The Kumi Collection

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Vision Africa – Give a Child a Future is celebrating its tenth anniversary.

In honour of the occasion, we bring you “The Kumi Collection”. Kumi is the Kiswahili word for ten and over the coming year we will look back over ten years of working with disadvantaged children in Kenya and look forward to the bright futures ahead for children currently being supported by the projects with which we partner.

Look out for Kumi Culture, Kumi Cuisine, The Kumi Cup, Kumi Couture and many other events and celebrations happening both in Kenya and the UK in 2012. We hope you will join us in ensuring Vision Africa’s tenth anniversary is marked in a very special way.

 

Kumi Kommunity – Kandara Edition

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Sunday 3rd June is a date to mark in your diaries. After the success of our Kumi Kommunity event at Seed of Hope in Nairobi, we are now planning the Kandara Edition. You are invited to join us for an open day at Kandara Children’s Home where you can meet the children and get involved with some activities including a football match against a team from Kibera.

Kandara Children’s Home is located about thirty minutes from Thika. Vision Africa has been working with this project since 2003 when we were asked to help the home as it was it a state of disrepair and in need of building renovations as well as support for the children. There are currently three projects based within the compound.

The main children’s home is home to around sixty five children ranging from four years to those in Form Four at secondary school. Seven of these are currently in boarding schools for secondary education and the remainder live at the home full time. Vision Africa supports these children in their education by seeking sponsors to help with secondary school fees and including a number of the children on our child sponsorship program. We are also supporting the staff to establish income generating activities (IGAs) that will support the running of the home. Check out a recent blog post to read about the children’s own efforts towards self-sustainability.

One of the IGAs started by Vision Africa is a school which caters for children from baby class to class three. All of the younger children from the home attend this school alongside fee-paying students from the local community. The school has been doing very well and was rated the third best ECD (Early Childhood Development) centre in the district last year.

Some of the children attending the ECD classes are from the St Andrews Baby Unit. This is another project that was initiated by Vision Africa and has cared for more the twenty five babies and toddlers since it opened in November 2007. These babies have come from a variety of backgrounds – some have been orphaned, others abandoned or rescued from desperate situations. In the past year, we have seen four children from the unit moving on to foster families as the first stage of the adoption process.

Kumi Kommunity – Kandara Edition is the perfect opportunity to learn more about our work with these projects and have some fun with the most important people there – the children!

We hope to see you there!

If you are interested in joining us, please get in touch. We plan to arrange transport from Nairobi for the day and would like to confirm numbers as soon as possible.

(Please note there will be a charge for anyone using the transport we provide as we aim to keep our administration costs as low as possible to ensure that funds raised go to the projects we support.)

From Speechless to Chatterbox – Kelvin’s Story

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Yesterday I went to visit Percy Davies School for children with special needs in Kambiti, Central Kenya. It’s always a delight to visit the school and you get the warmest welcome from the students from the minute you walk in to the compound. Some start telling you stories, some want to shake hands, others go straight in for a hug. My heart is lifted with every visit.

This visit started the same way but was taken to another level as one of the little boys started chatting to me. As we moved to the headteacher, Margaret’s, office I asked her if this was the same boy I thought it was…who used to have no speech.

Margaret smiled and started to tell me the story…

Kelvin is eight years old and joined the school in September 2010. He is the last born in a family of eight and when he was a few months old his mother noticed some problems and took him to be checked. He was found to have Down’s Syndrome and had delayed developmental milestones.

Kelvin attended a nursery school but his family applied for him to join Percy Davies School for social interaction. His admission form says “cannot talk” but that his mother felt he understood some simple instructions. When he was admitted to the school, he was very shy and had no confidence in himself.

He has been growing in confidence since he joined the school but still had no speech. From the start of 2012 I noticed changes and asked for him to be transferred to a class with a lot of speech. We helped him by asking him questions, giving him simple instructions and sending him with messages or on small errands in the school. From mid-February he started talking!

Kelvin has shown improvement and it is good positive progress. His parents are very happy. Now he can call people by name and when we ask him what he ate at home during the holidays he happily tells us “chapo!” (chapatis).

Kelvin is obviously very happy with his new found voice. He chats away and then when he sees you have heard him…a big smile breaks out on his face.

The teachers and caregivers at Percy Davies School have done an amazing job with Kelvin and all their other students. The school is proving to be an enormous success and truly changing the lives of the students who have a variety of special needs.

If you would like to sponsor a child with special needs at either Percy Davies or Kirunguru School, please visit our main website for details.

Kumi Kommunity and Kushuka

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On Saturday 31st March, Vision Africa’s first Kumi Kommunity event took place as part of our tenth anniversary celebrations. The idea was to open the doors of our Seed of Hope centre and encourage friends, old and new, to come along and meet the current Seed of Hope students and find out more about their work. As part of the celebrations, a fashion show was planned to launch a new designer jewellery collection known as “Kushuka”.

In the week leading up to the event, staff and students were busy making the final preparations and practising for the various entertainment items that were planned. On Saturday morning, everyone arrived bright and early in order to set up the compound ready to greet the visitors.

There were several different stations set around the grounds of Seed of Hope. These included “Our Stories” where students shared their experiences of Seed of Hope; “Entertainment” involving singing, dancing and drama; Clayton’s Mechanics washing cars and carrying out vehicle inspections; Kumi Collection where guests could learn about Seed of Hope, Vision Africa and ways in which to engage with our work; and finally “Fashion Show”.

Two fashion shows were held throughout the afternoon and each had three segments. The first segment featured Seed of Hope students modelling t-shirts by Peperuka – a company that has designed and manufactured a range of t-shirts and will be donating a percentage of profits from the range to Seed of Hope. Purity, one of the models says she loved the experience. “People were looking at us like we come from Canada!! We were the shining stars!”

The models in the second section of the fashion show were volunteers who kindly offered their time to help showcase the work of Seed of Hope. Their first job was to model the “Green Collection” – a range of clothes in black fabric accessorised with recycled fabrics in a variety of ways. The collection was warmly received by the crowd who gathered to watch.

Finally, our volunteer models took to the runway to launch the “Kushuka” designer jewellery collection. This collection was developed in partnership with international jewellery designer, Sheila Dhariwal, who spent a week working with a team of students and graduates to pull together the collection. Saturday was the day when they finally got the chance to show off their talents and from all accounts, it was a resounding success. Sheila felt there was a lovely atmosphere and that it was great that the girls from Seed of Hope saw the importance that was given to their work. As she said, the event was “a celebration of the achievements of the team”.

The team members were very excited to see their pieces of art being modelled. Second year student Alice said “It felt good because people were asking us questions about how we made the jewellery, the prices and the materials we used. I was able to explain by myself what I had been making.” Alice’s classmate Purity said “It felt good because I knew something I had made, it has come out so people can see it and they know the best of what I can do. I was proud because people said “Wow! That’s wonderful” It was fantastic.” Working alongside Purity and Alice was one of Seed of Hope’s graduates from last year, Priscillah. When asked about the event she lit up and said “I was proud to be able to tell people I was the one who made the jewellery. I felt like Somebody, Somewhere!!”

Looking on proudly on Saturday was Seed of Hope Nairobi’s Headteacher, Florence, who said it was so exciting to see her students’ work on the runway she even had goosepimples! Florence was on hand to greet guests as they arrived and thank them as they left the event. She was delighted with the feedback she received from visitors who all seemed to enjoy what they experienced. It was a proud day for Florence as she also saw some of her students modelling Peperuka T-shirts and she felt the young mechanics did a fantastic job. “The boys were very serious about their car washing and vehicle inspections. They behaved like they knew everything.”

Some of the most important guests on the day were Seed of Hope graduates who came along to celebrate the occasion. The classes of 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010 were all well represented. As one Vision Africa supporter said “it speaks volumes about the work Seed of Hope does” that the girls still want to be part of it after they graduate and go their own ways. In fact, Seed of Hope has now set up an alumni group called Pamoja (together) for all graduates from the programme. These young ladies meet once a month and are working towards setting up their own microfinance and saving schemes as well as seeking mentors and people who can coach them in a variety of skills.

As Vision Africa’s tenth anniversary celebrations continue, events like this make it a very special year. It was fantastic to see old friends and new come together and look back over the years and forward to the bright future ahead. We look forward to hosting more events throughout the year.

Look out for news of future events and ways to get involved with our celebrations.

Duncan’s Story – From Special School to Business Manager

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When we asked the teachers at Kirunguru School for Children with Special Needs to share some of their success stories we were delighted to receive an email with several case histories including that of Duncan.

“Duncan was born in 1988. He is the second born in a family of four. His parents are peasant farmers and do business. He joined Kirunguru Special Unit in 1998 from Kagongo Primary School. Duncan has mild cerebral palsy which has affected his right hand. He is also in the mild class of mentally challenged learners. Duncan is of good character, eager to learn, ambitious, hardworking and devoted.

After a lot of patience and commitment he was able to write numbers 1- 500. He could do basic addition, subtraction and simple multiplication. He could also read and write simple language in Mother tongue.

After these achievements, Duncan was integrated in the neighbouring mainstream school in class two. He did very well and joined class three. After joining class four it became difficult for him to cope with the workload and syllabus. After struggling with no success he came back to the Special Unit. The special unit at this time had a big enrolment. We involved him in working with the grounds men in the school. In 2006 -2008 he was attached to a nearby village polytechnic where he learnt carpentry and joinery. Among those students attached to the polytechnic he emerged to be the best. He made items to the school like rolling board, cooking sticks, stools, fork jembe handles and different kinds of joints.

Duncan left Kirunguru Special School in November 2008.

At home he helped the parents in business selling bananas in the market and on the roadside. He joined his father in splitting timber with a power saw. The power saw broke down one day when they were working and Duncan went back to selling bananas. This life was difficult for him as he wanted to do more and one day he decided to run away from home to Nairobi and looked for his uncle whom they had visited when attending a burial. His efforts to trace his uncle failed and he landed into a well-wisher’s hands who had a carpentry workshop at Rongai. The carpenter accommodated him and sharpened Duncan’s carpentry skills here. The owner of the workshop later left Duncan at the shop and opened another workshop elsewhere. Duncan now runs this workshop with little assistance from the owner. The owner supplies the raw materials and Duncan makes items and he gets 50% from the earnings. He makes sofa sets, stools and wardrobes.

Duncan is now married and has a business for his wife. The business maintains them in Nairobi Rongai.”

Duncan recently visited Kirunguru School for Children with Special Needs and updated his teachers on his new life in Nairobi. After a tour of the school, he promised the headteacher that he would donate a table to the dining hall which has been constructed since he left. For us, Duncan’s visit and his pledge show the appreciation he has for the school and the team of teachers who helped shape his life.

The founders and administrator of Vision Africa have always had a passion for supporting children with special needs and believe every child should be given the opportunity to reach their potential, whatever that might be. Duncan’s story shows that with support and encouragement from schools like Kirunguru Special School, children with special needs really can be given a brighter future.

“They Built My Life” – Feris tells her story

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Feris, 25, graduated from Seed of Hope, Nairobi, in 2005 after being enrolled in the second intake of students. She now runs a successful business which supports her and her family.

Here is her story….

“I finished primary school class eight in 2003. I was staying at home in Kibweni (Eastern Province) doing nothing as my family had no money to take me to secondary school.

I learned about Seed of Hope from my sister who was introduced to it by the father of one of the students as he worked there. My hope had been to get employed so that I could get money that would help me get training in sewing and dressmaking. Near our home, a friend of mine was doing dressmaking and was doing well in life. My mother had no money to educate me so I was thinking where I could get money for any training. I am the third from last of ten children and only one of my older siblings went to secondary school.

When I came to Seed of Hope on the first day we were introduced to what they were doing and then I was taken to class. The people were nice. We started with dressmaking and business planning. I liked dressmaking so much. I gained knowledge of dressmaking and business plans, learned how I could start my business. At first when I came, I made friends. Teachers were our friends and they taught us well. They explained to us what we can do in our lives. I didn’t enjoy crafts but I enjoyed dressmaking.

When we left they helped us with a machine and told us how we can start our business. Teacher Gitau used to come to our business to see how we were doing and encouraged us much to do our business and if we didn’t know anything we could go and ask Teacher Florence. She could then explain to us.

I worked together with Rosabella (another Seed of Hope graduate) for one year in Kibera. I saved capital to start on my own. I had to save cash to buy fabrics and pay rent. I then stayed on my own in Kibera for one year. When I started the business I was able to talk with friends and when I made dresses for them they would tell someone else and introduce me.

In 2008 I got married and moved to another area and started a new business which is now good. After I moved here it was difficult, I had no customers so started small. I made a few dresses as samples but it was hard for a few months. I didn’t give up because I like my business. It helps me in my life. It helps me to help my family and it builds me more. I now stay with my younger brother since both my parents passed away. I’m helping to pay for him to do driving school.

Money that I make is for me. If I was employed I could be given little. If I have problems with my house or my child I can help but if I was employed I would have to borrow permission to get time off.

In the future I’m planning that when this business is firm I can open another and employ people to help me. I’ve trained two girls. They paid for training and I also give them work when I am busy.

Seed of Hope helped me so much. It gave me knowledge that helps me stand on my own. It makes me help my family. It takes me from far.

I give thanks to those at Seed of Hope because they helped me. They built my life so I say thanks to them.”

If you would like to help a girl like Feris gain the skills to stand on their own, visit our main website to find out about our sponsorship programme.

“I thank Vision Africa endlessly” – John’s Story

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Nyamwanga Primary School is located in a poverty stricken area in Western Kenya. Vision Africa currently has over 130 children from the school registered on our child sponsorship programme. Many of them are orphaned and live with elderly grandparents, extended family or well-wishers.

John’s story highlights the fact that academic success can be achieved by children from such backgrounds.

“My name is John. I am 18 years old. I have completed my high school studies and I am waiting to join the university. In connection to this, I thank Vision Africa endlessly. I am a total orphan.

I came to know Vision Africa when I joined class three at Nyamwanga Primary School in 2002. The Vision Africa charity enrolled me as one of the students who were to benefit from a sponsorship programme. My sponsors paid for my school fees. I completed my primary school in 2007. I sat the KCPE (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education) exam and scored 363 marks (out of 500).

I was admitted at St Peter’s Boys High School Mumias in 2008. Vision Africa charity paid my high school fees throughout therefore I was in school throughout.

However, my first examination in St Peter’s nearly pulled me down. I did very poorly and I admit it. However, encouragement from my guardian, Mrs Janerose, whom I’ve lived with since 2002, made me to improve. By the time I stepped into form four I was at grade B-minus and among the top thirty students in my class.

Through working smart I strategically planned how to better my grades.

The last mock I sat before KCSE (Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education) exams I was able to score A-minus and I was seventh in the district. This made me more enthusiastic to achieve grade A plain.

When KCSE results were released I was happy since my effort was paid. I was ranked sixth in the Kakamega County and first in my school. I scored grade A plain.

I am grateful to Vision Africa to have supported me. Above all I thank Mrs Vera Packard and Mr John Packard for their concern.

My ambition is to pursue medicine at the university. I am confident that above all odds God will help me to do well.

Thank you.”

Please visit our main website to find out how you can join our sponsorship programme and change the life of a child like John.

Kumi Kommunity

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As we celebrate our tenth anniversary, one of the aims is to raise awareness of the work our projects are doing. What better way to do this than to open the doors and invite you to come and see for yourself how the lives of children and youths are benefiting from the projects we support?

This month, we are launching “Kumi Kommunity” with our first open day.

On Saturday 31st March our Seed of Hope centre in Nairobi welcomes you to learn more about their work in a fun afternoon. For those who are not familiar with this project, Seed of Hope offers business skills, life skills and vocational skills training to disadvantaged youths. At the end of the two year training programme, graduates work together in small groups to set up businesses which allow them to work towards an independent future.

Between 2pm and 4pm on the 31st there will be a fashion show and the launch of a new jewellery collection. The students from Clayton’s Mechanics will also be on hand show you round their workshop, wash cars and put into practice some of the skills they have learned such as checking tyre pressure and oil levels. There will be the opportunity to interact with some of our students and graduates to find out what Seed of Hope means to them and if you have some fabric lying around, bring it with you and talk designs with our Crafted team.

There will be no entry charge for this event but we would be delighted if you could make a donation of foodstuffs to help us ensure that our students take one nutritious meal every day they are at school. We would also request that you bring along any glass, paper or plastic trash that can be recycled through our Re:future enterprise which raises funds towards the running costs of the centre.

We hope you will be part of the Kumi Kommunity and join us on Saturday the 31st March.

Seed of Hope is located at Dagoretti Corner, near Meteorological Centre. Please contact us for more information.

A Happy Ending For Grace

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When I received the news on Saturday, I knew exactly what our success story for this week had to be!

Little Grace was found in a local market when she was just two weeks old back in January 2008. All wrapped up, she had been left at the petrol station during the night and was found in the morning by a passer-by who took her to the police station.

Grace was the first new baby to come to the St Andrews Baby Unit after it opened in November 2007. For the first two months the matron, Lucy, and her team had been working with some of the younger children from Kandara Children’s Home to get used to their new surroundings and set routines in place. With Grace’s arrival came the start of preparing formula and changing nappies. Within a few months there were many more babies requiring the same care.

Over time, we watched Grace grow and enjoyed the moments of her first steps and her first words. She became the big sister of all the others in the baby unit and was among the first from the St Andrews Baby Unit to join the ECD (Early Childhood Development) centre that Vision Africa set up in the same compound as the baby unit and Kandara Children’s Home. She became good friends with two of the girls who used the baby unit for day care and also joined school at the same time as her – Hope and Joy. The three names Grace, Hope and Joy don’t quite convey how much mischief these girls could get up to though! They were often found giggling together…especially when they were supposed to be taking an afternoon nap.

Grace’s mother was never traced so she became eligible for adoption once all the relevant papers had been posted with the courts. Last week we received the wonderful news that a family had been found for Grace and today is the start of her new life. She will join her foster family for three months and if all goes well they will proceed to adopt her and give her a happy home in a family unit.

Although the goodbyes will be hard today for the team that has cared for her since she was two weeks old and for her brothers and sisters at the St Andrews Baby Unit and Kandara Children’s Home, this is the happy ending we have been waiting for in Grace’s story. This is a true success story for Vision Africa and the St Andrews Baby Unit.

Disability, Not Inability – Kibe’s Story

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If you ask the staff at Kirunguru School for Children with Special Needs to tell you the biggest success stories from the school, one of the first names they will tell you is Kibe.

I first met Kibe back in 2006 when I volunteered at Kirunguru School. He was always friendly and smiling and had great determination to overcome his physical disabilities. There were smiles all round when he found a course that he enjoyed and eventually set up his own business.

This year, we got to find out just far Kibe had come on in life thanks to Kirunguru School when we visited his family home and spoke to his parents and his uncle who helped him enrol at the school.

Here is Kibe’s story in his own words……..

As Kibe’s mother says, he is definitely showing that disability does not mean inability.

 

Launching the “Kumi Kwiz”

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As we await the official launch of Kumi Kuisine on the 10th March, there is time for us to launch another Kumi event….the Kumi Kwiz!

We’ve put together a 6 round quiz that covers a wide variety of topics including travel, sports and music. We are now looking for people to host quiz nights to raise funds for Vision Africa while having fun at the same time.

Leading by example, our first Kumi Kwiz will be held in Nairobi tonight. We approached a group that holds a monthly quiz night and donates the proceeds to charity and asked if we could be the nominated charity one month this year. The answer sheets are printed and we’re all set to see which questions are easy and which ones really challenge our contestants!

There are a number of ways you can organise your quiz night. See if you can get prizes donated or use a small portion of the entry charges as a prize fund. Set up your own event or do what we’ve done and approach a group that holds regular quiz nights. We will provide the quiz (and answers!) for no charge so all you have to do is print as many copies as required for the number of teams participating in your event.

For more information or to request a copy of the Kumi Kwiz, please contact us. We have three versions of the Kwiz designed for different parts of the world so we hope to see events being held in a variety of locations. You can also send in photos of your event so that we can feature it here and encourage more people to participate.