October Highlights

The month is about to end and we had some great things happening at our center this month. Special Education Professionals came to Maai Mahiu on the 9th loaded in two big SUV's for disabled kids assessment. Not only did we have kids come for assessment but the adults came too to see if SEP could fix some things for them. Some needed Walking sticks while others were looking for special shoes. SEP continues to partner with us and recommends a physical therapist for the malaika kids as a matter of priority. CTC is now known to care for the disabled community in the town and some came as far as Nairobi for the assessment.

Lisa Mizell made the malaika kids day on October 13 when she showed up with back packs, hats with CTC logo and a peace sign in the middle and lots of Halloween goodies. Kool aid was so cool for George and he kept coming for more. Very new experience for all! powder that makes the water sweet and fruity. Ooh we need some more!!. Thanks Lisa for your love for CTC and malaika kids.

Last Saturday the 24th we held our second monthly Ubuntu day. We had a great number of new volunteers and the county council boss was with us too to keep the city clean. The Ubuntu days are picking up and next month, we will hold it on the 21st of November by public demand so that they could make it to partner with us. Thanks to Nuru group from the IDP(Internally displaced People) for coming to support us in this great cause and the Maai Mahiu County Council for recognizing CTC's efforts within this community.

Let us stay connected.

WORLD FOOD DAY -KENYA

We just received some footage from last Friday's World Food Day. Comfort the Children hosted an informational day for those of the community in Maai Mahiu. The community learned about CTC's programs which include the drip feed irrigation system gardens as well as the bag project. It's wonderful to know that we were here in the US and Canada gathering and donating food to local food banks for WFD, this was taking place in Kenya.

Check out some of the footage from that day.

CTC gets recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture

Octoeber 16 was the World Food Day. For the first time we had this event going on in Maai Mahiu Town. Many people from the New formed Naivahsa District came to see and acknowledge the efforts of different individuals and groups to fight hunger that has continued to torment many especially in the Africa continent.
Many farmers who have been working so hard to grow some food despite the harsh conditions in this dry region came to bring the ideas and sytems that have worked.
CTC was not left behind. The drip irragation systems have been attracting many in this community as they have seen them thrive in our demontration gardens at Ngeya Primary school and the Shosho Shamba.
The ministry of Agriculture in Naivasha District recognized our efforts and gave CTC a certificate to recognize the good work CTC has been doing in this community. Malaika Mums and the shoshos were dancing with joy as their efforts were being mentioned among the many who attended.
We are now having an extra problem to deal with. People want to install drip systems on their pieces of land, especialy those who have som water. I think this is a good problem to deal with.
Our exhibition was attracting many as we had a big banner printed with our mission. The winner system of the day was the bucket drip system as the guests acknoledged that many could afford it and provide some food for the needy families.
We are keeping up the spirit as we continue to serve, bring sustainable change and make a difference in peoples lives. Go CTC, Go all our Partners.i
Here are some links of the event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIut8pA57yk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1tbehzkePo

Thanks

Jeremiah Kuria

Rafiki Link still going Strong

Rafiki link has been moving on well and I started with holding meetings with the Rafiki Link volunteers at the schools to see what we could do to make Rafiki Link a successful program. Some of the issues that we discussed are the equipments that are needed in this program, the activities that we are going to do this term and what are we going to do to motivate the students.
I was so encouraged by the teachers who have great passion and vision for this program.
We have the equipments that we require in the program though we still have problems at Ngeya because this school has no computer lab and I usually carry two of our office laptops which are not enough comparing it to the number of students that am working with, this has also been bringing inconvenience in that whenever my workmates are working on these computers I am forced to tell them to save their work and shut down the computers so that I can carry them to the Ngeya. We are hoping in future we are going to have more computers at Ngeya.
Maai- Mahiu secondary and Longonot secondary have enough computers though we still need some more internet connection, we have three modems that are being paid for by Bodwell High school and other two more modems that we are not able to use as they need some funds to run them.
At Maai- Mahiu secondary, this term I have been training the Rafiki club students on the basic computer skills because they doesn’t do computer packages as a subject though they have a computer lab but there is no teacher. I trained them how to use Microsoft office word because we will be mostly using it in making of newsletters which was our main target for this term and we also want to make a school magazine and this would be very helpful to the students. The students are very happy on knowing how to do text formatting spell checking and others though they say that something that they don’t like is typing, it has been a difficult thing for them to do. I think they need some typing programs that teach typing. The students are looking for some information that they are going to put together to make a school newsletter.
As I had said earlier on my last blog, there are some students who have some plastic bags recycling skills; they trained their friends how to make various items using the plastic bags that people throw everywhere in Maai- Mahiu town making the plastic bags look like flowers in the town. This has been a good way that people could utilise this bags in making such items. The students who are good in making those items made samples that were later sent to Free State High school in the US. The students worked very hard to get these items together and they said that they were making them also in the dormitory at night while sharing some stories with friends who also gained interest in making those items and were requesting to be part of it.
I also brain stormed with the students at Maai- Mahiu secondary about getting a market for our products. If the products would sell, their hope is to install internet in their computer lab so that even other students can learn how to use internet and this would be a very good research centre to get learning materials and also allow a lot of flow of information from school here and the schools in the west. Another idea was paying school fees for those who do not afford to pay and they also thought they could use the income to go for field trips which they have been longing to do. Others thought about beautifying the school compound by buying and planting trees. We are hoping that their dream will come true as time goes.
Longonot secondary Rafiki link has not been that smooth because here we usually use solar panels to power the laptops and mostly when I get there in the evening the power by that time is less and during this time the laptops goes off one by one making it very hard for the programs that we are working on. With the little time we have, the students have also been gathering information so that they will also make a newsletter.
In conclusion the program has been moving well and I have also been recording some videos of some of the events that we have been having here in Maai- Mahiu and you could check on our you tube videos .
By Paul Mwaniki
Rafiki Link coordinator.

The Joy of Hope

Malaika Mums project is still progressing very well; the mums continue to work hard to make their ends meet for their families in the world of canvas bags. Up to now we are still looking forward for more orders to keep them busy and provided for. Apart from making bags I have introduced a new skill of dress making. As I write, the Mums have already made shirts and dresses. They are very excited and happy too.
One of the Mums has impressed me by her eagerness to learn and a great positive attitude toward the training she receives here. I would love to introduce Susan Njeri to you who is the mother to Teresiah, one of our Malaika kids. Before she joined CTC she was staying at home with nothing to do and depending on her husband who was still jobless and had to wakeup very early in the morning to go and look for casual jobs to support her family. Many times without success due to the hard conditions of Maai Mahiu.
She remembers one day that a friend visited her home and was to spend the night with them. Unfortunately that night she had no food in the house to feed her family or the visitor. She felt embarrassed and frustrated as her problems were not a secret anymore. She even wondered why her friend visited. The family was used to spend several nights without anything to eat,but would not let anyone know as they felt like outcasts and the poorest in the neighbourhood. The friend was surprised and worried about Susan’s kids and offered to give her a free course to enable her to earn a living and to at least put some food on the table for her family.
Deep inside her heart she was happy about the idea and said to her husband “this is God’s time”, but something was hindering her from embracing that golden chance, her level of education. Susan was only able to go up to class two. She can hardly read or write anything much. The husband tried to encourage her and tell her that she could make it “a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step” her husband said.
Time came for her to start a dress making course; for the first time it was good coz she could only see the finished dresses not knowing all the process she had to go through. Here in Kenya it’s very rare to use patterns or draft to get the original thing which can be very easy for people interested with the course, but we use the fabric itself. So if you happen to mess up with the material you have to replace. One of the obstacles she faced is calculating and applying the measurement, which made her friend, get annoyed and felt embarrassed .As days went by she was only doing finishing, ironing and at the end of it all she only got a hundred and fifty shillings($2) at the end of the month, which could not cater for her and her family as well.
She went back home heartbroken and with very poor self esteem. She had failed and cannot make it in life. She was unable to socialize or even participate in anything as she not only failed herself but the family as well. Until when a Good Samaritan told her all about CTC, she took a step to know more from the horse’s mouth. “Always wait upon the lord for he knows the plans he has for you” Susan was among the ones chosen to join the Malaika Mums. Right now she can make a whole bag, a shirt and a dress. She is very thankful to CTC and this program in particular for bringing back her life. She now can believe in herself and encourage others for the short time that she has been with CTC. She thanks her teacher too for encouraging her and motivating her to work hard, “never give up and always have a vision for tomorrow.
At the moment we are making black canvas bags and am hoping as soon as we are through I will start teaching the Mums how to make a pair of shorts. We are hoping that we could get some tenders for school uniforms from the surrounding schools. Thus I feel we need an embroidery machine coz we have none. Susan says that in future, she is hoping to start her own business and she will also want to get some students who she will train as she was trained with a lot of humility and patience by her teacher through CTC International.
Together let us join hands in one spirit to uplift the lives and the living standards of the Mums. Thank you all for partnering with us and follow up in our next blog in economic project.
Liz Josiah
Program Manager.

1ST ANNUALWORLD FOOD DAY CHALLENGE

OCTOBER 16,2009 WORLD FOOD DAY

WE ARE CHALLENGING YOU TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR VILLAGE !


It's SIMPLE and EASY !
STEP 1 CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FOOD BANK AND FIND OUT WHAT THEY ARE IN NEED OF

STEP 2 DESIGN YOUR OWN POSTER (be sure to include the handprint) FOR WORLD FOOD DAY AND SET UP A BOX FOR FOOD DONATIONS ON YOUR FRONT PORCH, YOUR OFFICE, CHURCH OR SCHOOL. AND TAKE PHOTOS

STEP 3 TURN IN ALL DONATED FOOD TO YOUR LOCAL FOOD BANK AND EMAIL YOUR PHOTOS TO mindystallings@ctcinternational.org

YOUR PHOTOS WILL ALL BE SUBMITTED FOR OUR WORLD FOOD DAY POSTER FOR NEXT YEAR AND THE PERSON OR TEAM WITH THE MOST CREATIVITY AND SPIRIT WILL BE CHOOSEN FOR CTC'S VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH !


Just remember............
Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart. ~Elizabeth Andrew

Harvesting and World Food Day

Rocky and Tony visited Ngeya Primary school and harvested Cabbages after a successful project supported by Mama Hope. Malaika kids have enjoyed sharing the harvest while Ngeya Primary school kids Continues to enjoy the cabbages and the sukuma wiki (kale) that have been doing great considering the harsh climate that we have in Maai Mahiu. The harvest is sweet but the garden is too small for the two thousand kids going to Ngeya primary school. Hopefully we could get more support and enlarge the garden which has been so helpful to these needy kids. The community has been watching the progress and are so much interested in learning how they could adapt the new technology and conserve agriculture.
Most of the people in the community are interested in the new farming method that CTC has introduced to the community of Maai-Mahiu and we hope to start a pilot program. We also have assessed five homesteads that are ready to start the new farming method. Maai- Mahiu is one of the semi arid areas where we hardly receive enough amount of rainfall and like this year there has been drought in many parts of the country and many of the people go without food for some days. We are trying as much as we can to utilise the little amount of water that we get by using drip irrigation system. I was able to visit one of our partners in Naivasha who donated drip pipe that we will use to install drip irrigation gardens in Maai Mahiu. We are alsolooking on how we could introduce green houses if we get materials that need to be recycled from the flower farms.
As we talk to the community that is so interested in trying the drip irrigation, many are pushed away by the initial cost of installing the drip kit. Although it costs about ten thousand shillings ($150) the needy in the community can never come up with such an amount of money as they are now struggling to put some food in the table. It becomes hard to talk about the future while the now is so desperate.
The shosho shamba has kicked off with five very excited and enthusiastic grandmas who are ready to give this garden a new look. They have been working hard every day and learning how they will be doing it in the future. I believe that we will be planting by the end of this week. Our meeting with them was successful and very fruitful. They all welcomed the new business plan and hope to work at making it succeed.
As we talk about introducing the new way of farming in Maai Mahiu, this year’s world food day will take place on the16th October with a theme is fighting food crises in future. Maai Mahiu has been picked as the place to do an exhibition on what the community is doing to make sure people don’t do hungry.
CTC is in the forefront in preparing for this exhibition together with Red Cross, Naivasha flower farms and several others. We hope to do a small drip irrigation demo and take other products from Malaika Mums. Everyone is very excited abut the day and more than anything else about the achievements of CTC within this community. We hope to have a great day and an opportunity to train many people who will attend this event. Let us join hands and reduce the number of people that are suffering from hunger in Maai Mahiu and other parts of the world.
Rocky Muuri

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