic water shortages for many years ... An Excellent dam building day29 July 2011 08:53At 6am the gaggle of Excellent staff members (or whatever the collective word is for us!) were woken by the sound of the minivan starting up outside the compound ... Livestock as a lifeline19 July 2011 02:53John Muli, the Chairman of the Ilikoni Self-Help Group in South East Kenya told us last month that his village hasn’t seen decent rains in four years ... An oasis in the midst of a drought08 July 2011 02:24Most farmers in the Kibwezi District in South Eastern Kenya haven’t had a good harvest for four years ... A precious gift called 'Time'22 June 2011 10:42Kakewa Kaindi is 76 years old and for all of her life she has been bound to the strenuous and time consuming role of water collector ... Bring global issues into your classroom – our new Primary School teaching pack is out16 June 2011 10:14Excellent is pleased to announce a new resource pack for the Primary School curriculum at Key Stage 2 ... Sunday 5th June is World Environment Day02 June 2011 10:25World Environment Day is an annual event to celebrate positive environmental action ... Hear how a sand dam transformed Karoline Mwao's life on Radio 431 May 2011 09:52For as long as she can remember Karoline Mwao’s life has been dominated by the search for good clean water ... Karoline Mwao - working together for change31 May 2011 02:44For as long as she can remember Karoline Mwao’s life has been dominated by the search for the one element none of us can survive without - good clean water ... The hope of the Baobab27 May 2011 10:45Karoline Mwau, who’s story is being told in our BBC Radio 4 appeal on 29th May, is a member of the Wikwatyo wa Kiambani Self Help Group (SHG) in Kenya ... Don't miss Excellent's Radio 4 Appeal this weekend26 May 2011 12:34Excellent are pleased to have been selected for this week’s BBC Radio 4’s charity appeal ... The ravages of drought05 May 2011 10:09We recently got a firsthand account from a farmer called Agnes Wasya Mbevi, who told us of the huge amount of time and effort it took for her and her family to collect water without a sand dam, and the losses she suffered in the severe drought of 2009 and 2010 ... The Excellent Appeal12 April 2011 03:17Excellent has just got back from BBC Television Centre where broadcaster John Humphrys recorded a Radio 4 appeal on our behalf featuring Karoline Mwau from Kibwezi District in Kenya ... Working towards Change21 March 2011 05:10Mauwa Maingi is 87 and works with the Malaika self-help group in Kenya ... Excellent Relaunch15 February 2011 07:43Excellent Development has relaunched with a new strategy focussed on pioneering sand dams in drylands worldwide ... Adversity and Hope26 January 2011 07:16Excellent’s Executive Director, Simon Maddrell, recounts his visit to communities in Kenya in October 2010 ... A New Excellent Trustee20 January 2011 05:11Excellent is delighted to announce that Dr Daleep Mukarji OBE, ex-Chief Executive of Christian Aid, has joined our Board of Trustees ... Prevention is the Best Approach to a Crisis23 November 2010 12:53Daniel Mwetha is 26 and works with the Malaika Self-Help Group in Kenya ... Engineering Change23 November 2010 05:00On 12th September a team of 18 volunteers from international engineering consultancy, URS/Scott Wilson, arrived in Mtito Andei close to Kenya’s largest game park to help the members of Malaika Self Help Group to build their new sand dam ... Vegetables R Us17 November 2010 02:15Simon Maddrell, Executive Director of Excellent, writes from a trip to Iviani, Kenya, in October 2010 ... Building the Malaika Sand Dam20 October 2010 06:11Jonny Wood went to Kenya with a team from Quest Overseas to find out more about the impacts of our work and the benefits of building sand dams as a group ... Solving our Problems as a Community20 September 2010 04:04Anna Katwele is 93 and works with the Malaika Self-Help Group in Kenya ... Simon Holmes' Tour de France Challenge10 September 2010 12:55Excellent Development is extremely grateful to SJ Berwin partner Simon Holmes for his outstanding efforts to raise money for our work with communities in Africa ... Richard Barnes - Excellent Fundraiser12 August 2010 04:39A profile of one of our longest-standing fundraisers, by Gargi Uppal, guest website contributor ... I am an Agent of Change09 August 2010 04:21Ndulu Mutiva, a member of Meka Self Help Group in Kenya, talks about how she has introduced new farming techniques and improved life for her family ... SJB's Sporting Challenge15 July 2010 01:38Law firm SJ Berwin have chosen Excellent Development as their charity of the year ... Small Charity Week14 June 2010 01:57Small Charity Week is an exciting initiative by the Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI) celebrating the diversity, vibrancy and value of small charities in the UK ... Small Changes with a Big Impact12 May 2010 04:15Josephine Kioo from Makuta-Mwea self-help group in Kenya, tells us about how life has changed on her farm since working with the support of Excellent Development ... SJ Berwin Gives a Dam12 April 2010 10:33On 9 March 2010, an eight-strong team from the law firm SJ Berwin travelled to Kenya to spend a week living and working with the Wendano wa Ngomeni Self Help Group, one of the seven self help groups the company is supporting by choosing Excellent Development as its Charity of the Year ... WaterAid visit Sand Dams in Kenya16 March 2010 12:16WaterAid and RAIN Foundation visit sand dams in Kenya on a study tour with Excellent Development ... The Miracle of Sand Dams16 March 2010 02:35by Simon Maddrell, Executive Director of Excellent Development ... 'I never wanted to borrow water from anybody'17 February 2010 07:35Dorothy Nyamai is an uncommonly strong woman ... Telegraph Appeal Raises £220k for Excellent16 February 2010 05:43The Daily Telegraph Christmas Appeal has raised an incredible £1 million, of which over £200K has been donated to Excellent ... Sand Dams in Parliament28 January 2010 12:54Sand dams are getting everywhere these days - including the UK Parliament ... The Climate is Changing27 October 2009 11:12Dorcus Muluki Mutangweni is 95 years old ... Sharing the Success of Sand Dams15 October 2009 11:18News of the success of farmers working with Excellent Development in Kenya is spreading ... Small Charity, Big Achiever25 September 2009 02:06Excellent Development is thrilled to have won 'Small Charity, Big Achiever’ at the 2009 Third Sector Excellence Awards ... Kenya Update08 September 2009 12:23Kwatuta: Improvements with Food for Work Support ... Mt Kenya Climb08 September 2009 01:11Two Excellent Development supporters, James Docherty and Camilo Casas, have started their climb of Mt Kenya to raise funds to combat drought in Kenya ... Annual Review 2008-924 August 2009 10:20Excellent Development 2008-9 Annual Review describes our activities over the past year and our plans for the future ... Brown Gold - The Wealth of Africa22 June 2009 03:39When talking about poverty in Africa people often talk about "black gold" - oil - generating both economic development and conflict ... Food for Work Appeal13 May 2009 12:40Chronic food shortages in Kenya are threatening the lives of millions of people, including farmers working with Excellent Development on long-term water and food security projects ... Sand Dams in Mozambique01 May 2009 03:32Joel Kempf is working with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Mozambique ... Marathon Effort01 May 2009 02:32Congratulations from everyone at Excellent to Hugh Dickson for his superb achievements - running the London Marathon and raising nearly £2,500 for community groups in Kenya ... Benedetta's Story09 April 2009 12:11Alexandra Oatham from Excellent UK talks to Benedetta Muthama about what she has achieved through her work with Excellent Development ... A Field Officer's Job09 April 2009 03:34Emily Ambrose, PA for Excellent Development UK, enjoyed meeting and talking to Excellent Development Kenya (EDK) field staff on her recent visit ... World Water Day 200919 March 2009 03:52Excellent Development have found that sand dams are the cheapest source of water known to man, cheaper even than UK tap water ... Community Empowerment19 March 2009 03:12Excellent Development’s new Trust and Public Fundraiser, Benjamin Araud, relates his experience of meeting farmers working with Excellent Development on his recent trip to Kenya ... Drought Proofing19 March 2009 02:02Patrick Musyimi Mutiso is a member of the Nzaaya-Muisyo self help group, which has been working with Excellent Development Kenya since 2003 ... Catch 2219 February 2009 10:02Jenine Langrish, a trustee of Excellent Development, relates this vivid description of her recent trip to Kenya ... The Mother of Excellent Development15 January 2009 11:54Esther Ithau is a founder member of the Utooni Development Project - the inspiration for Excellent Development ... Planting Trees in Kenya15 January 2009 10:44Farmers working with Excellent Development in Kenya have now planted over half a million trees – a huge investment in their environment, and in their future ... A message from our Chairman11 December 2008 11:22As I read nearly every day in the news about the effects of the financial crisis and other negative stories, I see a need for more positive stories to think about and share, and with this in mind, I wanted to reflect on Excellent's success over recent times ... Jordan Badia Project27 November 2008 05:01In October 2008 a small team of teachers from the UK spent a week working alongside teachers from the desert (Badia) region of Jordan where sustainability is a real challenge ... TreeDuty Jute Bags19 November 2008 12:19Excellent Development is proud to present the TreeDuty jute bag ... 200 sand dams13 November 2008 08:16Excellent Development Kenya has supported community groups to build 200 sand dams, bringing sustainable clean water supplies to over 140,000 people in rural Kenya ... Lessons from the Ground Up16 October 2008 12:18Ian Langrish, a Geography teacher from South-West London, spent 10 days visiting our projects in South Eastern Kenya ... Muendo's Story18 September 2008 03:14Excellent Development Field Officer Charles Muendo was recently joined by UK trustee, Jenine Langrish, who spent a day visiting self help groups and talking to Muendo about his role within Excellent Development Kenya ... Excellent Triathlon01 September 2008 11:301:30pm Saturday 30th August, Richard, David and Paul run from the shores of Lake Bala and cross the finishing line, completing their 7 day, tri-nation Triathlon ... A Group Effort16 July 2008 04:25The members of Kumina Thina Kisaani Self Help Group describe their experiences with Excellent Development ... Excellent Wins UK Charity of The Year 200820 June 2008 10:50Excellent Development is celebrating a double win at The UK Charity Awards 2008 ... MCC Tanzania Visit to Excellent Development Kenya12 June 2008 02:48Our Quest Team Leader Sarah was in Kola when a team of visitors arrived from Tanzania to learn about sand dams ... Community Training Workshop12 June 2008 02:45Our Quest Team Leader, Sarah, reports on a community training session with Excellent Development ... Josephine's Farm12 June 2008 02:41A visit with Josephine Kavita on her farm - by Alvera Stern, one of our MCC secondees ... A great vision of the future27 May 2008 02:53This is the story of Kwa Mukonza Self Help Group, as told to their Excellent Development Field Officer ... A real adventure!27 May 2008 02:34Thanks to MCC, our major funders, we are very lucky to have Jacob and Alvera Stern as part of our Excellent Development Kenya team in Kola ... WaterRelief27 May 2008 02:25Sarah Charlton, Quest Leader on our WaterRelief expeditions, explains what the Quest experience is all about ... A Dam Successful Technology17 April 2008 12:25The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) have been a tremendous support to Excellent Development Kenya over the last three years, providing much of the vital funds needed for our dam building programmes ... How Sand Dams Help Prevent Malaria17 April 2008 01:01The 25th of April is World Malaria Day, raising awareness of the fact that although malaria is preventable and treatable, it is the world's second largest killer, causing up to three million deaths per year — one death every 30 seconds ... GA Conference01 April 2008 12:42Excellent Development staff attended the Geographical Association Annual Conference in March, presenting a workshop on sustainable development and distributing complimentary copies of the new Excellent Development Teachers’ Resource Pack ... An innocent adventure07 March 2008 05:02The innocent foundation is a long-term supporter of Meka community group ... Community Groups' Superb Progress15 February 2008 03:04We are still 6 weeks from the end of the financial year and already the 47 self-help groups working with Excellent have smashed their annual targets, making superb progress towards our 2010 goals ... Excellent Smoothies14 February 2008 04:55Many of you will be familiar with delicious innocent smoothies, but did you know that innocent drinks gives 10% of its profits to charity, via the innocent foundation? And that Excellent Development is one of the charities supported by this foundation? We are currently being featured on the back of litre cartons of innocent smoothies – in this case Mango and Passion Fruit ... 30 years and Still Going Strong17 January 2008 02:45The Utooni Development Project was formed in 1978 by Excellent co-founder Joshua Mukusya ... The Secrets of our Success...17 January 2008 02:38The Utooni Development Project was formed in 1978 by Excellent co-founder Joshua Mukusya ... News from Kenya15 January 2008 11:52Excellent founder Simon Maddrell is currently in Kenya and has sent us this update ... Kenya Community Groups Safe11 January 2008 04:25It has been a difficult start to the year for Kenya, as you are almost certainly aware ... Research on Ecosystems & Poverty looks at Excellent's Work14 December 2007 03:37Excellent Development has had some great news recently - our work in Kenya is being used as part of a worldwide scoping study looking at the links between poverty and ecosystem management ... Kilimanjaro Challenge 200710 December 2007 02:59Our second Excellent Expedition to Kilimanjaro has raised over £5,000, thanks to the hard work of all involved and their generous sponsors ... 100,000 trees for all seasons07 December 2007 03:50Forty-four community groups working with Excellent have planted an incredible 104,471 trees in November ... Car TreeDuty launched!03 December 2007 05:46For those of us who worry about our carbon emissions but love our cars, Excellent Development is proud to announce the launch of its Car TreeDuty® carbon offsetting programme ... Tree Planting with Excellent28 November 2007 03:26As the long-awaited rains finally come to Machakos and Makueni Districts, the self-help groups working with us have started to plant the tree seedlings they have been propagating in their tree nurseries since May ... Excellent Development Kenya10 November 2007 03:14Excellent Development Kenya (EDK) was registered as a Kenyan NGO in 2005 by Excellent Education Pack Launched01 November 2007 09:00Excellent Development have launched a Sustainable Development Education Pack - films and educational resources - for Key Stage 3 and GCSE teachers and pupils ... A visit to Mumbuni School for boys, Machakos31 October 2007 12:31When Excellent attended the Geography Association’s Annual Conference in April, our small exhibition stand attracted a huge amount of interest ... Kenya - A Personal Perspective08 October 2007 11:49Being a relatively new member to the Excellent workforce, I felt very fortunate to be offered the chance to go to Kenya, to visit the sand dam projects near Kola ... Excellent partner dcarbon8 wins HSBC Business Award18 September 2007 04:13The carbon offsetting consultancy and Excellent Development partner, dcarbon8, has been selected out of over 1,000 small businesses to win a prestigious HSBC Start-up Star Award ... Excellent's New Offices in Kenya03 September 2007 12:20Thanks to funding from the Andrew's Charitable Trust, Excellent Development Kenya have been able to move into new offices in Kola ... An Excellent Investment30 June 2007 02:54We are delighted to announce that we have won the support of two long-term funders to help with the expansion of our operations and promotion of our holistic development model ... World Water Day22 March 2007 12:20The 22nd March is World Water Day, and we are pleased to be marking it this year by reaching the milestone of 100 sand dams built since 2003, providing clean water to over 100,000 people ... Offset your Annual CO2 Emissions15 January 2007 01:26Excellent has set up online donations via our brand TreeDuty ... Walking on Water - an excellent film07 December 2006 09:37Last night we launched our feature documentary 'Walking on Water' at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London ... Artistic Impressions30 November 2006 01:03In September 2006, artist Krista Magee visited our work in Kenya to do some filming and help out with one of our dam building projects ... Sand Dams - Africa's answer to Climate Change?31 October 2006 04:10The release of the government commissioned Stern Report has renewed attention on the impacts of climate change in Africa, and the measures that can be taken at a grassroots level to mitigate the risks ... Kili Conquest Raises £8K27 October 2006 01:01Six Excellent Development suppporters recently raised £8k towards our work with community self-help projects, when they pushed themselves to their limits in a bid to conquer Kilimanjaro ... Going back to my roots20 October 2006 01:00Planting trees is my hobby, because where there are trees the place is beautiful ... Focus on Africa11 October 2006 11:48Excellent Development co-founder Simon Maddrell was interviewed on the 22nd August by Victor Silva on the BBC World Service's Focus on Africa programme ... Another Excellent Quest!24 August 2006 03:07Excellent has now hosted its 3rd Quest Overseas Expedition to Africa - enabling young people to experience life in Africa and make a sustainable difference to life as they see it ... LBC Radio Interview07 August 2006 02:40Rodah Silu, wife of co-founder Joshua Mukusya, was interviewed on LBC - London's Independent Radio Station - on Sunday ... Seed Bank Appeal - Results28 July 2006 07:03As you may remember we launched a Seed Bank Appeal in March 2006 in response to the famine situation in Kenya ... Environment First! Development Later…?18 July 2006 12:55Sustainable Development is the latest and greatest philosophy (and practise?) of International NGO’s and their donors ... Quest July 200615 July 2006 06:33This year's first Quest expedition went off with a real bang, with most of the participants begging to stay on longer! In the end we managed to drag them away from the dam building onto the safari and back home, where they have not stopped raving about their experience to family and friends ... Founders climb Kilimanjaro Simon and Joshua, founders of Excellent Development, have been talking about climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania for some time, but eventually set themselves the challenge to reach the highest point in Africa in February 2006 ... The second WaterRelief team included nine volunteers from the Isle of Man, of whom three were sponsored by the Isle of Man Governor's Golden Jubliee Trust ... Our first WaterRelief team stayed with the Nzaaya-Muisyo Self Help Group in Mbuani Village, where they helped build one dam and extended another ... |