THE MAJI SAFI PROJECTS - KENYA UPDATE - SEPT 2003

Linda Greenland & Mike Radford 102 Whitecross Avenue Whitchurch- BRISTOL BS14 9JE

Tel: 01275-834883

SUMMER VISIT 2003

After all the problems with the "NO GO" ban on Kenya we arrived safely for the 5 weeks school break. There are very few tourists on the coast and many hotels have closed down and there are so many people out of work. It is hoped with the ban lifted that tourists will start returning to Kenya to help pick up the tourist industry again.

JOBSWORTH!!

Normally we get help from the staff at the airport with taking excess bags. This time we had 2 holdalls extra but the lady on duty must have got out of the wrong side of bed (it was 5am in the morning!!) and she refused to take them, she even made me take 3 kgs out of a suitcase, and then said she wanted £500 for the extra 20kgs in the holdalls. We sent the bags back with David !!! so it is getting harder to take the items I am getting d onated. We had about 30 pencils cases in the suitcases we took, so a picture above of some lucky children!!

MAJI SAFI SCHOOL

ONCE AGAIN, we had many meetings with Government officials to sort the future of Maji Safi school. It is impossible to work with the Women Group and theyve shown they can't manage a school of this size; they're demanding that not only the nursery was "their project" but now the whole school!! Sister Gwendalina and us stood our ground stating the school was not built for "their income generating project" but for the benefit of under-privileged children in the village.
The Ministry of Education said they would provide 3 teachers to manage the school, but this takes time to implement (like everything else in Kenya!! Ha ha) The parents have formed a strong Parents Committee and are working hard for the benefit of their children. The school needed an office, staff room and storeroom and work was completed on this building so it can be used when school re opened on 8th Sept. Children are back in school for the new term and we are hoping for more news very soon.

UPDATE ON FIRE VICTIMS

Since the awful fire in February it is wonderful to see how these people have got on with their lives and are now almost "back to normal" once again they send their thanks for all the help that you gave to them at that time.

We completed the purchase of a piece of land nearby to "Heather House" and when we have money will build a 6 roomed village house for more underprivileged families. We had a recent donation that enabled us to clear the land of all the rubble and dead trees and another donation has now meant we can start the foundations and the first walls.

"INSPIRATIONS" NURSERY - SHIKA ADABU

Mr Josephat and Mwanajoma kept the nursery open for an extra week so we were able to see all the children at school. It was the first time we saw the children in their uniform, we had a donation to buy them all one set of uniform; some now have 2 sets as their sponsors have already bought one set. Mwanajoma has made a little pretend "shop" in the corner of her classroom and the children come to school early to play!! We had donations to buy more mosquito nets; school equipment and to provide children with drinking porridge at break time, as many go to school without anything to eat, we now have enough money for porridge until next year.!! See happy faces above

"CHICKENS, CHICKENS & MORE "GOATS!!"

Walking around Shika Adabu village it was brilliant to see the goats tied up and chomping at the bushes!! All the families were so happy for their goats, especially when they start breeding at a tremendous rate!! Each female can have 2 kids a year, so once you get the calculator you realise that it is a better investment than the stock market. It really helps them to be self-sufficient, and so far we have only had one fatality. Not so good for the chickens, we have lost quite a few with a virus, but this is common with chickens, it is a good job they also breed quickly!!

JOIN THE 5p MILE!!

Our exciting new project to help young orphan girls and boys, living rough on the streets of Mombasa. They are affected by drug taking of older brothers, many who prostitute the younger children to feed their drugs habit. The TEENWATCH CENTRE in Ukunda, south Coast Mombasa, set up 5 years ago, helped by Marion & Robbie a retired English couple, they have lived there since Robbie was in the Army in Kenya 40 years ago! This project feeds many local children and teenagers daily, providing refuge away from their everyday problems. There are health and drugs education; a small classroom, rest area, and voluntary workers for them to talk to and get advice in a safe environment.

A group of 6th Formers (approx 15) & 2 teachers from Ashton Park School, Bristol, are spending 10 days in July 2004 along with us. Our new project is to start a farmyard; playground and campsite, where badly affected children can come, spending time away from the horror of their lives on the streets of Mombasa. They can camp, farm, play have health checks & education and be assessed by other organisations that are working to eliminate these problems.

So, "WHAT IS THE 5'p MILE" We have worked out that a mile is 1,609 metres and there is £2.80 of 5ps in a metre, so if we can get enough 5ps for a mile then we would have raised approx £4,500 !!

The farmyard will have goats, chickens, rabbits all in separate pens that need to be built. And a small plot to grow vegetables etc. The playground will have swings etc., for the children to play on. And the campsite will have tents, a small wooden hut built for a kitchen, and toilet and washing facilities. Total cost will be £7000.

Our future hope is that trees will be planted, along with the farm will generate an income for the project to help them to become self funding. The small Casuarina tree saplings grow rapidly and in 3 years each tree can be sold for approx £10

SOfrom now to July 2004 we are aiming to collect 5 pences to try and achieve this. Many of our sponsors have a collecting "pot" (any old cup, tin or jar will do!)

PLEASE HELP US!! COLLECT AS MANY 5p s AS YOU CAN, TOWARDS THIS WONDERFUL PROJECT. THANKS ! (you dont have to send me the 5ps, a cheque for the amount will do as we are measuring the metres on a large chart!!)

The 'photo is of a couple of the girls that are already being helped daily at the centre.

TEENWATCH CENTRE

We visited the centre again to see the completed work that we had paid for at Easter. The extra room was in use now the roof; walls and floor had been finished. We donated more money to put ceilings in the rooms and the job was started straight away.

This project is run by "COSMOS" a rehabilitated drugs user in his late twenties. He told us the horrendous story of how he was "weaned off" drugs like Heroin and Cocaine. Cosmos has produced this proposal for campsite, small farm and play area for street children affected by drugs to escape and live and learn in a safe environment.

Mike and I are donating money to clear and fence the land to start this project; in memory of his son Sean who died last year aged 27, after suffering 4 years of drug abuse.

MIRIAM BAKARI & FIDELIS - OUR PROJECT WORKERS!! "THE GANG"

Like I said in a previous newsletter it wouldnt matter if we had £1,000,000 here or 1,000,000 sponsors without them in Kenya all this would not be possible!!! They have overcome many problems out there and their working life is not always easy, especially with the problem at Maji Safi. We thought you may like to see their photos and know a little bit about them and their families. Miriam is 44 years of age has 2 daughters (Sheila aged 23, she is married with 2 daughters) and Rachel 20, single with 1 daughter; and son Collins aged 15 yrs. Miriam looks after all the paperwork for both schools; the sponsorship of all the children, including buying uniform, shoes, textbooks, purchasing of school equipment, mosquito nets etc and the general welfare of the children, visiting families etc. She keeps all the accounts in order and liases with government education departments

Bakari (Bekker) is 33 years old, married to Sikuku and has 4 children, aged 1 year to 10 years. He deals with all the "official" meetings with government people, including education department. He runs "Inspirations" nursery school at Shika Adabu, dealing with all the day to day running of the school, the feeding of the porridge for the children, etc., etc.. He also buys the goats, chickens, mosquito nets for the local people. Together with Fidy they buy all the building materials needed, employ builders and supervise all the building work for all the projects.

Fidelis (Fidy). Well, where do I start? Mike and I "adopted" him after we got attacked in the house we rented on the beach almost 4 years ago. He worked as compound boy and was treated badly by his old bosses. He left the house with us after the attack. He now calls us "Mum & Dad" and does all the running around that is need to sort out the projects. He supervises builders, buys materials etc. He buys all the beds, house equipment that is needed for families. When we are in Kenya he does all the shopping and cooking and tells his wife Happiness that "I am serious with job!!" He is 27 years old and has a one year old son David.

We bought 7 bundles of 2nd hand clothes from a warehouse in Mombasa that gets them donated from Canada, America, Holland and the UK. It is a great way to provide clothing very cheaply to the families in the villages. Each bundle contained 150-200 items, we spent 3 days sorting through the bundles, putting into bags to give to many needy families. The Photo shows Bekker & Fidy with 3 bundles. So instead of struggling, and pleading to take extra bags in the future we have decided to raise money specifically to buy these bundles, we estimated that we had bought around 400kgs of clothes, a great increase to the 20gks I had been refused in the 2 holdalls. Each bundle costs approx £70 - £80 If anyone wants to help with this, s good way of raising enough for a bundle is to ask friends and family for unwanted items and do a car boot sale!! You will then clothe a whole lot of people in Kenya!!

CHUMANI NURSERY PROJECT

During our visit this August, we went to see a nursery classroom that had been built by Helen (another English friend of ours that we met in Kenya). Helen lives in the UK and we are great support to each other for the last 4 years. It is being built in Chumani, which is a village on the North Coast about 2 hours from Mombasa. When we got there we were amazed to see all these little ones sat on wooden logs , with a mud floor, and you could see the sky!! The walls had been built, but only half the roof!! Helen had run out of money and Mike was concerned that the rains and wind would lift off the half already there, so we decided we would try and help ASAP.

Within a week of our return at the beginning of Sept, we had some very sad news that another friend of ours Sue Tame had died suddenly. Sue had also visited Kenya many times and used to run her own nursery here in the UK. She was making plans to go and live in Kenya when she died. Her 16 yr old daughter Sarah decided that she wanted money to go towards our project instead of flowers at Sues funeral, which was a wonderful gesture. Sue also had connections with the village of Chumani, and knew Helen. We all agreed that it would be so appropriate for this money to go to finish off the roof in her memory. Work started at the beginning of October.

To think of others worse off than you in such sad times just proves what an effect Kenya & its people, have on all who visit. A few sponsors have phoned me and said they have made provision for their sponsored child in their will, and others have said they have left our project money when they die. So many people help charities while they are alive and it is wonderful that help can carry on after their death. You sponsors never fail to amaze me with your warmth, and kind words of support and devotion. Thank you.

XMAS FOOD PARCELS

Every year many sponsors ask what they can do for their "families" at Xmas and we started the food parcels that turned out to be a great success. Some sponsors wish their money to go direct to the family so they can buy what they want, others prefer us to buy the food and small bag of "goodies" for the children. So if you wish to send money for your family this Xmas please let me have this at the BEGINNING of December along with any Xmas cards/photos/letters. The reason for this is because Mike and I are still not sure if we are going at Xmas due to many reasons, so we have to make sure there is time to get the "gang" organised and the cards sent out by post if need be. We will decide by the middle of November, we have "held" seats with Kenya Airways until then.

ONCE AGAIN - A GREAT BIG "THANK YOU" to:_ ALL the childrens sponsors!!!! Thanks for the uniforms, shoes etc etc that you have donated and thanks to those who have increased their fees. Everyone that has made a donation SMALL or LARGE it helps so much, any amount can do so much to help our projects in Kenya.

We are always grateful for anyone who can do some fundraising; all our time is taken up with paperwork!! The problem is that when Mike and I visit and we deal with everything personally. So when there are letters to be written, or sponsorship to be sorted, etc it is very difficult to pass over to anyone else, because we know all the "personal" little quirks, about the children, the families, etc. So we are not ungrateful when we refuse help, it would take longer for me to sit and explain to someone what to write, than to get on and write it myself!! But, thanks for the offers!! It is like this newsletter it has taken me WEEKS to write it, but again it is only me that has it all in the head!! Ha ha We have had some very successful talks at a variety of groups, if anyone knows of any group that may like us to go along and talk to them about the project then please phone.

REGISTERING AS A CHARITY

For a long time we had been led to believe by that we didnt need to register, and Mike and I had just been TOO BUSY "DOING" the work for the project that we kept putting it to one side. Well, we have read through the Charity forms and realised that we do meet the criteria for registration. This will benefit everyone, (except for me as it causes so much more paperwork!!) and we will be able to claim back "Gift Aid" on all personal donations from people that are taxpayers. When we are registered we will be sending out forms to all sponsors to fill in and return if you are taxpayers. We have already appointed trustees and are slowing ploughing through the forms, if anyone has first hand experience of filling in these forms, please offer any advice you can!! THANKS

OUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

We STILL need your support, fundraising and donations to achieve all this!! THANKS!!!!

We also have more children needing sponsorship, so please spread the word amongst your family & friends.

A HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR EVERYTHING!! YOU ARE WONDERFUL!!

All donations BIG & SMALL make such a difference PLEASE KEEP IT UP!!

VERY IMPORTANT

If you have changed address, phone number or email address can you please let me have it for my records? Email is such a quick, cheap way to keep in touch, so please email me if you have any changes, or if you have just started to use emails!! ALSO, I have a mysterious sponsor that has been paying a direct debit into the bank for a long while now and I have NO RECORD OF THEM!! - The name is J.H. HALL, through Midland Bank Account, and I am worried as they have had no newsletters etc etc and I dont have any record of them having received a photo of a child. DOES ANYONE KNOW THEM!! As I have no way of tracking them down!!

We made this newsletter 4 pages instead of the normal 2 because we wanted you all to meet Miriam, Bekker and Fidy.

Also, we did have a lot of news this time and the next news letter will be after the Easter visit

SPECIAL THANKS TO Andy Kybert WOODSIDE PRESS LTD SOUTHVILLE- BRISTOL. Andy and family sponsor a couple of children but has offered to print the paper version of this newsletter for me, which HAS SAVED ME SO MUCH TIME - A BIG THANKS!!