HOME (Help Orphans with Milk and Eggs)

HOME is a project started by a volunteer named Kelsey to provide the kids at Tunza in Ngong with chickens and a cow. In the last few weeks, HOME provided Tunza with a cow, which will provide milk, and 100 chickens, to lay eggs that can be sold to earn income and eaten by the kids. Three farm buildings were also built.


To read more about this exciting project, check out the HOME blog here: http://kenyakelseykenya.blogspot.com/

Thank you!

We have once again created a video to show you some of the ways funds were used this year and to thank you for your support.

Hope you enjoy it!

Merry Christmas from Uweza!

Quick update on our Christmas Dinner Sponsorship: thanks to you, 19 families in Kibera received the makings of a special Christmas dinner (rice, chapati, meat, cooking oil, sugar and cookies) today. More details (and pictures) coming soon.

Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday!

Counselors November Report

Click HERE to read the report from the Tunza Children's Center counselors about their work with the kids in November.

Sponsor Christmas dinner for a family in Kibera!

Everyone in Kibera is getting geared up for Christmas right now - this mostly means trying to find their best outfit to wear to church for the day. Most families living in the slum cannot afford to buy presents for each other or even a nice meal. Dinner on Christmas day will consist of the common staple foods, ugali (maize flour that is boiled into a doughy porridge) and sukuma wiki (kale).

We want to try and set up as many families in our HIV outreach as possible with a nice Christmas dinner this year. This will consist of meat or chicken, rice, vegetables, cake and tea. All of this can be purchased for a mere $15!!

Families in Kibera are living in some of the worst conditions imaginable and many can go a whole day without eating. It would mean so much to them to have a special meal on Christmas. If you would like to sponsor a family this Christmas, please go HERE and make a donation, designating it for Christmas Dinner sponsorship.

After Christmas, we will e-mail you a picture of the family you helped.

Spread the word to anyone that might be interested in helping a family in need this Christmas!

Brian goes home!

Today, after two long months in the hospital, Brian finally returned home. The final bill amounted to 62,510 shillings (about $850) and thanks to the help of our generous donors, we were able to pay it in full!

During his time at the hospital, he received three blood transfusions and a skin graft on his leg. A series of tests was done to determine the cause of his frequent health problems (all which came back normal). They told us that he was just really malnourished (and probably anemic) and that if he is just given a balanced diet, he will be okay.

Just as a reminder, here is Brian a few days after he was admitted....



And here he is now!



He now has full use of his leg (prior to being admitted to the hospital, he could not even move it and had to be carried around).



He will continue to return to the hospital three times a week for a checkup until the leg is completely healed. We received so much help and concern for Brian and we are so grateful - you really changed his life and I know he won't soon forget it!

Addendum: I just received a text from Brian's mom that she would like to give me "a vote of thanks for what you have done to Brian because I am sure that minus you maybe he could have died so I pray to God to lead your future." I just wanted to extend that vote of thanks to all of you as well!

Faces of Kibera eBay Auction

Faces of Kibera, one of our favorite organizations working to help the kids in Kibera, (and one we frequently partner with!) is having their annual eBay auction.



Items being auctioned off include:

4 tickets to the Carolina Panthers Game Dec 27th with VIP Pre Game Field Passes

VIP Day for 4 to Giants training Camp 2010 in Albany

Signed Jerseys: Kevin Boss, Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Eli Manning, Steve Smith, Hakim Nicks, Antonio Pierce.

Autographed NY Giants balls: Kevin Boss, Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Eli Manning, Steve Smith, Hakim Nicks.

Signed Ringo Starr Drum Skin

And more!

The goal of Faces of Kibera is "to create and support a community-based facility for orphans outside Kibera. Funds raised will be spent on housing, food, psychological and medical care. We want to make a safe place the children can call their home, a family they can depend on and a hopeful future."

Read more about Faces of Kibera at www.facesofkibera.org. Check out the auction and place a bid HERE!

Tunza Party and the End of an Era

Today, we had a party at Tunza Children's Center in Kibera. The party was for several occasions. First, none of the kids at Tunza ever get a birthday party (and some don't even know their birthday), so we decided to celebrate for everyone all on one day. Secondly, the Class 8 (end of primary school) and Form 4 (end of secondary school) kids just finished their very important exams and we wanted to celebrate their achievements. Finally, starting next week and finishing by the end of this month, all of the kids will be moving out of Kibera to the new home in Ngong.

By December, Tunza Children's Center in Kibera will not be home to any more children and will be closed. It will re-open as a school in January 2010 but Tunza, the children's home in Kibera, will no longer exist. I (Jen) have volunteered at Tunza since 2006 - this is my fourth summer - and it is surreal to think that the home will be gone. Tunza has always played a central role in my trips to Kenya and has been the place where I feel most at home in Kibera. I know it has also played this role for a lot of volunteers.

The move to Ngong is definitely better for the children in terms of hygiene and sanitation and space. The conditions in Kibera were terrible and those in Ngong are much improved. Because the great majority of our work is carried out in Kibera and because the home in Ngong takes a while to get to, our role in supporting Tunza will decrease dramatically once they move from Kibera. We will continue to sponsor the six children from Tunza that we do now and will visit the center from time to time to check up on the kids but it will be next to impossible for us to play a major role in supporting the center. We will also continue to send our counselors to Ngong every week.

It will be a big transition but we have some really great projects in Kibera that we are excited to devote more money and efforts to. We look forward both to seeing a better life for the kids in Ngong and improving some of these projects that we haven't been able to put a lot of effort into, due to the time-consuming nature of assisting a children's home.

Counselors October Report

This past month has been busy for the Tunza kids, with a lot of transitions taking place. They also continue to adjust to life in Ngong. The counselors have really helped them get through this time.

Click HERE to read their report for October.

Support Group Business Start-Ups

Since last October, we have been selling jewelry and bags in the United States made by members of HIV positive support groups in Kibera. These groups meet weekly for various purposes - one group conducts a savings project where they each contribute a little bit of money to a group account each week and another has started a business and a small shop to sell jewelry, bags and other goods.

A large portion of the profits that was made selling these items went directly to the members of the group and was used for things like paying rent, hospital bills, food and children's school fees. Another portion has been used to buy medicine, provide transport to the hospital or cover bills for members when they become sick. The final portion we have decided to start a business start-up project to help the members of the group sustain themselves.





In September, we started meeting with one of the groups, which is composed of 20 members. In keeping with Uweza's idea of empowering, we would like the groups to sustain the project themselves, rather than have us tell them how to operate, so they decided all of the ground rules. They divided into groups of four (five groups total) and wrote up business proposals - their businesses include selling eggs, soap, rice and other items. They drew up paperwork and required each group member to fill out a form and provide a photocopy of their ID. When I asked them what they would do if a group member didn't pay back their start-up money, they all responded that they would "auction off all of their belongings." So it seems they are pretty serious!

We decided to give each group of four people 10,000 shillings (or $130) to start their businesses. The group decided that in order to motivate themselves to succeed, they would like to pay back the full amount to a group account with the addition of 5% interest every month. Once they fully pay back these business start-up loans (to themselves), they can use the money plus interest to improve/further sustain their businesses.

The 10,000 shillings per group was distributed on October 4 and it has now been four weeks. They have reported that everyone is paying back their loan and no one has defaulted. We are very hopeful that this project will succeed and will help these 20 people living with HIV to support themselves and their families.

We met with another group of five ladies today that would like to start a business selling charcoal. They will be opening a group account and we hope to provide them with the start-up funds in the next week.

The jewelry and bag sales are continuing in the United States and we are very grateful for everyone that has bought something and supported these men and women. They are so grateful to have the opportunity to make their lives better for themselves and their children.

If you are interested in purchasing an item made by the groups or in helping us by holding a sale, let us know!

Pictures of the men and women and their businesses are coming soon, we hope, so stay tuned!

Brian Needs Your Help!

Brian Makoha is 7 years old and lives in Kibera with his mother, his older sister and his 9-month old brother. His father died several years ago and his mother does not have a job or source of income.

Almost 3 months ago, in July, Brian's mother was cooking on a wood-burning stove inside their small home. While she left to go to the shop, Brian accidentally knocked over the stove. Half of the house caught on fire and Brian was unable to escape in time. He suffered from third degree burns on his leg, all the way from the top of his foot to his knee.

His mother, not having the money to afford to take him to a proper hospital, carried Brian to a clinic near their home. The clinic applied some medicine and wrapped the burn. She repeated this every day but was unable to pay any money and after 17 visits (and almost $100 accumulated in debt), the clinic refused to treat Brian anymore. At this point, the burn had not healed, as Brian lost several layers of skin.

His mother, still not knowing what to do, took advice from a neighbor to treat the burn at home. She began to burn a burlap sack, mix the ashes with sugar water and apply them to Brian's leg. To all of us, this seems terrible, but to a desperate mother with no way out, it seemed like the only option.

Brian does not have enough blood, which was compounded by the blood loss from his burn, his heart beats irregularly, and his immune system is very weak. He is currently so skinny and deprived of blood that you can literally see his heart beating in his chest.


Brian, healthy, in January 2009
When we saw how bad the situation was, we knew that something had to be done. On September 30, we brought him to Kenyatta National Hospital where a scan was done on his heart and other organs and he was admitted to the Pediatric Burn Unit. They wrapped his leg, treated it with medication, gave him blood thickening medication and ordered a series of blood transfusions.


Brian now
Many of you may remember the case of Cyrus last year. He desperately needed medical care and thanks to the generosity of donors, we were able to save his life.

Once again, we need to ask your help. Brian is still admitted in the hospital, with no end yet in sight. The doctors are reporting that he needs a skin graft on his leg because the old skin will never grow back.

So far, we have spent about $200 on his care but the greatest hit will come when he is discharged from Kenyatta and we must pay the final bill. Money will also be needed to continue to ensure that the wound heals and that he is okay once he leaves the hospital.

We at Uweza, Brian and Brian's family would truly appreciate your assistance. We have already seen great improvements in Brian's condition. This weekend he was able to walk for the first time since he was burned and he is laughing and smiling for the first time as well. We want to do everything we can to help him but we honestly won't be able to without your help.

Please, please, please help Brian. Your money will truly be saving the life of a child in need and will not go to waste.

Click HERE to donate and help Brian now.
Click HERE to share this blog post on Facebook.
Send us an email at info@uweza.org with any questions.

Thanks for reading!

Counselors September Report

The Tunza counselors, Collins and Becky, continue to be a great resource both to the kids at Tunza and to us in understanding the issues/problems facing the kids and how we can help.

Click HERE to read their report for September.

Under 10 team wins third place!

Since we last wrote about our Under 10 and Under 17 teams playing in a tournament with about ten other teams from Kibera, both lost the match that would have qualified them for the tournament finals.



However, because of an earlier victory, the Under 10 team had the chance to play in a match for third place yesterday. Our team played well and the game went into a penalty shootout. The shooters made two goals in a row and the goalie blocked two in a row and we won the match!



The boys were so excited and jumping all over each other and cheering. As part of their win, they received a trophy, new uniforms and some balls from the tournament organizers. After the game, they all huddled up with their coach and said a prayer. Then the coach asked them what they were playing for, to which they all responded in unison "LUNCH!!"



So after the game, all 22 of them headed to a restaurant where they were rewarded for their victory with a hearty meal.

A little bit goes a long way

Maxwell is 3 and a half years old and the younger brother of two of our brightest sponsored students. Last weekend, Maxwell was playing outside of his house, fell down and badly injured his arm. While visiting his older brother three days after his accident, we met Maxwell and learned about what happened. He was unable to move his arm and it was swollen to almost two times its normal size.

His mother told us that she took him to a local clinic and they gave him medicine to rub on it. She could not afford to go to a decent hospital and get an x-ray or proper treatment so she just had to hope that it would heal properly on its own (which we all realize is unlikely).




We knew that it was serious and if his arm did not heal properly, he would be affected by it for the rest of his life. So we offered to cover the costs of the hospital and his mom took him the next day.

When we returned to visit Maxwell yesterday, we found Maxwell in a cast and a sling. It turns out that his arm was completely dislocated from its socket and broken in three places. The total costs (transport to and from the hospital, examination by a doctor, the x-ray, the cast and sling, and medicine) came to $13.

We are happy that we can help even in small ways such as this and thanks to our donors, Maxwell is now doing okay and on his way to recovery!

Remembering Jenny

Last year and earlier this year, we wrote about a 15 year-old girl named Jane (or "Jenny") who was HIV positive. We met Jenny in August 2008 when she was admitted to the HIV/AIDS ward of the hospital and in the bed next to one of our regular patients.

By spring of 2009, Jenny had regained her health and wanted more than anything to return to school. Thanks to the generosity of a sponsor, we were able to sponsor her to attend high school.

Almost 2 months ago today on June 20, 2009, we received the heartbreaking news that Jenny had passed away in her sleep at the age of 16.

Jenny was an orphan and lost both of her parents to AIDS. She was born HIV positive. She struggled with her health throughout her life as a result. However, she was determined not to let the disease get her down and fought until the end. We met her because she saw us buying our patient juice and she spoke up that she too would like some juice (and soda and cookies and fruit). We sponsored her because every time we would visit her at home, even when she could barely sit up, she would remind us "what about school?" She attended school up until the day before she passed and never gave up.

She was a fighter and an inspiration and we miss her very much.

Our Under 10 team could take it all!

All four of our boys soccer teams (Under 10, Under 12, Under 14 and Under 17) are currently participating in a tournament against other teams from throughout Kibera.

Their first match was today. The Under 12 and Under 14 teams unfortunately lost (3-0 and 1-0, respectively) and have been eliminated from the tournament.

The Under 17 team's opponent did not show up so they have automatically advanced to the next round.

The Under 10 team was scheduled to play two matches. They played really well and won the first match in an intense shootout. They did not miss a single goal, while the other team missed two. During the shootout, a giant crowd gathered to watch and all eyes were on the Uweza team. The boys were all so excited when they won, they were jumping all over each other, cheering and running around. Most (if not all) of the boys are from very poor families and many are orphans. It was really great to see them having such a good time and getting the chance to feel proud of themselves.

For their second match of the day, the opponent dropped out of the tournament so the Under 10 team will automatically advance to the semifinals. Prizes for the winners of the tournament include balls, shoes and new uniforms so keep your fingers crossed!

We also managed to provide lunch for all of the boys during the course of the day, which they seemed to enjoy almost as much as playing soccer.

August Report from Counselors

Click HERE to read the report written by the counselors that we have hired to work with the Tunza kids about their work during the month of August.

Taking Cyrus to school

Last year, we wrote about a 16 year old boy named Cyrus who is a resident of Tunza Children's Center. In October, Cyrus made the terrible mistake of ingesting methylated spirit with juice. Luckily, we were at the center and with the help of many generous donors, we were able to cover all the costs of his hospital care and likely saved his life. Unfortunately, Cyrus is now completely blind.

This year, thanks to sponsors from Australia, Cyrus is attending a Technical School for the blind. He is learning to read and write braille and also learning the skills that he will need to live on his own. He has a great attitude, a true zest for life, despite the hard hand he has been dealt in life, and is determined to make the best of a truly difficult situation.

He will finish the technical school this November and will then start Class 8 at a school for the blind, which he was close to finishing when he lost his sight. After Class 8, he will move on to high school. He hopes to become a lawyer someday.

Last Wednesday, I (Jen) went with Cyrus as he returned for his second term of school. I took some pictures of the school and they are below. We are so grateful to everyone that donated to Uweza to help Cyrus and to his school sponsors. The support has not gone to waste. Cyrus expresses his gratitude every day and I never cease to be amazed by him.

Soccer Program Update

We now have four set teams with four different coaches. Each team is composed of about 10-20 boys from throughout Kibera. Although the teams were started by the children of Tunza Children's Center, they have grown to include children from throughout the slum. Now that the Tunza children have moved to Ngong, our Kibera teams are continuing to practice. We are working on a solution to ensure that the kids in Ngong will still be able to play soccer.

Temporarily, the four coaches will be traveling to Ngong every few weeks to visit the kids and play soccer with them. We think that its good for the kids to see familiar faces in their new home so that they understand that they are not being abandoned by the people that care about them and to make the transition easier. (On a related note, the Tunza counselors will also be traveling to Ngong to continue to work with the children).

Last week, we had a meeting with the coaches to discuss what we can do to make our teams in Kibera better. In the past few weeks, we have purchased 70 pairs of shorts for training, first aid kits for each team, a net to carry soccer balls and books for the coaches to take attendance each week. We will also be purchasing shoes and socks for all of the boys in a few weeks.

The coaches came up with two ideas at the meeting to help us ensure that our soccer program offers more to the kids than just the opportunity to play soccer. The coaches, who are all residents Kibera themselves, pointed out that the kids come from challenged and difficult backgrounds so they would like to take a half an hour each practice to sit down with the kids, get to know them, discuss any problems the kids might be having. Then the coaches can offer advice and possibly see how Uweza can help.

The coaches also created a prize-giving program to motivate the kids to do their best. They will be telling the players that at some point each month, one player (e.g. most hard-working, best attendance, best skills) will be getting a prize such as a new pair of socks or shorts. This will teach the kids about the value of hard work and dedication and encourage them to do their best always.

New Home for Tunza Children's Center

Yesterday, the Tunza kids moved into a new home outside of Kibera. An organization called Tara Projects (http://www.taraprojects.ie/) in conjunction with VICDA, which is based in Kenya, raised funds and completed construction for a new facility in Ngong, which is about 30 minutes away from Kibera.

Over 80 children moved out of Kibera and into the new home yesterday. Each child now has their own bed and the home includes a spacious dining room and a big yard with a swing set and plenty of open space for the children to play.

We'll be trying to work with Tara Projects, Faces of Kibera and Tunza to ensure that the transition goes smoothly and that all of the needs of the Tunza children are met in their new home.

Addendum: Just to clarify, Uweza was not involved in the building of the new home - the credit for that goes to two organizations: VICDA and Tara Projects. We were just present for the move and will be continuing our ongoing support of the new home in Ngong as well as the center in Kibera, which will remain as a primary school.

"Silent Food Crisis Crippling Kenya Slum"

This article published yesterday by Voice of America points out the toll that skyrocketing food prices have taken on the residents of Kibera. The need for aid and opportunities to help are greater now than ever.

As international headlines draw attention to the political bickering among Kenya's leaders, a crisis almost entirely hidden from view is ravaging Nairobi's Kibera slum. A window into the lives of Kibera's schoolchildren reveals how the silent food crisis in Africa's largest slum is threatening an impoverished generation's future.

On the edge of Nairobi sits the sprawling tin-shack Kibera slum, which with its roughly one million inhabitants is large enough to be a city in itself.

Food prices have more than doubled in the past year, making the always-difficult survival of Kibera's population more challenging.

Plight of children

For a generation of Kibera children growing up with extreme urban poverty, disease, and ethnic violence, the unmanageable price of food is causing much wider and more sinister ripples than simply whether or not they will go to bed hungry. When families cannot afford meals here, it is often the children whose lives change most drastically.

"I am going to go home," said Gideon. "Then if there is no food, then I am going to rubbish."

Gideon dropped out of school last year so he could help support his family by scrounging for scraps in the heaping junk piles of Kibera. If he is lucky, he might make 20 cents a day. Gideon is 13-years old.

The school Gideon used to attend is supported by the World Food Program. Usually the lunch meal the school offers is enough to keep kids attending, as it is likely to be their only meal of the day. But in Gideon's case a fatherless home with younger siblings that need feeding and a mother in the late stages of AIDS has all proven too heavy a burden.

Gideon's mother, who is too sick to work and has been unable to persuade her son to return to school, says she makes her other children continue going to school, even though she can not pay the school fees - otherwise her children would not eat. When the kids are kicked out for being unable to pay, she is nevertheless forced to send them back to the school.

Miriam Wawira is the headmistress at a pre-primary school in Kibera. She says those children whose situations are unfortunate enough to qualify them for admittance into the small school are the fortunate ones in their families. While those young kids receive at least two meals a day during the school week, their siblings are unlikely to be as lucky.

"There are those parents who bring their children here simply because they know in as much as there is no food at home, at least this child can come to school, have porridge at 10 o'clock, have lunch at 1 pm," said Wawira. "And then after that, when they go home, even if there is some little food at home, these children who have been to this school, they will always be the last to be served in their family because there are other children who have been in the house and maybe they have not had lunch or did not have breakfast."

Prices skyrocketed

Food prices in Kenya have shot up, in part due to a severe drought that has left the year's harvest well below the nation's basic demand. Maize flour, the basic staple, has more than doubled in the past year, a trend that holds true for about all other simple grocery items.

For families already engaged in a daily struggle to make ends meet, the unbearable food strain could hardly have come at a more inopportune time.

According to a joint report from humanitarian groups Concern Worldwide, Care International, and Oxfam International, the cost of cooking fuel is up by as much as 50 percent from last year, while the price of water has doubled. Meanwhile, the global economic downturn has helped shrink incomes in Kibera by 20 percent.

Steven Okello, a project officer based in Kibera for CARE-Kenya, explains the crisis has remained largely under the radar because the problem is not that there is no food, rather, the prices are simply too steep.

"The food is available, that is the paradox," he said. "The food is available, but the prices are unaffordable for people living in Kibera. Right now if you look at maize flour for instance, one packet goes for 100 shillings. Yet a majority of people living in Kibera live on less than 70 shillings per day."

Read the rest of the article here.

Handbag and Jewelry Sale!

Where: Vincentown United Methodist Church, 97 Main Street, Southampton, New Jersey
When: Saturday August 1, 2009 from 9 am to 12 pm


All the proceeds will provide financial compensation, medicine, hospital care and income opportunities for HIV positive men and women in Kibera.

See the flyer for the event here.

If you are not able to attend but would like to hold a support group sale event in your town, please contact us!

Report from Counselors

The counselors that we have hired to work with the kids at Tunza have written a report for us about what type of issues they have been working on, the progress they have made with the kids and what still needs to be done.

See the full report here.

Uweza on Twitter

Uweza has hopped on the bandwagon and joined Twitter.

Follow us here: www.twitter.com/uwezakenya.

Support groups

The HIV-positive support groups that we support have been busy making bags and beaded jewelry. We have been helping the groups purchase the materials and thanks to the help of volunteers who have generously carried the products in their luggage, we have been selling the goods here. The majority of the proceeds from the sales go directly to the women who make the items, with the rest going into a fund provides hospital care and medicine for support group patients in need.



They have expressed a tremendous amount of gratitude to our supporters who have purchased the goods - the profits have helped them pay school fees for their children, pay their rents and purchase food. We also hope to use some of the funds to provide the groups with materials such as sewing machines or cleaning supplies so that they can start their own small businesses. More pictures of the group as well as their goods have been posted in the Tumaini section of the photo gallery. Please contact us if you are interested in purchasing or selling any of these items!

New Uweza Girls Team!

Two weeks ago, our new Uweza Girls Teams held their first practice! We have been introduced to a very talented female soccer player who has coaching experience and expressed interest in coaching a girls team. As of now, the two teams consists of girls from Tunza Children's Center. The girls are really excited about playing and had so much fun at their first few practices. Once we solidify a roster, we will work on getting them shoes, socks, uniforms and supplies like we did for our boys teams. More pictures of the girls at their practice have been posted in the photo section!

Boys Soccer

We now have five boys teams practicing regularly at a field that we have rented for Uweza teams only on Fridays and Saturdays and four coaches. The teams have been participating in a lot more tournaments and matches. Last weekend, the Tunza Under-12 team earned their first victory, beating out their opponents 1-0 and ending up fourth in the tournament! The Tunza Under-16 team is also currently participating in a tournament.

Changes for Tunza?

Right now is a pretty exciting time at Tunza. A volunteer named Mark, who is from Australia, visited Kibera and Tunza last month and took notice of its need for more structure and organization as well as regular funding. He is currently taking great efforts to set up and maintain a board of directors that will run the center. The board, which includes Dan - who is representing Uweza - has been meeting every week to discuss issues at the center and how donor funds should be spent. Mark is also working on bringing all former and current donors together to pool funds so that Tunza will have a more steady source of income.

He has a lot of great ideas for the center and we are currently carrying out discussions with the board of directors, Faces of Kibera and Mark to figure out the best way forward. This will be really great for the center as it has been living month-to-month for some time now and the added structure will greatly benefit the center and all of the kids. He's working on a website and we will be keeping everyone updated!

Letters

We received several letters from students that we sponsor and they are super cute so we wanted to share some of them. These three are from students that we sponsor through our collective sponsorship fund but who do not yet have an individual sponsor.

Alice, age 13
Duncan, age 14
Oscar, age 13

Coach's Update

Here is an update from one of our soccer coaches:

We had two friendly matches on Tuesday this week, one for our Under-10 team playing against the Under-12 Excel Academy team but we lost 3 - 1. Second was our Under-14 team playing against the Under-14 Excel Academy team but we also lost 3-0. The boys really tried and they enjoyed it despite their loss. Its hard for our boys to start winning the matches because they are actually playing against teams that normally train every day and somehow they are a bit older than them. But all in all we will keep on with the same spirit.

Jenny

Over the summer, we wrote about a girl named Jenny, who we met while visiting one of our HIV positive patients at the hospital. Jenny is 15, is HIV positive and has AIDS. When we met her, she was extremely skinny and sick and very weak. After she returned home from the hospital, we visited her at home a few times and she asked us if we could help her go back to school. She had finished primary school over a year ago but then she became sick and her grandmother, who is taking care of her, could not afford the fees for secondary school on top of the costs of her treatment. This didn't seem very realistic at the time, as she could barely walk or even sit up but we told her that we would try.

Last month, Dan and Meghann went to visit Jenny and were amazed at her progress! She has gained weight and is healthy and looks great. We decided to stick to our word and sponsor her to attend high school. Today, Dan brought her to get a new uniform and to pay her school fees and tomorrow, she will return to school for the first time since early last year.

A LONG overdue update (from Dan and Meghann)

Here is what has been happening:

Christmas in Kibera:

Meghann: The holidays were amazing, thanks to everyone's donations and holidays gifts that helped us get through it all. In anticipation of the holidays, we gathered all of the items that have been donated such as books, toys, shoes, school supplies, and sports equipment, grouped them into age groups and brought them along with us on our home visits. On Christmas day and the few days after, we visted our HIV+ patients most in need and delivered donations from clothing to school supplies to full meals for their families.

As all the orphans and HIV+ families in our program are part of the Uweza family, it was great to see them and deliver all of your donations on Christmas, and it was great to see and hear all of the thanks and gratitude we received from everyone. We at Uweza cannot even begin to thank our supporters back at home for actually making it happen.

Dan: Meghann and I visited patients in their houses [home visits] to bring them some Christmas gifts which had been donated plus some money from the selling of their beadwork, they were very happy to receive it since most of them had nothing for Christmas. The money we gave will help them provide for themselves; they really appreciated the help they received. Though some of the patients looked sickly, they did manage a smile,which was nice.

Soccer:

Meghann: The boys have been practicing only occasionally due to the holidays but are now getting back to working hard and competing in local competitions. A volunteer has organized a drive for soccer equipment in the U.S. The equipment will be brought over in February and will be distributed to the teams and we're excited about that because many of them need new shoes and some of the balls have holes due to the rough condition of their playing fields.

Sponsorship Program:

Meghann: Shortly after the holiday season brought on the first day of the new school year, meaning over 25 children in our sponsorship program re-entering school, joining school for the first time, or interviewing for a spot in a new school. The first few weeks of January were very busy and stressful for these reasons as all the school fees were due, uniforms had to be bought, and interviews were scheduled. After everything was settled, 9 of our sponsored children started attending Olympic Primary School, one of the best public schools in Kenya, and over 15 others returned to school with new uniforms, supplies, and their school fees paid.

Also, for those who sponsor a child, your sponsorship updates for January are in the process of completion as we speak! Thank you all for the patience as we have really struggled to follow the deadlines. As the sponsorship program is fairly new with over 25 kids to care for and it has been difficult getting everything together in a timely manner.

Dan: The kids were very happy to get a chance of joining good schools. But due to the current country-wide teacher strikes at government schools, all the children have adjourned going to school because there is little or no attention taken by the teachers who are demanding for the salary increase. This strike has badly affected smooth learning but hope soon all will be ok and the teachers will resume.

Jamii:

Meghann: Jamii Children's Center has reopened school, and now includes 2 classes. Prior to the post-election violence there were 3 classes, but after most of the students moved and the school struggled to find teachers, the number of students lessened. They have started the new term with new teachers and some new students and we hope that the school will continue to improve to the state that it was in prior to the violence

Tumaini:

Dan: All of the support group members are doing good and have resumed meeting though not all because most of them traveled to upcountry to celebrate the Christmas season with their family and aren't yet back but hope they will report back soon. We received bead money and distributed to these ladies whose stuff were sold and were thankful of it all. The money assisted them pay a bit of school fees for their kids and others bought food for their family. Thanks to you all who made it possible.

This year they will arrange themselves into small groups of like five then work for better results to make each one among them involved to doing stuff rather than on an individual basis; it was decided when they met for the first time this year, opening day, which is really encouraging.

As it was reported late last year, Tumaini is doing chicken rearing which is to assist in providing eggs to the patients during home visits and the kids in the orphanage. I found some chickens but they were not of good health so I decided to wait to buy good quality and healthy ones which is to be due soon. The coop is done and ready to accommodate 50 chickens. It was agreed after considering how big the demand for eggs is in the outreach program and even for the kids in the orphanage.

Tunza:

Meghann: At Tunza Children's Center all the kids are back in school doing well, and we are working together with a volunteer now on creating a better administration with a Board of Directors to make the decisions and better deal with the inflow of resources to the Center.

General news:

Meghann: For now, as we near the end of January, things at Uweza have calmed down to a more normal pace. Jen is back in the US and I will be out of Nairobi doing some HIV/AIDS research on the coast for the next few weeks, so expect us to just be maintaining our projects. We hope by the end of February, after a much needed break, to start building our projects once more. We are working out proposals for our internet training cafe and facilities, as well as continuing to plan for UWEZA Academy, a pre-primary school for needy children we hope to complete for enrollment in January 2010.