Our President, Jackson, will be travelling to Kenya to meet with our team there over the next month. We wish him a safe journey and that his trip will be productive!
He will be meeting with and encouraging the children we are sponsoring to go to school, as well as those who are part of our school lunch program. He will be bringing much needed school supplies, equipment and clothing to the community.
A large part of Jackson’s trip will be speaking with the community in Butere, Kenya and listening and observing the needs that they have, such as clean water, sanitary latrines, school fees for children, hunger and poverty. We are looking for practical and sustainable ways that we can work to eliminate extreme poverty in rural Kenya.
We are excited to hear more updates about the difference that Kuamini has been making in rural Kenya. Stay tuned for recaps of his trip!
Yesterday, the United Nations made a landmark announcement. They presented 17 Global Goals for world leaders, countries, organizations and communities to come together and to achieve by 2030. These 17 goals work together to achieve three things: end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice and fix climate change. You can read more about the UN’s Global Goals here.
Twitter was all abuzz about the #GlobalGoals. I was very inspired reading and watching the global community come together online and say, “Yes, we are committed to making the world a better place.” There are thousands (probably millions) of people around the world who are committed to giving back to their communities, to inspire change.
I think that so often when the issues of extreme poverty, hunger, lack of education are discussed, they can seem insurmountable. I think it can be easy to say, “I’m just one person, how much of a difference can I make?” There are so many great organizations that are already doing wonderful things to change the world. Yes, the issues are huge, daunting and far reaching, which is why it takes all of us. We all need to work together to achieve the goals that will change our world. Some of us focus on making governments more accountable to their citizens. Some of us work on providing clean and accessible water to every community. Some of us focus on injustice and inequality. Some, like us at Kuamini, work on providing access to education, food and sanitary latrines for children and their communities.
We are a new and growing non-profit organization that is excited to be a part of this movement. We are ready to get to work and do what we can to make the world a better place for everyone! We encourage you to join us on our journey.
Working as a global community to make the world a better place.
One of the biggest issues that we, Team Kuamini, have identified as a concern in Kenya is the shortage of latrines. Without latrines or bathrooms, people have no choice but to relieve themselves in open spaces. Apart from not being ideal on a personal level, this also creates a huge problem in regards to water. Without bathrooms or latrines it is impossible to maintain clean water and as a result, impossible to maintain good health.
Kuamini has started fundraising and we are spending our first round of profits on building latrines. At approximately $600 Canadian dollars a latrine is quite a luxury in Kenya. But for those of us who have the benefit of flushing toilets, what exactly is a latrine??
A latrine, in simple form is a minimal, simple, pit toilet. There are several different types of latrines and many are based on what materials are available, the knowledge of building a latrine and of course the funds to do so.
It is our hope that we can provide latrines throughout the more desolate areas of Kenya so that when we are able to aid in the clean water issue, we will be able to help keep that water clean and free of human waste.
Below are pictures of a few different latrine styles. One of the goals of our team is that we will be able to teach people living in Kenya to build latrines so that they can earn a living doing that and they will be helping their community in doing so.
One of the major challenges people in Kenya face is Malaria.
Malaria is a mosquito borne infectious disease that is spread by female mosquitos biting unprotected people. Common symptoms of Malaria include fever and headache however in more serious cases people with Malaria experienced slipping into a coma and even death.
The two best ways to prevent Malaria include the use of mosquito nets and insect repellants. Unfortunately these items are not readily available in the areas most affected by Malaria.
Last year over 200 million people got Malaria and over 1 million people died from the disease. Most of those who passed away were children living in Africa. These numbers may actually be higher in reality as many cases were not documented.
The Kuamini team have talked about this serious issue in Kenya and have included this concern in their action plan to bring wellness to the people of Kenya. One of our goals will be to provide mosquito netting to those who need it. This will increase health and well being which will allow people to attend school, go to work and to thrive in general.
I the future we will look at how to fund the netting, where to get it from and how to distribute it to those in need. Where there is a will there is a way!
We are a dynamic group of individuals based out of Southern Ontario and we are working together to form a charity that will aid in the well-being of individuals living in Kenya.
Follow this blog to learn more about our process, the projects we are working on, who we are helping, who we are and how you can be involved.
We welcome your comments, suggestions and of course, your encouragement!
Stay tuned as we add more information to this blog, create our website and expand our social media presence. We have a challenging but beautiful journey ahead of us!
Team Kuamini 