Newsletter

May, 2017

We have had a fantastic four weeks at Olturoto Children’s Village with the opening of Joseph house for eight boys, seeing our two eldest girls commencing university, kicking off a family empowerment program and creating a long term partnership on our farm. Last weekend we made a short video to introduce you to Benjamin, Edwin, Clinton, Noah, Peter, Mark, Morgan and Stephen. Click this link to take a look.

It is tax time in Australia which makes June a critical month for our tax deductible fundraising efforts. We have big plans for the next financial year and it is only through these donations that we can continue to expand our program to more and more orphaned and vulnerable kids. If you are able to support from Australia, please do click this link or send us an email if you need any further information. Information on donating from Kenya, UK, Belgium or elsewhere in the world is available at the end of the newsletter.

Enjoy the read and as always, thank you for your support

The Kickstart Team

Empowering families for a better tomorrow
All the 17 children (9 girls & 8 boys) are well and progressing with their schooling. During their free time and on weekends, they have been taking various life skills lessons covering communication, children’s rights, performing arts as well holding their own meetings as part of the child participation program.  In May 2017, we officially launched the family empowerment program. This program seeks to strengthen and empower guardians of children currently admitted at OCV in order to improve their financial and social-economic status in readiness for reintegration.

Further down in this newsletter we have featured a story on one of the families and how the empowerment program is impacting the children and their future.

Amongst the training programs the guardians will undergo are entrepreneurship, parenting skills, child protection, nutrition etc. So far, two sessions on entrepreneurship skills have been facilitated by Positive Outlook, an organisation dedicated to enhancing entrepreneurship knowledge in Kenya and in particular among the disadvantaged. The guardians are currently going through a process to enable them to qualify for a small microloan from Kickstart Kids International that will enable them to kickstart a business within their localities where they will apply the skills learnt with close monitoring and guidance from our team and Positive Outlook facilitators.

In May, the guardians also formed a self-help group called Nareto Kickstart Parents. Nareto is a Maasai word meaning ’empowering one another’. This will allow the guardians to begin table banking amongst other projects to uplift their economic standing. We need all the support we can get from you in order to make this a success and continue the work we started. See details on how to donate below.
 

Olturuto Children’s Village (OCV) turns 3 years on the 26th June 2017. We will hold a celebration on 1st July. Look out for the pictures on our social media platforms and in our next newsletter.
Help us bring more smiles with a tax deductible donation in Australia! That’s right TAX DEDUCTIBLE! Click here to donate
Exciting News!

Both Winnie and Hilda have joined university. Winnie is currently studying accounting at KCA University whilst Hilda is joining Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) for a Bachelor of Science in Corporate Communication and Management. We wish them both all the very best!

 

 
FEATURE STORY: The Twins (Faith & Morgan)

Cheerful Morgan and lovely Faith were admitted to Olturoto in September 2016 after a referral through the local chief. A concerned neighbour had drawn his attention to their plight after noticing the children were at risk. The 6 year olds had been orphaned earlier in the year after their only parent had passed on due to AIDS. They were left under the care of their 76 year old grandfather who could not take care of them. They had stopped attending school and were also malnourished. One of the twins is HIV+ thus making the the need for good nutrition and hospital care that much more critical. 

Through the family empowerment program, we have been training their grandfather on nutrition and on HIV/AIDS patient care. Their maternal uncle has also agreed to take the children into his care post-reintegration. However, he currently does not have the financial capability to do so. We have therefore incorporated their uncle into the family empowerment program where he is receiving training in various areas including entrepreneurial skills and a small microloan to start off a business that will help improve his financial capability in readiness for reintegration.

 

Take a tour of Joseph house with the boys in our latest video above and get a progress update on the farm too!

Click here to watch.