Kenya Community Centre for Learning

KCCL is a school for special needs students who are educable. It's located in Nairobi, Kenya and may be the first school of its kind in East Africa. LUA is raising funds to help the school with a transition period leading to sustain-ability. LUA will also help raise scholarship funds for some of KCCL's students.

In July, LUA received a gift of $80 from Brian Alexander Mays. "This is money that I collected at my 11^th golden birthday party," Brian wrote. "I wanted to make a difference and help out the children of Kenya."

The Hamomi Children's Centre needed support for the feeding program it started last December when violence broke out after Kenya's elections. And once Hamomi began providing meals, the children did much better in school. So when the violence subsided, Hamomi staffers wanted to continue the feeding program even though the $500 monthly cost for food and charcoal for cooking was often difficult to afford.

For about $200 Hamomi can purchase solar cooking equipment to cook these meals. This small amount of money will help reduce Hamomi's monthly expense for charcoal, respiratory problems from smoke inhalation, burns from cooking on fires, and dependency on wood for making charcoal, an important step in helping save the environment. So many positive benefits! What a great way to help 100 Kenyan children.

Brian liked the idea. And his gift inspired the family of Dennis Dutton, a 17-year old from Pacifica, CA, to contribute the remainder of the funds needed to purchase the equipment for Hamomi. 

We recently spoke to Brian and his family to update them on the project.

"I like helping less fortunate people," Brian said. "I'd heard about kids in Africa who were so poor, some not being able to eat, and I wanted to help them."

Brian's aunt Sandra Muinde, wife of LUA co-founder Sam Muinde, said she "was just amazed when my sister said that Brian wanted to do this. For a child that age to think outside himself today is just a wonderful thing. Most kids Brian's age are thinking about the next thing they can accumulate. With the current state of the world, people can no longer afford to buy the latest and greatest. And I think the younger kids can teach that," she concluded.
 
Brian said he'd like to visit Hamomi and meet the students when he goes to Kenya next year.

Recently, LUA wired the funds to the Hamomi Children's Centre. We'll have photos of the staff and kids cooking solar in an upcoming issue of LUA News. This project also inspired LUA to help several other schools begin using solar cooking in their feeding programs. We'll have a story and photos in an upcoming issue, too.

In our last issue, we highlighted our knitting project with the First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue's GetConnected Ministry. This project knitted sweaters--a required part of Kenya's school uniform--for students attending the Mutumbini Primary School in Kaliluni, Kenya.

The first 14 sweaters were distributed on August 9, 2008 as part of a celebration for the school's head master who was retiring.These sweaters were given to poor children--7 were given to AIDS orphans and 7 to the children of single parents.

At the event, Sam Muinde, Lift Up Africa's Vice President, spoke. "The first thing I did is speak of the connection between LUA and our Kaliluni Medical Centre project. Then I called all the children who had received these sweaters to come forward. Most of the school's parents were there, plus many dignitaries from the Department of Education. They were all amazed that Mutumbini Primary has good friends in America. The parents, visiting school officials, and government officers were impressed by the love expressed by people from so far away through knitting sweaters for these children. Everyone sends thanks to all who participated," Sam said.  

All together, the knitters have made 40 sweaters. The remaining sweaters will be distributed in the near future.