Friends of Kenya - Friends of Kenya News, News from Kenya, Project News

Looking for a Kenya RPCV for Board

2010-02-18T04:56:43Z

I am an advisory board member of Education For All Children, a New Hampshire-based, non-profit that basically offers scholarships to Kenyan secondary students who qualify (need, academic achievement, etc.). It was started very recently by a couple from this area who fell in love with Kenya while traveling there. Please see our website.

http://www.educationforallchildren.org/about/

So, the question is, are there any Kenya RPCVs out there who might like to participate as a board member in a purely advisory manner (not that you couldn’t be more involved if you wanted)? If you live in northern New England, even better. (Click title for complete article and contact information.)

Exciting Opportunity for Africa RPCVs

2010-02-16T03:36:29Z

Whole Planet Foundation is Whole Foods Market’s non-profit that supports microcredit around the world where WFM sources products. We are expanding our portfolio of projects into Africa and will be hiring a person for this. We believe a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer would be ideal.

The key managers in the organization are RPCVs and know first-hand the transformative experience of Peace Corps service.

More information about the idealist.org job post can be found at: http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Job/366736-107

Can You Help a Writer?

2010-01-14T12:20:56Z

My name is Melissa O’Brien and I am a freelance writer who lives in Atlanta, Georgia. I was not in the Peace Corps but visited a friend who was, in Kenya, in 1993. It left a huge impression upon me and now that my children are older, I am beginning to move away from my career as a reporter and begin my first fiction novel.

I want to write about a place I visited while I was in Kenya. While the novel will be fiction, it is very important to me to have an accurate description of the region. The location of the book would be in and around Timau, specifically, Kentrout. (Click title to read entire article)

Merging Communities for Education: A Bodo Initiative Fundraiser

2009-11-11T09:08:28Z

Embassy of Kenya, 2249 R St., NW, Washington, D.C.

Friday, December 4, 6:00-8/9 pm

The Education for the Future Foundation: Bodo Initiative invites you to join friends and a diverse community in celebrating the beauty of education and uniting to provide the eager students in Bodo Village, Kenya, with the chance to realize their right to education.

Enjoy FOOD, MUSIC, and SPEAKERS! (Click title for more information)

Africa Rural Connect Selects First Round of Winning Ideas for Online Contest to Lessen Rural Poverty

2009-08-26T03:00:09Z

Africa Rural Connect (ARC) is a new online community that connects individuals with life-long commitments to Sub-Saharan Africa. Hosted by The National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), ARC announced today the first round of winning ideas for participants in its online contest on how to help rural Africa. (Click title to read the entire article.)

Kenya Women’s Finance Trust Empowers Kenyan Women

2009-08-26T12:21:50Z

Joyce Wafukho, is a perfect example of how microfinance really makes a difference. Joyce is a businesswoman in Lugari (western Kenya) who started with a microloan of $730 and has turned it into a construction business worth more than $26,000. Her business, Lugari Hardware Agencies and Construction Enterprises, currently employs 25 people and builds schools and public buildings. Joyce did this with loans from the Kenya Women’s Finance Trust (KWFT). (Click title to read entire article.)

DIRECTOR'S FORUM WITH NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE WANGARI MAATHAI THE CHALLENGE FOR AFRICA (April 13, 2009)

2009-06-02T11:18:50Z

The Challenge for Africa featuring Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Founder, Green Belt Movement

Monday, April 13, 2009
3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Atrium Hall, Ronald Reagan Building
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004

Africa faces severe and wide-ranging challenges, from Darfur to HIV/AIDS, massive debt to election fraud, cross-border conflicts to environmental degradation. Yet the portrait of Africa painted in the media—poverty-stricken, desolate, and desperate—frequently ignores the intricacies of the issues. (Click title to read full story.)

Help Out Children in Kenya

2009-07-01T06:22:29Z

The Kansas State University International Service Team is sending four students to volunteer for ten weeks this summer in Nyeri, Kenya. The volunteers will be working at the Children and Youth Empowerment Centre, a community-based organization that assists street-dwelling children, youth, and vulnerable minors find security, food, and education.

The team is seeking donations to fund materials and supplies for the Children and Youth Empowerment Centre that will be delivered by the volunteers.

To learn more about the Service Team and to make a donation, visit http://web.me.com/innrkid/Kenya_2009/Welcome.html or contact Caitlyn Mason at caitlynm@ksu.edu.

Help Fund Deaf Kenyan Teachers' University Education

2009-03-31T11:36:45Z

Global Deaf Connection (GDC) is hosting a Happy Hour fundraiser to support Funds for Deaf Kenyan Teachers at Sticky Rice, on Wednesday, March 11. Come and feast on yummy food (wings, sushi, tater tots, and more!) and help out a great cause.

GDC Fundraiser at Sticky Rice!
"Help fund Deaf Kenyan Teachers' university education"
Hosted by Global Deaf Connection

Wednesday, March 11

5:00 PM–8:00 PM

Where: Sticky Rice, 1224 H Street NE, Washington, DC 20002

$5 donation at door

Auctions on Kenyan items

RSVP to Norma at ninafrica@yahoo.com

www.deafconnection.org
www.stickyricedc.com

Obama’s Country

2009-02-15T10:50:47Z

Commentary by Bob Gribbin

Kenya is abuzz with Obama. Remember that Kenya declared a national holiday upon receiving news of his election. Obama’s picture is painted on matatus, tee shirts, coffee mugs, and printed on kangas worn by market women. Dozens of newborn babies are now named Obama. Maasai beadwork features his image as well as the stars and stripes from the “O” of campaign posters. Matatus bear the names “Obama Express,” “Fastest Obama.” Senator beers are ordered by asking for an “Obama.” Obama’s books are jumping off the shelves. Indeed on flights in and out, I saw a dozen Kenyans avidly reading his tomes. The airwaves resound to Obama songs. Even Obama numbers have been incorporated into the dance performances by Maasai morans at tourist lodges. (Click the title to read full article.)

Help with 50th Anniversary Exhibit in Northwest

2009-06-02T11:19:41Z

Friends,
It is my pleasure to inform you that the Committee for a Museum of the Peace Corps Experience has entered into a collaborative effort with the Oregon Historical Society to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Peace Corps in 2011. Together, CMPCE and OHS will put on an exhibit that will highlight the contributions of Oregon and Northwest Peace Corps volunteers to the history and success of this great program. The show is scheduled to run from January to April of 2011. (Click title for complete article, how you can help, and contact information.)

Celebrate the Inauguration

2009-06-02T11:20:28Z

Come and celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama with the wananchi at the Safari DC restaurant on Monday, January 19, at 7 p.m.

Friends of Kenya will meet at the restaurant and join our Kenyan friends in celebrating Barack Obama’s historic achievement and heritage. Have a Tusker, order nyama choma, and brush up on your Kiswahili. Casual dress.

Safari DC is located at 4306 Georgia Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20011.

Congratulations to Barack Obama

2009-06-02T11:21:04Z

Friends of Kenya congratulates Barack Obama on his presidential election. We also join Kenyans in their pride in having a man with a Kenyan father elected as the U.S. President!

The Embassy of Kenya in Washington, D.C., is offering a number of events surrounding the inauguration. Check out their website for information: http://www.kenyaembassy.com/

Friends of Kenya in D.C. is planning a celebratory dinner. Details will be posted as soon as they are available.

Wherever you are, we hope that you will join Friends of Kenya members in sending congratulations and best wishes to Barack Obama as he becomes the President of the United States.

Appeal to help a student

2008-08-20T12:44:18Z

Hello Friends of Kenya,

I am an RPCV (Tanzania, 1983-86) and now live in Edmond, Oklahoma. We have a student here from Kenya, Dan Nyagol, who will be in his second year at the University of Central Oklahoma studying to be a medical technician. His sponsor was his brother, who is married and working in Kansas. His brother was visiting Kenya recently, got arrested and was injured, and has not been able to help Dan. Dan owes some $1,000 and is still facing tuition needs for this fall.

Some of us are trying to help him out. If you can help him out too, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations to his scholarship fund are tax deductible.

Checks should be made out to "UCO Foundation" / Dan Nyagol scholarship fund.

Send to:

Office of International Student Services
University of Central Oklahoma
100 North University Drive
Edmond, OK 73034

Thank you so much!

Melissa Shackford

Friends of Kenya Supports a Nomadic Kenyan Student

2008-08-13T01:24:31Z

Friends of Kenya awarded a grant to the Nomadic Kenyan Children’s Educational Fund (NKCEF) to help send Marriel, who is Maasai, to secondary school where she can strive to achieve her goals of teaching her local community to read, write, and use better hygiene.

Marriel is in Form 1 (9th grade) at St. Brigid’s Girls School in Kitale. She is 16 years old, and one of 3 children. Her favorite subjects are science and English, and she promises to work hard to pursue her education.

She will attend secondary school through sponsorship from NKCEF, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children from nomadic communities attend secondary school.

For more information about NKCEF and how to directly support their scholarships for Kenyan students, visit their website at http://www.nkcef.org.

It’s your membership and support of Friends of Kenya that allows us to funnel funds to worthy organizations, such as NKCEF, and community projects in Kenya. Contributions to Friends of Kenya projects are tax-deductible. To make contributions, go to http://www.friendsofkenya.org/project/donate_project. (Click title for full article and link to photo.)