We are a Family of One!
As we reflect on our service work with Kenyan AIDS orphans, AIDS widows, those suffering from extreme poverty and hunger and the ill and we are always surprised at the difference a very small group of ordinary citizens can make in the lives of thousands. We then become even more determined to continue to be effective change makers and fulfill what we feel is our global responsibility as part of the family of human kind.
More than forty million people have died and it seems, finally, the world is waking up to the tragedy and heartbreak in Africa. An unprecedented awakening is occurring and the very heartbeat of humanity is affected. It is no longer ‘them’ over ‘there” but rather of all us as a family of humanity sharing this world together.
Our small Global Citizens for a New Tomorrow group wishes to express our heartfelt gratitude for all the compassionate, kind, generous citizens in our area who supported our work there by so generously giving not only financially but also of their time. We know how important it is to you and our team to ensure all monies donated go directly to Kenyans and we are able to say that 100% OF FUNDS DONATED TO US GO DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE IN NEED IN KENYA. The members of our team who travel and work in Kenya pay all their own expenses, including airfare, accommodations, meals and any travel costs incurred within the country.
We were able to accomplish the following during our three week stay in October 2007!
(See GLOBAL CITIZENS FOR A NEW TOMORROW information below
for ALL you have helped make possible in just three years!)
~What we did~
Created a knitting micro business for 25 widows, which has helped them become self-sustaining
Fully equipped a special education classroom, did teacher training for elementary school teachers, as well as purchasing school supplies and textbooks for several schools
Stocked the shelves of a clinic for the poor with several hockey bags full of medication from our local doctors and pharmacies
Set up 26 HIV widows with a micro business of sewing and beading so they can support their 90 children
Created an on-going food program for street children
~What we purchased~
More than 25,000 lbs of food that will last more than 100 families and their five hundred children until the end of the year (2007)
More than 600 blankets and 60 mattresses that we handed out to poor families
Two new Singer treadle sewing machines and a candle making machine for a women’s micro business
Christmas cards from High School orphans which we sell in Canada, to keep them in food and clothing while they go to school
Two computers for a small vocational school for girls and gave a new lap top to a nun who works in the slums of Kibera
Special mattresses for orphaned girls and school materials for the staff and students at Sirende School.
~Money we donated~
$33,000 to renovate an orphanage for HIV/AIDS orphans which will be completed by the time the team returns in October 2008.
What we accomplished can seem impossible and unbelievable. In sharing this story, we hope it will inform people that we all can make a very large difference within the global community by simply doing the “one thing we can do.” We know that the help and hope we bring to one child may change that child’s life and who knows what that child may give back to this world.
One of our major focuses for 2008 is to build a home for orphaned street girls who are considered to be the bottom of the survival totem pole and lead the most horrific lives. Pregnancies are high and thus a second generation of street children is being born. There are over one hundred million street children around the world. There are 2,700 in the town of Kitale, Kenya where many of the adults have died from AIDS and related diseases. These children have no living relatives and when we met a two year old who was being looked after by his four year old brother, we wept.
If you wish to make a donation, please contact Irene Morton at imorton@cogeco.ca, 613.389.7597 or Marilyn Picard at cosmicheart13@hotmail.com 613.374.3443.
Let’s not wait for the world to change. Let’s change the world, together as a family of one!
Jan.08
GLOBAL CITIZENS FOR A NEW TOMORROW
BRINGING HOPE TO THE CHILDREN OF KENYA
You have made this possible!
We are very grateful for your compassion, kindness and financial support!
· $30,000 to renovate an orphanage and school for 70 HIV orphans
· $20,000 for a well and electricity at Sirende School, servicing 40,000 people and three schools
· Distributed food for 20 widows, and poor families, as well as blankets and mattresses in Kaibeiyo Slum
· 25,000 pounds of food for over 100 families (impacting 500 children in the Malisaba, Sheemo and Latera Slums feeding them until Jan. 1, 2008
· 400 blankets in the Kitale, Soweto and Kibera slums
· Donated money to feed 40–60 street children, every Thursday, once a week for one year
· $500 worth of wool provided for a micro knitting business for 26 widows so they can now be profitable and feed their families
· Money to feed 30–50 elderly for an entire year for Sister Paula’s “care for the elderly” program
· Provided medication for the elderly program and for the HIV AIDS clinic in Malisaba slum
· Provided a candle making machine and three sewing machines for micro business for 26 AIDS widows with HIV who take care of 100 orphans. These women created the “Actions Speak” women’s group in the Kibera slum
· Built a nursery school for 40 orphans age 3–6 and provided their supplies and paid staff
· $1,500 for Oasis of Hope in Kitale, a home for street boys
· Paid for teacher training in Sirende School; supplied special needs classroom with a year’s worth of school supplies; supplied food for these special needs students as well as 50 other children in Sirende School
· Provided school supplies to several orphanage schools for both staff and students
· Bought 2,000 pairs of flip flops, changing the lives of 2,000 children. Wearing footwear will help children who often suffer from foot parasites
· Provided beads for the Masaai women’s micro beading business
· Provided card stock, envelopes for high school AIDS orphans to support their card micro business so they can eat on weekends and evenings
· Gave $450 for school uniforms for 15 high school students
· Brought 41 laptop computers for graduating high school orphan students and university orphan students
· Provided clothing and shoes for several sisters who are looking after orphan children
· Provided 20 children with uniforms so they could start school
· Financially supporting Francis Migosi to achieve his educational degree at Moi University (now in second semester)
GLOBAL CITIZENS FOR A NEW TOMORROW
GOALS FOR 2008
· Raise $10,000 to build and run a home for street girls between 14 and 18 years of age and their babies in Kitale, Kenya, called “Oasis of Hope”
· $1,500 to buy a four room building in the Kibera Slum for a school for ‘Actions Speak Widows Group,’ supporting 60 orphan children
· $1,500 for 50 uniforms for AIDS high school orphans
· $500 for fabric for Actions Speak Widows micro business to make purses to sell in Canada
· Money for ongoing food programs for widows, street children, orphans and the elderly in the slums, rural areas and schools (estimated to be $40,000)
Thank you for not wait for the world to change,
but changing the world together,
AS A FAMILY OF ONE!
If you wish to support any of our projects please contact
Irene Morton at imorton@cogeco.ca 613-389-7597
or
Marilyn Picard at cosmicheart13@hotmail.com 613-374-3443