Summer 2006                    
                                     

Three full weeks of hard work, lots of emotions and satisfaction during my most recent visit to Kenya proved to me that Kare4Kenya is really making a difference. Many things happened and they boosted my energy to continue working with the people of Kawangware who now seem ready and willing to do something about their future, the future of their children and the future of Kawangware.
 
The Parents Get Together To Make A Difference
For four years Kevin Matubia, a twenty-four year old Kenyan member of Kare4Kenya, was taking care of whatever the organisation had to do concerning the children’s education and their families’ medical needs. Kevin had a very hard time doing this work as he had to deal with all the requests and needs while coordinating with us here in Malta. People would go to his parents’ house asking for all sorts of things including food and house rent and expected to be helped there and then even though they knew he couldn’t help them. He lives in Kawangware too. But now we have formed a committee consisting of parents and guardians of our children to lead the rest on the right path to a better future where they help themselves rather than wait for handouts.
This committee is made up of the following people:
Kevin Matubia, Magdalyne Akinyi, Amos Salano, Lucy Wanjiku, Eunice Wacera, Stephen Aleka and John Ahaya.
Once they come up with the breakdown of money needed to start the income generating projects we will be able to establish fundraising activities to help them start.
                                 
 
Kevin is an actor who has been juggling his passions for the theatre around the needs of Kare4Kenya since its conception in 2002. He is the coordinator of Kare4Kenya in Kenya.
                               
Magdalyne is a Montessori graduate who dreams of opening her own small school. Her brothers and sisters have been receiving help from Kare4Kenya since the beginning of the project in 2002. She is the secretary of the parents committee.
Amos is a footballer who has an amazing way with children. he was one of the youths who helped us with the children at the very beginning of Kare4Kenya. His sisters have been receiving help from Kare4Kenya since the beginning of the project in 2002. He helps with checking on the children at school.
Lucy is a single mother of one of our children. Her daughter has been receiving help from Kare4Kenya since the beginning of the project in 2002. She helps check on the children at school and accompanies some of our parents and children to hospital when the need arises.
Eunice is a mother of one of our children. Her daughter has been receiving help since the beginning of the project in 2002. She is currently finishing a course in marketing and sales and making soap and shampoo. She is very eager to share all she has learnt with the other parents.
John is the uncle of five orphans and has been taking care of them ever since both their parents passed away in 2004. the boys have been receiving help from Kare4Kenya since the beginning of the project in 2002.
     
Stephen is a cobbler and is the father of four of our children. His eldest son has received help from Kare4Kenya since the beginning of the project in 2002 while the rest joined in later as they are much younger. He is willing to share his expertise in the trade with the other parents.
                                           
Together I know they can push the rest of the parents to realise that Kare4Kenya might not be there forever and that they must help themselves. They have the right attitude and want to work hard not only to help themselves but others too.
   
                                           
  Changamoto Kawangware - The New NGO!    
The members of Kare4Kenya have been discussing the possibilities of registering Kare4Kenya in Kenya and starting a new NGO there. We decided that the second option made more sense. I had a few people in mind so we called them for a meeting and asked them if they were interested in giving up some of there time to work together and form the new NGO which would work in partnership with Kare4Kenya. Their faces lit up and they all agreed to grasp the opportunity to do something that will help them and others. All they needed was someone to give them the initial push. Great ideas starting flowing and meetings are being held every week. The new NGO is called Changamoto Kawangware which means Challenge Kawangware or literally translated a fire starter for Kawangware. The members are Daniel Ochieng, Nicholas Kimuhu, Peter Mathenge, Kevin Matubia, Amos Salano, Magdalyne Akinyi and Dennis Manyara. They are all former youth members of the St Francis of Assisi Gatina Youth Group and they are full of enthusiasm to make Changamoto Kawangware a success. We also visited a project, Education for Life, based in Kariobangi, working with the people of Korogocho, another slum in Kenya and the members of Changamoto Kawagware are having regular meetings with this group to help each other and share ideas.
 
               
                       

Some of the projects that they will be working on include the following:

• Buying and selling crafts from the people who make them for a fair price and selling them locally and abroad for a profit that will help the other projects.
• Making paper bags and selling them both locally and abroad.
• Educational drama performances to help pass on messages regarding issues which are important to the people of Kawangware including health and sanitation.
• A basketball and football team to keep children off the streets while educating them through sport.
                                   

Peter Wahome - Crafts of Africa / People to People Tourism

About four years ago just before one of my visits to Kenya I was surfing the net looking for organisations in Kenya that we might be able to work with. I came across the website of Crafts of Africa and decided to send an e-mail. They replied and we arranged a meeting with Peter Wahome at their office in Buruburu. He is an incredible person to say the least, the mind behind the extraordinary project. Nothing much came out of that meeting except that Mr Wahome accepted to come and speak to the parents of our children in Kawangware. He explained about Fair Trade and how they might be able to benefit from it. The parents weren't very open to what he had to say so none of them did anything about it.

     

A few weeks ago I was talking with Miriam the lady with whom we were staying and she told me she gets crafts from people who make them in Tanzania and sells them to Curio shops in Kenya but business wasn't doing too well. I immediately thought of Crafts of Africa, we called and fixed a meeting. Mr Wahome remembered who I was and was willing to help just like he had been four years ago. He explained the concept behind Crafts of Africa. From being a young boy who was brought up in a slum, to a young man in a church youth group who wanted to make a difference in his life and in the lives of the people around him. He studied and eventually even got his Masters degree abroad. While he was studying he used to take some crafts from Kenya to sell abroad and he met someone who introduced him to Fair Trade. He could be working for the UN but instead he chose to start Crafts of Africa where he shares his expertise and helps his fellow Kenyans. He lectures and gives talks in universities in Kenya the US and other places.

He then told us about how People to People Tourism started when some foreign colleagues who were in Kenya needed someone to take them round and fill up a couple of free days. So Mr Wahome took them round to see the real Kenya, people working hard using their talents to make ends meet. They were impressed. Now People to People Tourism has grown into a fantastic project that shows foreigners the real potential of the Kenyan people while enjoying Safaris and the beautiful places.

Once we were in his office I thought I should tell him about Changamoto Kawangware, the new NGO, and he is willing to help us!
                                   
Malaria, Typhoid and more cases of HIV  
As medical assistance is one of Kare4Kenya’s main jobs we also accompanied many parents and children to St. Mary’s Mission Hospital in Langata and Ray of Hope, a clinic in Kawangware. Most of the money spent during these three weeks paid medical tests and medication. Unfortunately many had malaria and typhoid a two more parents turned out to be HIV+. The consequences are horrendous to think about but we have to face them and make sure we have enough funds available to ensure that these people and the children are well taken care of whatever happens.
 
 
Joseph Kinywa – An Example To Us All!    
Joseph is a fifteen year old boy whose dream is to become a meteorologist. He is finishing primary school this year and we’re sure his results will make us proud. He is the first born in his family and he has two brothers and three sisters, the youngest is Naomi who is four years old. Their father left them so his mother is the breadwinner and does her best to make ends meet by buying and selling fruit outside their house made of corrugated metal on the side of a street in Kawangware.
When his mum goes away for a few days to get the fruit for the family business Joseph takes over. He wakes up at 4.30 am to study a little and then he wakes up his brothers and sisters and prepares them breakfast and gets them all ready for school. He gets to school by 6.30 to open all the classrooms and get some more studying done before his friends get to class. After a long day at school he gets home at around 6pm, he must take care of the family business selling a few bananas. He later gets back into the house, cooks for his siblings, washes them and prepares them for bed. He tries to get some more studying done till his eyes start to shut and he must sleep.
 
Christine Griscti