Holiday Fundraising Drive

Friends,

Last winter, Ravi and Ian traveled to Kenya to volunteer with Ezekiel Tito’s Friends of Rusinga Orphans and Widows Group (FROWG). The trip was life-changing for us in many ways, and we could not have contributed so much to the community without the support, both emotional and material, of our friends and family. We are seeking your help once more in supporting FROWG this holiday season.

We’ve been in regular contact with Ezekiel since leaving Rusinga nearly one year ago. While his reports are always optimistic, it is difficult for us to ignore the drought in East Africa – the worst in half a century – and the devastating effect it has had on millions of Kenyans. CNN reports that “[t]he price of a 90 kilogram bag of maize, which is the main food source for most Kenyans, jumped from about $16 in June 2010 to about $44 in July 2011 -- an increase of 160%.” Such an increase would strain even the most stable of families, but those most severely affected are undoubtedly orphans that depend on feeding programs such as Ezekiel’s.

Many of these children were already underfed in their adoptive homes, and they rely increasingly on feeding programs as the drought continues. An empty stomach distracts students, and the feeding program provides nourishment, but also allows a child to focus on their studies.  Ezekiel’s foundation also provides a safe haven for children who have little else to look forward to each day. These are bright children who can succeed and contribute to their community, but they need our help to do so.

The boy in the picture above is named Durance. Durance’s mother and father died of AIDS when he was very young, and he has spent his life in the care of various relatives on Rusinga.

In Kenya, only primary education is provided by the state, and even this benefit is a recent development. Durance could have easily become another of Rusinga’s many undereducated, unemployed youths, destined to a life of poverty. But Ezekiel took the boy under his wing, and Durance recently earned a scholarship to high school through FROWG, where he now thrives. By investing in Durance’s nutrition and education, Ezekiel and FROWG are investing in the future of the entire community.

Durance is just one of the many success stories of FROWG, but the organization can’t flourish

without funds. Last year, you helped us raise an incredible amount of money to benefit the

foundation. That money built an outhouse; purchased uniforms, sports equipment, utensils and

bowls; and funded the feeding program for a full six months. This food security allowed Ezekiel

to focus on the children rather than international fundraising. Today FROWG’s bank account is running dry, and to thrive, the group needs your support.

While many of us may be tightening our belts this year, we ask you not to forget those who need our help more than ever. You can help by clicking the “Donate” button on the right-hand side of our blog.  The donations will go into a Paypal account that we manage, and will then be deposited directly into FROWG’s bank account via a wire transfer.  Even just a few dollars goes a long way!

Thank you for your generosity, and happy holidays!

Ravi and Ian

A Brief Update

Sorry we have not been posting very often, but now that we are teaching daily at Agiro Primary School, it is more difficult to find time to make the four mile trek to Mbita for internet access. But here we are, so here is a quick update!

Lessons have been going quite well at Agiro. Ravi and I were asked to teach classes independently, but we decided that, since neither of us has substantial classroom teaching experience, we would be better off teaming up. We teach English to class six, and Social Studies to class five. The children are very smart, but many of them are shy, and our accents are quite different from the accents of their other teachers, so we sometimes have trouble getting through and getting responses. But overall, it is going very well - at the end of our first lesson (Social Studies), two or three of the kids asked us earnestly to stay and continue teaching. Through RECESS. They're so great.

Sadly, this is our last week at the school, and on Rusinga. While we are sad to leave, we are so happy with what we have been able to do for FROWG and Agiro with the funds you have helped us to raise. The toilet is nearly complete, and today Ezekiel opened a bank account for FROWG, so that we may deposit the money we have set aside for food security. We have replaced many broken cups and plates for the feeding program, purchased a new cook pot, and this week we will replace the uniforms of about half the students in the feeding program. We provided five soccer balls for the children, and eight frisbee discs, to be shared between the feeding program and the sports program at the school. Agiro did not have a soccer ball this year, and Mr. George, the sports teacher, is very excited to train his students properly.

We appreciate the generosity you have all shown so much, as do the children, and Ezekiel and his family, in providing stability for the program for a further six months. This was a particularly trying winter for Ezekiel - the program was running low on funds, while food prices rose due to a delayed rainy season (it was due in November or December, and has still not arrived), and his fishing business, which he draws from when necessary for FROWG, has struggled due to drought. In short, this was quite the opportune time for these funds to arrive.

Next week Ravi and I will be traveling for a while, so this blog may not be updated for a few weeks, but please keep an eye on it - when we have time to reflect more deeply on our time in Rusinga, we will certainly have much to say.

Thank you,
Ian and Ravi

More Photos!

Ian playing with 3 year-old Javi

Ravi serving one of the students from the feeding program at lunchtime

Diggers hard at work on the new toilet 

Ravi and Durance admire the Rusingan sunset on the way back from town

The New Year

Hey everyone!

Sorry it has been so long since we have updated the blog. We have been quite busy on Rusinga, and also we both caught a nasty bug for most of last week. If you can think of a clever name (ie Delhi Belly, Montezuma's Revenge) for the African bug, let us know.

As I mentioned, we've been busy. We did some quick napkin math and found that, as of around two weeks ago, we had almost exactly enough money to set aside six months' worth of food funds, and to build the toilet for the kiddos. So, what the hell - we broke ground!

If you were curious as to why a toilet costs nearly $1500, while a kitchen is only $500, well, so were we. Rusinga is rural. Very rural. There is no plumbing, and only the clinic and a handful of businesses have electricity. So, everything must be built by hand. A toilet here is basically an outhouse, and it must be dug 20-30 feet into the ground - all by hand. And on top of that, more often than not, diggers hit rock at around 15 feet. Unfortunately, our diggers hit rock - SOLID rock - at around 12 feet. So, it is a lot of work compared to a stick-and-mud kitchen (I would love to write more about the native architecture techniques, but I am a bit strapped for time. Ask me when you see me!).

On the subject of traditional architecture, we have some other big news. Ezekiel moved to a new property last week, and with him the feeding program must also move. His new property is just a few hundred yards from his old home, so it is not a terrible inconvenience; in fact, nearly all of the materials from the old structures can be easily salvaged. However, the cement floor of the feeding program must be replaced, which will cost something like $800 USD. On the upside, the new property is MUCH larger than the old place, so the kids will have a lot of room to play! Their old football (read: soccer) field is maybe five by ten meters, the new place has probably half a field of open space.

Finally, we have a few small items to add to Ezekiel's wish list. Once all the kiddos came in for lunch on the first day of school (over break only about half showed up every day), we found that there were not enough bowls and cups to go around, so we went ahead and bought ten of each for the time being, for around $12 USD. We will probably buy many more, so that they can be replaced when broken in the future. Additionally, around ten students are in need of new school uniforms, as theirs are severely worn. These cost around $10 each, so if we have $100 to spare this will get taken care of. The school year starts with the calendar year here, so now is the time to buy new uniforms.

Ian and Ravi