A blog at last....!!

I just can't believe that it's 8 months since the last blog----sorry!! Everything is really really going full steam ahead at the Rescue, Therapy and Personal Development Centre since June of this year. The Child Labour Elimination Programme is really successful and we have withdrawn 800 children from the Worst Forms of Child Labour. 600 of these children have returned to Primary School and the other 200 entered Vocational Training in the areas of welding, mechanics, motor bike maintenance, hair and beauty, tailoring and dressmaking. 170 children have graduated in those areas and there are 30 children currently in apprenticeships. Vocational skills are being developed but also in our Centre we are providing a Life Skills Programme for the children and they are really enjoying it.

At the moment I am in Ireland promoting a 5K Run/Walk which will take place on 22nd Sept. This event is supported by Mayo Athletics, Claremorris Athletic Club and Fit 4 Life and the funds raised will go directly into the Rescue Centre to provide much needed support for our wonderful children. Each time we have a group session the children are given a treat of juice and mandazis which they really enjoy. It is the treat of the week for them and wow do they appreciate it. They are really wonderful children and appreciate every bit of support they are given. Their timekeeping, attendance and performance in class is improving every day not to mention their self-esteem and confidence. We have so many things planned where they will develop their creativity and talents. It's really exciting. They sing and dance every day and are making many friends.

Just before returning home to Ireland we came to the rescue of 3 boys aged 16 and 17. The three boys are total orphans and have no adult support in their lives. One boy used to walk 15km each way to his apprenticeship every day, he did not have a bed to sleep in and often went a few days without food. Thankfully we were able to provide accommodation for them, bought a few mattresses, blankets, soap, towels, basins and the basic things they needed and now they will have 3 meals each day!!!

I met with them on the Saturday before I returned home and they were looking so neat, tidy and smiling, smiling smiling and were so happy.. I explained to them that we were able to do this for them because the people of Claremorris gave generously to the plight of the less well off children in Kitui. The boys really want to thank everybody for the support that is being given to them ---Asante Sana/ Thank you so much. I will put up some photos that I hope you will enjoy.

You know you can come to the assistance of the children by taking part in the 5K Run/Walk in Claremorris on 22nd Sept. at the Claremorris Athletic Track at 11a.m or by donating through PayPal on the website wwwkidsofkitui.com Every cent is so important for us to provide for the less well off children in Kitui.

Ok. That's my news. Thanks a lot. Will be back soon.

Janet

A NEW START

Arriving with our gear

                                                A mattress at last

 

 

Settling in

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to our new home

 

Smiling and happy again

 

It's all go!!! getting ready to open our new Rescue, Therapy & Personal Development Centre

What a busy few weeks, not even time to blog, sorry. We have secured a beautiful place for our Rescue, Therapy & Personal Development Centre  and we can get to work there very shortly.  It is such a wonderful feeling to have this place because last week proved very difficult form the point of view of space.  Children were being prepared for returning to school and initially this was happening through group sessions and space was at a premium in our busy office at KDC. Now the task of setting up the Centre.  Lots of shopping to be done, furniture, curtains, equipment, educational supplies, cups, plates, cutlery and so on and so on and that's when the bargaining will go on over prices!!!! You can just imagine 'cause our budget is tight.  Needless to say we will be going slowly at first but the initial step has been made and we are up and running.
Stay posted for more news, photos and videos.
Janet

oh, what a mistake, wrong post

Hi there,
Just got things a little mixed up, created a new blog under name WAYATI by mistake.  Sorry!!   anyway here is some 2012 news. 

Thursday, 12 January 2012

Welcome to a buzzing 2012 from Kitui

The wonderful year of 2012 commenced for us in KDC office with a 2 day reflection and planning session which was a really good start to the New Year. It was amazing to see what had been achieved during the previous year with regard to all the projects and also looking at the challenges that we faced last year.
 The drought was the most most pressing because it meant that the people living on the margin had no food and were suffering from poverty, finding it so difficult to put food on the table and send their children to school.  This really has put a lot of pressure on the Child Labour Eradication Project as we are only able to cater for specified numbers and believe me there are so many more to assist.  The cost of living has really increased in Kitui and the funds made available to us are for the purpose of prevention i.e. enabling families to resend their children back to school is an enormous challenge.  The same thing applies to the children that  have withdrawn from child labour and we find very often that the parents want the children to work, even though it is illegal, because they will be able to bring some money home. It's a vicious circle and  to assist with this type of difficulty we have Self Help Groups, Table Banking, Mini Enterprise training and support for the families and guardians.  All of these supports are enabling the people to become self-sufficient slowly but surely.

 Yesterday I visited one such group who come together and allocate a % of their saving to the total orphans by helping with school fees and uniforms.  Their generosity is so wonderful and they do it so willingly.

This morning I met with some ladies who make some beautiful jewellery but the challenge for them and us, as a support group, is to access the markets, find agents or wholesalers to buy their products. The main markets are in Nairobi, Mombasa and Malinde which are huge distances from Kitui. IF YOU KNOW ANYBODY WHO CAN ASSIST US WITH FINDING A MARKET ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW. Have a look at the photos !!!!

Next week I will be accompanying the monitoring staff when visiting the students who have returned to school, chatting with them and looking forward to getting their views on being back to school or in apprenticeships. I am very well aware of some difficulties students are facing and fully realise the need for our Centre where we can assist the students to prepare for the return to school or vocational training.  Presently we are sourcing a premises to rent to facilitate this urgent need.

So now you see that this is a busy time for all of us in KDC with existing projects and we also have more projects coming on stream.
Stay with us for the next news bulletin  and ALL THE VERY BEST FOR 2012.

Kalumu with her Jewellery

Muarumbani seed necklace

Olive green Muarumbani necklace

Beautiful bangles

Ring necklace

Ring necklace

Kalumu's beautiful work

Ngangali necklace

Janet working with Community Facilitators at KDC office

Janet

Janet H, Janet Mumo, Alex Muthoka at work