Reasons why you need to visit Budget Hotels in Kenya

Many Kenyans are afraid of travelling or taking their families out on tours because they fear spending more but what they do not understand is that there are very many budget hotels in Kenya which are more comfortable and offer beta services as well.

Your choice of accommodation for your stay in Kenya if you are visiting should be dedicated by your personal travel budget but also by your own interests. For some people sleeping under canvas in the Kenyan bush, by an open fire and surrounded by a spectacular night noises of wild animals, is once in lifetime experience that has greater value than the most costly hotels and lodges.

Budget Hotels

Kenya has a great variety of these hotels across all the 47 counties and in many tourist areas private campsites and small hotels   offer budget rates for backpackers.

Advantages of choosing budget hotels in Kenya

Affordable

Budget hotels are cheaper and pocket friendly as compared to other hotels found in the country. This has come as a relief to many people who love travelling but fear the costs that come with the same. The hotels now give them a chance to enjoy themselves at minimum costs.

Locations

Many of these hotels are located in good locations where by you won’t spend a lot of time searching for them. In fact most of them are located in strategic places whereby you will be able to get bank services and any other relevant services.

Services

When we talk about budget hotels many would think that they do not offer good services, on the contrary they have good services which you cannot compare to five star hotels. Their workers are friendly and the management responds fast to issues raised by the customers. Some of them also offer follow up to customers to get their views about their stay.

Security

Most of them have put in place tight security measures to ensure the safety of their visitors. Just like any other business the safety of their customers comes first.

Children friendly

Most of the visitors who visit these hotels come with their children and that’s why most of them have put in place amenities which suit children and in turn make their parents more comfortable knowing that their children are able to enjoy themselves in a safe place.

Services offered

1.       They offer both local and western foods which have been described by many of their guests as surprisingly wonderful.

2.       The guests who visit the hotel have access to the internet and can be picked from the airport at an extra cost.

3.       They also offer vegetarian- friendly items and foods

4.       Some of them also offer safari services specializing in safaris to Masaai Mara, Tsavo, Great Rift Valley and other greater Nairobi tours.

5.       Customers can enjoy free breakfast and free towels and linens as well

6.       The guests choose from a standard room with single or double occupancy or they can choose to stay in the deluxe room with single or double occupancy.

Well if you are planning on travelling and getting the opportunity and experience of touring our beautiful country but you fear the costs I can tell you for a fact that budget hotels in Kenya will give you the services you need at an affordable price.  

Services offered by Quantity Surveyors in Kenya

Most people do not understand the job description of quantity surveyors and that is why many people underestimate the need for quantity surveying services in every construction site. This has resulted to people incurring a lot of losses either through incorrect estimates or through buildings which are not up to standards.

Many of the people who have employed the services of qualified and experience quantity surveyors can boast of excellent work and value for the money they put into the construction. They have also been able to avoid the losses that come with not employing the services of a quantity surveyor or using inexperienced people to take take care of your construction projects.

Quantity Surveyors

A quantity surveyor is a construction cost consultant or commercial manager that manages all costs relating to building and civil engineering projects, from the initial calculations to final figures.

Services offered by quantity surveyors

Cost planning

cost planning is best used as a working tool to reflect and record the effect of cost decisions throughout the design process. This process assists those decisions to ensure a project returns maximum value for money.

 The quantity surveyor works together with the design team between the briefing and the sketch scheme game to come up with an effective cost plan. The starting point is the initial cost plan then later a more detailed analysis will be prepared on an elemental basis. Then as each element is designed the price can be checked against the analysis.

Estimating

The cost planning and quantity surveying information is used to draw an accurate budget by the quantity surveyors for the respective clients. Good estimation will help you as a client to save more and also to avoid the costs which may come with underestimation. This is because if you underestimate especially for the materials you will have to incur extra costs on transport.

Contract negotiation

The quantity surveyors are also responsible for contract negotiations.

Procurement advice

Quantity surveyors also offer procurement advice. The right procurement will reduce your risk, improve value and ensure a favorable project outcome. The quantity surveyors assist you to take a proactive strategic approach to building and executing the right procurement strategy for your project to meet your objectives.

Preparing bill of quantities

The bill of quantities is a document prepared by the quantity surveyor that provides project specific measured quantities of the items of work identified in the tender document. The quantities may be measured in number length, volume, weight or time.

Monitoring budget

Quantity surveyors also offer budget monitoring services. The purpose of this is to provide advice about processes and procedures that you should have in place. They also provide information about the budget process.

Preparation of payment invoice and certification

They also make preparation of payment invoice and certification.

Assessment of variations

The assessment and granting of minor variations to building consents is also done by the quantity surveyors.

Dispute resolution

Quantity surveyors also resolve any conflict that may arise during the procurement process.

Preparing feasibility studies

A feasibility study is an evaluation and analysis of the potential of a proposed project which is based on extensive investigation and research to support the process of decision making. Quantity surveyors are also responsible for this.

Cost control

Cost control refers to the process of controlling costs associated with the whole activity. Cost control includes investigative procedures to detect variance of actual costs from budgeted costs, diagnostic procedures to ascertain the cause of variance and corrective procedures to effect realignment between actual and budgeted costs. All this is also done by quantity surveyors.

Value engineering

Value engineering is a systematic method to improve the value of goods or products and services by using examination of function which is also a service offered by the quantity surveyors.

 Quantity surveyors play a very vital role in the construction sector and therefore everyone who wishes to put up a building or any kind of construction should seek their services to be on the safer side.

Things you need to put in mind when buying welding equipment

Just like buying any other from the market, buying welding equipment is not an easy task and needs one to conduct a thorough research on the kind of machine he wants.

As a new or aspiring welder, your prospects will increase if you understand the features of many different types of equipment. You need to be able to decide which model works best for a particular assignment and which filler rode, wire or stick electrode best meets code requirements.

Welding equipment

A guide to buying your first welding equipment

1.       Determine the type(s) of metal you will be welding on

You need to know and determine the metal you will be welding on because there are several metals and not all of them can withstand the heat produced by some welding machines and some of the metals are much stronger than others. Some of the metals include; carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminium and titanium.

2.       Establish a current range that covers all possible metal thicknesses

You need to understand that the thicker the metal, the more current needed to weld a joint with good penetration. Since the costs of a welding machine is based in part on how much juice it generates, you will have to determine in advance the maximum thickness of base metals and fixtures you’re are going to be working on.

Thick structural steel and pipe thicker than half an inch requires the use of a heavy duty MIG welding machine or a stick welder while working with very thin metal requires different settings on a more sensitive welding machine.

3.       Decide if your welding will take place inside a home shop, a ware house or out in the field

Knowing where you will be welding from most of the time figures into what sort of equipment you should purchase. This is because there are those welding machines which work well in a room and not in the open fields.

4.       Read product spec sheets so you can compare similar machines and choose one with the power and features you need

The product spec will tell you how much uninterrupted welding a machine can knock in ten minutes. Traditionally, duty cycle is given as a percentage and is defined as the number of minutes out of ten minute period a welder can weld at the highest current the machine offers. After reaching the limit the machine must be allowed to cool down.

5.       Determine if you need to use compressed gases and how you will purchase, transport and store them

If you buy a machine that requires compressed gas (i.e. gas stored in a tank under pressure), you will need to occasionally transport the tank to a supplier for refills unless if there is a supplier in your area with a reasonable policy for exchanging and filling empty tanks.

There are also a lot of safety issues and storage requirements associated with gas so be sure that you do understand what is involved before buying welding equipment that uses it.  

How to improve the use of irrigation equipment in small scale farming

In order to improve the agricultural sector we need to look at the factors which could contribute to the success of the same and one of this factors is the use of irrigation equipment.

Many farmers in Kenya do not have the required knowledge on how to use irrigation equipment in changing their farms production capacity or in improving their produce because the areas they stay in are so dry making some of their farms to produce close to nothing.

Irrigation Equipment

There are however some steps which need to be followed in order to change this.

Factors to consider while encouraging the use of irrigation equipment in small scale farming

Start with the people

First we need to educate these farmers on the importance of using irrigation equipment and on how they can change the farms produce. They also need to be educated on the types of irrigation equipment that suits their farming styles and how to operate the machines.

This is because a lot of water has been lost when farmers use incorrect type of machine to use on their farms.

Sharing experience

Regular personal interaction between those who can and those who are willing has proved to be a very powerful tool for improvement at all levels. This could be done through field visits and workshops which could be possibly be enhanced by mobile demonstrations. This may have a wider impact which could focus discussions amongst and between farmer’s technical people and possibly even donors.

Improve accessibility

It is important to note that adequate access to equipment, design and installation capacity, spares/ maintenance support, training, finance and enabling government policies would help promote improved small scale irrigation.

Access to finance

Funding criteria needs to be very clear and well known to applicants and should possibly place more emphasis on the importance of communities own analyses, planning and responsibilities and less on external control measures. Pre-feasibility requirements should be on a need to know basis to avoid the costs involved in elaborate studies and should also be structured in a way that it facilitates quick decision making and feedback to the applicants.

Access to training

All the people who are involved in small scale irrigation development could benefit from appropriate training or briefing. Many farmers have expressed a need for hands on familiarization with technology and generally seem to lack a basic understanding of irrigation principles.

Access to equipment

Many scale farmers do not have access to irrigation equipment in the country. In order to address this issue the government must ensure that all farmers from all parts of the country especially the small scale ones are able to access this machines whenever they are in need of them.

Government policies

The government through the ministry of agriculture should also ensure that they put in place policies and measures which will help improve small scale farming using irrigation equipment. It should also be able to regulate the prices of irrigation equipment because most of these small scale farmers cannot afford them. 

Importance of Economic Empowerment to the Nation

Economic empowerment is very essential to the growth of every nation. This is because when a country empowers women and youth the economy of that nation grows.

Women and youths across the world have the potential to change their lives and their economic status as well as that of the countries they live in if only they could be empowered economically.

Many youths remain unemployed despite being educated and having the required skills which could enable them get better paying jobs.

Economic Empowernment

Importance of youth economic empowerment

1.       An empowered youth will have the life skills required to face life challenges that they may come across.

2.       Empowered youths will also be able to air their grievances in a mature and reasonable way

3.       Empowering youth will help them acquire the co business skills which are very essential when one wants to venture into business.

4.       Youths will not depend on the government to help them

5.       The number of youths engaging in crime will reduce

6.       They will be able to contribute on the development of the nation

7.       They will help the government on how to solve issues affecting the youths by providing suggestions on how to deal with them.

8.       They will be able to provide for their families social and economic needs

9.       They will not be misused by politicians just for mere tips

Advantages of empowering women economically

1)      When women are allowed to own property and earn from it, they will have more bargaining power back at home which will help in the reduction of their vulnerability to domestic violence and also HIV infection.

2)      When women who are farmers are able to get access to the resources they need they will be able to increase their production making it less likely that their families will go hungry or suffer from malnutrition.

3)      When women are allowed to participate in the labor force the economy will experience a great reduction in poverty level.

4)      When women have access to time saving technologies such as pedaled water pump, economic development will then definitely follow.

According to a research done by ICRW technology has helped women increase their productivity as well as launch income generating pursuits and entrepreneurial ventures.  These kinds of outcomes empower women to stronger leaders and to more effectively contribute financially to their families, communities and countries.

In order to achieve its goals of empowering youths and women in the country, the government has put in place various empowering programs for both women and the youth. These programs are geared at ensuring that women and the youth have a say in the day to day running of the country. They are also meant to ensure that women can stand up and defend themselves against domestic violence at the same time ensuring that their families have food security.

Up to this stage we can proudly say that as a country we are heading in the right direction of economic empowerment although we still have long way to go.