Greetings!

I hope this e-newsletter finds you well. I will start with a long overdue apology for not sending out an e- newsletter for such a long time. As many of you know, I returned to the US last year to start graduate school (with a 4-mos. old baby at the time). Although our work in Kenya was continuing successfully, I was unfortunately unable to do much on this end to get the word out.

Where do I begin? First off, I want to report that the EAC's Vutakaka Center will be celebrating its 5th birthday next month! That's right, we've been at it for 5 years now - thanks to all the support we have received from you. I was able to return to Kenya this past June to check on the status of the programs, and I was so happy with what I saw. The children at Vutakaka Junior School are continuing to excel. Though we are still in dire need of more classrooms, we have completed construction of 3 classrooms on our new school land.

In January 2008, our sewing program officially became its own cooperative. The women now have their own constitution and bank account, and are managing every part of their work, themselves (we will be holding a holiday sale, featuring their products, in Seattle on December 6th).

The health programs are also continuing very well. Between February (we were closed in January due to the political situation) and June, we provided an HIV/AIDS prevention course to 329 children between 9 and 15 years of age. Our community health workers offered 17 health classes out in the surrounding communities, reaching approximately 300 women. Our community health workers (CHWs) also met with 1,619 residents, in their homes, to discuss health, nutrition and HIV/AIDS education. 153 people were provided with direct first aid by CHWs, and 752 women were provided with pre-natal care. One of the greatest events I witnessed while in Kenya this summer was the new growth monitoring "camps" the CHWs have organized. Once a month the CHWs are visiting each village, setting up a baby-weighing scale (they hang it from a tree) and weighing numerous children. They document the child's weight, check to make sure the child is up-to- date on immunizations, and counsel the mothers on making nutritious porridge from local ingredients.

Yes, the EAC is doing better than ever. We are still committed to providing access to basic health services, and quality education, and we continue to be grateful, as always, for your tremendous support - Thank you! Suzanne Jeneby