Lodge on Lake Victoria

Giving Back

At Rusinga we are dedicated to improving the welfare of our neighbours and continually strive to improve basic standards of living whilst also preserving the natural habitat.

Eddie Thackray Memorial School
Rusinga Island Lodge founded the Eddie Thackray Memorial School in 2005 and continues to support the school through donations from guests and direct involvement of the lodge. Previously young children in the area were unable to receive basic education as the nearest school was too far away and they had no means of transport.

Kageno Trust
Rusinga Island Lodge supports the Kageno Trust through donations, fund raising events and logistical assistance. In addition, the lodge purchases soft furnishings produced by the Trust - floor mats, water bottle holders, tissue box covers and waste paper baskets made from water hyacinth. All Rusinga's used plastic water bottles, tin cans, used paper & glass bottles are recycled by Kageno.

Meaning "A Place of Hope" in Dholuo, Kageno supports communities suffering from impoverishment, AIDS and limited access to healthcare and clean water. Without intervention, these communities would continue to consume their resources at a non-sustainable rate, leading to a perpetual cycle of survival tactics and environmental degradation. Kageno has developed an innovative Community Centre at nearby Kolunga which provides access to clean water, food, sanitation, healthcare, education, and income generation.

Women's Groups
Rusinga supports the Kibisom Women's Group, located close to the lodge. The group empowers local women and teaches skills they can use to generate their own incomes - recycling paper to make notebooks & albums and making beaded covers. Their crafts are sold in the Rusinga Duka and are also used by the lodge.

Reforestation
Rusinga Island was once heavily forested but, due to cultivation & the need for firewood, much of this forest is now greatly depleted. With the help of the Kageno Trust, Rusinga Island lodge's tree nursery is helping to create forested areas on severely eroded tracts of the island. To date nearly 1,000,000 trees have been planted on Rusinga Island. The lodge also assisted Kageno Trust to establish a briquette-manufacturing project using recycled paper and offering an alternative source of fuel to firewood.