Do Not Conform any Longer

Thirty Days to Make a Difference

2010-01-31T03:40:00.000-08:00

The students & faculty of E.T. Richardson Middle School would like to make a difference this year by reaching out to children living in the slums of Soweto near the city of Nairobi in Kenya. There, in Soweto, is a place called the Hope Bright Future School. HBF provides an education and a healthy lunch for children living on the fringe of society. Without HBF these children would face a grim future. Our goal is to partner with Transformed International an NGO and registered nonprofit organization that assists HBF through its Soweto School Project.

How much does it cost for a child to attend the Hope Bright Future School in Soweto? For just $100.00 a year children receive a uniform, education. In addition students are served a healthy meal each day.

Our goal is to make sure 50 students can attend HBF. To do this we will need to raise $5000.00 which amounts to about $5.00 per student attending E.T. Richardson Middle School. Beginning February 1, 2009 the E.T. Richardson Middle School community is going to dedicate 30 days to make a difference for the children of Soweto. During this time we will hold events to generate awareness and raise money toward our goal.

http://thirtydays.wikispaces.com/

Third Annual TI Christmas Party

2009-12-15T03:24:00.000-08:00

I’ve not had as many proud moments as I did today. I was moved to tears as I looked out over the sea of children joyfully playing, seemingly with no care in the world. How could such a number of young children be touched in such a way, given new hope and new life?

I’m so grateful to all the people who have given of their resources, no matter how small, to change the life of a child in Kenya. The magnitude of the impact TI is making was so evident today as over 250 people gathered in one place to celebrate the provision they received over the year and to celebrate the changed lives.

As each year passes and a new year dawns, I’m in awe of the growth of TI and the number of people being reached through such a small and young organization. I’m also in awe of the people gathering around a cause to make these things possible. And if the growth in one year has been so huge, I can only wonder what this next year will bring.

Thank you to the wonderful people from NewMarket Alliance Church who made this year’s Christmas party possible and thank you to the TI staff and team who worked so hard to provide food, gift bags and a lot of fun for the orphans.

Thank you to everyone who has made another successful year possible. It couldn’t be done without each one of you.

- Daniel Lipparelli

Fresh start for Teen Mothers

2009-12-08T05:16:00.000-08:00

Moureen, Eunice, Esther, Marysella, Caroline, and Caroline M. These are the names of six girls living in the Shimo slum just down the road from the TI compound. All of these girls are between the ages of 13 and 17, and all but one of them are single mothers. These girls were once in school and were thriving students. However, various events - for some a pregnancy, for others the loss of their parents and lack of school fees - have caused them to drop out of school. Since then, the girls have been working so hard just to make enough money to feed their families. In October these six girls started coming to the TI compound and learning to make greeting cards. We keep track of the number of quality cards they each make and they are paid accordingly.

It is amazing the way God has used this project to take the girls from being looked down on in their community to positions of respect. Making these cards three days a week is helping them support their families. One of the girls said that since she started making the cards her family has not gone hungry.

Through TI and the card project, these girls now have hope for themselves and for their families. The possibilities for them to go further are just beginning to unfold. God certainly has amazing things in store for each one of these girls!

- Hannah Bishop (TI Intern)

Maize Update

2009-12-03T03:01:00.000-08:00

I am excited to report that all the money needed for buying maize for TI projects for 2010 has been donated. Over $15,000 was raised and donated to go tours the maize. The maize is stored in several different locations around the country, ready to feed many this coming year.

Because TI was able to get maize right from the farmers after harvest, we were able to get each 200 lb sack for $5 less than our original budgeted expectation. This saved us over $2,000.

The TI crew feels relived knowing that all the staple maize is now in store. Having this will help offset the massive inflation of food cost in Kenya.

Thank you to the individuals, families, groups and churches who donated to this cause. Your donations will make a difference in the lives of many this coming year.

Fundraising Event!

2009-11-27T00:15:00.000-08:00

A special thanks to Nicole Jeff’s who organized a successful fundraising event that brought in over $5,300 for the maize for TI 2010 projects. TI is so thankful for the countless hours Nicole and her team put into planning this event and for its success. Also, thank you to the following people for your hard work:

Rachel and Josiah Gordon
Jenn and Stu Oliver
Amy and Matt Nieland
Kate Morawetz
Stacey Kaniuk
Julia and Blair Cowie
Claudie and Miguel Schlereth

Johabeto (Joining Hands for a Better Tomorrow)

2009-10-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

This is the ministry of our good friends, Martin and Ruth Shikuku. As seen on our Projectspage, ReACT and TI has come behind the Shikuku’s by supporting the extra OVC’s in their home as well as encouraging them in their small business ventures. Over time, this household has grown so much that their present home is no longer adequate.

Presently there are up to 36 children living in a home more suited for a maximum of 10, but this is about to change.

We are excited to announce that in the summer of 2010, 4 teams of 15-20 people will be visiting Kenya over July and August to build them a new home. You are invited to play a part. Click here for more information: http://reactkenya.com/Wordpress/johabeto/

TI Interns and Hope 2 Kenya mud hut at HBF

2009-10-19T04:50:00.000-07:00

The Hope 2 Kenya team and TI interns got the unique experience of mudding a traditional African hut used in village communities.

Hope 2 Kenya provided the funds to build this hut that will be used for guests and the TI staff who want to stay for a few days at the Hope Bright Future Children’s Home in Kiminini.

The teams got their hands and feet dirty as the community looked on in surprise at the mud covered westerners making mud balls and piling them to make the walls of the hut. The team finished the walls in an impressive 2 hours.

Thank you Hope 2 Kenya for the funding for this hut and for being willing to get dirty…

HIV Orphanage update (The Veronica Home)

2009-10-16T01:32:00.000-07:00

As TI has had more contact with HIV positive orphans, we have gained a passion to begin a home specifically to meet their needs. These needs include a special diet and medical care. The passion for this project increased after TI lost one of their girls, Veronica, who passed away August this year from AID’s.

We are thrilled to announce that TI has the funds to buy a one acre plot of land to begin the construction of the home. The project will be located 7 miles from Kitale town just off of the main road. Buying the land has become possible thanks to Hope 2 Kenya from Canada and funds raised by Ina from Finland who was a 2008 TI intern. Thank you all for making this possible.

The project will be built in several phases. The first phase will include a house that will accommodate 10 children and house parents, a separate kitchen, outdoor toilets and separate staff housing where the cook and nurse will live. Although an exact cost has not been completed, it is estimated that this phase will cost around $40,000 U.S.D.

It is our hope to have the land bought by the end of October and to begin construction as soon as funds become available.

Fall 2009 Internship Program

2009-10-12T04:58:00.001-07:00

The fall 2009 internship program has been in full swing for a month with two months to go. Many of the interns have taken on specific tasks that will enhance TI and further reach the communities and people TI is working with. Some of the projects conducted by the interns include after school programs in the slums, painting at HBF, administrative work for TI, fundraising projects with the Neema girls project and video editing for TI’s web page and 2010 promo video.

The Interns also spend much of their time building community and relationship with each other and the TI staff.

We are pleased to have Larry and Danel Lipparelli, the parents to Daniel, join the internship program team this year. They have proven to be an amazing addition to the team.

Funds received to date for food Crises

2009-10-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

Within only two weeks of the web page post talking about the current food crises in Kenya, TI received more than $7,000, almost half of what is needed to cover the maize cost for all TI projects in 2010.

The TI staff and team in Kenya was overwhelmed with people’s generosity and kindness and amazed at how people come together in the midst of hunger.

To date TI has received $8,700 to buy maize this coming year for TI projects. Total needed, $18,800.

Thank you everyone who gave, you played an important part in making a difference in the lives TI reaches.

Hope 2 Kenya Shimo Food distribution and Medical Clinic

2009-10-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

Another day, same plan, different place and most definitely a different group of people.

Shimo La Tawa is a slum known for its local brew, prostitution and overwhelming number of teenage mothers. Because of the desperation and poverty, people don’t have much self worth. Mothers push children to the ground so they can get to the front of the line, drunk people seek to cause any disruption possible and young men taunt and threaten to get their piece of the food. These are only a few of the things we encountered while trying to distribute food and conduct a medical clinic.

The team was shocked by the stark difference from the respect and gratitude shown the day before to the sense of entitlement and selfishness expressed today. None the less, 75 widows received food during the distribution and each widow was so thankful for the new hope given to them, hope that a little food easily brought.

The medical clinic was well organized and 550 were treated.

The team finished the day with their eyes open a little bit wider as to the effects of extreme poverty.

Thank you to those to donated to Hope 2 Kenya to make these food distributions and medical clinics possible. I’m convinced that lives were saved by the treatment given out during these clinics and by the food distributed to the widows. You may never fully know the impact your contribution made.

Hope 2 Kenya Maili Saba Food Distribution and Medical Clinic

2009-10-04T20:17:00.000-07:00

Maili Saba (the 7^th mile) is an area known for its extreme poverty and exorbitant number of widows caring for their children and grandchildren. It is also known for hunger and AIDS. As TI and Hope 2 Kenya has become more involved in this community, our hearts become deeper enmeshed with the people. Now over 4 families and 20 children are supported in this area through TI and a very successful widows project started by Hope 2 Kenya where 5 widows are fully self supported by the sewing project started a year ago.

But the many other widows can’t be reached monthly so Hope 2 Kenya chose this area to distribute food and do a medical clinic. 156 widows were pre assessed by the TI staff and chosen to receive food that would help feed their families for a few more months.

The mass number of widows was overwhelming as they gathered on the grass with their children and grandchildren, all waiting eagerly to see if their name was really on the list. Joy spread across their faces as their name was called and they joined a seemingly

never ending line to get their bag of maize and beans. After receiving their food, they were taken to an area where they were prayed for by the TI interns.

After gathering their food, the women and their children joined another line, eve

n longer, to be treated by the Kenyan and Canadian nurses. All the TI team, interns and Hope 2 Kenya team were needed to asses, treat, and give medication to the growing line of sick people. By 4:00pm the line had to be cut off as once again, the medication was running out. Over 330 people were treated in Maili Saba.

The team left very tired after a long and hard day of work, not only treating the sick, but feeding the hungry, comforting the desperate and loving on the fatherless.

Sometimes we forget why we are here, but today’s event reminded, refreshed and renewed a passion that will carry on for a long time…

Maize Packing Day

2009-09-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

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.

Hope 2 Kenya Kolongolo Medical Clinic

2009-09-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

Transformed International is honored to be in partnership with Hope 2 Kenya, a

Canada

based organization. This is the third year that Hope 2 Kenya has come to Kitale to work with TI and each year the events gets more and more exciting.

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.

When you buy a craft, where does the money go?

2009-09-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

When you see the TI table set up at some event or go to the house party, hear a spill about some organization in

Kenya

and then buy a cool pair of earrings or a wooden giraffe, you might wonder where the money goes.

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.

Soweto School Sponsorship Program 2010

2009-09-01T00:46:00.000-07:00

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:

An update on the schools progress
A personal letter from one of the class 7 students to your class, school, family or business.
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.

PA Team Kenya Video

2009-08-23T21:53:00.000-07:00

Single Mom Gets A Fresh Start

2009-08-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

Evelyn used to be a successful business woman. She and her husband had a road side stand where they sold used clothes, making enough money to support the daily needs of their growing family.

Evelyn, a Kenyan mother of six children, found herself in the middle of the post election violence early last year. Her home was targeted by rioters because she was from the “wrong” tribe in that community.

In the midst of the confusion as she fled with her children, she lost her husband.

She fled to Kitale, one of the few safe places during that time. Since January of 2008, she has franticly searched for her husband to no avail, leading her husband’s family and herself to believe that he was killed in the violence.

Besides being the single mother to six children, Evelyn faces another challenge; three of her

children are mentally challenged. In the Kenyan culture, people who are mentally/physically challenged are shunned from society; they are the outcast, considered a waist and in many areas, killed because they bring shame to the family.

Evelyn went against society and the ridicule or her family and friends and decided to love and accept her children, all of them.

Her first born child just got married and moved away from the family; the second child, Elisha is 19 and mentally challenged. The third born, Lydia, is 15 years old. She currently is in 9^th grade at a day school and got all As and Bs the last term. The 4^th child is Haman. He is 13 years old and in 7^th grade. The 5^th child is Bareet. She is 10 years old and since January of this year has been supported by ReAct to attend a school for mentally and physically challenged children in a town southwest of Kitale, called Webuye. The last child is 8 year old Derick, who is also supported by ReAct.

I was totally humbled as I walked into the family’s home, a 10 foot by 12 foot room made of mud. All five of the children and their mom sleep there at night. The mom and girls sleep in the one single bed while the boys sleep on sacks on the floor. When we arrived to visit the family, the children were sitting on the dirt floor eating some rice and beans. They where thrilled to have visitors in their home. Evelyn scrambled to the neighbors homes to borrow stools for us to sit on.

I asked Evelyn what her biggest challenge was. She told me in Swahili that she had a hard time finding a place to live because people don’t want her children around. She said once she moves

into a new place with them and the landlord sees the mentally challenged children, they give her a month to get out. In fact, she has been given two months notice to move out of her current home and has no idea where she will be going.

I asked her how she gets money to feed the family and she said that she normally weeds people’s gardens every day, making less than $1. From this, she is able to give her children something small to eat.

Although Evelyn’s case doesn’t fit under what TI normally does, we were really moved by her story. She said that if she was able to start selling clothes again, she would be able to care for her family.

In July, TI had a team form Canada who brought over 150 pairs of Crocs that were donated to them to bring to Kenya. Most of the shoes were adult sizes so we didn’t know what we were going to do with them. Then after visiting Evelyn, we decided that she would be the first Crocs dealer in Kitale.

She was overjoyed as we brought her 150 pairs of the shoes to start her business. From what

she makes from selling them, she is going to invest in clothes. She plans to set up on the sidewalk in Kitale town, selling the Crocs and clothes.

Another day, another life changed.

A special thanks to the ROCK youth team for bringing the bags of Crocs over and thank you to Crocs.

Internship Program 2010

2009-08-20T23:01:00.000-07:00

Transformed International will be hosting one Internship program in 2010 running from September 15^th to December 12^th. There are only 8 spots in the program. All applications are due by June 1, 2010. Go to the web page for more information.

The interns for the fall 2009 program arrive in 10 days. You can follow some of their adventures on their personal blog spots:

www.adventurewithyou.blogspot.com

www.stephaniereeves.blogspot.com

www.hanbish.blogspot.com

Food Crisis in Kenya and how it affects Transformed International

2009-08-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

‘"I am going to go home," said Gideon. "Then if there is no food, then I am going to rubbish."

Gideon dropped out of school last year so he could help support his family by scrounging for scraps in the heaping junk piles of Kibera. If he is lucky, he might make 20 cents a day. Gideon is 13 years old.’ (1)

The Cabinet in Kenya is planning an emergency session to talk about steps to prevent mass starvation across the country. The problem, on July 22^nd, the government announced that Kenya was in a state of crisis. The poor rains have reduced and dried up the crops.

An August 10^th report in the Daily Nation stated that based on the expected harvest, Kenya is going to be 13 million bags short on the staple food of maize corn needed to feed the country.

Two years ago a 200lb sack of maize could be bought for around $12, right now one sack is going for around $47. And that price is only expected to increase. The supply is going to be low and the demand for food very high. As the cabinet meets to talk about how to prevent major famine, as Transformed International, we also need to take the necessary precautions to make sure those being reached by TI are cared for this coming year.

Looking at the year 2010, TI is going to need 374 sacks of maize to meet the needs of projects currently under the sponsorship and support.

Home based care: 150 sacks

TI currently has nearly 150 orphan children and their extended family members who benefit from a monthly food delivery, education, medical care and other basic needs.

HBF Children’s Home: 70 sacks

HBF children’s home is nearing 30 children plus a staff who are cared for daily by the funding through TI.

Soweto School Feeding Program: 80 sacks

HBF School in Soweto educates almost 200 children from the slums. These are children who would otherwise not be getting any education. Without this education and feeding program some would be forced into child labor, begging or prostitution. Through TI, a feeding program has been funded the past year, giving some of these children the only meal they will get that day. When the program began, the $500 U.S.D a month was able to feed the children daily, but now, because of the rise of food, this money only last about 3 weeks.

HBF Kolongolo School: 24 sacks

Ninety preschool age kids from the Kolongolo village attend the school daily. For some, in times as this, a meal provided at the school would be the only one they get that day.

Neema Girl’s Program: 26 sacks

Currently this program is caring for 6 girls; however, TI is planning to expand to 20 girls in 2010.

Miscellaneous: 50

TI also supports widows and families who are considered to be in dire poverty.

These are families and children who are our responsibility.

The Current State of TI Projects:
Home Based Care: Enough maize in store to cater for this program until the end of November 2009

HBF Children’s Home: The last sack of maize for this program was used last week. TI now has to buy maize at a higher price from the market.

Soweto School Feeding Program: The maize for this program will end at the end of September 2009

HBF Kolongolo School: There is currently no feeding program at this school.

Neema Girl’s Program: Ok until the expansion of the program.

Based on the drastic rise in the price of food and the low food security this coming year, the $30 ($35 CAD) a month per child sponsored is not going to feed that child. We are hoping to offset the cost of the children sponsored by TI and the feeding programs by donations and sales of products sold at TI events in the U.S. and Canada.

It is our deepest desire to keep children like Gideon from having to live the life of an impoverished child, scavenging for daily food.

(1) Silent Food Crisis Crippling Kenya Slum
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-07-23-voa38.cfm

Food: Kenya's next crisis

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/637224/-/ulmj6i/-/

Pa Team, July 2009

2009-07-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

BoGoLight Summer Sale!

2009-07-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

Are you interested in helping light up a little part of Kenya? Have you heard of the BoGoLight?! It is a state of the art solar flash light that re-charges itself by using solar energy from the sun. The BoGoLight summer sale is a PERFECT time to purchase a BoGoLight and send it to be used in Africa by the families within the projects that Transformed International supports. These lights provide much better cost-efficient lighting for families in Africa such as children doing homework at night, as an example, and eliminates the need for purchasing kerosene to be used in lanterns.

If you are interested in purchasing a BoGoLight, please go online for more information or to purchase a light and you can send it with someone going to Kenya this fall to work with Transformed International. It will find it’s way into the hands of people who desperately need more efficient and cost-effective ways to live.

BoGoLight Summer Sale: http://www.bogolight.com/

Technical Information: http://www.sunnightsolar.com/technical-information.html

“Buy One/Give One” site (A quantity of 500 lights at the regular price of $59 must be purchased before we receive the 500 free lights donated to TI so it makes more sense to buy one for half price during the summer sale going on right now than to spend double the price and wait.): http://www.bogolight.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=Transformed2

Providence Kenya Team

2009-07-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

The TI Kenya team is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Providence Kenya team from Pennsylvania. The team will be visiting many TI projects but spending most of their time with the Neema Girl’s Project.

You can follow their trip at www.provinkenya2009.blogspot.com

Rock Youth Team

2009-07-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

ROCK Youth Team

2009-06-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Rock Youth Team from NAC, Canada arrived today in Kenya to work with the TI Kenya crew. You can follow their group blog by visiting http://www.teamkenya2009.blogspot.com. We will also be posting some updated with pictures about their adventures over the next 10 days.