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| Greetings, |
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NextAid's Nexus is back with important updates just in time for the holiday season. Check out what has been happening in Dennilton, Kenya, and right here in the US. With this Nexus we bring you inspiring volunteer accounts, amazing new partnerships, and alluring ways for you to help NextAid as you begin your holiday shopping!
Thank you for reading! |
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| Oprah's School Students Volunteer in Dennilton |
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Last month NextAid was proud to host 75 students from the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls at the site of our sustainable Children's Village and Community Center in Dennilton, South Africa. The students made the 6 hour round trip journey by bus in order spend a day of service helping this disadvantaged community. The school donated a playground set to the project and their grade 8 students, along with participants of Youth With A Vision, helped to assemble the playground, paint tires and plant flowers. It was an amazing day that captured the spirit of volunteerism. To read the full article and view more photos visit: http://nextaid.org/press/oprahgirlsvisit.htm |
| Stories from the Field: Long Beach State Students |
 The Nexus is proud to introduce a new monthly feature that will bring first-hand accounts from volunteers, staff or local community members who want to share experiences and insights from our Africa projects. To conserve space, only excerpts will be provided in the newsletter and full-text versions will be posted at www.nextaid.org This past summer, Dr. Roberts from California State University Long Beach took her death and dying course abroad to South Africa. On June 20th the students went to the community of Dennilton to do a service project. While there the students were exposed to a way of life that profoundly impacted their outlook on the world. Spending the day in Dennilton taught the students how important it is to get involved and how to make a positive impact in the world. The people they met and the memories they made will forever guide them in their journey to making a difference. Our first student journal entry is written by Eric Matsuno. One of the projects that we took part in was the gardening of palm and orange trees to help sustain the community. It was an extremely rewarding feeling to know that what we did today will make a long lasting impact and last for years and years to come. If there's one thing I learned from this trip it's that nothing should be taken for granted. The gratification of having the chance to make a personal contribution at the global level is tremendous, and not easy to come by. Not only was I able to make an impact in another community, but I was also able to experience hands-on learning about another country and culture, and to exchange ideas with people I might not otherwise meet. As an international volunteer, I learned great value from the communities I worked in, and from the experience of traveling in the country and interacting with new people.
This was truly a life-changing experience. I used to think the purpose of life was to be happy through a hedonistic view, by making the most of my own self-pleasures. But this has helped me to see that what is more important is to matter. To be productive, to be useful, and to have it make some difference can make me feel that I have really lived a fulfilling life. And I think with this sense of fulfillment, comes the happiness.
The life-changing experience does not end when we return home. Returning home should be an opportunity to share the enthusiasm and inspiration of our experience and be a voice for greater social involvement. By sharing our international volunteer experience with those in our home community and finding ways to incorporate what we learned into our daily lives, we play an important role in fostering cultural understanding between people. I would really recommend this type of traveling to anyone who thinks they have problems. Life's not that daunting once you take a look around and see what other people have to deal with.
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| Program Director Visits Kenya to Launch New Project |
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 Last week, our Program Director, Wendy Cross, was in Nairobi to develop our partnership and project plan with the Kawangware Street Children and Youth Project. This community-based organization is run by youth, themselves former street children, who have been working for the past eight years in the slum to provide income-generating opportunities and support to enable their peers to get off the streets and lead a more positive life. Their success and determination is truly inspiring! NextAid is working with them to fundraise for building a new workshop and multipurpose facility where they can operate their gift-bag making business and expand their program offerings. Earlier this year, NextAid sent emergency relief funding to support them in relief and basic needs following the political violence. The group's leaders tell us that it was truly a life line in a time of most dire need. We thank all of our generous donors for helping to make a direct impact.
While the trip was not planned to coincide with the US Presidential elections, Wendy couldn't have visited at a more opportune time. The energy in the streets and amongst the Kenyans, who view Obama as "their brother," was electrifying. No matter which candidate you supported, it was clear that a positive message was being conveyed to Kenya by our elections. A sense of hope and inspiration was in the air as even eight-year olds were asking questions about the process of democracy. After the politically-induced tribal fighting that Kenya has recently gone through, many citizens remarked that they hoped a lesson could be learned from the US elections which ended with a peaceful and humble concession rather than fighting. The Kawangware Project saw an opportunity to capitalize on the excitement and have designed "Kenya Loves Obama" t-shirts to screen in their shop and sell around town. For more information about the Kawangware Project and to make a donation, please visit www.nextaid.org/kawangware.htm www.nextaid.org/kawangware.htm |
| Purchase Unique and Meaningful Holiday Gifts Today |
Tired of the long lines and holiday induced mass-consumption? Why not give a special gift with a purpose? NextAid is providing several unique gift giving opportunities this season:
Make this House a Home
We will soon be sending a separate email soon with gift options to sponsor furnishings and household items to be purchased for the children's homes at the Dennilton Center. Gifts will be provided in several donation price ranges, starting at $25. Donations over $50 per gift will have the option of having a handmade Kenyan card sent to the gift recipient.
MUD: The Beauty of Giving
 Everyone deserves a beautiful future. The MUD Cares Palette of Eye Colors was hand-selected by members of NextAid to bring out the natural beauty of every skin tone. Stay grounded with Spanish Gold and Dulce de Leche, create a warm glow with Cashmere, or visualize a better world with vibrant Moss. When you purchase one of these limited-edition palettes, 100% of the proceeds will go directly to NextAid's Youth With A Vision Community Center and Residential Village in Dennilton, South Africa.
We-Care.com: Shop with Purpose
 When you do your online shopping through We-Care.com, a percentage of every one of your purchases will be donated to NextAid! There's absolutely no additional cost to you. Make every gift you buy a gift for NextAid as well! We-Care.com works with over 600 online merchants in retail, travel, and finance. Click here to check out a list of all participating merchants. Download the We-care.com plug-in and encourage everyone you know to do the same. This way, you will never forget to donate! At participating online merchant sites, you will automatically be asked if you want a percentage of your purchases to go to NextAid. It's so easy, you could have done it while reading this! Adopt-A-Project
Is your company or organization looking for a cause to get involved in? What about a new year's resolution to help a community in need or boost your corporate social responsibility to have an international reach? NextAid's "Adopt A Project" program needs support and commitments from people like you. Individuals, companies, or groups are invited to fundraise towards the "adoption" of one of our buildings in South Africa. Adoptable structures include: children's homes, nursery school, library, computer lab, and much more! For more details, visit www.nextaid.org/adoptaproject.htm. | |
