URGENT APPEAL - Help Provide Emergency Food to the Maasai Community in Kenya - Kenya has experienced drought, torrential floods, food shortages, deaths, loss of opportunity for traditional work, and now pandemic impacts. With roads and markets closed, the people of Kiseryan village are literally starving with little to no ability to raise funds. In response to this desperate situation, we provided funds to buy food for two hundred households in June, 2021. The selection of recipients and distribution was coordinated through the local chiefs and facilitated by Samuel Koinari, the Director of a local Community Based Organization started in 2015 with the aim of eradicating poverty.
Samuel has requested a lifeline for another 600 households. $20 will feed each family for one month. The need is urgent and the amount required is beyond what our normal circle of donors can provide. We are seeking established organizations that may have the mission and resources to address this need. We appreciate your consideration of this request. For further details, please contact us or call Dianne at 831-521-0281
Background - One Girl, One Family, One Community in Kiseryan, Kenya A shared love of singing and making jewelry sparked a special relationship between two women in 2014. Janette lives in Monterey, CA and Nancy lives in a Maasai community in Kenya. A small circle of donors in Monterey focused on the education of Nancy’s two oldest daughters, raising funds to send them to the Kiseryan Girls Senior Academy as boarders and buy necessary school supplies. The older daughters were in years two and four when the pandemic closed the school. Over the years, funds were also raised to help make the Nancy’s family safer and more sustainable. A water catchment system was established, cement replacing a dirt floor, electricity, new outhouse, and a chicken business established to sell eggs in the market. This relationship has recently deepened and broadened to include Kiseryan, the community in which Nancy lives.
Projects - Accomplishments and Costs Education
Scholarship for Magdalene at Kiseryan High School for Girls. She is the first person in her family to graduate from High School. Magdalene graduated this April and is taking a computer course before applying for a college scholarship. 2017–2021, $2,000/year
School costs for Purity (Magdalene’s sister) and Joyce (recently orphaned) to Kiseryan High School. 2019–present, $2,000/year per student.
Support for Alex and Wesley (young orphaned brothers of Joyce) to attend a local school nearby to avoid long walks and bad weather. 2020–present, $740/year
Laptop, tablet, modem, phone line and annual data plan to facilitate remote learning. 2020, $1800
Water Project - Installed Roof, Gutters, Water Tank to harvest rainwater and reduce need for 4-5 daily visits to a well for water. 2018, $1,920
Home Improvement Project - Rains flooded the dirt floor of Nancy’s house where she had hollowed a pit to cook. We provided for concrete floors and a sidewalk to be built and a propane stove to cook on. 2018, $2,000
Sustainability
Chicken Project - We looked for a means for Nancy and family to gradually earn their own income. Built a henhouse for 100 chickens (bought 50 chickens initially) and funded food, vaccines, vet, water and electricity. Currently, eggs are shared with the community, and after Covid they will be sold, thereby requiring less outside support. 2018-ongoing, $2,600 initial cost and $1,000/year for maintenance
Covid Emergency Relief
Covid Supplies - Masks, sanitizers, buckets, water and training to 30 families. 2020, $1,380
Food Distribution – Basic necessities to 200 families. 2021, $3,100
Support for Vulnerable Children – helping 5 children orphaned in 2020 when their mother died from kidney disease by rebuilding their leaking house, providing basic nutrition/clothes/furnishings, and partial support for a guardian. 2020, $3,000 for house repairs, $1,700 for basic needs, $80/month for the guardian