projects_teamtumainisep2009

Hope2Kenya continues to ensure the ongoing support of its inaugural projects,

however, this does not preclude the organization from undertaking new initiatives

to deal with problems that have been identified on previous visits. This year the

team concentrated much of it's time and energy conducting medical clinics, and

because of the continuing drought, providing additional food aid.

This year's team consisted of Sandy Foster, Jane Sinclair,

Sharon Kutchau, Lori Butterfield and Mary Crowder

MEDICAL CLINIC IN KOLONGOLO

Hope2Kenya is honoured to be in partnership with Transformed International (TI), A U.S. based organization. This is the third year we have stayed with the TI team members and worked alongside them. We treated 2123 people during 5 medical clinics held in Kenya.

One of the first projects this year was a medical clinic in Kolongolo Village, located 45 minutes North of Kitale. This is the village where we have built a new school and purchased seeds and fertilizer for 31 widows in the community.

We arrived at the village at 9:00 a.m. to find a line of over 100 people waiting eagerly to be treated. Some had walked 20 kms. from the West Pokot area.

We hired 1 Kenyan nurse and translators for our team of 3 Canadians. We needed the help of all the TI team to set up our clinic and pharmacy. The widows and children were our priority but as word got out about the clinic, more and more people came. By 4:30 p.m. over 254 people had been treated and we had to close since we were running out of medications. The community was grateful and could never afford even the transportation to the closest clinic in Kitale.

We spent another day speaking with the widows and teaching them how to crochet mats for their children to sleep on. The mats are made from plastic bags and the women were excited to learn how to do this.

During the past 3 years we have bought and distributed thousands of pounds of maize and beans. Due to the drought and the drastic increase in the price of maize we undertook this project again because so many children and widows were going hungry. We purchased 16,000 pounds of maize and 6,000 pounds of beans, and distributed this food to over 250 widows and their 1076 children.

However before the distribution could take place, the food had to be divided into smaller sacks and sorted according to family sizes. We worked alongside the TI team and it took 25 people half a day of hard work to complete the job.

Maili Saba (the 7th mile) is an area known for its extreme poverty and large numbers of widows caring for their children and grandchildren. It is also known for hunger and AIDS. As we have become more involved in this area we want to help even more. A sewing project which was established a year ago has resulted in 5 widows becoming fully self supported. This time we purchased another sewing machine, paid to expand their sewing space, purchased fabric and taught them how to make quilt tops from African fabrics.

We chose this area again to distribute food and to do a medical clinic. 156 widows were pre-assessed by the TI staff. The food they received will keep their families going for a few months.

When we arrived, the large numbers of widows was overwhelming as they sat and waited with their children and grandchildren. Smiles spread across their faces as their names were called.
Once they had their food the women and children joined another long line to be treated by our team plus two Kenyan nurses that we hired. We had purchased a further $1000.00 worth of medical supplies the day before.

By 4:00 p.m. the line had to be cut off as once again medications were running out. Over 330 people were treated. Many sat waiting patiently in the hot sun.
We needed the help of the TI team to complete the day. Everyone was tired at the end of the day but feeding the hungry and treating the sick left us feeling such gratitude to those who provided the funds to do the clinic and the distribution of food.

We went to Shimo La Tewa slum to begin our day. This area is known for its local brew, prostitution, and overwhelming numbers of teenage mothers.

There is much desperation and poverty and mothers pushed others including children to get to the front of the line, even though they were being called by name. Drunk people tried to cause disruptions and a few young men threatened the distribution of the food to get some for themselves. There was a huge difference from the respect and gratitude shown the day before when we were in Maili Saba. However 75 widows received food to feed their many children and they were grateful and it gave them renewed HOPE.

The medical clinic ran smoothly and 550 were treated. Again the lines were long and people waited in the hot sun and then a rain shower to receive medical attention. Without the TI team we could never do these projects. The TI staff do all the organizing and pitch in to help us at each project.

Thank you to all those who donated to make the food distributions and medical clinics possible. I believe we saved lives……….

The team visited the In Step Foundation Baby Home run by an American couple. There are 85 orphans mostly under the age of two but a few children up to age seven. The team had fun playing with the children for the day and provided medications and some clothing for the home.

Along with the TI team we mudded a hut at Hope Bright Future Children’s Home. It was a unique experience to mud a traditional African hut. We provided the funds to build this hut and it will be used for visitors and TI staff who want to stay for a few days at the Children’s Home in Kiminini. We really did get down and dirty and completed the hut in 2 hours.

We were able to visit St Anthony’s School for the Deaf in Webuye for the second year. It is a wonderful experience to see these children being taught Kenyan Sign Language and learning to communicate. Many of the students that graduate from here can not go on to university or college because only 3 universities in all of Kenya have people to help deaf students. Consequently they have a program where students and graduates work making crafts and doing woodworking. Sandy brought two ideas that they could make and she would sell in Canada. She is now waiting for the prototypes to arrive by mail. The team presented the school with a $1000.00 to purchase much needed specialty items for teaching.

The girls at Neema Home continue to flourish. They are now working at a grade five level and can speak English. We did crafts with them and they showed us how well they are doing in school and in their sewing class. We want to thank Northern Reflections customers at the North Bay Mall who bought new outfits for the girls. They also purchased many t-shirts and skirts that we gave out to many other orphaned children.

We visited Daniel Juma and his wife. Daniel is disabled and was taken in and helped by a couple when he was young. When he married, he and his wife began to take in foster children along with having their own children. They now have 22 children including 6 of their own. Daniel still manages to make enough to support his family. He has had some financial help from other groups but gets nothing from the Kenyan government. They are an amazing family and we were able to bring them a 100 pound bag of maize to help feed their family.

Nate is a young American staff member at Transformed International. Last year, when he was an intern with TI, he purchased blankets, wrote words of God’s Love on fabric that was sewn onto the blankets by the girls at Neema House and then went out at night and covered sleeping street kids with them. This year he is doing it again and going into another city. It is dangerous but he feels that these kids need to know that someone cares about them. We helped him purchase blankets to add to the ones he had already bought. He will cover over 100 street kids with his “blankets of love.”

We visited the school and stayed overnight in a mud hut. The orphanage here has moved to the Kitale area, but we will continue to support this school. We send a teacher each year to a university to further his or her education, and this is done on a grant/loan basis. The teachers here are so appreciative of this opportunity. We supplied the school with $1000.00 worth of new text books and handed out pencil cases, other school supplies and soccer balls.

This is a brand new project where we are providing TI with funds to purchase land and to build this home. Children with HIV/AIDS have specific needs that include a special diet and medical care. One of the children from Hope Bright Future Children’s Home, Veronica, passed away at age 9 this past August and this has inspired us to work with TI to make this home a reality. It will be built in several phases and $40,000.00 US will be needed to complete Phase 1. The first phase will house 10 children, house parents, a nurse and a cook. The Rotary Club of North Bay-Nipissing has provided $2500.00 to furnish and equip the home.

Soweto is the third largest slum in Nairobi. We have been helping this school for the past two years by providing the funds to feed the children lunch 5 days a week, 52 weeks of the year. Even when schools are closed for holidays the children still come for lunch - for the majority it is the only meal they will get each day. Most of their mothers are widows who go to the huge garbage dump to look for food and plastic to sell. Some widows are making and selling necklaces.

We bought new books for the school and brought some school supplies. The teachers had not been paid for three months and we were able to give each teacher some money towards their salary.

This was our fifth and final clinic. It was held at an established small clinic in Kibera that is run by the Baptist Church. We met a young German woman who was able to get 6 fifth year medical students to help us. We also had 1 doctor, 3 dentists, 3 pharmacists, 2 lab technician and 3 Kenyan nurses who took the blood pressure of each patient and handed out worm medication. Our team worked alongside their volunteers doing registration and nursing duties. At this clinic 567 people were seen, 75 teeth were pulled and over 50 people had lab tests done and several were referred to hospital for further treatment. There were long line ups since each person was given a very thorough exam and then sent for medications. Several went to both the dentist and doctor.

Kibera is the largest slum in Africa. Normally they would pay a small amount at this clinic but we were able to provide everything for free. Not everyone was seen on the one day so people came back the following Monday and Tuesday to be seen. All the medications that we purchased that were left over were divided between the Chemi Chemi clinic and the group of volunteer student doctors who do these types of clinics through out the year.

There are over 50 children between the ages of 3 and 7 at these two schools. They are both situated in Kibera and most of these children have been affected in some way by AIDS. At St Mary’s we purchased school supplies for the teachers to use with the children and At Kigulu we purchased enough food for the teachers to prepare lunch for the children for the next 6 weeks. Both schools were delighted to receive these. It is important for children to go to school early because this is where they begin to learn English. By the time they begin Grade 1 they should have the basics of English because all subjects, with the exception of Swahili, are taught in English.

Each year when we go to Kenya we hand out bubbles or some small toy and suckers. This year we handed out over 7000 suckers to the kids (and some adults) that we worked with or visited. For the majority of these kids it is the only treat they might get in a year.

The team has been visiting this school each year for the past four years and has been helping by supplying books to the teachers, and handing out school supplies to students. Every student in this school has been affected by AIDS. They have lost one or both parents leaving several of them as orphans. The group of orphans at this school, under the direction of Sister Luciana, makes cards using dried banana leaves. We bring the cards with us to Canada and sell them here.

This year we handed out filled pencil cases to each student in the school. As well we handed out filled grocery bags to each of the teachers at the school.

E.W. Norman Elementary School in North Bay contributed 200 pencil cases and wrote notes to these students that they included in each pencil case. In the grade 12 class one young man did not receive a note and was very distraught until we found a pencil case that had a note in it. These students are all 18 and over and the notes meant so much to them.

Another team leaves in July with 12 people; 6 youths and 6 adults. Our big project for this year is to add two classrooms to Kolongolo School, build an orphanage for AIDS children and do another Food Distribution.

This is a TI project that we visited. We made crafts with the kids and the kids sang to us!

This is an athletic team of approximately 30 people. They train together and are sponsored by two families in North Bay. On the latest trip Sandy presented them with 'Brooks' running shirts with their name on the front. These shirts were donated to the team by Lisa Depres and Brenda Walsh of the Active Running and Therepy Centre in North Bay. The team members put their shirts on and had a 10 km road race. Sandy attempted the first kilometer but everyone was just too fast for her.

One of the team members ran the Nairobi Marathon in 2 hrs;16 minutes; 30 seconds. The winner of that race finished in 2:10:23 so our young guy did great. Our hope is to bring him to Toronto to run the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

Active Running has also collected used but still good running shoes that we take over and distribute to runners in Kenya. Thanks to Lisa and Brenda for their support.

Another Hope2Kenya Team leaves in July 2010 with 12 people: 6 youths and 6 adults. Our big project for that trip will be to add two classrooms to Kolongolo School, build an orphanage for AIDS children and do another Food Distribution. We look forward to the trip with great anticipation.