CHILDREN OF AFRICA: 2010

DONATELLA TARASCO

Dody is a volunteer from Italy who created an association similar to ours in her country, Maisha Safi. Before coming to Kenya she fundraised around 3,000 euros to cover projects both in Likoni and Tsunza. She was great at discovering all what the communities needed and, being a dentist and her mum being a doctor, she was very sensible with projects related to health care. Here are some of the things that she could cover:

Almost 400 euros were invested in school material for Tsunza school and different teaching centers. She spent 300 euros in a health project consisting on bringing a doctor to Tsunza to check the health of more than 120 people and take blood tests on more than 40. She also brought some villagers to a good hospital, and especially took care of a mum that had just given birth to a baby, and of baby Sophia, and an 11-months orphan baby who was about to die as she was undernourished.
With 600 euros she bought a wood saw to cut palm trees, in order to start a carpentry project that would provide job at least to five people. She paid for the water used to build the library in Tsunza, and for rubbish containers and different utensils for the villagers.
She also distributed more than 100 toothbrushes and paste, and spent around 1,100 euros to finish the construction of the two classrooms in Timbwani school Barcelona Block, that had been started with the 2400 euros sent by Peter Bragg and fundraised through Treviglas School in UK.
She paid for the university fees, room rent and transport of a student from Likoni, Boniface Malenje and she bought three bicycles for kids in Tsunza. Apart from this, she was varnishing beds, covering books for the library, making cement, bringing stones, painting the library, building shelves, and above of all, giving so much tender, love and care to the kids.

PROJECTS 2011

Looking at the success of this summer’s workcamp, we continue dreaming with the improvement of this charming village of Tsunza and we will start fundraising to achieve much more next summer. One of our priorities is to help Tsunza and its villagers becoming more autonomous and self-sufficient and to provide them with more formation, therefore we suggest that the future workcamp should be basically devoted to create new job positions and to education. And as we have not obtained subventions for the big project of the dispensary, this big dream is still with us. Here are some of the ideas that we have been working on:

1. Build Medical dispensary and Dental Unit
2. Carpentry workshop (it would provide job for 5 people)
3. Sewing workshop (it would provide job to 10 people)
4. Soap manufacture workshop (it would provide job to more than 10 people)
5. Teaching computers and music
6. Paving some village areas (for hygiene purposes)
7. Obtain more books for the library
8. Sponsoring of more than 300 kids
9. More school material for Tsunza Primary School
10. Rebuild cooking areas and provide it with ventilation

PROJECTS ACHIEVED IN SUMMER 2010

The volunteers of Children of Africa are back! With lots of strength, energy and very satisfied with the great achivements of this summer. First, I want to congratulate all those who made a big dream come true, the dream of working together to improve even a small part of the world, and making us realise, day after day, that our lives are somehow more useful when staying in Kenya, rather than staying at home on the sofa.
This year has been very successful for Children of Africa since, after getting registered in February 2010, everything has evolved at a very fast pace. Many volunteers have already joined the organisation, the number of volunteers coming to Kenya this summer has been multiplied by two and the achievements, thanks to their efforts, adapting capacity and hope, have been spectacular. Achievements of Children of Africa summer workcamp 2010 with the help of other organisations such as Maisha Safi and Treviglass School:

Construction of 2 showers

Construction of two latrines

Expansion and caring of vegetable garden

Construction of two remaining classrooms at Timbwani School Barcelona Block

Construction of a public library for Tsunza

Doctor examination for more than 120 people in Tsunza

Brought children and babies to hospital

Brought, organised and stored medicines

Distributed lots of school material, clothes, baby shoes, toothpaste and toothbrushes

Acquired and delivered all the school material for the 51 sponsored kids in Tsunza

Paid for the school fees of 15 kids and university students in Likoni

Bought a wheelchair for a handicapped student

Bought food for more than 14 families in Tsunza

Bought a handcart, a wheelbarrow and tools for Tsunza

Bought more than 30 blankets, clothes and shoes for many people in Tsunza

Bought 14 beds for future volunteers and workers and varnished them
Bought 3 bicycles

Bought beds, matrasses and bedcovers, restore furniture for Likoni Aids Orphanage

Brought kids on excursion and prepare entertaining and sports activities for them

Bought a power sow to start a carpentry project

Speeches about health, hygiene, ecology, family plan, etc.

Given lessons and started a studying system for the kids

Cleaned all the area of Nigamba and digged a pit for burning rubbish

WILLIAM AND SUSANNA

William and me arrived on the 7th July to Mombasa, and all this month of July, with the help of three of our volunteers, was devoted to buy the school material for the 51 sponsored kids in Tsunza, to purchase the necessary material to build the library, latrines and showers, to start building the two remaing classrooms of Barcelona Block (that this time were sponsored by Treviglass School students thanks to Peter and Vanessa Bragg), pay for Habel’s university, go school by school to pay for the fees and material of Babu Tom’s and Patricia’s children (workers of the Orphanage), help a teenager over 18 to leave the orphanage by paying for his rent in a new room, and so many other things.

As members of the directive board of Children of Africa, we both helped organising all the volunteers in their staying in Tsunza and Likoni, we picked them from the airport, and acquired and transported all the necessary material for all the projects, from the delivering of school material to the sponsored kids, stones, bricks, iron sheets, cement, wood, handcarts, wheelbarrow, tools, needed for the construction of the library, classrooms, showers, and latrines.
We were also in charge of getting the varnish and painting needed, of organising meetings with the main builder, and design the projects, organising meetings with the kids and villagers to raise awareness about the importance of education, health, and hygiene, and were in charge of the supervision of the construction of the two classrooms at Timbwani school in Likoni.
We also set up a day informing the villagers that we would be holding a meeting for those families who need help for their kids to go to school, and took photos of more than 300 children who claimed for help. One of our big targets now is to find sponsors for these kids (we will upload the photos soon).
The total amount that we spent from Children of Africa’s account for all these projects to take place was 7,000 Euros, and 3,000 remained in the Kenyan account for them to start building the water tank in Tsunza, even after we are gone, and to start building the place for the project of carpentry workshop that we hope will provide job for five people.

NICOLA BUSHEN AND JO ROWELL

These two volunteers from UK arrived on the 3rd of August and they split their two-weeks staying between Tsunza and Likoni. They only stayed for one week in the rural village, but they already made a difference. They had fundraised 600 Euros for Tsunza, and another similar amount for Likoni Orphanage. In Tsunza this money was used to buy material for the construction of the library, especially cement, iron sheets and books. We also bought blankets, bins and food for the villagers with their donation. These two volunteers (working as teachers in Uk) were especially devoted to tasks related to the construction of the library and covering its books, taking care of the garden, and organzing entertaining activities for the kids. Once in the orphanage, they had brought a present for each kid that they had collected in their country among friends and schoolmates, they fumigated the house as it was full of bugs, they bought new matrasses and replaced the old ones, they bought food, helped painting the classrooms, played with the kids and so many other things.

ANNA NOGUER

Anna was a volunteer from North Spain, whose main role in Tsunza was to entertain the children with so many activities, along with Elena and Silvia. She made each of the sponsored kids to write letter and draw painting for the sponsors, she painted with them, she made bracellets with them, etc. She was also great at covering books, helping with the building tasks, varnishing, painting and distributing material to the schools. She also helped with the acquisition of school material for Tsunza, and helped distributing the material among the sponsored kids. She helped organising medicines to create a medicine store in Tsunza. We classified everything in different drawers, translated the information, and explained how to use them to the villagers.

ELENA RUIZ-CHENA

Elena, our last volunteer from South Spain, a volunteer who fell in love with Rukia Rumba, an orphan girl from Tsunza. Apart from spending lots of hours playing and taking care of this 8-year-old girl, she was of great help varnishing many of the beds that each volunteer had bought.

Before they arrived, we had bought 14 beds for them to sleep in a house in Tsunza, and they all repaid for their bed, contributing to the project of creating a place for future volunteers and visitors to stay without problem. She also helped covering books, preparing the school material to be distributed among the 51 sponsored kids, etc.

Her personal project was paying for the labour and workers needed for the construction of the library which was more than 200 euros. She also helped acquiring furniture for the roof of the library and buying school material for Tsunza. She helped painting, preparing cement, building latrines, and preparing so many games for the children such as painting faces, learning songs, playing sports, etc.

LUCÍA COBOS

Lucía, a journalist from South Spain, was of great contribution too. As a journalist she would spend hours observing the life style, traditions, and customs of Tsunza village. She wanted to become part of the community, so soon got involved in cooking, cleaning, water-bringing, tasks along with the women of Tsunza. She went to visit many people into different houses and spend times talking to them finding their most impending needs.
She also wanted to contribute with the library project, so spent more than 100 euros with very good chosen books, she bought school material, she helped varnishing beds, covering books, preparing cement, painting doors. As she was concerned about education, she also gave some English lessons under the tree, brought books and medicines from Spain.

THE ESSENCE OF VOLUNTEERING

"Volunteering abroad is not an opportunity given to the rich and developed citizens of occidental countries in order to experience an extraoridinary adventure. In fact, I think it's unacceptable that we allow ourselves the luxury of dreaming about sensational experiences, while the people of the needy countries we want to visit can only allow themselves to dream of some piece of bread in their mouths.

A volunteer workcamp is not a selfish opportunity to satisfy our egos or our cravings for travelling; a volunteer workcamp is an opportunity that the volunteer himself provides in order to offer inconditional assistance and support, time, economic resources and efforts to the most needy ones; an opportunity to change a small, tiny piece of the world.

Therefore, a volunteer should never allow himself to become an extra burden for those he's trying to help. It would be simply nonsense. A volunteer must be a relief, water on top of fire, sugar on top of the bitterness that rules their lives, a streched hand, a balm for the open wounds, a whisper of peace...

Then, we cannot expect that a home, where we are planning to spend some time and where they already have problems enough to bring 50 children to school and provide them with food, water, clothes, etc., opens its doors for us only for love's sake, just becoming another mouth to feed. It is not the same being a volunteer in our own country or being a volunteer in a different continent in somebody else's home. Here, we can offer our time and efforts and later go back home where we are catered with everything. In Africa, to become an assistant requires something else.

When we arrive at an orphanage, we become part of it, another member, which means more food, more water, more electricity, more dirty clothes, more washing-up liquid, more bed covers, etc. It is clear that the romantic idea that Occidentals have of bringing our big love and tenderness to those people, of spending time by their side and exchanging our knowledge with them is highly praisable. But there is something that we should never forget: LOVE ON ITS OWN DOES NOT FEED CHILDREN.

I've been moving in and out of Kenya for almost four years now, living with those incredible peoples, and I swear that they really appreciate the time we spend with them, the moments we listen to their problems, the time we play with their children... But, no matter how strong you might me hugging them, if in that moment their stomachs are empty, and there is nothing to bring to their mouths, our big love will be vanished to ashes. And it is normal and understandable: human beings can only allow themselves the pleasure of loving and dreaming when the basic human needs are covered (drinking, eating and sleeping).

As a consequence, with my full belly, I allow myself a dream: to fill their bellies so that they can also dream. And among many others, the best ways to achieve such a dream are those where governments will never invest enough, building up strong and long-lasting infrastructures, with auto-sustainable projects which can bring them autonomy and better life standards and, ABOVE OF ALL, improving the whole institution of education by building up better schools, with better materials, improving teachers formation, and working on the basis of universal values and human rights.

Susanna