American Friends of Kenya

KidsLibs Trust update!

2010-09-01T23:55:00.000-06:00

Have you looked at our blog recently?www.kidslibskenya.blogspot.com

KLT now has SEVEN libraries open in slum and rural areas of Kenya! Very cool! And still no funding for KLT itself (like for staff!).. but still the libraries come! Above is Gacharageini our latest rural library out in the Aberdare hills!

AFK books will go into our next library.. Kinamba or Sosian- both rural again!

Little Hands, Big Steps launched by KidsLibs Trust in Kenya!!

2009-06-07T22:36:00.003-06:00

At last Little Hands Big Steps is running!

We launched yesterday at Mathare North MYSA library with four Mums and one Dad!! Our youngest is 3 months, and out oldest 4 years!! We started by giving the books to each chil- one immediately stopped crying! The four year old had been running around, and he sat SOO well on his Mums knee!

I explained how the book bags are exchanged every week for a period of 10 weeks. Also about the little logbook inside each bag, which they must complete every week (this says how often they used the books, if any other family member helped, if the children liked or disliked the books, etc). Steve explained how there will be a certificate at the end of the 10 weeks, and that each child will be given some books to keep at home after the programme.

If this works we will introduce LHBS to other centres and start a trend of reading in Kenya with under 5 year olds!!!

Many thanks to AFK and Norwich Rotary club in the USA for their donation of funds to purchase some of the books for this... cant do it without you guys!!!

KidsLibs Trust in Kenya!!!

2008-10-09T03:15:00.003-06:00

See our updated Blog on http://kidslibskenya.blogspot.com/! LOTS has been happening!!!! Photos of proposed new library room for Kawangware centre, reports on each centre's achievements (Mathare North is teaching hip hop!), Laikipia 's neighbour the School for the Deaf performing a drama in sign language for us... GO ON!!!! HAVE A LOOK!!!!

Anne

Crisis in Kenya: Emergency Relief Fund

2008-01-03T10:44:00.000-06:00

As you all may have heard, the situation in Kenya is critical, with ethnic violence and unrest followed by the Kenyan election on December 27th.
We have communicated with all our partners and they are safe at the moment, although some, mainly the ones in Kibera slums, have lost their homes to fire.

We have set up a page in our website with more information on News about the crisis, our partners updates, and what you can do to help.

PLEASE keep our Kenyan friends in your thoughts and prayers.

We have set up an "Emergency Relief Fund" to specifically help those that will need to rebuild their homes and others in other areas with great needs.

If you are able, we urge you to please help us by making a safe, tax deductible, online donation to the EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND.

Thank you for your continued support.

Marisa and all at American Friends of Kenya (AFK)

New Partnership with Doc to Dock!

2007-11-29T10:17:00.000-06:00

AFK wishes to express its sincere appreciation to Dr. Bruce Charash, founder and CEO of Doc to Dock and to his staff and his organization.

Everyday in the United States thousands of tons of unused medical supplies are either incinerated or sent to landfills. At the same time, in developing nations, thousands of patients are turned away from hospitals and clinics due to a lack of these supplies. Doc to Dock’s mission is to correct this imbalance.

Doc to Dock was created as part of a commitment to improving global health, put forth at the inaugural meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative. The initiative is a non-partisan catalyst for action bringing together a community of global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Doc to Dock collects monetary donations and medical supplies from participating hospitals, in addition to carrying out collection drives at medical conventions. Volunteers from all parts of the medical community sort, label and pack the supplies in warehouses and set up inventories or items from which recipient hospitals may select needed items. Arrangements are made with the receiving developing nations and the supplies (which include diagnostic equipment, electronics and general hospital supplies) are then shipped by either air freight or ocean transport.

AFK has as one of its goals a focus on issues affecting public health in Kenya. To this end, we take in our medical teams to Kenya and constantly collect medical supplies to send to the rural clinics. While we have been doing this for two years, it is not sufficient to provide the supplies needed to the vast number of hospitals and rural clinics in Kenya. Doc to Dock is able to be a highly effective force in our public health initiative and help our medical teams have the supplies and equipment they need in order to be effective in their roles in the rural clinics and slum areas where AFK’s partners live.

We urge you to check out the Doc to Dock web site and spread the word to your friends in the medical community to help Doc to Dock in its efforts, efforts that will in turn, help AFK. Doc to Dock has access to warehouses in different areas of the U.S. if you have supplies to donate. You may contact them via their website.

We have invited Bruce Charash to join us in Kenya in 2008 as part of our medical mission and hope he will take us up on it so that he can see firsthand what wonders his organization can work for the people of Kenya.

Thank you Bruce and Doc to Dock, your mission is making our mission a realizable dream!

Thika Regional Library

2007-07-10T14:34:00.000-06:00

The Thika Regional Library

We are currently raising funds to build a new regional library in rural Kenya that would serve over 900,000 people around Thika. The goal= $20,000

Two high school girls from Tampa, Megan Adams and Danielle Rodriguez, two wonderful high school young women, are hard at work raising the money to build the Thika Regional Library. The first fund raiser is set for August in Miami, Florida. Danielle's aunt is hosting the event in her Coral Gables home. If you wish to be invited to the event or would like more information, please contact Emely at Director@afkinc.org.

It's amazing that two high school students have undertaken such a big project, which is to culminate in their going with us to Kenya in 2008 to help put up that library. The parents deserve a good deal of credit also for supporting Megan and Danielle on their project. Of course, Carrie Adams and Evelyn Rodriguez will travel with us also on the adventure to Kenya.

We ask our readers and supporters to help their efforts by making a donation to AFK marked "Library Fund".

Also, please visit the website they set up for the project, staying tuned to their news and events and/or making a financial contribution to AFK Library Fund.

http://www.literacyleadstohope.org/

Thanks!

We Need Donated Laptops!

2007-06-15T10:05:00.000-06:00

Please help us get laptops!!!

If you are upgarding your laptop for a new one, know of somebody getting rid of one (in good conditions, of course), or work at a school, library or any organization that changes their computers frequently, PLEASE see if you can donate these to this very special cause.

Our partners in Kibera slums, Nairobi, Kenya have just started a project that will prove to be succesful! They started the "Kibera Women's Computer Program" teaching women of the slums computer lessons, database entry and other clerical but very important skills in order to improve their chances of getting an administrative job and to learn to handle the computers for Internet use in education opportunities, literacy and knowledge.

The program started with two computers sponsored by AFK, but as the program is growing rapidly they need many more!!!

Please help us make their dream come true and help these women get the knowledge they want.

If you wish to donate or make a connection, please email me at Chicago@afkinc.org. and THANKS!

2007-05-08T13:56:00.000-06:00

Happy Mother’s Day from American Friends of Kenya

To all mothers out there… we wish you a great day and we celebrate your unconditional love and dedication!

As we celebrate this day, at American Friends of Kenya we remember those mothers, widows and grandmothers in Kenya who have lost so much due to the AIDS pandemic. Some becoming widows very young, without a job, with several kids to support and many times, them infected themselves. Sometimes if they die too, grandmothers have to come to the rescue of the innocent orphans that are left behind. At an old age, tired, starting to work again, looking for any job they can get to support their grandchildren.

The AIDS pandemic also creates chaos for hundreds of thousands of women who are forced to leave their land and homes when their husbands die. These ‘HIV/AIDS widows need protection and laws that give women equal rights to inherit and own property. In Kenya, such rights continue to be denied.

The Story of Anna:

When Anna Ndila's husband became ill with AIDS and fell in to a coma, she and her three children were ordered to leave the family home. ‘My mother-in-law told me she did not want another grave on her compound and threw me out. I was not even allowed to attend my husband's burial. I was too sick also and they taunted me that my end has come.’ Anna is HIV-positive. Her hut in the compound was destroyed by her in-laws and her small farm was seized. When she tried to return to her parental home in the village, she was thwarted by her brothers. ‘They threatened me with a machete and told me I was persona non grata there. That is how I ended up in the Nairobi slums.’

Anna left her village in the drought-ridden region of eastern Kenya and headed to the capital, Nairobi. Two years on, she is living with her children in a tiny single-room mud shack in Kiambiu, an informal settlement on the edge of the city. Her new home has no furniture and the family sleeps on the floor. Anna feels she has been the victim of discrimination several times over. ‘I was told that I was not legally married since my husband had not given three goats to my family. I believe if he had, they would not have kicked me out.’ Anna is resigned to her fate and hawks fruit by the side of a dusty road that leads to Kiambiu to make a living. On the day we met, she had only managed to sell a few pieces of fruit. ‘We do not make much. On a good day I can sell fruit worth about one US dollar.

When she has nothing to eat, Anna walks to the nearby offices of a charity, which gives her some food for her and her family. There are statutory laws which could help her get back her land, but she would need a lawyer to help fight against the patriarchy and customary laws practiced in the village. But at the moment, she doesn’t feel that’s a priority. ‘If I started thinking about those things, I would die very quickly and leave my children with no-one. But one day I will go back.’

(Source: Panos London- click here to read full story)

Please keep Anna and the thousands of mothers like her in your heart and prayers as you celebrate your Mother’s day.

Orphan Support Program

2007-04-09T14:40:00.000-06:00

As is the mission of AFK, we have responded to an extreme need expressed by one of our partners in Kenya.

The Voluntary Counselors Kenya, who works both in the slums of Nairobi and in the rural villages around Kenya, wage a daily battle with the results of the AIDS pandemic.

Recently, their Program Director, Jane Wanjiku Kahuthia appealed to AFK for help to support a number of highly vulnerable AIDS orphans for whom her organization cares.

Some of these children live with dying relatives, some are on their own in the streets and some are being marginally cared for by members of the community who cannot afford to even provide the most basic of needs. Some are HIV positive, some have AIDS and some are not infected with the virus.

We are accepting donations to an "unrestricted fund" which will help Jane and the Voluntary Counselors Kenya with the critical cases and we also have a "Sponsorhsip program" to sponsor an orphan.

Please read on for details on the program and to meet the orphans. If interested in sponsoring, email Marisa Wiewall at Chicago@afkinc.org.

Thank you for your support.
Marisa and American Friends of Kenya

GoodSearch for us!

2007-04-02T10:14:00.000-06:00

Hi everybody

Here's a new, easy way to raise money for our cause. Just start using GoodSearch.com as your search engine. Every time you search, they make a donation to us and it's powered by Yahoo! so you get great search results!

Go to www.goodsearch.com and in the "Who do you Good Search for?" input our name- "American Friends of Kenya" and from then on, every time you search money goes to our cause!

Thanks for your help and support always,

Marisa Wiewall and American Friends of Kenya

Invitation: "A Coffee House For Kenya"

2007-03-20T07:47:00.000-06:00

AN INVITATION FROM FLANDERS SCHOOL in CT

YOU ARE INVITED TO:
"A COFFEE HOUSE FOR KENYA"

FRIDAY, APRIL 27, AT 7:00PM
at
SPORTSMAN'S CLUB/ EAST LYME
located at Plants Dam Road in East Lyme, CT

FEATURING THE MUSICAL TALENTS OF:
ROY SCHRYVER
KAREN CICCONE
JODI & STEVE LATTANZI
PAUL LUSSIER
NEELEY OVERMOYER
AND MANY MORE...

AND THE STORYTELLING SKILLS OF:
DR. RAOUF MAMA
JOHN BASINGER

PROCEEDS WILL BENEFIT AMERICAN FRIENDS OF KENYA

SEE http://www.afkinc.org/ FOR DETAILS

ADMISSION IS $10.00/PER PERSON (adults only)

***A NIGHT YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS***

CALL CHERYL WIPPLE FOR TICKETS AT (860) 691-5084

Kibera Slums and SHOFCO

2007-02-26T09:10:00.000-06:00

SHOFCO IN KIBERA

Shining Hope For Community (SHOFCO) is a youth based Organization, which was formed on February 2006 and is still being run by Kibera Youths through their natural abilities and potentials like natural leadership skills as well as instinctual way of operation.

The Organization is registered by the Kenyan Government under the ministry of sports, culture and social services. SHOFCO is operating in Kibera slums, which is the largest informal settlement in Africa. Kibera is known as “No man’s land”. The settlement is illegal and not included in the government budgets. The population of Kibera is estimated as one million inhabitants in a physical area of 250 hectares, with over 2,000 people per hectare. Kibera residents suffer from poor access to clean water, sanitation, access to education, access to health care and electricity. Above all, the residents suffer psychologically a bout the fact that the structures are temporary.

Due to these reasons that bedevil and deny us our dignity and human rights in terms of our lively hood, Kibera youths resort to start a youth initiative out of unity that can help the youths of Kibera to solve and add value to the Socio-economic empowerment of youths and young mothers who suffer in silence in urban informal settlements like Kibera. This is done through capacity building, advocacy and lobbying to reclaim the space of the less fortunate youths in Urban poor settlement. All the SHOFCO efforts are aimed at the reduction of poverty and illiteracy in the slum.

Currently SHOFCO is involved in:

Newsletter Production, which is being done by a section of SHOFCO youths in information and Communication department.

Theatre Shows -: being organized after two weeks as a means of passing information and entertaining the community.

Organizing Sport tournaments within and out side Kibera. It’s a means of nurturing talents and prevention of idleness as well as crime.

Income generating activities e.g making of African ornaments, selling of printed T-shirts with informative messages on matters that affect the society, hiring of SHOFCO plastic chairs which was donated by a volunteer who visited SHOFCO.

Exchange programme activities with different youth groups within and out side Kibera, who share the common interest with us.

Environment clean-up through garbage collection.

Resource mobilization from well wishers and friends to support needy in Kibera i.e. donating clothes, beddings, learning materials, school uniforms and medicines.

Kibera tour guide-: We organize tour guide to both local and foreign students and professionals who have interest in knowing social set up of Kibera people, health issues and environmental research is also included in the guide.

Weekly Sunday forums for evaluation and discussions.

SHOFCO is in dire need of:

Secure Office than the current one which we have deep inside the slum. The current office is made up of iron sheets, no electricity and cannot be used to store anything due to insecurity and suspicions.

Computer and digital camera.

Tents to help as away of income generating activities

Dictionaries, leadership and organizational management books.

Volunteers.

For more information about SHOFCO and Kibera
Please visit www.shofco.org

Kennedy Odede- Program Director
Kibera- Nairobi, Kenya

Welcome to American Friends of Kenya!

2007-02-16T11:56:00.000-06:00

Hi!

We are American Friends of Kenya, a public charity registered in the state of Connecticut, USA with a second chapter in Chicago, IL.
Our website is www.afkinc.org.

We created this blog to create a community of people with the same goal of joining Kenyans in their journey for a better tomorrow.

We want to hear from you!

If you are:

someone who wants to volunteer in Kenya
a Kenyan friend
someone who has visited Kenya and wants to share their experience
someone who wants to learn more about Kenya, about us
have suggestions

whoever you are, this is an open space to communicate about Kenya!

Marisa, Emely, Wayne, Kacey and all in American Friends of Kenya welcome you!