DECEMBER 2017 NEWSLETTER

We have much exciting news to report in Friends of Kakamega’s 15th anniversary year.

• SunKing solar lamps bring bright, clean light to over 250 KOCC homes.

Studying with a kerosene lamp is a bit costly and smoky, but the real problem is that reading in this dim light strains one's eyes

With SunKing solar lamps, all of the families in our program now have bright, clean modern light

Because lighting changes lives, Friends of Kakamega has made a commitment to upgrade lights in the homes of every child and family in KOCC's programs. We send thanks to all the sponsors and donors who supported this effort by giving generously to the summer 2017 SunKing solar lamp project. Together we brought durable and bright lights to nearly a thousand children in over 250 homes in Kakamega Orphans Care Centre's (KOCC’s) big family. 

Very few of the families we support are connected to the electric grid, but this project means that 100% now have clean and bright light in their homes. SunKing Pro 2 solar lamps are 16x brighter and 100% safer than kerosene lanterns, and one lamp provides enough light for all young learners in a home to study as late as they wish.  ​

Poor families in rural Kenya typically light their homes with dim kerosene lamps, but this type of lighting strains eyes and budgets, resulting in less study time for children. Kerosene-fueled lanterns also produce a plume of black smoke, which affects respiratory health for families living in traditional, poorly ventilated homes, and accidents with them can result in severe burns. ​​

We addressed this problem in the past two years by asking sponsors to help us provide Luci lights to all students in our home-based and Care Centre programs. The response from these children and their families was overwhelmingly positive, but, since then, we’ve observed that the lifespan of Luci lights is just one or two years, and families’ need for light is continuous. Prices for brighter, higher-quality solar lights have dropped, so we decided to go one step further this year and give a lamp that will last to all the families we support.   
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We could not think of a better $32 investment in the futures of these children and families, and both we and they send heartfelt thanks to all who contributed.

New staff in Kenya and Maine keep us moving forward.

• ​We are proud to announce two new staff members in Kakamega.

​Lucy Kasoha will serve as Field Officer for our home-based family care program, and Lydia Muyaku will serve as Educational Counselor for the high school program funded by our partner Crossroad Springs Africa (CSA). They were stand-out candidates from a very competitive pool of job applicants, and they bring the kind of education and professional experience that we need, as well as a deep commitment to uplifting their community and country. They increase the growing staff at KOCC to 13.

​Lucy will coordinate outreach efforts to the 125 children and families we support, helping households address the challenges they face. She holds a diploma with distinction in social work and community development, and she has experience working on children’s poverty issues in both the government and nonprofit sectors.

​Lydia will provide guidance and support to over 100 secondary students.  Lydia has a degree in education and a diploma in business, and she has experience in project management in South Africa and in teaching at a Kenyan  girls’ high school attended by KOCC students.

Both of these women are skilled professionals who care deeply about making a difference through their work.   We offer a hearty welcome and congratulations to Lucy and Lydia, and we thank them for accepting these challenging roles.

• We are excited to announce that John Chisholm has joined Friends of Kakamega as our first paid U.S. staff person.

He has taken the newly created position of Finance and Operations Manager and adds numerous, invaluable skills to our organization. After fourteen years of growth built entirely with volunteer labor, we found we had the momentum and resources to grow even faster but were struggling to keep up. So, in our fifteenth year, we hired John to help us develop financial and operational systems commensurate with our size and our ambitious vision for the future.

The new position includes working with KOCC to develop new programs in Kenya, managing old and new collaborations on both sides of the ocean, and organizing our work so it attracts new partners and larger funding through foundations and planned giving. To make all of this happen, we needed someone who understands the Kakamega community and Kenyan social and political issues, and who has the experience, education, and commitment to accomplish our goals. John fits the bill perfectly since he has been volunteering with our project since 2003, has a master’s degree related to NGO management, and has visited Kenya numerous times, both at the KOCC and for a graduate project in Nairobi.

He has been working for Friends of Kakamega since the start of 2017, applying his knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm to the project in many capacities. His accomplishments so far include building our new website (see below), Guidestar certification, new financial systems, and, most of all, helping us develop new programs, update our mission, and work with KOCC to craft a strategic vision for our future. His deep knowledge of and experience with our programs come from his being the son of our founder and director Sukie Rice. We feel blessed that he is committed to continuing and expanding what Suke helped start with the same dedication and energy that she has brought to the organization thus far. Thanks to John, you will notice changes and improvements in the way we do things and communicate.

• Friends of Kakamega launches a new website.

We are proud of our new and improved website and invite you to visit it to learn more about KOCC’s programs. You’ll find the site to be rich with information and photos, and we’ve also made it easy to donate online ​and pay sponsorships in automatic monthly installments.  

You're actually reading this newsletter on our new site, so please have look around by clicking through  the navigation menu at the top of this page. 

• Friends of Kakamega will be the international focus for Rotary Clubs in 2018.

Friends of Kakamega's Director Sukie Rice (center), with Rotary District 7780 Governor Dave Underhill (left) and his wife Linda Underhill (right); at our 15th Birthday celebration in early November

In October, we learned that Rotary District 7780, which includes 40 clubs in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, chose us to be the focus of their 2018 international cultural exchange/service initiative. The seeds of this exchange were planted last year when the Rotary Club in Freeport, Maine, supported our work in Kakamega by funding a very successful farm business training program for 16 young women. The Rotarians plan to send a small exploratory team to Kakamega next spring to meet Kenyan Rotaries and learn more about the Kakamega community and KOCC’s programs. We don’t yet know what will come out of this partnership, but it definitely feels promising. Stay tuned.