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Updated
August 8th 2010
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Makayauni School
Building Project is nearly completed!
We are building a
non-denominational
Primary School in Makayauni, which will provide free
education to approximately 290 children of all denominations and beliefs. The
school is estimated to cost €42,000 for 8 classrooms and
an administration block. This is a joint effort between the
people of Dalkey in Ireland and Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex,
England.
Work commenced January 2010,
and the four classroom blocks and administration block have
now been completed. Site clearance has commenced. The
community have gathered materials and manufactured bricks
for the construction of the kitchen and nursery blocks,
which we hope to fund over the coming months. Your further
help towards funding equipment and facilities for the
school would be greatly appreciated.
Read
More Here
For
up to date photos of the new buildings click HERE
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Administration block- staffroom and general
store.
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Three classroom blocks in the background,
with the original school building in the foreground. On the
extreme right the water storage tank supplied by Friends of
Kitui can be seen
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Another view of the site with the bricks,
made by the community and parents as part of their
contribution to the school, in left foreground, ready for
construction of the nursery and kitchen blocks when funds
are available.
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Inside one of the new classrooms. The
blackboard is painted on the wall surface
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Give and Buy was devised by two Irish
charities focused on Africa - Friends of Kitui (Kenya) and
CareAid (Tanzania and Zambia).
Think of it as a
"Charity e-bay" totally focused on helping
others!
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Click
on the logo to go to GiveandBuy.com
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GiveandBuy
will send 100% of the funds it receives to your chosen
charity.
Sell
your unwanted household and workplace items, and your
professional skills, to benefit others!
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Support
our Women's Empowerment Programme by purchasing handmade
products
Click
HERE for more details of beautiful handcrafted bags,
which you can also buy through GiveandBuy.Com
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St Michael's School
Building Project
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St Michaels School
As of mid
March 2010, we need approximately
€58,000
to finish the new St Michael's primary school. When finished 480
boarders will be accommodated, 240 boys and 240
girls.There are 5 separate buildings in the complex:-
St Michaels will be the
Flagship school of the Diocese of Kitui. A number of
places will be reserved for students whose families could
not otherwise afford school fees.
When completed, the new
school will release much needed
space in the old St Michael's school premises, for
use by the visually impaired.
Read
more HERE
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September
Fundraising Event for St Michael's School
A
message from Aidan Corless
A
band of ‘Brudders’ have set themselves the challenge of cycling from Galway-Westport-Clifden-Galway on 10-12 September 2010 in aid of Foundation Nepal, Friends of Kitui (Kenya) and some other charities.
I have no illusions about the difficulty in raising money for charity in the current climate but even in these straitened times we are probably a million times better off than the people in Nepal and Kitui.
We have set the bar at a low minimum level of €10,000 per
charity
The Plan
1. A Cycle through the most compelling scenery in Ireland
2. 40 cyclists
3. Each cyclist is asked to raise minimum of €500 for their chosen charity plus cost of accommodation etc.
4. Friday 10th of September- Depart Galway at 12 noon - cycle to Westport (70 miles) - Stay overnight at selected accommodation in Westport.
6. Saturday 11th of September - Depart Westport at 11.00am - cycle to Clifden (40 miles)- Stay overnight in Clifden
7. Sunday 12th of September- Depart Clifden at 10.00am- Cycle to Galway (50 miles) -Arrive in Galway mid afternoon.
8. There will be a number of pit stops along the way.
9. Back up will be provided.
10. Craic guaranteed!
Contact
me at the address below
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Aidan Corless
"Kinvara"
Westminster Road,
Dublin 18
Ireland
Telephone +353-1-289-2393
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e-mail:
For more information about Foundation nepal visit HERE
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Water Projects Update
Our
Fourth round of water projects is under way. These 27 new projects
in 25 locations will serve a total of
14,800 people.This time we have included sanitation
projects.
Despite
the severe famine conditions through most of 2009,
preliminary construction commenced towards year end, and will extend over 10 months or
so. By June 2010 we will have served 27,800 people. The
preceding three rounds have
delivered 37 projects which have
helped bring cleaner, safer water to over 13,000 people in 33 villages and
4 schools.
A
special thanks to ElectricAid who have funded water
harvesting facilities at five schools, and to the people of
Rathgar Parish who have funded 10 projects in the
Kyuso area of Kitui
Click
Here for more
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In our current Newsletter, we report on the monitoring
visits carried out in March by two groups of Friends of
Kitui volunteers from Rathgar and Cabinteely Parishes in
Dublin.
For a detailed report from Sandra Lawler about Rathgar’s
connection with Kyuso, click HERE,
and for a second report from Aidan Corless on the
Cabinteely visit, click HERE.
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Update
on the "Short Rains" Season
The short
rains, normally spanning late October to end December or
even into January, have been good but not across the
entire region. There has been a lot of localized
rains which has seen some parts getting very good rains
while others getting relatively little rain. The
areas of Kyuso, Endau, Mwingi, and Migwani in the north
have received good rains. To the south, areas such
as Mutomo, Ikutha, and Athi have received delayed rains.
The prediction for harvest looks good. Areas like
Endau have already (late December) started harvesting
green grams and there is plenty of 'kunde' (leaves from
cowpeas) which serves well for nutrition. There is
also improved pasture for livestock.
This is a huge relief to
the people of Kitui and adjoining districts, following three
successive years in which the long and short rains have failed.The arid lands
of Kitui can just about deal with the failure of one or two
rains, but this three-year failure has been devastating. We
are continuing to work to do what we can to alleviate the
situation by provising water structures to harvest what
little rain does fall.Your continuing help is essential
Read
More HERE
Update on Food
and Water Situation
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And from Inverin and Spiddal in
Ireland.....
We want to send a special
"Thank-you" to a group of Piano Students from
Spiddal and Inverin in Connemara, Co. Galway for their
great generosity in raising €150 for the Makayauni School
Fund. This group, ranging in age from 8 to 18 years, held a
recital in Spiddal Library on 20th May 2009 to close off
their year's studies. With their new term starting this
week (September 6th) we congratulate them and their
teacher, Deirdre Stephens, for their wonderful contribution
which will go a long way towards furnishing a classroom at
Makayauni school.
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Make
a start today- Find
out here why we
should help Kitui
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Friends
of Kitui links up with Canadian group funding a borehole close to Kitui
town
Read
more HERE
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Schools & Education Update- February
16th 2009
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About
Friends of Kitui-
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More than 100 orphans are now being
sponsored through secondary school by Friends of Kitui
Without a secondary school qualification,
it is almost impossible to secure permanent employment in Kitui. It is
vital that we continue to support these students so they can complete
their education. Sponsorship
means that each child gets food, accommodation and tuition
for a school year. Although tuition is free of charge in all government
owned schools, costs per student range from €250 to €500 per student
per annum for full board. The current economic climate in
Ireland and elsewhere is presenting challenges in
maintaining the level of fundraising required to keep these
children in education. Please redouble your efforts to
support these needy children. In times of economic
downturn, it is always the most marginalised who suffer
first. Read
More
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Third Level Support
In addition to the secondary school fee
support programme, we also support a smaller number of students at third
level institutions
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Want to
help- today?
Go to
our donation
page and
select a project.
You will make a real difference
to a family in Kitui.
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Friends
of Kitui and Trocaire team up!
To
strengthen our support of the people of Kitui,
Friends of Kitui have entered a three way agreement with
Trocaire and the Diocese of Kitui. Read
More Here
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Empowerment
of Women |
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The Honey Project
Sometimes we get it wrong...
Our dream
was to initiate a honey business in each of the 23 parishes
of the Diocese of Kitui that would be managed, owned and operated for the sole purpose of empowering
women financially, so that the
women would have economic power to direct their own lives and have resources to care
for their families.
The Honey
Project has had limited success. Just over one-third of the 200 hives
supplied by Friends of Kitui are currently occupied by bees.
Following the
first hints late 2007 that there could be problems in achieving a
satisfactorily high level of hive occupancy we have used funds donated for
womens empowerment projects for such activities as soap making, basket
making and chicken rearing, with the more dynamic women's groups..
Click HERE for an update on the Honey
Project |
Worldwide, more than
two thirds of those living in poverty are women.The
underlying reasons are the status of women, gender issues, and lack of
equality.
For generations,
women have borne the greatest burden of famine,
discrimination, and being treated as second class citizens.
Kitui Diocese has had a women's programme for over fifteen years with a full time
women's co-ordinator working for the financial, cultural and social
empowerment of all women.
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...more often we get it right......
Three womens groups in the parish of
Zombe have now built up a track record in micro-businesses. These income
generating activities produce a significant contribution to the household
budget and give a small cash reserve to meet unexpected demands. The
women organised themselves, each group electing their
Chairperson, Secretary, & Treasurer, and collected a
small contribution from each member. The seed capital was
used for training in soap manufacture, using the local aloe
vera plants, and for purchase of materials and equipment.
500 bars of soap and 50 beautifully made handbags were
shipped to Ireland and sold at the last two Dalkey Outreach
monthly coffee mornings
before Christmas 2008.
The “Chicken
Group” have clubbed together and funded the construction
of a chicken coop in Zombe from their own resources.
Friends of Kitui will contribute further seed capital to
purchase good quality breeding stock and to provide the
essential vaccinations against endemic diseases.
Read more HERE |
A
woman breaks stones in Kitui to earn a few shillings for her family.
Click
to enlarge
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The
average per capita income in Kitui is less than €2 per
day |
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How other groups are helping Kitui |
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Dublin's
Rathgar Parish partners with Kyuso in Kitui
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The
H2O Challenge!
How the
people of Minnesota are helping Kitui Click here
for more |
Friends of Kitui now
extends to Sussex in the UK.
People
in Shoreham-by-Sea learnt of the efforts and wanted to
contribute towards developments in Kitui. To start the
fund-raising endeavours, Maureen and Bernard Challen, who
celebrate 40 years of marriage in August 2009, asked that
any gifts to them be in the form of donations to Kitui,
especially the building of a new schoolroom as a part of
the Makayauni school project.
Various
activities and fund-raising events from Sussex are
envisaged to support the Friends of Kitui. Read
More
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Learn
more about Kitui-
geography, history,
it's people, and statistics- and why we should help.
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By volunteering your
time and your expertise, by making a donation, by
supporting your neighbours in their efforts on behalf of
Kitui, you can make a real difference to the lives of
others
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Not found what you
want? Try the Site Map
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We
support people in need in Kitui, Kenya.
