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News from the first six months 2023

We are currently working in Kenya in three different schools that are facing different challenges and problems. The new semester started in all three schools on 03 July 2023.

REHOBOTH SCHOOL

Since the beginning of 2023 we have been supporting the Rehoboth School. This school is located in Kitengela Noonkopir, the largest slum in the Kajiado District, right next to a dumping site, the “workplace” of many of the students’ parents. The school was founded by Jane Gitonga, a mother of five, in 2014 with the aim of giving poor children from the area the opportunity to attend school. Rehoboth is a public school and unlike Europe, in Kenya public schools are for the poorest of the poor as they do not have to pay school fees. The stories of the students are similar and are mostly of sexual and domestic violence, HIV, and abject poverty. Before Covid, the school had about 170 students, most of whom were financed through sponsorships. One consequence of the pandemic is that the school lost many its sponsors. As a result, teachers’ salaries could no longer be guaranteed, and some left the school. A considerable rent arrears accumulated, and the landlord was already threatening to kick them out. The number of students had dropped to 90 as the school had to ask for support from parents who could not afford it.
In this emergency, the WeCare Association decided to take over the school’s fixed costs as of January 2023. The children now receive three meals a day, 7 days a week. In the last month alone, 20 new students joined the school, and the total number of students is now 170 again. The number of daily cases of illness has decreased due to the improved nutritional situation of the children. Since there is no caning in this school (a practice that is officially banned in Kenya but is nevertheless common in many schools), the children like to come to school because they not only get food there but also have a haven. As the pupils are also provided with school materials and uniforms due to our donation, the cooperation with the parents has improved massively. The motivation of the teachers has increased, as they no longer must fear waiting for months for their salaries. It was also possible to increase the number of teachers from seven to eleven, which has a direct impact on the quality of teaching and all school subjects can now be taught.

Iloshon

We visited Iloshon four times in the first semester of 2023, but in April 2023 the visit ended halfway due to a closed road. The “normal” road, on which we have also visited the school in Iloshon several times, had been closed by the landowner due to disputes with the local population. This had a dramatic effect on the primary school in Iloshon, which is attended by 430 pupils. The teachers did not come to school, the pupils also had problems in some cases and of course our aid delivery also had to be picked up halfway by the pupils, as the alternative route was not passable. We contacted the local authorities, but unfortunately the mills grind very slowly in Kenya. The government is working on finalising the new route. Just for understanding: It is not about road construction in our sense, but the roughest stones are being removed to create a “road”.
In addition, Iloshon has a new school headmaster named Mr. James. According to Agnes Gitonga, he is an older Masai, but very open. He has promised to motivate parents in terms of having their girls attend the Nasaru Learning Centre.
We also organized and carried out the long-needed renovation of the drainage pipes and connection of the washbasins in the “bathrooms” of Nasaru through the vice-director Purity. This was urgently needed as the drainage pipes in the outdoor toilets had holes in them, causing a massive health problem.
There is also good news from the sewing studio: the sewing teacher Lilian has managed to sell some bags. We are not sure if these sales were profitable. But it is a very good start. However, Lilian is currently pregnant again and will soon stop working. We will try to find an acceptable interim solution.

Mperrishi

We visited Mperrishi four times in the first half of 2023. According to the budget, only three visits were planned for this period, but we were able to win a sponsor for an additional 10 girls from Mperrishi. The donation now covers the higher frequency of visits that has become necessary as a result, which will of course also benefit the girls already supported.
There has also been a change in the school management in Mperrishi: Mr. Immanuel has been replaced by Mr. Reuben. In addition, the number of teachers has been increased to a total of 9, which will have a positive effect on the learning success of the students.
Another positive development is the arrival of a young Masai teacher named Charity, who can act as a role model for the girls.

You can download the entire Half Year Report 2023 here:

We see progress in many areas and are convinced that we are on the right track.

Thank you for supporting us on this journey!

For regular updates, please follow us on social media:Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/femmes_des_rizieres
https://www.instagram.com/wecareassociation
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/femmesdesrizieres
https://www.facebook.com/WeCareAssociation
And of course, on our websites:
www.wecare-association.ch
www.femmes-des-rizieres.com

Have a wonderful summer 2023!

FGM Nasaru Learning Center

Let’s talk about FGM

Yesterday, I had the honor to be invited to the monthly talk of team members of Nokia Brazil to speak about our projects and activities in Kenya.

I spoke about our collaboration with Agnes Gitonga to educate women and girls in remote villages about the dangers and consequences of FGM (female genital mutilation).  We showed pictures of our Nasaru Learning Center for Masai Girls and explained how it came into existence.

Opening of the Nasaru Masai Girls Learning Centre in 2019
Boarders supported by WeCare-Association
Vocational training provided by Lilian

The dorm was a request from the Iloshon School Teachers as they had noticed an important dropout rate of girls in higher classes as they became pregnant on their way to and from school. The girls and boys of Iloshon primary school must cope with a walk of up to 10 km one way to get to school. Consequently, adolescent girls face a higher risk of getting pregnant.

Dorm provides social control

The boarding not only gives the girls more time to study but also protects them from being subject to FGM – at least to some extend as the school presents a social control and girls whose lower teeth have been filed as sign of their readiness for FGM are easier identified. FGM is a coming-of-age procedure for Masai girls and even though officially forbidden by law is still being practiced. It is the official end of the girls’ childhood and marks their transition from girls to woman. As women they can get pregnant and can be married off…which is the end of their education. And this triggers a vicious circle of illiteracy and poverty.

Great participation

It was beautiful to see and hear how interested the Nokia team members participated. One team member’s daughter had done research on Masai customs at school, and had discovered that via the PLAN INTERNATIONAL organization there have been some initiatives in the Kajiado County to substitute the FGM procedure with a less harmful celebration providing the girls with books. As the schools we are working with are in the same district we are trying now to get into touch with this group of young men.

Another learning of the talk was to emphasize the importance of spreading the word. We need to talk about FGM, and we also need to talk about the poverty of these communities in remote areas.

Thank you very much to all participant Nokia team members and to Vanessa Iglesias for the invitation!

Farm in Africa Masai Mama Africa Center (MMAC) Uncategorized

Susi and Manu go to Africa – Part 2

Also this year we – Susi and Manu – decided to travel to Kenya in order to personally check on the situation there. Not only did we want to see the development of the projects with our own eyes, we were very curious about the longterm effects of our projects on the development of the villages.

View from the car on the road
We did not really know what to expect and thus were very excited. The atmosphere in Olpirikata was very cheerful. As we arrived on a Sunday, the local population had decided to reduce the usually very long mass ceremonies, however, we could not avoid having to sit through a number of relatively long sermons given by lay priests. It was a very warm welcome.

After the opening ceremony, we headed straight off for our visit to the farm or Acacia Camp as the locals call it. The local Masai population has provided 18 ha of land for the farm project, which now includes a stable for 20 dairy cows, three greenhouses, a couple of vegetable fields, fenced grazing land for the cows, a hens’ coop with 250 chicken and 500 Aloe Vera plants. The greenhouses were necessary to protect the young and fragile vegetable plants from the strong and frequent winds in the savannah.

Upon arriving at the farm on time for the vespertine milking at 5pm, we were surprised to find a queue of people lined up with their own plastic containers to buy fresh milk. The plastic containers faintly reminded us of laundry detergent containers. The people had formed a proper line and were waiting patiently until it was their turn.

Masai milk cans

John Sawa Tuwei is responsible for the farm and is also in charge of the other 6 men and 3 women who are employeed at the farm. The men take care of the cows, ie. they feed, nurture and milk them, and also manage the sale of the milk. They also take care of the fields and the greenhouse and are greatly supported by Antonio, a collaborator of La Nostra Africa who lives in Olpirikata permanently. The three women take care of the hens’ coop and sell the eggs.

Generally speaking, the atmosphere in Olpirikata is very good – thanks to our well project, the village has been spared from last year’s drought and they have enough water for the population as well as for the cattle. The fact that fresh milk can now be easily bought at any time is perceived as a miracle. You can see children waving happily with their milk containers and the local shop owner was able to increase business by selling Chai (sugared tea with hot milk), which has turned her shop into the local Starbuck’s of Olpirikata.

On this trip, we stayed overnight in Olpirikata for the first time, that is to say, we slept in one of the rooms of the Massai Mama Africa Center. We were fed well and enjoyed tomatoes, eggs and milk from the farm. Since Giorgio also wants to teach the Massai how to make cheese, he brought a lab-ferment from Italy for the first trial with local milk. After adding the lab-ferment to the milk, he let it rest for 24 hours and then made the cheese. We got to be the guinea pigs for this first cheese production and we survived!

The following day we travelled to Iloshion to participate in the celebrations of the first stone laying for the Nasaru Learning Center for Massai Girls. Iloshion suffered a terrible drought last year and people there are worse off than those in Olpirikata. Nevertheless, they provided us with a very friendly and warm welcome with children forming a guard of honor for us. It was very emotional!

We then had the opportunity to observe the children at break time at the local elementary school:
All children bring a little bit of milk in a plastic container to school. This milk is then poured into a huge pot where the women prepare the porridge as a snack for the break. At break time, the kids make a line in front of the pot and everybody gets a portion.

 

Then we visited the new administration building of Iloshion and interviewed and photographed numerous children and adults.

After a typical Massai ceremony with lots of speeches and gifts, the whole assembly was directed towards the future construction site for the Nasaru Learning Center.

It was a very big group walking through the savannah as a rather big number of parents had arrived especially for the celebration. The teachers told the children to form a line along the floor space of the future building. This was very impressive as this way one could imagine the dimensions of the future building complex. Symbolically we laid the first stone and then distributed some sweets to the children. A touching moment we had been looking forward to for a very long time!

Our next stop was the Boma complex of a family in Olpirikata. We were invited to discuss a potential future project. The family would be willing to provide land for this project which is still in the planning stage. Although we, as two women, were treated with a little bit of suspicion, we were once again given a very warm welcome.

Our dinner consisted of pizza prepared by Antonio with homemade cheese and tomatoes from the farm! As we were a little scared of potential bacteria, we washed it down with a little bit of gin – strictly as a safety measurement! The nocturnal way to the bathrooms proved to be an adventure which definitely will have a positive impact on Susi’s and Manu’s friendship. Experiences like this are bonding and will never be forgotten. Generally speaking on trips like this one, bodily functions turn into very repetitive and interesting topics!
Next on our list was a visit to Singiraine. This is a village with a population of about 2,000 and does not have any water even though there is a river bed right next to it. Singiraine unfortunately is proof of the German saying, “the opposite of “well done” is very often “well meant”. Actually, another NGO intended to build a dam but unfortunately the project was abandoned before termination and thus the population is still without water. The people, ie the women of Singiraine, have to walk 10 km and more to fetch water! Giorgio from La Nostra Africa is working on the evaluation of a project – in close cooperation with an Italian university – to finish the dam.

After a long and very tiring journey back to Nairobi, we went to see furniture to find inspiration for our next project. Information about this project will follow soon…. And then our short but very intensive visit had come to an end. We left Kenya full of new impressions and ideas and know one thing for sure: We will be back!

Africa Cambodia Empowerment Farm in Africa Kenya

2017 – The Year in Review

Before January ends, we want to give you a quick review of 2017 which was a milestone in the development of our association. On this day a year ago, I departed to Cambodia together with my daughter in order to visit the Safe House in Battambang.

It was a very interesting, inspiring and intense stay with the lovely Theavy Bun and her dedicated and friendly husband Patrik Roux and of course the children. My daughter read the Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry with the teenagers and took care of her greeting cards’ project.

Monkeys are observing us while we take pictures of the flowers in the temple.

Motifs for the greeting cards from Anna’s project wrapped with lucky bracelets made in the Safe House.

I worked on our Femmes des Rizières Project together with Theavy but unfortunately, the project has not been further developed so far. Volunteers for this project are more than welcome!

My daughter Anna was very impressed with her experience in the Safe House and I would like to quote her from her project report: ” I am speechless. Poverty is relative. The children gave me something which I cannot put into words and I hope that I was able to give back. I miss them and would have loved to get to know them better. (…) Now, when I hear other people complain about material things, I realize what a privilege it is to be able to complain about it.”

In the following months we were working on the development of the WeCare-Website and preparations for the tenth edition of the Susi’s Bazaar commenced.

On July 7th we travelled to Kenya for the groundbreaking of the construction of the farm. You can find our travel report here. Together with Manuela I visited the Massai community of Olpirikata which had dedicated 18 hectares of land to the project. The community gave us a very warm welcome and we tried to point out the importance for the Masai men to assume responsibility for the running of the farm. So far, the project has been a huge success. The population is buying the milk and in November the first calf was born. The second calf is due in March 2018 – we are looking forward to it! There are still some parts of the farm missing, such as the construction of the water reservoir and a lot of planting. We do have very high expectations when it comes to substantially improving the nutritional situation of the local population by arable farming. The planted Aloe Vera should also be commercialized and thus present a future source of income.

Our next stop was Ilsohion, where we decided to make the project “Nasaru – Masai Girls’ Learning Center” our next baby.

The girls of Iloshion who will benefit from the construction of the Nasaru – Masai Girls’ Learning Center.

In Tanzania we met lovely Mokili, who was able to have these beautiful ponchos made especially for us. You can order the ponchos (in many different colors) at the price of Fr. 120,- from us. Please send a mail to hello@wecare-association.com.

 

In November 2017 the 10th edition of Susi’s Bazaar took place and we were able to obtain a total of Fr. 80.000 for the Nasaru Project. A big thank you goes to all our donators and sponsors!

 

 

 

We have many ideas and projects for 2018: We want to launch a Scolarship Program for talented students whom we want to support and find sponsors for them. Furthermore, we would also like to launch an apprenticeship program for the restauration and hotel business – similar to the Swiss system. And, of course, Nasaru has to be built.

We are looking forward to a very exciting year! Stay tuned.

Children Smart Nursery

Peter Pan Day

Today is Peter Pan Day. Peter Pan is a fictional character in the children’s story by James Matthew Barrie. He spends his never-ending childhood on the mythical island «Neverland». Peter Pan represents the carelessness and innocence of childhood, having imaginary and very often violent adventures and being completely oblivious of real danger and sorrow. Peter Pan never changes and never grows up.

Growing up is such a barbarous business, full of inconvenience…and pimples.
Captain Hook from Peter Pan

In sharp contrast to this fictional figure, children in Kenya and Cambodia have no choice but to face the realities of adulthood already at an early age. In 2016, 41% of the Kenyan population was younger than 15 years old. This age group represents a mere 13, 14 and 15% of the total population in Germany, Austria and Switzerland respectively. Also in 2016, the average age of the Kenyan population was 19.5 years and the life expectancy was at 64 years of age. The low life expectancy rate is due largely to the spread of HIV and AIDS. This also means many of Kenya’s children are orphans. In 2016, the average per capita income of Kenya was at $3,400, i.e. a mere 6% of the Swiss average of $59,400. A huge part of the the Kenyan children face massive financial hardship and subsequently have to work to contribute to the meager household income. They do not have much time to enjoy their childhood and just be children. This is one of the main reasons why the Masai population continues to ask for the construction of safe havens such as nurseries and kindergartens for their children. Here you will find more information about the Smart Nurseries project.

*) Source: The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, U.S.

 

Africa Children Health

Kenya: Children’s Vaccinations

We have offered Dr. Angela a bonus to speed up the vaccination of children, which had already been financed. Deadlines are end of April, end of May and end of June – hopefully this will work! We will keep you posted…..

Dr. Angela - zuständige Ärztin beim Masai Mama Africa Center in Olpirikata

Go, go…Dr. Angela