During the past three years visiting Kitale, the Hope 2 Kenya team has bought and distributed thousands of pounds of maize. Despite the drastic rise in the price of maize, this year was no different. The team bought 16,000 pounds of maize and 6,000 pounds of beans to be distributed to over 230 widows and their families. But before all this maize could be given out, it had to be divided into smaller sacks and sorted, a large task taken on by the Hope 2 Kenya team, TI interns and TI staff.

The repacking took 25 people and a half day to accomplish.

One of the first events with a medical clinic in Kolongolo Village located 45 minutes North of Kitale. The team arrived at 9:00am to find a line of over 100 people waiting eagerly to be treated. Some had walked for 10 miles from the West Pokot area.

The team of Kenyan and Canadian nurses and TI staff quickly set up the clinic and began seeing people. The widows and children were the priority, but as word got out about the clinic, more and more people came. By 4:30pm over 172 people had been treated and the doors had to be shut because the supplies were low.

The community greatly expressed their gratitude as many could never afford even the transportation to the closest clinic in Kitale and none could afford treatment.

Thank you to those who donated their time and money to Hope 2 Kenya to make this medical clinic possible.

In the past month, from the money raised at crafts sales, we were able to buy new shoes for the 30 children at our HBF children’s home. How much is 30 pairs of nice school shoes at $15.79 a pop, about $473.70…

Thank you for putting shoes on the feet of orphaned children. Your small or large purchase does make a difference.

Transformed International and HBF Soweto School are joining together in give free education, feeding program and uniforms to 200 children living in the slums.

Soweto slum is situated 15 kilometers east of the city of Nairobi. According to the Government census 2 years ago, the population was about 200,000 inhabitants who live in utter poverty with lack of food, good shelter, clothes and good health. The life is an uphill task. There is a high rate of illiteracy and unemployment. There is no infrastructure for schools and social amenities in the

slum. Crime, such as robbery, theft, prostitution, drunkenness and drug abuse are on the rise. Eighteen percent of people living in the slums have AIDS.

The HBF School has been running for a number of years, however, due to increased poverty, the school standsat a high risk of closing. The kids are still there, but their families are unable to pay the meager school fees required to keep the school operating. Education takes a back seat when there is no food for the family.

The school currently serves 200 children from preschool to class 7. The school has 9 teachers, a headmaster and cook.

Children in the slums who don’t go to school are forced to scavenge for food in the dump with their mother’s, beg

or enter into child labor and prostitution. Options that are unacceptable for any child.

Through TI, the feeding program at the school has been feeding these children lunch 5 days a week for the past year and a half. However, because of the drastic rise in food price, the money that was once able to feed these kids for a month now only last three weeks.

Our goal is to have individual, school or business sponsorships, sponsoring one child for $100 a year. That’s $8.33 a month. That $100 would be used as follows:

Teachers Salary $37

Uniform and shoes $20

Lunch program $23

Text books, note books, pens, pencils, etc. $20

Twice a year, those sponsoring a child would receive the following via e-mail:

1. An update on the schools progress
2. A personal letter from one of the class 7 students to your class, school, family or business.
3. Updated photos of the school and students.

The Kenyan school system runs from January to December. Sponsorship would be paid yearly in the month of January.

Lets work together to see the lives of 200 children changed.