Victoria’s Voice

A team from Kickstart Kids International was privileged to visit a fellow Children’s institution in Kilimambogo area about 20km from Thika Town in Kiambu County. Pendekezo Letu (PKL), meaning “our right to have a choice” in Kiswahili, is a Kenyan, non-religious, non-governmental organization, which was established in 1997 and specializes in assisting young street girls, their families and other highly vulnerable children living in marginalized urban communities in Kenya to fully access their fundamental rights to a caring family environment, education, information, protection from neglect, violence and exploitation, justice, health care and consequently increase their opportunities for sustainable and equitable development. Kickstart Kids visit centred primarily around understanding PKL’s reintegration approach for learning purposes. What better way to learn than from those who are already excelling at it! Some of the key highlights of the visit were song and dance presentations made by the girls at PKL which were creative and highly entertaining.        Kickstart Kids International Chairman and Founder James Woodward was at hand to present a few gifts and goodies to the girls. Also present was Dr. James Harrison from Kickstart Kids International (Australia) and Olturoto Children’s Village new programme manager William Odipo amongst others. “In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.” ― Phil Collins. What a wonderful learning experience it was! Asante Pendekezo Letu….  

The past month has been exciting with various activities surrounding the kitting out of the house in readiness for the admission of children in June. Top of the list were two key environmental sustainability installations. New Energy Efficient Refrigerator & Freezer Olturoto Children’s Village was recently the recipient of new SunDanzerTM DC refrigerator and freezer purchased by Kickstart Kids International. These high efficiency refrigerators and freezers have exceptionally low energy consumption requiring smaller, less expensive power systems and low operating expense. The purchase of the refrigerator and freezer is in line with Kickstart Kids International environmental sustainability pillar which focuses on accessing technologies and approaches that ensure sustainable consumption of food, energy and water. The new equipment which requires zero maintenance, with brushless, thermostatically controlled DC compressor operates on 12 or 24 VDC. A patented low-frost system reduces frost and moisture build-up for low maintenance. These chest-style refrigerators and freezers are easy to clean using the drain hole at the bottom of the unit. With thick insulation and a refrigeration system optimized for solar, SunDanzer refrigerators and freezers provide outstanding economical and reliable operation. Low energy consumption is the key that allows SunDanzer refrigerators and freezers to be cost effectively powered from solar, wind, fuel cells or batteries. This technology allows refrigeration in remote locations where it was previously unavailable or prohibitively expensive.       Congratulations to Oltutoro Children’s Village. We have fire! In line with Kickstart Kids International’s environmental sustainability pillar, an energy saving Biogas solution was recently installed at Olturoto Children’s Village. This first of its kind surface level Flexi Biogas system is an indigenous system designed and manufactured in Kenya. The system is fabricated from specially treated robust materials [...]

Hear what's happening in Kenya from our General Manager, Victoria. November 2013 Welcome to the first issue of Victoria’s Voice! We appreciate you taking time to read this blog and hope you will continue to do so each month. Victoria’s Voice is intended to bring you news and updates from the Olturoto Children’s Village (OCV) which is sponsored by Kickstart Kids International through its local partner Nanga Organization. Congratulations Bonnie! We have exciting news! Bonnie, one of the OCV children, recently sat for his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) which will allow him to join high school in 2014. Bonnie is expected to perform well as he has been ranking top 5 in his class. We wish him all the success and look forward to the release of the results in December. The Green is Here! Olturoto is located close to Kitengela approximately 110kms from the City of Nairobi. The terrain is generally quite dry and rocky especially during the dry season. The last couple of months have been quite dry, duty and quite HOT as would be expected. A drive to OCV will typically leave you hugging your water bottle searching for the nearest tree for some shade. However, the last two weeks of November have seen the area blessed with a bit of rainfall and the results? A cool green crisp environment! I was surprised to see a bit of still water in the seasonal river running near OCV. The river bed is usually as dry as the desert. The area looks simply lovely and at least the cattle and goats from the local herdsmen have something to eat. Alfred, the supervisor at the OCV farm recently recounted how a few sheep [...]