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The East African Center Newsletter |
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| Small Actions, Big Results | |
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Our Financials are Available Online!
| With an annual operating budget of $120,000, we understand that every dollar must have the best possible impact. Please follow this link to see how the EAC is committed to fiscal transparency. We are proud that for every $1 donated, 75 cents goes directly to programming.
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| Matching Funds | |
A great way to make your contributions go even further is by checking to see if your employer matches charitable donations!
Many companies do! Check with your Accounting or Human Resources department to find out. Typically, you can still request to match funds from donations you made in 2009!
We would be happy to fill out any forms or send any supporting documents that your companies requests.
The East African Center is a 501c3 charitable organization and our EIN # is 91-2161222. If you are a federal employee, you can donate to the EAC through the Combined Federal Campaign. Just indicate our CFC #, 12297, on your enrollment form.
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Dear EAC Community,
As the leaves start to change color and we say goodbye to summer, we have some great updates for you as the EAC has had a very busy and productive summer!
In Kenya, we welcomed a new Peace Corps volunteer, our VJS farm was awarded another grant, and a star teacher has been promoted to Director at VJS.
State-side, we had a successful online fundraiser with World Bicycle Relief, our NYC fundraiser was a success, and some very exciting sponsorship projects are in the works.
If you have any questions, I am always available via email or phone. ASANTE SANA for your continued interest in the community of Takaungu and the EAC!
Jennifer Hill
EAC Executive Director
jhill@eastafricancenter.org
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Student Spotlight:
Rehema Kahindi Ngao | | Rehema is one of the best students in Class 8, competing with fellow Class 8 girl, Muttaquina, for the top spot. Rehema lives in Boyani village and walks an hour everyday to Vutakaka.
She lives with her father and stepmother and her 2 brothers and 3 sisters. Two of her siblings, Khamis and Nuru, also attend Vutakaka. Rehema's father is a night watchman at nearby Kivukoni International School.
Rehema really enjoys playing football and is often found playing on the weekend. She plays the position of striker. She also likes reading novels and short stories and her best subject in school is science. Rehema hopes to be an ER doctor when she grows up.
We wish her all the best on her exam and her future as we will miss her next year! |
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Student Sponsorships
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Student sponsors are the major funders for our school and ensure that students who would otherwise not be in a quality school are able to attend Vutakaka and have a brighter, more healthy future.
This month, student sponsors of students in Kindegarden through 3rd grade have received an individual project from them in the mail. (see KG and Class 3 projects below) 
Sponsors of students in grades 4 through 8 will be receiving an email with a personal video of their student like this one by Muttaquina Salim in class 8 as well as a video from the entire from the class, like this video of the grade 5 student dancing.
Student sponsors receive three personal updates from the students they are matched to throughout the year. This is the best way to support our school. Please become a student sponsor today.
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Vutakaka Farm Update:
Fall Harvest &
FAWCO Grant Award |
|  As the weather starts to heat up again in Kenya, there are so many tomatoes, onions, carrots, and greens coming out of the garden. The gardeners took great advantage of the rainy season that started in April and are now seeing the 'fruits' of their labors.
We are so excited to be eating meals cooked entirely from vegetables grown on our own farm! The students have been busy too, making compost, carrying water, and weeding when they don't do their homework!
The funding is in from the FAWCO Feeding Education grant that the EAC was awarded in March at the FAWCO Conference in Dublin. The EAC is so proud to be a recipient of this grant, and excited to put it to work. The funds are going to be used to improve irrigation at the farm, build a more efficient cooking stove for the kitchen at school, pipe well water all over the school to further reduce the water bill, and to bring specialists in for training for our gardeners. Many thanks to the American International Women's Club of Genoa for their continued support!
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VJS' New School Director:
Catherine Chepkoech Munga
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 The EAC is happy to announce that our Head Teacher Catherine has been promoted to the position of School Director. We are very excited to be able to promote Catherine and to give her a chance to gain professional experience in a new capacity.
Catherine is originally from El Doret in the Rift Valley province of Kenya. She is the daughter of a pastor, and has 3 brothers and 1 sister. She attended Secondary School at Igunga Girls in Western Province, and then moved onto Moi University in El Doret. She graduated with Bachelors of Education degree. Following graduation, she got a job as a principal of a secondary school in Kilifi, and in 2008, she joined Vutakaka Junior School as Head Teacher.
Catherine has worked tirelessly to help Vutakaka grow, all while becoming a Certified Public Accountant, and getting her Master's in Business Administration. Catherine lives in Kilifi with her husband, a lecturer in Education at the local university, and her 2 daughters, Stacey and Esther.
Congratulations to Catherine and thank you for all your hard work!
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Health Update
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The EAC is very excited to host Jill Daniels, a public health Peace Corps volunteer who will be with us for the next 1 year. Jill is from Kansas and has previously worked as a Nurses' Aide, wants to go to nursing school after the Peace Corps.
As we move into the last quarter, the EAC is beginning to implement the cost-saving and income-generating strategies that we have discussed in previous newsletters. Working with the EAC, Jill's work will include:
1. Helping build a small business that will help to fund the health activities
2. Working with the small groups in Takaungu that our health staff have been visiting for the past year
3. Working with the Community Health Workers to help them develop an income-generating strategy, and help them collect and analyze data to inform future health activities.
We are so excited to have her with us!
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| Class 8 is getting a yearbook |
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The Hoover High School Yearbook Staff are creating and raising the funds for a yearbook for our first graduating class of 8th graders this year.
The staff of high schoolers from North Canton, Ohio have designed the spreads, picked out and laid out the photos, and placed the copy.
Herff Jones Yearbooks has generously offered to print the yearbooks at cost. Jim Barbour, Herff Jones representative for Hoover is covering shipping within the US, and the yearbook staff will raise money to cover the cost of the yearbook by selling Takaungu sewing items during lunch.
We want to thank Herff Plant Manager, John McNown, Jim Barbour, Yearbook Staff Leader Tamela Grandjean, and the entire Hoover Yearbook Staff.  Emily Finley, Junior at Hoover High School, designs the yearbook template above
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World Bicycle Relief
Fundraiser Recap
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Through Facebook and Causes.com, we successfully raised enough funds to purchase 4 World Relief bicycles for our health staff and school groundskeepers.
The World Relief designed bicycles are the perfect transportation for our community health outreach team to ensure that they can reach more people in less time each day and provide even more life changing health services to deserving communities in rural Eastern Kenya.
Thank you to everyone who donated to this campaign and we look forward to sharing pictures and updates on the bicycles positive effects in Takaungu!
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Style for a Cause Recap
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Style for a Cause was a great success! We raised $600 for our programs and services in Kenya.
A good time was had by all and we hope to organize a similar event in the new year.
Thank you to everyone who came to the event, supported us online, and a big congratulations to Nancy Hill who won over $500 in Stella & Dot jewelry!
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Intern and Volunteer Opportunities
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We are always searching interns and volunteers to join our teams in New York, Seattle and Takaungu.
In New York we have opportunities in the areas of grant writing, strategic planning, event planning and more. In Kenya you have the opportunity to work directly with the community we serve While in the village, you will live with a local family, take lessons in Swahali and experience the unique coastal culture. All projects are completed with the support of our Intern Coordinator and our Kenya Program Director.
Please visit our website for more information!
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Thank you for staying connected to the EAC and the people of Takaungu! We would love to hear from you! How did you come to know the EAC? What would like to hear from us or see us do?
Thank you for your interest and support!
Jen Hill
jhill@eastafricancenter.org
347-330-2670
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