Exciting News from Down Under!

blog story by

Merrill Petersen (seen here in Kenya with a friend)

Sarah Reidel, from Melbourne Australia, has been the significant force behind a recent generous donation to African Kids In Need.
Thanks to her quilting club, affectionately known as "The Angels", and their desire to help send Kenyan children to school, Sarah has made a difference in this world.

Sarah (pictured in the green top in the photo on the left), her mum, three aunts, and a few friends meet every six weeks to work on one another's quilts. After visiting Nairobi about a year ago and meeting some of the children in the A.K.I.N. program, Sarah returned home and decided to get the Angels involved in helping. Shortly thereafter a beautiful, special quilt was created. The ladies enthusuastically pursuaded family and friends to buy "lucky tickets" to raffle it off. About $600 was raised through this effort. A few weeks later, at her grandfather Basil's 80th birthday party, he encouraged guests to match the money that had been raised through the raffle. As a result of both gallant efforts, A.K.I.N. has just received a total of $1200 which is enough money to send a Kenyan child to high school for one year.



Thank you to Sarah, the Angels, Basil and all their friends and family for this generous gift.


Happy (belated) Birthday, Basil!





The quilt that was auctioned.

Welcome to the new African Kids In Need blog site. Hopefully you have come here because you are interested in the work we are doing in Kenya. For those of you who are familiar with our program, we are very excited to announce that A.K.I.N. has received tax exempt status that is retroactive to March 2007. So any donations received since then will qualify as a tax deductible contribution. Naturally, all donations received from now on will be exempt, and I will happily provide anyone who makes a contribution a receipt that will list our federal tax ID number. Donations can be made via check, credit card or through Pay Pal-which is also a feature of this blog.

In addition, we have applied for registration in Kenya and hope to have that process finalized in the coming weeks. This will make it possible to open a bank account in the country, and that will make it easier for us to do our work.

Finally, the pages that follow talk about the retreat that was held at Thika Variety Village in early August. It was a three day event that was attended by all 25 of our sponsored students.
My wife, Shelley, daughter, Tess, and I were able to attend as well. It was a wonderful experience on many levels. First it gave these wonderful children a chance to come together and see each other for the first time in many months. Secondly, they had the opportunity to share their experiences with each other and talk about their schools. It is heartwarming to see the beginnings of a family of children coming together as a result of our program.They were very articulate in expressing their appreciation to all those who have given them the opportunity to attend secondary and vocational schools. We were pleased to represent all the donors.

The current school year will end in November and it is important that we raise the funds to send these 25 Kenyan children back to school in January. In addition, 25 new students will be eligible to enter our program and we are hoping to make that possible. The cost of a year of secondary school education is approximately $750. We are not asking for contributions to underwrite the operational costs of the program. All money collected will be applied to tuition and school expenses. Please help us help these wonderful children. In the coming weeks, I will post profiles of each of our students so you can get to know them individually. You may even wish to direct your donation to help a specific student.

Thank you for your continued support.

Paul Miller

DAY FIVE (6TH AUG 07)

DAY FIVE (6TH AUG 07)
The day started very early in the morning given the distance from Nairobi to the homes of the two girls in Kinangop. We first dropped Virginia Njeri then continued to the home of Anne but before reaching to her home we had a mechanical break down that took almost half of our day. After fixing the vehicle we went on to try and take Anne home but this time we experienced even worse problems because the roads were impassable due to heavy rains that had pounded the area. We managed to drop Anne but unfortunately got stuck a few kilometers away which forced us to spend a night in the forest.

The next morning we struggled to get the car out of the mud and managed to get back to Nairobi at around twelve noon.

DAY FOUR (5TH AUG 07)

DAY FOUR (5TH AUG 07)
This was to be a very busy day since it involved transporting all the children either back to school or back home to their relatives.

Nairobi girls and the boys to Nairobi were the first to leave, the next lot of three were headed for Murang’a and then last group for the day ended in Gatundu when Vincent was dropped at home. Since it was late in the night we could not manage to take two girls to their homes and therefore managed to get them an alternative accommodation for the night. George Brawn and Peter Njihia were left behind at Thika Variety because they had eye problems and were told to wait for spectacles the next day. They had an appointment with an eye specialist the next day.

DAY THREE (4TH AUG 07)

DAY THREE (4TH AUG 07)
This being the grand finale was a very busy and special day. Busy because we had a lot to do and special because we were expecting very important visitors; AKIN Directors Paul Miller and Shelley together with their daughter Tess and other invited guests.
The day began as usual very early in the morning with the normal physical exercises and breakfast that was served at 8:30am. After breakfast the students prepared to meet their visitors at the gate. We had all anticipated their arrival and were anxious to welcome them. At around 10 o’clock our dreams came to reality when the car they were in entered the college gate.


They were treated to a grand welcome, as they were greeted with songs and outpourings of affection from all the AKIN children. It was an emotional and joyous experience to all the children and guests. The children felt very happy and motivated when Paul joined them in a dance.
The vocational students presented samples of their work in different styles. This was to prove to the directors that the initiative of AKIN to take them to college was a worthy investment. The girls displayed some of the products they made included; table clothes, marvins, socks and sweaters. The boys showed us metal and woodworking projects they had created. They were very proud of their achievements and they promised to work even harder to come up with high class products that will attract international market.
The guests were treated to a presentation of dramas, songs and recitations in their honor.


Paul then thanked the students for the welcome they had given them and informed them that AKIN was dedicated to ensure that their education goes on smoothly.
After that the children were then subjected to one on one assessment whereby Shelley did individual counseling sessions, and Paul conducted a writing seminar.

Twenty two year old Moses Mukami who is the head of Martin Luther King Foundation in Kenya, also joined us in the afternoon and engaged the kids in games, races and contests. He even gave several students the experience of sitting in his car and starting the engine that made them very happy and motivated to work hard.

Besides this, Tess staged a fashion photo shoot featuring all the girls in the program. The girls participated very enthusiastically in a fashion show which was very interesting and helped the girls to develop self esteem in them as they brought out the beauty in them.

Other activities included hair dressing lessons, health assessments and group and self evaluations. A specialist in hairdressing was called to have a training session with the Nairobi girls who were interested in the subject and they were very happy having shared and practiced very freely with the instructor.
When the day ended, it was sad to say good bye to the visitors who had already blended with the children into one family and resulted into questions of when the dear visitors would come back. All in all the day ended after supper with the children in an up beat mood especially after receiving the news that there would be a farewell party which had been funded by Shelley Miller.

Everyone enjoyed the party and they didn’t want to retire to bed since it was their last day and they didn’t imagine that they would depart from one another the next day.

DAY TWO (3RD AUG07)

DAY TWO (3RD AUG07)
The day began very early in the morning at exactly 5:30am with vigorous exercises to help refresh both the body and mind. This went on for two hours after which the students were given a break to take shower and prepare for breakfast which was served at 8:00am.

After tea, the classes resumed at 8:30am with a word of prayer from one of the students. The facilitator gave a chance to one of the participants who took the students through what they learnt yesterday and after that she introduced them to the topic of the day which was about the Journey of life. This topic was taught using the tree of life where every part of the tree was found to be having a particular function. The students also learnt about self esteem, levels of self esteem, and different aspects of self esteem. The students were divided into groups and given work to do.
The group then went for lunch at 1:00pm.

Immediately after lunch, the students learnt about decision making, key steps of decision making and types of decisions and how to make good decisions. They were also taken through relationships and how to make healthy relationships and also learnt about conflicts and how to resolve conflicts.

The day ended with group work where by the students were required to at least share their lifetime experiences. After this the students were served with 4 o’clock tea and thereafter given time to rest and prepare for supper which was served at 7:00pm.

A.K.I.N. program in action

There was a lunch break at 1:30pm.

The group came back from lunch at 2:30pm and continued with their discussions where they found out the characters they were learning in animals were also the same with human beings characters. They also learnt how to help individuals build on to their strong character traits and discard their weak ones.

The participants also learnt about communication where they were told that it is a means of sending and receiving information.
They also discussed various types of communication and how to have an effective communication. They were all happy after learning communication and they promised that their communication was going to improve.
They were also taken through the elements of relationships which they found out to be;
Respect
Responsibility
Understanding
Cooperation and caring

The lesson ended at 4:30pm with a word of prayer after which 4 o’clock tea was served and the participants were given time to share their experiences with one another. At exactly 7:00pm everybody gathered for supper at the dinning hall where the students were served with a delicious meal. The day’s events ended and everybody retired to their rooms.

Fred and two students.

The next step was to come up with rules and regulations that would guide the entire retreat. All the children participated in this and they cited the following values;
Respect to the leaders
Respect to one another’s opinion
Switching off or putting on vibration all mobile phones during discussions and group work
Starting and ending every session with prayers
Seeking permission before speaking
Avoiding un-necessary movements
Time management

The students also gave out responsibilities to;
Time keeper: George Brawn
Dorm Captains(girls’ dorm): Phyllis Wanjiru
(Boys’ dorm): Peter Njihia
Welfare officer: Joseph Kagwema
Dinning hall captain: Virginiah Njeri
Chair Person: Grace Nyambura

After all these, the facilitator then introduced the topic of the day which was about Group Dynamics. They were given the definition of group dynamics as a group of people coming together with different characteristics or behaviors sharing ideas for the benefit of the group.

The students were then divided into groups and given various animals to draw. After the drawings they were engaged in a discussion where they came up with different characters describing the animals they drew.

DAY ONE (2ND AUG 07)

DAY ONE (2ND AUG 07)
Since all the students had arrived, the activities began immediately at around eleven o’clock when all the students gathered at the conference hall and one of them opened the session with a word of prayer.
After the prayers, the next step was introduction where everybody at the conference gave a brief background of himself/herself besides their names. This was helpful because it brought out an instant picture of who everybody was and the purpose of their presence at the retreat.

After the introduction, the students were officially welcomed to the retreat and told that it was planned for their own benefit. They were told what was required of them and the kind of character they needed to up- hold during the retreat.

The facilitator (Janet who is a child counselor and a team builder) then took over and began by asking the students what they expected to achieve by the end of the retreat. The students gave all their expectations and fears at the retreat where some said that they expected to socialize, gain more knowledge, and learn more about being responsible and share information with one another.
Their fears included failing in life, some feared death and others said they disliked laziness.

Hard at work.

Various activities were planned for the retreat to make sure that the students learn a lot when they get together. The activities included presentations from the students, lessons in class and physical fitness every morning.

The first task was to ensure that all students are transported from their schools to the venue of the retreat in time to make sure that all activities go on as planned. The first lot of students from Dr. Kiano were picked on 1st Aug 2007 and transported straight to the venue, the second group that included Nairobi girls, Embakasi girls, Muhuri Muchiri boys and Kahithe boys were picked on 2nd Aug 2007 in the morning and taken to the venue.

Gathering together at Thika Variety Village

INTRODUCTION
This was the first ever AKIN student/staff retreat which was being held at Thika Variety Village in Thika Town within the outskirts of Nairobi. Thika Variety Village is one of the vocational schools being attended by three of our students who are specializing in woodwork and metalwork. This retreat was planned to help boost the social attitude of the students in the A.K.I.N program. The 25 students had not met for a long time since the closure of St. Francis Integrated School which acted as their home for a very long time. They were not aware of how their fellow students were faring on with life.

Thika Variety Village offered the best place for the retreat since it had enough accommodation space to offer to both boys and girls. All the arrangements were put in place to ensure that all the students were comfortable and fed properly on a balanced diet throughout the retreat.