Premier Program

All is well here in Kenya as we are concluding the month of September. We closed with a great Ubuntu day that we introduced last month. We contacted the local leaders and came up with trash collection and clean up as our goal for the Ubuntu day this month. The turn out was great, we had over eighty volunteers who came early to join us in the efforts. There was lots of joy as we went through the town with rakes and other tools held high and a song led by the women and the young men who were present. We attracted quite a good number of people who also promised to be there next month when we get together. It is amazing to know that people are willing to do what they can to improve their environment and all they need is someone to lead the way. We are glad that CTC is leading the way joined by other stakeholders in the Town. The town council sent representatives and did a lot of work with us not to mention their appreciation of our willingness to join hands with them to keep our town clean. Global connections from Limuru were not left behind. They came all the way from Limuru with volunteers who wanted to do something worthwhile, while visiting our country Kenya. PCYI are enthusiastic about the idea as they have endeavored to do community work too. The disabled community group kept their word, “we want to give back to the community” and those who could work came to help us. Another group from IDP’s camp came to join us in the efforts. Thanks to all of them who came up to support this wonderful endeavor.

Ngeya primary school has received the relief food for this term and the cooking has started again. The kids are happy that they can have a meal and not go hungry all day. The environment club is proud to contribute to their nutrition as the garden has been doing well and they are able to spice up the maize and beans with onions, cabbages and Sukuma wiki(kale) sometimes as the garden is still producing. We hope to increase the size of the garden so that we can grow more and improve these kids diet. The trees at Ngeya continue to do very good and the kids’ still water them generously every week. Not so long now and Ngeya will enjoy some shade from the hot Sun as those trees continue to grow tall. We are glad we are doing something now and not waiting until tomorrow which might never come.

We are still very hopeful for the malaika mums program. Not only are they working on the available orders for the bags, but they continue to learn new things. Soon they will be able to make dresses and hopefully start doing some uniforms for the schools around. We continue to encourage them to work hard and they are not giving up.

The Rafiki program has not been left behind. They are working on a newsletter with the help of other clubs in the school like journalism club and the environment club. We are trusting that their efforts will yield to something great and informative for the rest of the community in the schools.

On Shosho Shamba, it is now official, we have five grandmas’ to work in the garden, and are very excited as they started today. They are working so hard to revive the grandma’s garden and restore the beauty on this plot. The program is working great as the rest are working on some baskets to polish their talents and start selling them to those who love the kiondos. We will see where this venture runs into as we continue to work on it. What they make now will be featured by Autumn Magiera in Kansas at a trade fair she has organized. Keep her in your thoughts as she puts ideas together to make the trade fair a success.

Last but not least, SEP continues to like our malaika kids program. Talking to Caroline last month she reiterated that our kids are happy and very well taken care of while in our center. She has been working in Kenya with Special Educational Professionals for a long time and has seen many programs that are run in the country. She thinks our program has the potential of becoming the premier program here in Kenya. We are working hard to keep the standard and continue to give the love and care needed by our Malaika kids. There are about eighty other kids who would wish to come to our center, not to mention those from the neighboring villages who have been referred to us although we are not a boarding facility. SEP comes for assessment of all disabled kids in Maai Mahiu on the 9^th October. We have sent the word out and we expect a great turnout. The goal is to identify the kind of issues that have not been addressed and those that might need immediate help when we would be ready to add to our number. Keep us in your thoughts as we endeavor to support the needy and the need in this town.

Jeremiah

Diva walk with Malaika mums

Hello friends!!





I know you have been wondering what has been happening with Malaika Mums project. I will highlight some few things of what has been happening and keep you updated.
For those who may not know, the Malaika Mums project started on May 2008, with a group of ten women whose kids have mental &physical disabilities. We started with four small domestic machines. At first I wasn’t sure about teaching these women who are older than I am and women who had zero experience with sewing machines. I had to divide them in two groups so that I could manage to train them. I taught some from 9:00am to 1:00pm and the rest from 2:00pm to5:00 pm.
During the training , I had difficult time because when I trained the mums how to insert the needle they would insert it the wrong way, they also could not keep the machine stable or roll consistently to help with the motion of the machines. I felt heart broken and disappointed as I realized that it was going to be very difficult to do anything with these women. I convinced myself and the women that “where there is a will there is away” But as we continued to struggle and still at our infant stage we had visitors from Kansas State who trained the Mums how to make pillow cases and before the end of the day the Mums were very happy and excited to see what they had learnt and made within a day. From then on things have been different.
After 4 months the then Kenya Director Alison Costain started the bags project and bought us enough fabric to enable us to start with this great project with a hope of making a difference with the environment. The goal was to encourage people to use canvas bags and reduce the use of plastic bags. It was hard to make perfect bags as the woman were still learning and at one point we had to undo seventy six bags. Some of the women were about to quit as they thought they would never make it. It has taken lots of encouragement for these women to believe in themselves. Coming from a culture where women are looked down upon, their self esteem is next to zero. More than just making bags and learning how to do sewing, we kept on encouraging each other that we are worth something and that we can make a difference. Now we do not have to undo any of the bags. We are getting better every day, each woman taking her position and perfecting their area.
We are so thankful to all the visitors who have been coming to train these women. They have been coming out slowly and they are now able to express themselves better than they did before. Some can even dare say who they are in English, though they don’t have adequate education to build their confidence but yet they enjoy trying new things without fear of intimidation. To all who have had an opportunity to visit the Malaika Mums, I would like you to know that your presence and encouragement takes these women to a higher level.
During the visits this year, we have learned quite a bit from the visitors. Not only did we learn about self esteem and great ways to relate with our husbands but we also did the diva walk with Dr. Barrie to give the women a feeling of self loving and acceptance. Thanks to Dr. Barrie and team, I still hold myself high and do my divas walk despite the circumstances. When things get rough, we remind ourselves that we are divas and can still make it. Dorothy Ombajo who is a local attorney crowned the day and did a great job enlightening the women about their basic human rights. We had a great summer with the visitors.
With the visitors from Kansas State we also paid a visit to Amani ya juu (Peace from heaven) in Nairobi with Denise, Alice, Elaine, Blake, Jeremiah and our executive director Zane. The mums learnt a lot and they were motivated by the women of Amani ya juu hearing how their organization started. Since that visit, the mums have a positive attitude towards sewing. They have added a lot of interest since they believed that from the little they have now, they can make wonders and we can become a big organization in Kenya in making different kinds and types of things.
This August we also had privilege to visit each of our mums home for a documentary with Aaron Bratcher, David Simpson and Zane, only to learn that these women are surrounded with lot of problems. Not only are they poor and fighting the shame of bearing a disabled child from the family and the community in general but they also have to experience domestic violence, lots ridicule and rejection. I was surprised with these stories as these women always show up in the morning with smiling faces with no signs at all of all they have to endure in their homes.
The women are working hard to make ends meet for their families. We are depending of the canvas bags right now and it’s our sincere hope and prayer to God that we are going to get more orders and this will change their lives as well as improving our environment within Maai-Mahiu and abroad as we hold hands together to discourage the use of polythene bags. As of now God has started answering our prayers because we are no w making an order of 200 bags for Tribe Hotel in Nairobi. Let’s hope more will come
Follow up on our next blog to know what is happening in our economic project that hopes to improve the lives of these mums and many others in the community.
Liz Josiah
Malaika Mums program manager

Rafiki Link

Rafiki Link is a program that started in the year 2007 when the first team of students came from Bodwell High school in Canada to visit Kenya.
It connects Students in the west with students in Maai-Mahiu area by having them sharing about school ideas and culture on their school blogs. Our vision for this program is to create an international network of students who learn from and with each other Mwaniki being the program co-ordinator and Mali Bain being the education program director.
We had the second team of students who came from Bodwell High school on April 2009 and they had a great time with our Kenyan students, they were able to go for camping together at Naivasha for two days where none of the Kenyan students had ever camped and they were able to communicate one on one unlike what they had been doing on communicating on internet, this gave them a true insight of the American culture. This was a very great opportunity for the students and they really learnt a lot from both sides. They also worked together in building a kitchen at Ngeya primary school which is the biggest school in Maai-Mahiu area, and Comfort the Children is helping to improve on the infrastructure and also on environmental issues. Ngeya is also one of our partner schools in this friendship link and its connected to Albion Heights junior school in Toronto Canada who donated desks due to Ngeya primary school being overpopulated and some pupils sitting on the earthly floor during their lessons.
Apart from Bodwell High school donating a kitchen at Ngeya primary school they also donated some learning materials to both Longonot secondary school and Maai-Mahiu secondary school and these materials have been of great help to the students.
Comfort the Children international has been very lucky to receive volunteers who have been coming and many of them have been helping out in evaluating our programs, others are interested in joining our running programs in Maai-Mahiu area. We had Jessica Jerney from the University of Minnesota and Simon from Kansas state University who came this year on August to work with Mwaniki on evaluating the Rafiki Link program and they had a chance to visit the schools around Maai-Mahiu area that have been involved in this program so that they could see what was happening on the ground.
We also had Andrew who is a teacher from Free State High school in the USA who also came this year on August and he is also very interested in connecting his school with schools in Mahiu area and he came with his mum, Taylor Arachtingi who was his former student and Autumn who is his friend also came with him. They had great conversations with the Kenyan teachers and students and we discovered some students in Rafiki Link club who were very talented, one of the students could recycle plastic bags by making table mats which could also make more other materials like earings, hand bracelets etc, this is one of the ways that can greatly help in cleaning of our environment where people throw plastic bags all over the town . They were also able to attend Maai-Mahiu secondary school closing ceremony whereby Andrew was given a chance to present school awards at the parade and each of them was given a chance to say a word. They were also in a position to visit Kenton primary school which we are looking forward to partner with though we are still looking for transportation means for Mwaniki since its located at a far distance from the main road, lastly they were taken by Mwaniki to the Internally displaced persons camp where they were able to share with the people who are living in the camps about what happened to Kenyans during the post election violence. They really enjoyed sharing with Kenyans who were very welcoming and they had a cup of tea in one of the tents.
In general Rafiki link is moving on smoothly and Mwaniki is working very hard this term to get back to the schools which opened this week on 8th of October, though last term he was very busy working with our teams that came this summer and it a little bit interrupted with all our programs but we are looking forward to hire someone who will be taking care of the teams when they come so that all of our programs continue running.
Mwaniki has been holding meetings with the Rafiki Link coordinators this week about how the program will run this term and also welcoming the students back to school after their holiday.
Follow up on the next blog about Rafiki Link about what will be happening.

CTC announces September 09 Volunteer of the Month- Valerie Stull

CTC would like to announce our September 09 volunteer of the month, Valerie Stull.

Valerie Stull came to CTC in the summer of 2008 along with our medical team. She will be obtaining her Masters in Public Health. While Valerie was in Kenya in 2008 she was able to establish public health needs and decided she would return the following summer to further educate the people in Maai Mahiu. During 2009, Valerie along with two other CTC volunteers Kiera Evans and Courtney Held hosted a 5K race in Kansas. They sold CTC bags made by the women in our programs and were able to raise funds to travel back to Kenya in 2009.

FAAST Race:
http://faastfunrun.wordpress.com/


Valerie returned this past summer with Courtney Held and they together worked in the local community teaching nutrition and womens health (mainly breast feeding and it's importance). They made GIANT posters that demonstrated health and nutrition. I know it may sound insignificant but they worked very hard to write these demonstrations in both Swahili and English so that they would be able to teach with efficiency. Valerie worked in the community for two months or more and completed very useful studies of the women working in our community gardens.

We are so thankful for volunteers like Valerie and want to give some real BIG LOVE back to her just as she has given to CTC.

Here are some questions that we asked Valerie about her trip.

1) How did you hear about CTC?
I first heard about CTC from Dr. Bill Hargrove, a professor at Kansas State University who has worked extensively with CTC. He connected me with Dr. Steve Segebrecht prior to the summer of 2008. Before I knew it, I was a part of the medical team for 2008 and returned to Kenya in 2009. Bill Hargrove also introduced me to Zane Wilemon during one of Zane’s trips to Kansas. It was amazing to hear about CTC from the founder firsthand.

2)What has your experience been like in Maai Mahiu?
Wow, this is a loaded question! I would have to say that my experience in Maai Mahiu was always challenging, but also always rewarding. I learned the beauty of stillness while in Kenya. The common phrases hakuna matata and no hurry in Kenya are truly evident in the way the people live. Zane once reminded me while I was in Kenya, to let go of the “Western Desire” to always be doing something and the need to accomplish something. Instead, we should try to savor the moments of calm—to focus on building relationships rather than only on worrying about outcomes. I took Zane’s comments to heart and while I worked hard, I tried to just “be,” opening myself up to the experience. Going to Maai Mahiu was never about what I could “do for them,” but rather what we could learn from each other. I learned so much.
Looking back, my favorite moments in Maai Mahiu were the conversations I had with the Kenyans and the other volunteers over chai tea, playing soccer with the kids, breathing through the dust while just listening to the sounds of the town, and long walks with the volunteers. I loved waking up every morning to familiar noises…trucks, chickens, women, someone’s radio, and people walking. Maai Mahiu is vibrant, moving with a joy that I don’t find here in the United States…greetings, celebration, and just being alive are reason enough to smile. I am so grateful for the opportunity to spend time in Maai Mahiu. I am touched by the Kenyans; my life has changed forever because of them.

3)What are the goals and dreams that you seek for the people in Maai Mahiu?
My primary hope for Maai Mahiu is that basic sanitation and public health needs can be better met in the community. I also hope that HIV-assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the community improves, and that HIV-prevention efforts for the entire community also improve. Women in the community can be empowered with knowledge and financial independence, allowing them to better care for their children and have a greater impact on the community. I know that gender equality is possible in Kenya and Maai Mahiu. It is my dream that by educating and empowering women in Maai Mahiu, health and the quality of life for everyone will increase. I hope that community gardens and environmental programs will flourish in Maai Mahiu, inspiring individuals in the community to grow and eat nutritious food, all while protecting the precious environment. Maai Mahiu deserves the hope for a better future.

4)Why Kenya?
Kenya is rich in culture, history, and opportunity. My passion for and work in Africa led me to Kenya. The people of Kenya are what have captured my heart.

Ngeya Environment Club

Although we have been busy for the last few months, the environment club at Ngeya Primary school has been active and doing great. We have over eighty(80) children who are so active and have been willing to learn more about environment and what they can do to help. We did an educational tour in July and sensitized the kids about the great problem we have been having of environment destruction. The students were able to come to terms with the things they have not been taking into consideration and mostly participating in trashing the town.

They also visited our centre and they were able to meet with malaika kids whom they loved so much. It was a real eye opener for all of them and this was evident after witnessing the things they wrote down after being asked to write a composition about the environmental tour. It was impressive to see their thoughts and there is no doubt our program is empowering them and if we do not give up, we will have some reliable youth in future.
We hope to continue with the motivation and hope to bring their parents too to visit the garden and also see how the trees are doing well with just a few minutes of our time everyday to water them with just a little water.

For the last 2 weeks the schools have been closed but the environment club members have been visiting the school to water the trees and the garden we planted,class four (4) students had invited other kids in the community to go and assist them to water the trees and I was amazed by the efforts they are showing while the school is closed.

The garden is doing great and the composting have really gone down. Very soon it will be ready for use. The only problem we have is that cabbages were affected by pests, it also looks like some seeds are different and not doing good as others. Today tony was harvesting sukumawiki for the 4th time and sell them to the owners of greengrocery shops around maai-mahiu. My goal is to keep educating these students about the things we can do to improve the living situation in our village. Good gardening, tree planting, trash collection and water harvesting are things we can learn and do together. We hope to move this project to run and sustain itself and hopefully start a greenhouse, But we need resources to give us a good start.

I have been doing research on this and you can visit http://www.amiran/ kenya to see what has been going on. Amiran deals with farm inputs, seeds and chemicals. They are partnering with equity bank to help support the people. I am also thinking we need to have a tree nursery of our own to be run by the environmental club so that we can increase tree planting and make the trees easily available, it will also be another learning experience for the students.

Till next month, I hope you have a great time.

Rocky Muuri

Environment Coordinator/ General manager

Comfort the Children International - Kenya