Karibuni Trust

Bad Hair day raises £270!

admin — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 06:29:34 +0000

A big thank you to Hazeldene Lower School, Bedford which has raised yet more funds for the Tusaidie Watoto Nursery School in Nairobi. Having previously raised money for a new water tower, this time Hazeldene Lower School has raised nearly £270 which will be used to purchase much needed new classroom furniture for the Kibera shanty-slum based Nursery School. The money was raised by a ‘Bad Hair Day’ at the school. Both children and teachers took part, with some spectacular results – click on this link to see pictures taken on the day:

http://www.hazeldeneschool.co.uk/news/MadhairDay.html

Red Kite Ramble 23 June 2013: Raise funds for Karibuni Trust by taking part in this sponsored walk in the Chilterns

admin — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 07:14:21 +0000

The Clare Foundation hosts the Red Kite Ramble every year in June, allowing walkers to raise money for their chosen charities. The 2013 event will be the fourth time the Foundation has hosted the Ramble at their Charity Centre in Saunderton, just 7 miles down the road from Karibuni’s Stoke Mandeville Office.

Karibuni supporters have raised money by undertaking this walk in past years. We want to use this year’s event to raise even more funds. The Ramble will take place on Sunday 23rd June 2013, and they have planned completely new routes to give walkers a new challenge!

This year a 6, 11 or 17 mile walk can be taken through the beautiful Buckinghamshire countryside, starting and finishing at the Centre. Participants taking the 6 mile route will head to the south and take in views of the Golden Ball and Mausoleum above the famous West Wycombe Caves, while the 11 mile walkers will head northwards. Those brave enough to take on the 17 mile route will make a circuit of both.

As with previous years, walkers can register for the Red Kite Ramble and walk for any charity, raising funds through sponsorship. There will be a Registration charge of £10 per head or £20 per family for those walking with a 50% split of the fee returned to the charity of your choice. The event will start and finish at the Clare Foundation.

On the day, the Centre’s Bistro will be open serving light refreshments.
you can register here: http://www.theclarefoundation.org/events.html

Once you have registered you can publicise the event using the A4 or A3 poster available to download here:

Red Kite Ramble A4 poster (64)

Red kite Ramble A3 poster (74)

You can download a sponsorship form here:

Red Kite Ramble sponsorship form (82)

Our 2012 Appeal: an update

admin — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:21:04 +0000

Thank you! We’d like to thank everyone who responded so positively to our recent appeal to help us give more needy children the opportunity to attend Secondary school. Some people have been able to commit to new regular payments, others have increased existing payments or have sent one-off donations. Some individuals, groups and churches have committed to raising funds in coming months. In 2013 two supporters will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, others will be using anniversary and other celebrations to raise funds. We’ve also had several enquiries about sponsoring children or particular projects. Talking about Karibuni is a very effective way to raise our profile and to get others involved. Several supporters do just that. With a little notice we can provide a Powerpoint presentation and a script. Where feasible, Karibuni trustees such as Joy Murphy and John Cotton are keen to take up invitations to give illustrated talks about our work. We’ve already got a WI booking for 2014!

Last few calendars now only £2.50!

admin — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 08:44:10 +0000

Karibuni Trustees, Joy and Andrew Murphy, are currently in Kenya.

admin — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 08:32:02 +0000

Karibuni Trustees, Joy and Andrew Murphy, are currently in Kenya. Amongst the projects they have visited is the one at Tharaka. The picture shows them with mothers of sponsored children and George Mwabu, the Tharaka Programme Co-ordinator.

Run the London 10K for Karibuni!

admin — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:08:01 +0000

New kitchen at MCK Tusaidie Watoto Nursery School, Kibera, Nairobi has been completed!

admin — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:37:29 +0000

The kitchen at MCK Tusaidie Watoto Nursery School prepares food for the 45 children in the Nursery School and also many of the 180 children from the project who attend local Day Primary Schools and who return to the project for lunch.

The meals are nutritious, with beans, vegetables and, when the budget allows, meat.

The site is terribly cramped and the kitchen is squeezed into a tight corner.

When four Karibuni trustees visited the project in February 2012, they found that the kitchen was full of smoke from the ‘open’ jikos (wood-burning cooking stoves). The walls were blackened, evidence of how much smoke was circulating. Smoke has been a constant problem here, and there have been attempts to pipe it away. These have not worked and the staff complained of smoke inhalation and sore eyes.

We left promising to do something about the problem.

The new Ovens

We asked the project management committee to put together a proposal and when we returned to the UK we contacted the British Humane Association, who had previously helped with a grant to support the installation of energy saving stoves at Limuru, another Karibuni supported project. The Association’s response was rapid – they agreed to provide a grant to enable the kitchen to be completely refurbished and for the installation of new stoves which capture the smoke and duct it away.

During the school holidays the work was completed and the kitchen has been transformed. A new hard-wearing terrazzo floor has been laid, part of the roof raised to improve ventilation and the new stoves installed.

The staff have a much improved place to work. We and they are most grateful to the British Humane Association for their practical support.

This is what the Head Cook has to say: “Before the new jikos were brought I used to dread coming to work because of the kitchen environment. Sometimes it would get so smoky that we would sit outside just to catch some fresh air. My eyes used to hurt a lot but all this has changed after the new jikos were installed. The jikos use less firewood and it takes less time to make the fire. On behalf of the other cooks I would like to say thank you for considering us and may God bless you”.

Makena, the Senior Social Worker at the Project comments: “I am grateful for the good work which has been done to improve the working conditions in the project kitchen. Before the renovations were done, when the jikos were lit, the kitchen would be filled with smoke and even if I wanted to have a word with the cooks I would stand outside and communicate through the window for the fear of smelling of smoke the whole day. Since the renovations were done there is a great improvement and we are all glad now”.

The Kitchens before the refurbishment

Please use this page to share your memories of Bill Murphy

admin — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:44:22 +0000

Please not that your messages won’t appear immediately.

Veronica

admin — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 19:54:24 +0000

Veronica

Veronica is one of the six children who were selected by the project for sponsorship in ”Baby class” of the Nursery School at Embakasi in 2012. That sponsorship will be available to Veronica throughout her education. It could take her through 3 years at Nursery school, to Primary School (8 years) and, if she qualifies, into Secondary School (4 years) and beyond. Should she fail to make it to Secondary school, or to College following secondary school, she will be eligible for support to undertake two years of vocational skills training. Veronica is the only child of Angela, a single mother in her twenties.

Angela, her mother

I first met Angela earlier this year when I was visiting the Embakasi project. Her daughter had just started in the Nursery class and a visit to meet her and some other parents had been arranged.

It was a very hot day and Angela was not at home when we called. We met her pushing a wheelbarrow loaded up with buckets of charcoal. That is how she, a single mother living in the Embakasi slum, tries to makes a living, selling charcoal to slum residents. Charcoal is used for cooking.

It’s hard work and the returns are thin. Angela cannot afford to buy a bag of charcoal outright. Instead it is supplied by a middle-man who requires payment once the contents have been sold.

Angela’s home is a corrugated tin hut, of which she is proud. It can be locked up – important to secure the charcoal.

Angela is absolutely delighted – and proud – that her daughter has been given an opportunity she never had.

The project

Embakasi, east of Nairobi, has a growing middle-class area, but there is also a very poor area close to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the railway and an industrial area where casual work is available intermittently for the unskilled labourers living in the nearby shanty slum. This is where most of the sponsored children in the Nursery and State Primary School live.

The small Methodist Church at Embakasi had been trying to provide nursery education to children in the area, but for many families in casual low-paid work it isn’t possible to pay even the very low fees being charged, and the nursery was on the verge of closing when Karibuni was first approached.

Karibuni Trust is fully supporting 18 of the poorest children in the nursery, by providing food, uniforms and nursery fees and there are 68 fee-paying children there. The staff includes teachers, cooks and a caretaker/messenger.

Karibuni Christmas cards

admin — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 06:49:33 +0000

Each card is hand-made, either as a collage with fabric or as a banana leaf picture