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.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Uweza Holiday Gifts!
Looking for a last-minute, easy-to-purchase, unique holiday gift idea? Give a gift that helps individuals and families living in poverty in Kenya.
We have put together a Holiday Gift Catalog so that donations to Uweza can be given as gifts for the holidays.
Examples include sponsoring a child to play soccer, providing a holiday dinner for a family in Kibera or purchasing chickens for our health program. Gifts start as low as $5 and 100% of your donation will go toward purchasing services and supplies in Kenya. Gift money will not be used for administrative costs.
See the entire catalog HERE.
Ways gifts can be purchased:
1. By check sent to our PO Box: Uweza Aid Foundation, PO Box 1042, Evanston, IL 60204. Please note your gift choice on the check.*
2. Through Paypal. PayPal will prompt you to describe the purpose of your donation. This is where gift choices can be specified.
You can also send a quick email (to info@uweza.org) specifying your gift choice once you've donated.
Once donations are received, we will send you an email with Uweza holiday cards that can be printed and personalized to let gift recipients know how they've helped in Kenya.
*Note: If you donate by check to our PO Box, please send us an email to let us know so that we can email you the cards in time for the holidays.
Please contact us at info@uweza.org with any questions about our holiday gifts and Happy Holidays from Uweza!
We have put together a Holiday Gift Catalog so that donations to Uweza can be given as gifts for the holidays.
Examples include sponsoring a child to play soccer, providing a holiday dinner for a family in Kibera or purchasing chickens for our health program. Gifts start as low as $5 and 100% of your donation will go toward purchasing services and supplies in Kenya. Gift money will not be used for administrative costs.
See the entire catalog HERE.
Ways gifts can be purchased:
1. By check sent to our PO Box: Uweza Aid Foundation, PO Box 1042, Evanston, IL 60204. Please note your gift choice on the check.*
2. Through Paypal. PayPal will prompt you to describe the purpose of your donation. This is where gift choices can be specified.
You can also send a quick email (to info@uweza.org) specifying your gift choice once you've donated.
Once donations are received, we will send you an email with Uweza holiday cards that can be printed and personalized to let gift recipients know how they've helped in Kenya.
*Note: If you donate by check to our PO Box, please send us an email to let us know so that we can email you the cards in time for the holidays.
Please contact us at info@uweza.org with any questions about our holiday gifts and Happy Holidays from Uweza!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Like the Giants or the Steelers or know someone who does?
Faces of Kibera (www.facesofkibera.org) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping orphans in Kibera. Their goal is to create and support a community-based facility outside of Kibera to provide care, education and services to these children. Funds raised by the organization will be spent on housing, as well as nutritional, educational, psychological and medical care, including anti-retroviral treatment for children who are HIV positive.
We have mentioned Faces of Kibera before in our blog and we work together with them on many of our projects.
The organization is auctioning off a LOT of great Giants and Steelers memorabilia and experiences on eBay today (December 8) through Saturday, December 13. 100% of the proceeds from the auctions will go directly toward building a new facility and providing care for orphaned children in Kibera.
The auction is here: http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/teacup86.
Uweza updates coming soon!
Jen
We have mentioned Faces of Kibera before in our blog and we work together with them on many of our projects.
The organization is auctioning off a LOT of great Giants and Steelers memorabilia and experiences on eBay today (December 8) through Saturday, December 13. 100% of the proceeds from the auctions will go directly toward building a new facility and providing care for orphaned children in Kibera.
The auction is here: http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/teacup86.
Uweza updates coming soon!
Jen
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thank You!
We put together a video to try and show you some of the things that we have accomplished so far this year and to give you a better sense of how donations are used. We are so grateful for your support and hope we've represented you well through our work in Kenya!
Jen
Jen
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Eyesight, salaries, computers, and chickens
I received an e-mail from Meghann a few days ago with news about what they're up to in Kenya and thought I'd pass it along to any and all blog readers. They've been keeping busy and are getting a lot done!
Cyrus is doing a lot better. He is still going to the eye clinic where they have been continuing to monitor his progress and give him medicine to help reduce the swelling in his eyes. This week, he was able to get around the center by himself and even walk around in Kibera outside of the center with one of the other Tunza boys. He can't see perfectly but had definitely made a lot of progress and we are so happy that he will not end up permanently blind. We'll be continuing to monitor the situation and look into possible alternative education opportunities if his vision is not well enough to return to his normal school.
Recently, Tunza Children's Center has really been struggling to afford food and teacher's salaries. The teacher's had not been paid for months and have been teaching on a volunteer basis only. Last week, we were able to pay all of the teachers and staff salaries for one month and hope to pay them for another month next week. We also purchased beans and ugali for the center and a truckload of firewood. We received some very generous donations to help us out in supporting Tunza so thank you to those donors!
We are also getting ready to enroll the six sponsored kids from Tunza to enter classes 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 at Olympic Primary School for entrance in January. The kids that will be going are some of the top students in their class at Tunza and we're excited for them to have this opportunity.
Meghann and Dan are working on setting up an office/computer center in Kibera, as Meghann mentioned in her last blog, and they may have a way to get some computers for free. It will be a great opportunity to be able to help children in Kibera become proficient in the use of computers and we're hoping this will work out!
The chicken coop is almost finished and by next week, Uweza will have 50 chickens and many, many eggs to supplement the diets of patients in our Tumaini Health program.
There are some other projects in the works, including the implementation of solar power at some of the centers and schools we support to reduce costs and the negotiation and purchase of land for our new school but details have not yet been worked out so maybe next time we'll have more info.
Thanks for reading and for your continued support of Uweza. We are accomplishing a lot more than we imagined we would be able to when we started the organization earlier this year and it is due to the support we have received, we truly appreciate it!!
Jen
Cyrus is doing a lot better. He is still going to the eye clinic where they have been continuing to monitor his progress and give him medicine to help reduce the swelling in his eyes. This week, he was able to get around the center by himself and even walk around in Kibera outside of the center with one of the other Tunza boys. He can't see perfectly but had definitely made a lot of progress and we are so happy that he will not end up permanently blind. We'll be continuing to monitor the situation and look into possible alternative education opportunities if his vision is not well enough to return to his normal school.
Recently, Tunza Children's Center has really been struggling to afford food and teacher's salaries. The teacher's had not been paid for months and have been teaching on a volunteer basis only. Last week, we were able to pay all of the teachers and staff salaries for one month and hope to pay them for another month next week. We also purchased beans and ugali for the center and a truckload of firewood. We received some very generous donations to help us out in supporting Tunza so thank you to those donors!
We are also getting ready to enroll the six sponsored kids from Tunza to enter classes 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 at Olympic Primary School for entrance in January. The kids that will be going are some of the top students in their class at Tunza and we're excited for them to have this opportunity.
Meghann and Dan are working on setting up an office/computer center in Kibera, as Meghann mentioned in her last blog, and they may have a way to get some computers for free. It will be a great opportunity to be able to help children in Kibera become proficient in the use of computers and we're hoping this will work out!
The chicken coop is almost finished and by next week, Uweza will have 50 chickens and many, many eggs to supplement the diets of patients in our Tumaini Health program.
There are some other projects in the works, including the implementation of solar power at some of the centers and schools we support to reduce costs and the negotiation and purchase of land for our new school but details have not yet been worked out so maybe next time we'll have more info.
Thanks for reading and for your continued support of Uweza. We are accomplishing a lot more than we imagined we would be able to when we started the organization earlier this year and it is due to the support we have received, we truly appreciate it!!
Jen
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Some news
Hey Everyone!
So things have been going really well here in the last few weeks, but it still has been hard to manage all the ideas we are having. We have had some help in our organization from some students studying here in Nairobi and it really has been a big help lately. Let me first start with the updates on what we have been doing, and then move on to talk about some things we really want to start up soon.
First off, as Jen said about Cyrus last week, he is really improving quite well. I walked into the orphanage yesterday to be greeted by him walking around by himself. As Jen said though, he is still only able to see shadows and shapes, and a very small amount of blurred vision, but his progress so far has been amazing and we are still hoping for the best. In fact, he goes back to the eye doctor today so we will see what they say and keep everyone informed. I wanted to thank everyone again for their generosity in stepping up to help Cyrus during these last few weeks, it has really been amazing the amount of care and support we have been receiving for his cause.
Secondly, on Friday of last week, we sent our FIRST EVER 1st grade sponsored students to one of the best public schools in Kenya. They were not reporting to class, but they had to report in full uniform to the headmaster to make sure they would be prepared to return in January 2009. The boys were so EXCITED to wear their new uniforms and go to the school where they will be studying in a few months. We took 5 boys, who had graduated pre-primary school in December of 2007, but there parents could not afford to take them to primary school, so they instead remained behind at Jamii. But next year, with the help of your sponsorships, they will join their classmates for an amazing chance at a better education. On Friday, we arrived at Jamii Children’s Center in the morning to prepare the boys and they would not stop grinning in their new uniforms. It was great to see them walk with such pride to Olympic Primary, their new school, where we know soon they will be excelling in their studies.
We have been continuing to do home visits in our health program, as well as the support groups have been going very well. In fact, in a few hours 80 of the support group’s bags from their craft making will be arriving in America! Along with the over 500 pieces of jewelry already in America, we are going to start selling these things soon, so stay tuned.
We have so much planned for Uweza and partnerships between the members of Uweza and the communities in Kibera, it’s a very exciting time. We are currently registering as a nonprofit in Kenya so that we may be dual registered in both Kenya and the USA, and once we can achieve this registration we will be able to buy land for our new school! We are right now in the process of negotiating some spots of land we have found and cannot wait to get this project moving. The three teachers from the community involved in the start up process have really been amazing, and we have been having regular meeting with them to make sure everything can be put in place, for a possible opening of UWEZA ACADEMY in January of 2010.
Additionally, this week we will be building a chicken coop to allow for the occupancy of 50 CHICKENS (to start). We will be using this project get eggs that we can give out to our HIV+ patients for extra nutritional supplements during home visits.
Additionally, we have been looking into some other community projects, such as the installation of solar energy for our current projects, such as the orphanage and the school to save on energy costs and reduce the bill. We also are trying to get together an office in Kibera, that might act both as an office and a computer training center at a free or low cost to children in the community of Kibera. We have had some help with friends in the past few weeks proposing these ideas and offering help to initiate them, so we are SUPER EXCITED about the coming months. But these are all very new ideas, and are going to take a lot of planning and support, so please continue to stay in touch with us!
More news soon! And thank you everyone who has been making this work such a success in this past year.
Meghann
Uweza Aid Foundation
So things have been going really well here in the last few weeks, but it still has been hard to manage all the ideas we are having. We have had some help in our organization from some students studying here in Nairobi and it really has been a big help lately. Let me first start with the updates on what we have been doing, and then move on to talk about some things we really want to start up soon.
First off, as Jen said about Cyrus last week, he is really improving quite well. I walked into the orphanage yesterday to be greeted by him walking around by himself. As Jen said though, he is still only able to see shadows and shapes, and a very small amount of blurred vision, but his progress so far has been amazing and we are still hoping for the best. In fact, he goes back to the eye doctor today so we will see what they say and keep everyone informed. I wanted to thank everyone again for their generosity in stepping up to help Cyrus during these last few weeks, it has really been amazing the amount of care and support we have been receiving for his cause.
Secondly, on Friday of last week, we sent our FIRST EVER 1st grade sponsored students to one of the best public schools in Kenya. They were not reporting to class, but they had to report in full uniform to the headmaster to make sure they would be prepared to return in January 2009. The boys were so EXCITED to wear their new uniforms and go to the school where they will be studying in a few months. We took 5 boys, who had graduated pre-primary school in December of 2007, but there parents could not afford to take them to primary school, so they instead remained behind at Jamii. But next year, with the help of your sponsorships, they will join their classmates for an amazing chance at a better education. On Friday, we arrived at Jamii Children’s Center in the morning to prepare the boys and they would not stop grinning in their new uniforms. It was great to see them walk with such pride to Olympic Primary, their new school, where we know soon they will be excelling in their studies.We have been continuing to do home visits in our health program, as well as the support groups have been going very well. In fact, in a few hours 80 of the support group’s bags from their craft making will be arriving in America! Along with the over 500 pieces of jewelry already in America, we are going to start selling these things soon, so stay tuned.
We have so much planned for Uweza and partnerships between the members of Uweza and the communities in Kibera, it’s a very exciting time. We are currently registering as a nonprofit in Kenya so that we may be dual registered in both Kenya and the USA, and once we can achieve this registration we will be able to buy land for our new school! We are right now in the process of negotiating some spots of land we have found and cannot wait to get this project moving. The three teachers from the community involved in the start up process have really been amazing, and we have been having regular meeting with them to make sure everything can be put in place, for a possible opening of UWEZA ACADEMY in January of 2010.
Additionally, this week we will be building a chicken coop to allow for the occupancy of 50 CHICKENS (to start). We will be using this project get eggs that we can give out to our HIV+ patients for extra nutritional supplements during home visits.
Additionally, we have been looking into some other community projects, such as the installation of solar energy for our current projects, such as the orphanage and the school to save on energy costs and reduce the bill. We also are trying to get together an office in Kibera, that might act both as an office and a computer training center at a free or low cost to children in the community of Kibera. We have had some help with friends in the past few weeks proposing these ideas and offering help to initiate them, so we are SUPER EXCITED about the coming months. But these are all very new ideas, and are going to take a lot of planning and support, so please continue to stay in touch with us!
More news soon! And thank you everyone who has been making this work such a success in this past year.
Meghann
Uweza Aid Foundation
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Quick Cyrus Update (and some other stuff)
Hi everyone,
I'm sure Meghann will be able to blog soon with a more thorough report of everything that's getting done in Kenya but I just thought I'd take a second to update everyone on what is happening with Cyrus (pictured here, photo taken last year at Tunza).
As of this week, he has slowly been regaining a little bit of his sight. He can now see up close and can make out shapes. He can tell if someone is in front of him and can identify things (e.g. telling the difference between a dog and a person) but his vision is not good enough that he can identify the person or see colors or anything far away.
He was taken to the Kikuyu eye clinic this Friday and they said that they were happy with his progress and would like to continue the same treatment that he had been originally given. We were told that it would take 3 to 4 weeks for the swelling of his optic nerves to go down and at that point, we will be able to assess how well he will be able to see. It has been a week since that point so we are very hopeful that he will continue to make progress in the coming weeks! He will be returning to the eye clinic on November 11.
Along with Cyrus, we (note: I say we as in Uweza because I was not involved and there only in spirit), brought one of the HIV+ patients from our Tumaini Health program to the Kikuyu eye clinic. She has been having trouble seeing and was given medication and will return in two weeks for further assessment. We hope that her condition will improve as well.
Our Tunza FC teams continue to practice every week, and I received an email from one of the oldest boys on the under-18 team about how their team is doing: with our Tunza team its going on well, hope that you will continue sponsoring us, we normally go to training every day, our coaches this round are serious on this hope come December in the tournament we will win!"
Finally, this week Meghann met two girls in Kibera that had compelling stories and we were able to provide them with uniforms so they could continue going to school. One of the girls is 12 and in class 4. She lives with her aunt who is paralyzed and bedridden due to having suffered from a stroke. The girl is responsible for taking care of her aunt and doing everything for the household and was not attending school because she could not afford the uniform. Her cousin is 10 and in class 3. She traveled to Kibera from Eldoret with her mother, after being chased from their home during the violence following the election. Her mother hasn't been able to make enough money to purchase the uniform and supplies needed to send her daughter to school. Uweza was able to provide both of them with uniforms and according to Meghann one of the girls kept chanting "I'm going to school again!" excitedly while purchasing the uniforms.
That's all I have - I think Meghann will be updating with more information soon.
Oh, sponsorship welcome packets are being sent out VERY soon. We sincerely apologize for the delay and are working hard to get them finished.
Thanks (as always) for reading and for your support.
Jen
I'm sure Meghann will be able to blog soon with a more thorough report of everything that's getting done in Kenya but I just thought I'd take a second to update everyone on what is happening with Cyrus (pictured here, photo taken last year at Tunza).
As of this week, he has slowly been regaining a little bit of his sight. He can now see up close and can make out shapes. He can tell if someone is in front of him and can identify things (e.g. telling the difference between a dog and a person) but his vision is not good enough that he can identify the person or see colors or anything far away.
He was taken to the Kikuyu eye clinic this Friday and they said that they were happy with his progress and would like to continue the same treatment that he had been originally given. We were told that it would take 3 to 4 weeks for the swelling of his optic nerves to go down and at that point, we will be able to assess how well he will be able to see. It has been a week since that point so we are very hopeful that he will continue to make progress in the coming weeks! He will be returning to the eye clinic on November 11.
Along with Cyrus, we (note: I say we as in Uweza because I was not involved and there only in spirit), brought one of the HIV+ patients from our Tumaini Health program to the Kikuyu eye clinic. She has been having trouble seeing and was given medication and will return in two weeks for further assessment. We hope that her condition will improve as well.
Our Tunza FC teams continue to practice every week, and I received an email from one of the oldest boys on the under-18 team about how their team is doing: with our Tunza team its going on well, hope that you will continue sponsoring us, we normally go to training every day, our coaches this round are serious on this hope come December in the tournament we will win!"
Finally, this week Meghann met two girls in Kibera that had compelling stories and we were able to provide them with uniforms so they could continue going to school. One of the girls is 12 and in class 4. She lives with her aunt who is paralyzed and bedridden due to having suffered from a stroke. The girl is responsible for taking care of her aunt and doing everything for the household and was not attending school because she could not afford the uniform. Her cousin is 10 and in class 3. She traveled to Kibera from Eldoret with her mother, after being chased from their home during the violence following the election. Her mother hasn't been able to make enough money to purchase the uniform and supplies needed to send her daughter to school. Uweza was able to provide both of them with uniforms and according to Meghann one of the girls kept chanting "I'm going to school again!" excitedly while purchasing the uniforms.
That's all I have - I think Meghann will be updating with more information soon.
Oh, sponsorship welcome packets are being sent out VERY soon. We sincerely apologize for the delay and are working hard to get them finished.
Thanks (as always) for reading and for your support.
Jen
Friday, October 17, 2008
I think we're finally staying on top of the blog...
So I just wanted to quickly update everyone while I was thinking of the recent updates here at Uweza. Like Jen said previously in the blog, we have been falling behind on some of our projects because of the situation with Cyrus. This week I have spent 4 out of the last 7 days at a hospital up to 15 hours a day working on the case of Cyrus. His bill at Kenyatta amounted to a number we simply could not continue to afford. So we were working together with the hospital for a future payment plan, as they refused to release him. At first it was crazy to think how the National Hospital did not wish to help this orphaned boy who is now blind by releasing some of his debt, but the more we thought about it, we thought about the thousands of other poor and destitute that the National Hospital caters to and we began to see our payments as a donation to helping the hospital achieve the power to help all of the others unable to afford private care in Kenya.
We also wanted to inform everyone on the official diagnosis of Cyrus. The doctors had been struggling with his case for days trying to diagnosis the direct problem. They were sure of a bacteria infection but they could not quite pinpoint the overall problem, and it was especially difficult as he was unconscious and not able to answer any questions. The final result, after talking with Cyrus once he was stabilized, was that he had also suffered from methanol poisoning. Thankfully, the doctors suspected this all along and provided Cyrus with the proper treatment. Cyrus received methanol poisoning from taking a methylated spirit, a household cleaner at Tunza Children's Center. We were surprised and saddened to hear this news because now we must also question why Cyrus chose to take this toxic chemical. The children at the Center have had no one to talk with about things such as drugs or the traumatic events they've had to deal with as orphans, and so we are not sure if he was suffering from depression nor do we know what he wished to accomplish from drinking cleaning fluid.
We are happy to see now that the counselors will be there for the children to discuss these matters. We are excited to see their progress so far, as Jen has mentioned in the previous blog, and we hope their presence will prevent cases such as Cyrus from happening again.
So as of Thursday, Cyrus was released from the hospital on a payment plan. He was referred to both an ophthamologist for his eyes, and a psychiatrist to seek counseling and find out why he chose to take the methylated spirit. So immediately, yesterday on Friday morning, we all awoke at 5am to take Cyrus to Kikuyu Hospital, a center with one of the best (and affordable) eye care facilities in the country. We arrived to be the second in line for the clinic that opens at 8am, however, we still spent the rest of the day getting tests and seeing specialists. At the end of the day, we were told that the methanol had permanently damaged his optic nerves, however, because of complications the nerves were still swollen. The doctor noted that partial sight could return once the swelling had been reduced, which would naturally occur in the next 3-4 weeks. In the meantime, Cyrus has been given vitamins and nutritional supplements to help his eyes heal, in hopes that if the vitamins are pumped into the recovery of his eyes during swelling, he may gain his sight back. Unfortunately, however, there is no guarantee yet and he is to return to the eye clinic to seek further treatment in one week.
After the situation at Kenyatta, our plan has been to first diagnose his eye problems and find a way forward. After we are through with the eye clinic, we will be taking him to counseling, and in the meantime he will talk with the Tunza counselor, Collins, that we have hired. If his eyesight doesn't return, we will search for alternative methods of schooling and sponsorship for Cyrus. Again, we are so saddened to see his life turned upside down, all for making one simple mistake and we want to try and help him move forward in the best ways possible.
As of today, the hospital care for Cyrus has amounted to around 56,850 Kenya shillings (around $780 US dollars), however, we and Tunza Children's Center, are in a great deal of debt. If anyone could help to provide for the care of Cyrus, please donate or contact us for more details.
Aside from Cyrus, we have been working with two babies needing formula in our HIV+ program that Jen discussed previously. We have tried clinics throughout Kibera and have had no success in finding a feeding program so that the children may receive formula. There is such a need, especially in Kibera, for formula due to the high infections of HIV among the population. But we are determined to get these two children formula, in hopes that it will save them from being HIV+.
Lastly, we have finally moved some of the support group goods to the United States and will soon be selling them there to everyone. The support group project helps a lot of our HIV+ patients to earn a living and provide for their families, while still helping to set up a fund for themselves in providing loans and healthcare during emergency times. Recently, this week we sold some goods to a few American students studying in Nairobi. When Daniel, our health director, went to the home of one HIV+ women, Mary, to give her portion of the profits, she was completely overjoyed. She told Daniel that it must be a miracle that he came on this day because she had no money in the house and no way of providing food for her children. She was so overjoyed to get 400 kenya shillings (around $6 US dollars) she even offered to give Daniel 100 shillings of the profit for helping her. But Daniel informed her that she had received her deserved share, and the rest of the profit would be put into the support group funds for loans and hospital care. By buying these goods, your donations make an impact on a personal and local level, as in the case of Mary, so please stay tuned for more on support group sales soon!
That is all the news for now, more soon!
Meghann
We also wanted to inform everyone on the official diagnosis of Cyrus. The doctors had been struggling with his case for days trying to diagnosis the direct problem. They were sure of a bacteria infection but they could not quite pinpoint the overall problem, and it was especially difficult as he was unconscious and not able to answer any questions. The final result, after talking with Cyrus once he was stabilized, was that he had also suffered from methanol poisoning. Thankfully, the doctors suspected this all along and provided Cyrus with the proper treatment. Cyrus received methanol poisoning from taking a methylated spirit, a household cleaner at Tunza Children's Center. We were surprised and saddened to hear this news because now we must also question why Cyrus chose to take this toxic chemical. The children at the Center have had no one to talk with about things such as drugs or the traumatic events they've had to deal with as orphans, and so we are not sure if he was suffering from depression nor do we know what he wished to accomplish from drinking cleaning fluid.
We are happy to see now that the counselors will be there for the children to discuss these matters. We are excited to see their progress so far, as Jen has mentioned in the previous blog, and we hope their presence will prevent cases such as Cyrus from happening again.
So as of Thursday, Cyrus was released from the hospital on a payment plan. He was referred to both an ophthamologist for his eyes, and a psychiatrist to seek counseling and find out why he chose to take the methylated spirit. So immediately, yesterday on Friday morning, we all awoke at 5am to take Cyrus to Kikuyu Hospital, a center with one of the best (and affordable) eye care facilities in the country. We arrived to be the second in line for the clinic that opens at 8am, however, we still spent the rest of the day getting tests and seeing specialists. At the end of the day, we were told that the methanol had permanently damaged his optic nerves, however, because of complications the nerves were still swollen. The doctor noted that partial sight could return once the swelling had been reduced, which would naturally occur in the next 3-4 weeks. In the meantime, Cyrus has been given vitamins and nutritional supplements to help his eyes heal, in hopes that if the vitamins are pumped into the recovery of his eyes during swelling, he may gain his sight back. Unfortunately, however, there is no guarantee yet and he is to return to the eye clinic to seek further treatment in one week.
After the situation at Kenyatta, our plan has been to first diagnose his eye problems and find a way forward. After we are through with the eye clinic, we will be taking him to counseling, and in the meantime he will talk with the Tunza counselor, Collins, that we have hired. If his eyesight doesn't return, we will search for alternative methods of schooling and sponsorship for Cyrus. Again, we are so saddened to see his life turned upside down, all for making one simple mistake and we want to try and help him move forward in the best ways possible.
As of today, the hospital care for Cyrus has amounted to around 56,850 Kenya shillings (around $780 US dollars), however, we and Tunza Children's Center, are in a great deal of debt. If anyone could help to provide for the care of Cyrus, please donate or contact us for more details.
Aside from Cyrus, we have been working with two babies needing formula in our HIV+ program that Jen discussed previously. We have tried clinics throughout Kibera and have had no success in finding a feeding program so that the children may receive formula. There is such a need, especially in Kibera, for formula due to the high infections of HIV among the population. But we are determined to get these two children formula, in hopes that it will save them from being HIV+.
Lastly, we have finally moved some of the support group goods to the United States and will soon be selling them there to everyone. The support group project helps a lot of our HIV+ patients to earn a living and provide for their families, while still helping to set up a fund for themselves in providing loans and healthcare during emergency times. Recently, this week we sold some goods to a few American students studying in Nairobi. When Daniel, our health director, went to the home of one HIV+ women, Mary, to give her portion of the profits, she was completely overjoyed. She told Daniel that it must be a miracle that he came on this day because she had no money in the house and no way of providing food for her children. She was so overjoyed to get 400 kenya shillings (around $6 US dollars) she even offered to give Daniel 100 shillings of the profit for helping her. But Daniel informed her that she had received her deserved share, and the rest of the profit would be put into the support group funds for loans and hospital care. By buying these goods, your donations make an impact on a personal and local level, as in the case of Mary, so please stay tuned for more on support group sales soon!
That is all the news for now, more soon!
Meghann
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Update from America
Unlike the past blog entries, this one is being written from the United States. I returned home last Saturday, but still wanted to give everyone a heads up on what we were up to right before I left and also what has been happening since then. Meghann is still in Kenya and working hard to keep all of our projects running and make good use of our donations.
There is not a lot to update about since the last blog entry because our time and energy has been consumed with trying to handle the situation with Cyrus. Since we last wrote, Cyrus had made a lot of progress. He was moved from the ICU to a normal ward where he has been slowly recovering. He can now eat and communicate almost normally. Unfortunately, he is still completely blind. The doctors at Kenyatta had been assuring us that an ophthalmologist would be coming to check on his eyes and see what they could do, but unfortunately, that never happened. As is the case in America (and certainly other places), lack of funds for healthcare necessitates poorer quality care. This is not to say that Cyrus is suffering or not receiving decent care, but Kenyatta was the best we could do with our limited budget and we, undoubtedly along with numerous other Kenyans, have been growing frustrated with the general idea that good health must be bought.
This aside, considering the condition that Cyrus was in when we rushed him to Nairobi Hospital (where we did pay large amounts to ensure adequate care in the emergency situation), it is very likely that we saved his life. And we have been doing our best to make sure Cyrus is as happy and healthy as possible, despite his inability to see. We have visited every day, made sure he is eating and drinking enough and have been communicating with the doctors about the best options from this point on. He is being discharged in the next few days and we will be taking him immediately to an eye clinic to see what can be done. We won't be giving up on the chance that his eyesight may still return. We're also, in the event that he will remain blind, trying to find options for alternative schooling and care once he returns to Tunza so that he can continue to lead a normal life as possible.
So far, his hospital bills have amounted to about 50,000 shillings (about 700 USD) and they are still increasing. Because we are a new, small organization, this has taken a tremendous toll on our budget and we are starting to worry that it will affect our ability to maintain our other projects. We are continuing to reach out to our supporters or anyone that may have stumbled on this blog for assistance. All of the donations that we have received in the past have allowed us do the very best we could to help Cyrus but now we need help to continue being able to do so.
In Tumaini Health news, the patient that was pregnant and due at any time has given birth to a healthy baby girl. We are continuing to look for formula to ensure the baby is not HIV positive. We have provided her with milk, sugar and bottles as a temporary solution while we visit clinics to see what can be done.
We previously mentioned the beaded goods that the HIV+ support groups make and that we would be selling them so that the ladies of the group could earn some income for themselves and their families. After throwing away about half of my wardrobe at the airport to be able to get my bags under the allowed weight, I have carried 568 pieces of jewelry (necklaces and bracelets) back to the United States. Half of the proceeds from the sales will go straight to the individual who made the piece and the rest will be used to buy more materials and will go into a group fund that will be used to provide hospital care, medicine, and other needs for the members of the group. We will be posting pictures of the available items as well as more information on the Tumaini website (www.tumainihealth.org) in the coming weeks.
We have been continuing to visit the girls that were moved from Tunza to Hekima Place and they are doing really really well. The youngest girl, who is HIV positive, is gaining weight like crazy and has still remained off of ARV treatment. They have all made friends with the other girls and are really comfortable in the new home. They're attending school and overall, couldn't be happier.
Lastly, the counselors that we hired to work with the kids at Tunza have started holding sessions once a week. There is a male working with the boys and a female working with the girls. So far, they have held two sessions. The female counselor had the girls each write her letters so she could get to know them better and she let us know that they are being really open with her. The male counselor has told us that the boys are also being really open and the older boys have already started talking to him about issues of sexuality and asking questions about HIV. With over 70 kids at Tunza and only one caretaker, the kids (especially the ones that have reached adolescence) haven't really ever had the chance to express the problems and issues they deal with in an effective way and we're really excited about this opportunity for them.
For those of you who have sponsored a child, we are almost finished with the welcome packets and I will be mailing them out very soon!
Although this blog was originally intended to be for the summer while we were both in Kenya, we are going to continue to update it with what we're up to as long as one of us is in Kenya carrying out work so keep checking back.
Thanks for your reading and for your continued support. We wouldn't have been able to save Cyrus, feed a baby, support a group of HIV positive women or hire counselors without you. We may carry out the work but everything we do is made possible solely by the donations we receive so thank you.
Jen
There is not a lot to update about since the last blog entry because our time and energy has been consumed with trying to handle the situation with Cyrus. Since we last wrote, Cyrus had made a lot of progress. He was moved from the ICU to a normal ward where he has been slowly recovering. He can now eat and communicate almost normally. Unfortunately, he is still completely blind. The doctors at Kenyatta had been assuring us that an ophthalmologist would be coming to check on his eyes and see what they could do, but unfortunately, that never happened. As is the case in America (and certainly other places), lack of funds for healthcare necessitates poorer quality care. This is not to say that Cyrus is suffering or not receiving decent care, but Kenyatta was the best we could do with our limited budget and we, undoubtedly along with numerous other Kenyans, have been growing frustrated with the general idea that good health must be bought.
This aside, considering the condition that Cyrus was in when we rushed him to Nairobi Hospital (where we did pay large amounts to ensure adequate care in the emergency situation), it is very likely that we saved his life. And we have been doing our best to make sure Cyrus is as happy and healthy as possible, despite his inability to see. We have visited every day, made sure he is eating and drinking enough and have been communicating with the doctors about the best options from this point on. He is being discharged in the next few days and we will be taking him immediately to an eye clinic to see what can be done. We won't be giving up on the chance that his eyesight may still return. We're also, in the event that he will remain blind, trying to find options for alternative schooling and care once he returns to Tunza so that he can continue to lead a normal life as possible.
So far, his hospital bills have amounted to about 50,000 shillings (about 700 USD) and they are still increasing. Because we are a new, small organization, this has taken a tremendous toll on our budget and we are starting to worry that it will affect our ability to maintain our other projects. We are continuing to reach out to our supporters or anyone that may have stumbled on this blog for assistance. All of the donations that we have received in the past have allowed us do the very best we could to help Cyrus but now we need help to continue being able to do so.
In Tumaini Health news, the patient that was pregnant and due at any time has given birth to a healthy baby girl. We are continuing to look for formula to ensure the baby is not HIV positive. We have provided her with milk, sugar and bottles as a temporary solution while we visit clinics to see what can be done.
We previously mentioned the beaded goods that the HIV+ support groups make and that we would be selling them so that the ladies of the group could earn some income for themselves and their families. After throwing away about half of my wardrobe at the airport to be able to get my bags under the allowed weight, I have carried 568 pieces of jewelry (necklaces and bracelets) back to the United States. Half of the proceeds from the sales will go straight to the individual who made the piece and the rest will be used to buy more materials and will go into a group fund that will be used to provide hospital care, medicine, and other needs for the members of the group. We will be posting pictures of the available items as well as more information on the Tumaini website (www.tumainihealth.org) in the coming weeks.
We have been continuing to visit the girls that were moved from Tunza to Hekima Place and they are doing really really well. The youngest girl, who is HIV positive, is gaining weight like crazy and has still remained off of ARV treatment. They have all made friends with the other girls and are really comfortable in the new home. They're attending school and overall, couldn't be happier.
Lastly, the counselors that we hired to work with the kids at Tunza have started holding sessions once a week. There is a male working with the boys and a female working with the girls. So far, they have held two sessions. The female counselor had the girls each write her letters so she could get to know them better and she let us know that they are being really open with her. The male counselor has told us that the boys are also being really open and the older boys have already started talking to him about issues of sexuality and asking questions about HIV. With over 70 kids at Tunza and only one caretaker, the kids (especially the ones that have reached adolescence) haven't really ever had the chance to express the problems and issues they deal with in an effective way and we're really excited about this opportunity for them.
For those of you who have sponsored a child, we are almost finished with the welcome packets and I will be mailing them out very soon!
Although this blog was originally intended to be for the summer while we were both in Kenya, we are going to continue to update it with what we're up to as long as one of us is in Kenya carrying out work so keep checking back.
Thanks for your reading and for your continued support. We wouldn't have been able to save Cyrus, feed a baby, support a group of HIV positive women or hire counselors without you. We may carry out the work but everything we do is made possible solely by the donations we receive so thank you.
Jen
Sunday, October 5, 2008
A bit of news...
So things have kind of slowed here at Uweza right now, and we've been struggling to catch up on summer overdue summer work; mainly, the sponsorship updates and welcome packets. For those of you sponsoring a child, we really apologize but the updates are running a little late. Please expect them in the mail in the next few weeks.
But as for the organization, we have been really trying to get things done because Jen leaves this week and I am in school much of the time during the week.
Our Soccer League teams in Kibera have been busy practicing for their upcoming tournaments. Recently, all three teams were involved in a few tournaments with other Kibera teams. The Under 17 Tunza FC team won a few games, but never made it to the finals of the tournaments unfortunately. Our younger boys all did really well also, but they lost their first games in the tournaments, causing them to lose their place to advance to the next stage. All the teams have been practicing really hard lately in preparation for the upcoming tournaments. We are excited to say that we are working on setting up our own Uweza Soccer League tournament as well and will be inviting other teams in Kibera to join-- more news on this soon! Also, we are going to start a girls' Tunza FC team because the girls from the orphanage all expressed strong desire in playing soccer, like the boys. We are happy to give the girls the productive and recreational activity as well!
In Jamii Children's Center news, we are happy to report that the kitchen has been completely finished and the door, walls, and floor reconstructed. The two stoves are now in full use everyday so the volunteer kitchen staff can cook for all the children of the school. It has been a great help for the kitchen staff because they are able to cook with more efficiency, and the new sink has added more sanitary measures to the cooking process. Also, the kitchen has become a healthy environment for the staff members, because they are no longer inhaling all the smoke from the cooking due to the new chimneys. Additionally, the new stoves use less firewood per use now so it is saving the school and our organization money in the long run. As for the kids at Jamii, as previously mentioned, they all are having fun learning with their new school supplies from the Backpack Project and the available classrooms after the refugees have moved out. Learning is now back to normal at the center, and has even improved in the last few months with the help of the school supplies. We hope to be taking the kids on some educational field trips in the next few weeks and will update everyone on that soon.
With our health project, we have been preparing to bring some of the support group crafts to America for sale there and gain support for the groups. With the support group crafts, the women and men do bead work and make handbags for sale in local markets and internationally. 50% of the profit goes towards the owner of the bag or goods and helps the HIV+ patient to afford for his/her family's daily living expenses. 20% goes towards buying new materials for the groups to make further crafts, and 30% goes towards the group fund (which helps to provide emergency medical care and gives loans for business startup to the group members). We hope to soon be able to sell these goods from the US, and we will update everyone on our progress in the future. With the rest of the health outreach, its business as usual; we have been maintaining our home visit program and have been working with the HIV+ support groups.
And with the most news comes Tunza Children's Center. We have been working with them a lot lately to try and improve the living situations of the kids and to register Tunza as an official organization with the government. We have partnered with Faces of Kibera in the hiring of professional counselors (one male and one female) to come twice a week and interact with the children. We have been meeting with them and Mama Tunza, the director of the Center, in the last few weeks to try and work out a curriculum and time frame for discussion with the kids at the Center. We are hoping this can provide an outlet for dialogue for the kids, as well as give them a mentor or role model to look up to and talk to on a normal basis. Furthermore, the counselors can help to make Uweza more aware of the problems that certain kids in the Center are facing, so that we can handle these issues as they arise. We hope to start the sessions with the kids this coming week.
Lately, the Center has struggled with a bit of a food crisis as well, and so we have been helping to provide for food for the kids at a time when they are struggling to find any at all.
On Friday, every school in Nairobi was closed so that children could attend the International Trade Fair at Jamhuri Showgrounds, just next to Kibera. We decided to use this as a field trip for the Tunza kids, and so on Friday, we walked over 50 of the kids to the show because they had been begging to go all morning. They had a lot of fun, and we wanted to thank all the donors for helping us to send them to the show. They saw a lot of different animals and learned about farming and agriculture; they also saw many performances from local groups in theatre, music and dance. It was a fun day at the fair and the kids really enjoyed it, they were even treated to some ice cream. Pictures soon!
And the last bit of news comes about one of the orphans at Tunza Children's Center. Recently, Cyrus Renji, a 16 year old boy who has been living at Tunza for the last 3 years, has fallen ill. Cyrus attends Ayany Primary School and is about to graduate Class 8 and move on to Secondary School. He enjoys soccer and is a member of our Under 17 Tunza FC Team and attends practice and games regularly. At the Center, he is always around helping to do construction work and repairing the Center, and he does very well in school. On Wednesday of this past week, Cyrus was suffering from a headache and stayed home from school to rest. On Thursday, he woke at 7am suffering from his headache still and blurred vision. At this time, we decided to take him to the clinic to get a checkup and so we helped him to St. Mary's clinic in Kibera to seek treatment. By the time he arrived at the clinic, he had completely lost all of his vision and was quickly becoming confused and disoriented. At St. Mary's they referred him to Kenyatta National Hospital or a larger, more equipped hospital to handle his diagnosis. Kenyatta National Hospital is a big and bustling national hospital that caters to all who cannot afford any other means and many more from all over Kenya. At Kenyatta, when you enter the emergency room, you can see lines of people laying out on stretchers waiting to be seen, and even many on the floor if their are no more stretchers. These people, no matter what their condition, wait hours and hours throughout the day to be seen by a doctor or any medical personnel. Some end up dying just in the waiting room because they have not yet been seen.
And so at the time, we saw Cyrus quickly deteriorating and we knew Kenyatta was not the best option and he would die waiting to see a doctor. So we took him for treatment to Nairobi Hospital, a private hospital. By the time we arrived, Cyrus was still unable to see at all and was confused and disoriented and almost unconscious. He was rushed in to receive treatment and was given a CT scan and lab tests. The lab results came back that he had suffered from a specific viral and bacteria infection that had spread throughout, causing his current symptoms. So he began the proper treatment immediately and was put on an IV and heart monitor. By nightfall he was unconscious and still not recovering quickly enough, so he had to be admitted; after he had now been treated and was being monitored, we chose to admit him to Kenyatta Hospital to afford the bill. He was rushed by ambulance to Kenyatta where he was admitted to the Acute Room as he awaited a bed at the Intensive Care Unit. We surprised to be informed that for Kenyatta Hospital, the main and national hospital for all of Kenya, the Intensive Care Unit had only 12 beds. But we were glad to see that he was being treated in the Acute Room. By Friday, he was able to be admitted to the ICU where he is now recovering. We are really happy to see the progress he has made, he is now completely off his breathing machine that he had been relying on, and is slightly more responsive and alert; however, his eyesight has still not returned.
We wanted to tell all of those who have supported and have been aware of our projects here at Uweza to ask for your assistance. Now, more than ever, we really need your help. Uweza chose to intervene in the situation of Cyrus because there was no one else; he is a complete orphan with no other options than the Center, and the Center does not have the funds to provide such intensive medical care. Without all of our supporters there would be no Uweza; and without Uweza, Cyrus would have died that day had he not received immediate and proper medical treatment. We are hoping that with Uweza, he can continue to recover and maybe receive his eyesight back. But he has a long way to go, and his care so far has put a very large burden on our organization. We are really hoping that our supporters can come to our rescue to help Cyrus recover by means of hospital care. So far, our organization has accepted the burden of the Nairobi Hospital bill of 25,000 Kenya shillings (around $400.00 US dollars) but this alone has wiped out a lot of our funds designated for hospital care, and his Kenyatta bill (which we assume will be even more than this due to the duration of his stay) has yet to be paid, and we cannot afford to provide for this alone.
Please please please, if you can help to fund his care in anyway donate online here or send a check or money order to:
Uweza Aid Foundation
P.O. Box 1042
Evanston, IL 60201
United States
We know our supporters will come through for this cause, and if you can do anything to provide please help us in this time of need. As for the rest, thank you again to all who have been supporting us and spreading our news-- we could not do this without all of you, and everything we do and write here in our blog is all that you have done. So thanks again and we will be informing you all more on our projects soon!
Meghann
But as for the organization, we have been really trying to get things done because Jen leaves this week and I am in school much of the time during the week.
Our Soccer League teams in Kibera have been busy practicing for their upcoming tournaments. Recently, all three teams were involved in a few tournaments with other Kibera teams. The Under 17 Tunza FC team won a few games, but never made it to the finals of the tournaments unfortunately. Our younger boys all did really well also, but they lost their first games in the tournaments, causing them to lose their place to advance to the next stage. All the teams have been practicing really hard lately in preparation for the upcoming tournaments. We are excited to say that we are working on setting up our own Uweza Soccer League tournament as well and will be inviting other teams in Kibera to join-- more news on this soon! Also, we are going to start a girls' Tunza FC team because the girls from the orphanage all expressed strong desire in playing soccer, like the boys. We are happy to give the girls the productive and recreational activity as well!
In Jamii Children's Center news, we are happy to report that the kitchen has been completely finished and the door, walls, and floor reconstructed. The two stoves are now in full use everyday so the volunteer kitchen staff can cook for all the children of the school. It has been a great help for the kitchen staff because they are able to cook with more efficiency, and the new sink has added more sanitary measures to the cooking process. Also, the kitchen has become a healthy environment for the staff members, because they are no longer inhaling all the smoke from the cooking due to the new chimneys. Additionally, the new stoves use less firewood per use now so it is saving the school and our organization money in the long run. As for the kids at Jamii, as previously mentioned, they all are having fun learning with their new school supplies from the Backpack Project and the available classrooms after the refugees have moved out. Learning is now back to normal at the center, and has even improved in the last few months with the help of the school supplies. We hope to be taking the kids on some educational field trips in the next few weeks and will update everyone on that soon.
With our health project, we have been preparing to bring some of the support group crafts to America for sale there and gain support for the groups. With the support group crafts, the women and men do bead work and make handbags for sale in local markets and internationally. 50% of the profit goes towards the owner of the bag or goods and helps the HIV+ patient to afford for his/her family's daily living expenses. 20% goes towards buying new materials for the groups to make further crafts, and 30% goes towards the group fund (which helps to provide emergency medical care and gives loans for business startup to the group members). We hope to soon be able to sell these goods from the US, and we will update everyone on our progress in the future. With the rest of the health outreach, its business as usual; we have been maintaining our home visit program and have been working with the HIV+ support groups.
And with the most news comes Tunza Children's Center. We have been working with them a lot lately to try and improve the living situations of the kids and to register Tunza as an official organization with the government. We have partnered with Faces of Kibera in the hiring of professional counselors (one male and one female) to come twice a week and interact with the children. We have been meeting with them and Mama Tunza, the director of the Center, in the last few weeks to try and work out a curriculum and time frame for discussion with the kids at the Center. We are hoping this can provide an outlet for dialogue for the kids, as well as give them a mentor or role model to look up to and talk to on a normal basis. Furthermore, the counselors can help to make Uweza more aware of the problems that certain kids in the Center are facing, so that we can handle these issues as they arise. We hope to start the sessions with the kids this coming week.
Lately, the Center has struggled with a bit of a food crisis as well, and so we have been helping to provide for food for the kids at a time when they are struggling to find any at all.
On Friday, every school in Nairobi was closed so that children could attend the International Trade Fair at Jamhuri Showgrounds, just next to Kibera. We decided to use this as a field trip for the Tunza kids, and so on Friday, we walked over 50 of the kids to the show because they had been begging to go all morning. They had a lot of fun, and we wanted to thank all the donors for helping us to send them to the show. They saw a lot of different animals and learned about farming and agriculture; they also saw many performances from local groups in theatre, music and dance. It was a fun day at the fair and the kids really enjoyed it, they were even treated to some ice cream. Pictures soon!
And the last bit of news comes about one of the orphans at Tunza Children's Center. Recently, Cyrus Renji, a 16 year old boy who has been living at Tunza for the last 3 years, has fallen ill. Cyrus attends Ayany Primary School and is about to graduate Class 8 and move on to Secondary School. He enjoys soccer and is a member of our Under 17 Tunza FC Team and attends practice and games regularly. At the Center, he is always around helping to do construction work and repairing the Center, and he does very well in school. On Wednesday of this past week, Cyrus was suffering from a headache and stayed home from school to rest. On Thursday, he woke at 7am suffering from his headache still and blurred vision. At this time, we decided to take him to the clinic to get a checkup and so we helped him to St. Mary's clinic in Kibera to seek treatment. By the time he arrived at the clinic, he had completely lost all of his vision and was quickly becoming confused and disoriented. At St. Mary's they referred him to Kenyatta National Hospital or a larger, more equipped hospital to handle his diagnosis. Kenyatta National Hospital is a big and bustling national hospital that caters to all who cannot afford any other means and many more from all over Kenya. At Kenyatta, when you enter the emergency room, you can see lines of people laying out on stretchers waiting to be seen, and even many on the floor if their are no more stretchers. These people, no matter what their condition, wait hours and hours throughout the day to be seen by a doctor or any medical personnel. Some end up dying just in the waiting room because they have not yet been seen.
And so at the time, we saw Cyrus quickly deteriorating and we knew Kenyatta was not the best option and he would die waiting to see a doctor. So we took him for treatment to Nairobi Hospital, a private hospital. By the time we arrived, Cyrus was still unable to see at all and was confused and disoriented and almost unconscious. He was rushed in to receive treatment and was given a CT scan and lab tests. The lab results came back that he had suffered from a specific viral and bacteria infection that had spread throughout, causing his current symptoms. So he began the proper treatment immediately and was put on an IV and heart monitor. By nightfall he was unconscious and still not recovering quickly enough, so he had to be admitted; after he had now been treated and was being monitored, we chose to admit him to Kenyatta Hospital to afford the bill. He was rushed by ambulance to Kenyatta where he was admitted to the Acute Room as he awaited a bed at the Intensive Care Unit. We surprised to be informed that for Kenyatta Hospital, the main and national hospital for all of Kenya, the Intensive Care Unit had only 12 beds. But we were glad to see that he was being treated in the Acute Room. By Friday, he was able to be admitted to the ICU where he is now recovering. We are really happy to see the progress he has made, he is now completely off his breathing machine that he had been relying on, and is slightly more responsive and alert; however, his eyesight has still not returned.
We wanted to tell all of those who have supported and have been aware of our projects here at Uweza to ask for your assistance. Now, more than ever, we really need your help. Uweza chose to intervene in the situation of Cyrus because there was no one else; he is a complete orphan with no other options than the Center, and the Center does not have the funds to provide such intensive medical care. Without all of our supporters there would be no Uweza; and without Uweza, Cyrus would have died that day had he not received immediate and proper medical treatment. We are hoping that with Uweza, he can continue to recover and maybe receive his eyesight back. But he has a long way to go, and his care so far has put a very large burden on our organization. We are really hoping that our supporters can come to our rescue to help Cyrus recover by means of hospital care. So far, our organization has accepted the burden of the Nairobi Hospital bill of 25,000 Kenya shillings (around $400.00 US dollars) but this alone has wiped out a lot of our funds designated for hospital care, and his Kenyatta bill (which we assume will be even more than this due to the duration of his stay) has yet to be paid, and we cannot afford to provide for this alone.
Please please please, if you can help to fund his care in anyway donate online here or send a check or money order to:
Uweza Aid Foundation
P.O. Box 1042
Evanston, IL 60201
United States
We know our supporters will come through for this cause, and if you can do anything to provide please help us in this time of need. As for the rest, thank you again to all who have been supporting us and spreading our news-- we could not do this without all of you, and everything we do and write here in our blog is all that you have done. So thanks again and we will be informing you all more on our projects soon!
Meghann
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