Give A Child Life

Enough to Eat

Over the past few weeks, infant care in Kiandutu has taken a new turn. Two days ago infants between six and twelve months old began receiving a hot, nourishing daily meal...courtesy of GCL friends like you. In homes where mothers scrape by on odds and ends and a decent meal is hard to find, the right nutrition can make a huge difference. Chronic hunger at this age affects brain development; lack of sufficient food can make it hard for a child to ever learn or control emotions like anger.

Starting this week, GCL is providing meals to infants at three day care centers. We're also fixing hot meals for young children brought by their mothers to a central location. The goal is for every young child in Kiandutu to have enough to eat.

 Debbie

Looking For Her Children

This just in from Kiandutu, Kenya....

 

Last week on Wednesday, 9th May 2012, three of Bernice Wagui's children got lost while at their home inKiandutu. Dennis (11 years) together with Dorothy and Harriet were playing outside with their neighbor's children. The neighbor kid, also about 12 yrs old,suggested that they go visit his dad. Dennis did not hesitate and the sisters followed him. They boarded a matatu along the Thika - Garrissa road and headed for Kitui several kilometers from Thika.

When night came, Bernice started looking for her children with no luck. She spent the night worried. The next day, the dad of the neighbor's kid called from Kitui saying the children had arrived safely. GCL provided busfare to Bernice (kshs.1000/-) to go find her children. That night the village elder Gerald called to inform me that they are back in Kiandutu.

It is still a mystery how such young children boarded a matatu with no busfare and traveled many miles. Bernice is thankful that at least she found her children-though hungry and unkempt- she says she has learned a great lesson from the incident.

Carol

Kiandutu Program Manager

Mother Running Small Businesses.

Yesterday I received the first batch of ledgers from mothers running the small businesses in Kiandutu. A few weeks ago, I spent my last afternoon there helping set up the accounts so they could track their expenses, income and profit. This was a new concept for most of the women, all of whom ran businesses such as selling handfuls of vegetables or candy or pairs of rubber shoes on the street. The one who "got it" best was Zipporah. Her ledger was almost perfect, aside from one math error and a lack of detail for the expenses. But my heart broke when I looked at her profit. For the first two weeks of January, she sold about $20 worth of spinach, $11 worth of mangoes and $10 worth of cabbage. Overall, she took in $66. Buying the food to sell cost her $50. She had a net gain of about $16.

 We're going to keep working with the women and help them track what works best and what doesn't. If you'd like to help, let us know.

Debbie

 

Allan is Now Back With His Family!

 

Note: Three years ago, Give A Child Life found Allan near death at his grandmother's home. With his grandmother carrying him, we took him to a center where he could stay and get food, medicine and other help. Carol, the GCLK program director in Kiandutu, recently updated us on  what happened last weekend.

Baby Allan is reunited back with his family!

News from the elders at Kiandutu came on Monday that baby Allan has been brought back home.

Yesterday I visited Allan at his grandmother's house – Zabina Zaumu- and found him playing with his toy car. He had been bonding with the grandmother and he was so happy though he left the place while still so young.

He is a happy, healthy baby!!

GCL K will continue to assist Allan now that he is back with his family. He will be joining Kiandutu Juniors School nursery level.

Carol

Small Actions Make Huge Differences!

When I was in Kiandutu a few weeks ago, I didn't think Cecilia would make it. She looked so pale and thin. You could hardly tell she was pregnant--even though she was due to deliver any minute. A few days later, she had a lovely baby girl. Look at her smiling! One reason is because GCL provides child care for her two children under age 5.

The same day I saw Cecilia, the village elders asked me to fix the house of another GCL member, Beth. It needed only a few simple repairs to prop up the walls and fill the holes.

Often it's not the big actions that make the most difference. It's the small ones. $3 a month for child care; $3 to buy small bags of flour and beans for dinner; $45 to shore up a house, etc. What matters is that GCL is on the spot when children have a need. Working with Kiandutu's village elders, GCL helps within the hour. Isn't it nice to be a part of it?

Debbie    

 

Just Arrived in Nairobi, Kenya!

What a great way to start the New Year! I just arrived in Nairobi from Los Angeles. This afternoon Charity, Carol and I met with the village elders in Kiandutu, as we do on each of my trips. They were so grateful for what we are doing for their young children. The highlight of the afternoon were remarks by the government's Assistant Chief for Kiandutu--George Muniu. He said, "Your organization has been a great help. Before children would go for days without food. Today if a child is spending a night without a meal, it's only because the parent has not asked for help."

We are making a difference for the little ones here--thanks to caring people like you.

Debbie 

$1 Can Make a Difference.

Starting today, Philanthroper, a website for nonprofits where “a little does a lot," is now featuring Give A Child Life. GCL was selected because with even small gifts, donors can help save the lives and nurture  the youngest, most vulnerable children in the world.

Today you can donate $1-$10 to Give A Child Life through www.philanthroper.com. Because we're a small organization, none of your gift goes for overhead. With only $1, you can provide a sick toddler with the medicine he needs or send a little girl to child care for a full month. With $2, you can buy a bag of flour and a bit of cooking oil for a starving family. For $10, you can create lasting change by seeding a small business for a single mother.

Can you contribute $1 or more?  Will you share this message with a friend (or several) who might like to do the same? For the children’s sake, thank you.

Debbie

 

Mothers can Start or Grow Their Small Businesses...

Last week, our program director in Kenya sent us an important update and proposed we start a new project…

Our monthly meeting in Kiandutu was held last Saturday. We had many parents turn up. We gave a presentation on Family Planning, and it was interesting to see how well the parents participated with questions and contributions. Next topic will be on breastfeeding.

We then discussed the issue of learning simple math for small businesses. We acknowledged the efforts of a few women who have successfully started businesses and kept books and asked if others were interested in doing the same. Parents who wished to open or expand upon small businesses included:

Nancy Adhiambo needs kshs. 1,000/$10 to sell roasted maize after providing day care services.
Amina needs kshs. 2,000/$20 to boost her perfume business.
Zipporah needs kshs. 1500/$15 as she already has a vegetable stall and wishes to sell charcoal also.
Sahara Isaac needs kshs. 2,000/$20 because her snack business went down when she was nursing a sick child.

In total it will cost kshs. 6,500/$65 to have these ladies in business.

After discussion, the ladies suggested that this be given to them as soft loans repayable within the first month after one has made profits, so that others could borrow and benefit.

Do you think we could try this and monitor it? Say create a revolving fund of kshs.10,000/$100 earmarked for small businesses?  

Kindly put forth your thoughts and suggestions.

Carol

We forwarded this email to our supporters and the result was wonderful; we raised enough to start the program, which will lay the groundwork for real, lasting change. Carol will teach these women to add, subtract and calculate a profit. She’ll also go over their books with them on a regular basis so they understand the process. With these lessons and a little seed money, the mothers can start or grow their small business, and perhaps someday will be able to support themselves and their families without our help. Thank you to everyone who made this possible. 

Update from El Salvador.

We just received an update on the hurricanes hitting El Salvador from our program coordinator:

Today we have finished a survey of the people who have lost their crops, and the funds you sent will go to purchase emergency food and medicine for them. More than 65 families are in desperate need.
Each family will receive a bag of food, which costs $12.00, containing 5 pounds of beans, 5 pounds of rice, 5 pounds of sugar and 5 pounds of powdered milk. The remaining funds will pay for medical treatments.

I have received your contribution of $1,500, and we will try to deliver food to families on Thursday. We are waiting a little longer so that we will have minimum problems with the food distributions. I will send you photos of the delivery.

There is still an incredible amount of rain throughout the country. It rained for nine days without stopping. Classes are suspended until further notice under provisions of the Ministry of Education.

Carlos

As of Monday, 32 Salvadorians had been killed by the storm. Forecasts show that the rain will begin again tomorrow and should continue through the rest of the month. It’s hard to say when the children will return to school and the parents to work. But thanks to support from Give A Child Life, at least they will have a little something to eat and those suffering from dengue, bronchial infections and other illnesses will get the treatments they need.   

 

The Story of Bernice.

Bernice is a new arrival in Kiandutu. She has five children: a baby, a toddler, a five-year-old, a seven-year-old and an 11-year old. Until recently, Bernice and the children lived with her husband on the other side of town. He had a stable job and they were happy. But then he committed a crime and went to prison. At the time, Bernice was pregnant, and she was dismayed that he’d done this to the family.  

She moved to Kiandutu to start over. But she had to care for a one-year-old and couldn't look for a job. Then she had the baby, who is now only a month old. The family of six lives in a small, dirty room with no furniture, bedding or utensils. Bernice hasn't been able to pay the rent for a while.

During a visit by GCL staff, the children fought over a very small portion of ugali flour...they are very hungry.

Though Bernice is tired and struggles desperately to make ends meet, she says, “I have seen and gone through so much, but I do not feel sorry for myself. I live each day at a time with my children.” What she wants most is food and child care for her young ones, so she can work to get back on her feet. 

From Carol, the GCL Kiandutu Program Director