UN Day for Malala Yusufzia - November 10, 2012

This is Malala Yusufzia, a very courageous 15 year old Pakistan campaigner and peace activist whose only crime was to speak out against the destruction of girls schools in Pakistan and to advocate for the rights of girls and women to be educated. On October 9th while on a school bus Malala was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman to silence her voice. Today Malala is recovering in a UK hospital and the world has become aware of the plight of women and girls around the world whose voices haven't been heard.

I know first hand about those girls and women in the developing world who do not have access to education. In many countries boys are the first to be educated in their families, yet it is girls turned women who really support their families financially. In Kenya primary education is provided by the government but secondary education is not. If your family has funds then as a girl (and even boys) you might be able to attend school, but if your family runs out of money in second term, you stay home until funds can be acquired. This means that education is not consistent or that you may never go to secondary school. Then a girl might be relegated to a life working as a housegirl and perhaps even getting pregnant and having to tend a family of their own, even though they might still be a teenager. The propsects are not bright for these girls.

When I was in Wongonyi Village, Kenya this June I met with the members of our Sere Girls Club and they told me of their daily challenges with regards to schooling. Even for these girls who are in school, life is not easy as often it is a long walk to school (sometimes 1-2 hours each way) and then at night when they get home they have chores to do (get firewood, make the evening meals, clean the utensils, feed the livestock and perhaps put younger siblings to bed) before they can get to their own homework studies.

To this end we support education scholarships that keep girls in school so they can have the prospect of a brighter future and we supply resources like IKEA solar desk lamps that we are giving to girls so they can study at night without having problems like eye strain and respiratory illness that results from using paraffin lamps. Here Emily and her brother receive an IKEA solar desk light that provides 4-5 hours of light at night.












Abigail, an alibino girl is considered by her uncle with whom she lives to be cursed and he refuses to pay for her secondary school fees. Thanks to caring donors in Muskoka Abigail is able to attend Allan Mjomba Secondary School and pursue her dreams.




We urge you to think about Malala and all the girls and women of the world who are being denied and education or have challenges in accessing educational resources. Here in the West education is considered a right for all and so it should be around the world. We all have the right to an education so girls and women are not kept in positions of oppression but instead can be the best they can be - the bright new leaders of the world. Do what you can to support educational programs for girls!

And sign the petition currently being circulated to nominate Malala for the Nobel Peace Prize. Do not let her voice and the voice of millions of girls across the globe be silenced!

Girls Rule - International Day of the Girl

On October 11, 2012 the United Nations officially designated this day as the first annual UN International Day of the Girl. What a great event this is to highlight gender inequalities, focus on  how girls are discriminated throughout the world and highlight the ways girls are abused (verbally, sexually and physically) by their societies.

This day is special as it finally helps to educate people around the world on the importance that girls can have in their families, communities and the world. For girls it highlights the importance to them of knowing their rights as girls - like the right to food and clean safe drinking water, access to health care, the right to say NO to unwanted sexual advances and most importantly the right to quality education. It is a known fact that girls and women really do have the greatest impact on the improvement of their communities. And education truly is the only way girls can make the most of their life and have the greatest impact on moving their families and their communities from poverty to prosperity.

Things will not change overnight, opportunities for girls will develop slowly but if the world knows that girls are a valued part of society change can happen.

 

Members of Sere Girls Club collecting garbage along the roadside

 

 

Girls burning the collected garbage - keeping Wongonyi Village Clean

 

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Our own Sere Girls Club in Wongonyi Village, Kenya know the importance of being girls and the impact they can have on their community. To celebrate the ist annual UN International Day of the Girl, they held a Community Clean-up educating the local villagers on the importance of having a clean village and that everyone is responsibile for taking care of the planet. We applaud the girls of Sere Girls Club for this great initiative - you go girls!

Celebrating Mahatma Gandhi Day - Oct. 2, 2012

I didn't know it until I heard it on the CBC this morning that today was Mahatma Gandhi Day, a day to celebrate the life and message Gandhi had for the world. If you don't know about Gandhi, he was the leader of India's struggle for independence, a spiritual teacher who moved people to adopt a life of peace. Unfortunately Gandhi died on January 30, 1948 at the hand of an assassin.

He had an extraordinary life from a boy growing up in India, to a student of law in London, then working to achieve legal equality for Indians and Negroes in South Africa and his final years spent back in India helping to secure India's independence. In his later years he developed a great spirituality which attracted many followers and his teachings still live on today for those of us who seek a world where all people are equal and live without poverty. He lived a life of passion and non-violence and encouraged others to do the same.

Mahatma Gandhi made many pronouncements during his life which if followed today would result in a world of peace. I have included some of Gandhi's sayings that resonate with me and I know that if others took heed of Gandhi's words I am sure we would all be able to enjoy a harmonious world where all could live in equality.

Here are some of Mahatma Gandhi's thoughts and  sayings:

" Unity in diversity  - The need for the moment is not one religion but mutual respect and tolerance of the devotees of different religions."

"On the reduction of poverty - Industrialization will increase India's grinding pauperism. Instead of increasing mass production, let us look to production by the masses."

" His ideal village would be a complete republic, independent of its neighbours for its vital wants and yet interdependent for many wants in which dependence is a necessity including growing its own useful crops, providing clean water, schools, theatre, public halls and electricity in every hut. For Gandhi self governing and self reliant villages trading with nearby self-sufficient villages was his recipe for democracy."

" All my life I have stood, as everyone should stand, for minorities and those in need . . ."

The Ronnie Fund stands for those in need in Wongonyi Village, Kenya who need not a hand out but a hand up, for these proud African people really know the solutions to their own problems they just need a few ideas and perhaps a tool or two to help them realize their potential.

So today we celebrate all that Mahatma Gandhi stood for - for those in the minority, those in need, those who have not been treated justly, those without the simple basic necessities of life. Take a look at your own life, if you have been blessed then pass your blessings on to others go without.

The Power of Pennies - We Day Inspires!

Today I've been watching the live stream of We Day in Toronto. My daughter Martha is there again this year and I fondly remembered two years ago when our entire family volunteered at We Day - Peter and I in the Educator booths, Martha as a crowd pumper and Jeremy at a Merchandise booth. As a volunteering family with a family-run charity of our own in Kenya it was just natural to participate in We Day.

This year Craig and Marc encouraged youth to save their pennies and take them to the Royal Bank to help provide water for those in developing countries who  have water sources to which they have long distances to carry our precious life source back to their homes or for those whose water sources are closer to home but the water is not clean and safe to drink.

We know the power of pennies for it was by saving pennies in a jar that we started to help our Kenyan friend and "son"  Ronnie Mdawida pursue further university education in order to help the people of his home village of Wongonyi, in southeastern Kenya, and all people of Kenya to a better quality of life. So we began by simply putting pennies in a jar and The Ronnie Fund was started. We later expanded to using this penny bank our son Jeremy recieved. We are not a wealthy family but we felt blessed by the life we have here and were inspired by Ronnie's desire to help his people. We can tell you that it doesn't take long for that small and what some people consider insignificant coin to add up to making important social change. And as Ronnie started to help his village and we began to tell his story and ours, others joined with us individuals, churches businesses. Now six years later we are making a difference in people's lives, one person at a time through educational scholarships, microfinance, Biosand Water Filter project, Health care resources, new homes for widows, clothing and supplies for orphans, Sere Girls Club and Agricultural Tools and training for sustainability.

Our newest project is the Mghongo Leadership Centre, Eco Lodge and Demonstration Farm that once built will provide quality educational training on a variety of topics including Agriculture, Health and Nutrition, Water and Sanitation, Teacher Training, Leadership and Youth programming and much more.

Our meeting with Ronnie when he came to live with our family for three months in 2005 as a participant in the Canada World Youth Program has changed our lives in ways we could never have imagined. And it all started with pennies in a jar to help one young man to further his education but has resulted in  really helping him to achieve his dream of providing quality village life in Kenya.We have made life long friends in this remote hilltop village that I know will endure forever.

Some people are hesitant to help others or just too overwhelmed by the poverty of the world but if we each help just one other person, who in turn will help one other person and so on, and so on, just imagine a world of peace and equality for all.

 YOU CAN DO IT! WE ARE DOING IT!

 As the Dalai Lama said"

"If we are lucky enough to be living a good life, we should recognize this gift and thank God for it by looking out for others who need our help in breaking out of the cycle of poverty."

BE THE CHANGE!

 

To see how pennies can transform Kenyan communities check out our website

 www.easysite.com/theronniefund

theronniefund@sympatico.ca

Ronnie giving an inspirational talk to 150 youth attending a Youth Barazza in Wongonyi Village telling them to never give up their dreams despite the hardships they may be facing. Ronnie faced those same challenges coming from a childhood of poverty to achieve his BA in Rural Sociology and is now working on his MA, transferring his knowledge to a new generation of Kenyan youth.

World Humanitarian Day Celebrates Health Care Workers

What would the world be without Health Care Workers. This year 2012's World Humanitarian Day celebrates the unsung heroes of the world "Community Health Care Workers". When I was in Wongonyi Village in Kenya this past June I learned of the amazing work that Beatrice Whanga is doing. I first met Beatrice on our trip to the village in 2008 when she was the Assistant Chairperson of the Ushirika Ladies Group (affectionately known as "The Poultry Ladies") for they had banded together raising chickens to generate income to help support their families. But that is a story for another time. In the recent past  Beatrice learned of a great need in the community, that of community health care, and she has now dedicated her life to filling that need. Although there does exist a District Hospital in the Mwambira District of the Taita Taveta Hills, it's strategic location in the centre of the four villages of Wongonyi, Mrangi, Mole and Makaleri means that it is a one to two hour walk from any of these villages to the hospital. So understandably, people wait until they are really sick to make the trek to the hospital at which point they are usually too ill to be served by the hospital which lacks anything more than basic health care, so you get sent to the hospital at Voi 40 km away, which also lacks resources. The end result is that if you are really ill you will usually die. Not a successful outcome. Beatrice realized that many people lacked knowledge about basic health and nutrition and many like the elderly or disabled can't even get to a hospital if they need one due to the hilly terrain. Beatrice has been known to carry someone too ill to walk on her back or pushed in a wheelbarrow in the middle of the night one hour to the hospital.

Beatrice has made it her mission to provide health care visits in homes to the people of Wongonyi and surrounding villages. She educates people on health issues and when care is needed. Not all of the stories are pretty ones, like the young mother, a teenager, who left her baby on a table and the baby rolled off and into the fire burning a large part of it's tiny body. The young mother didn't know enough to seek medical attention. But things are beginning to change with Beatrice's home visits. The amazing part of this story is that Beatrice does this all without being paid and with a lack of resources  because she believes someone needs to address the issue. On my recent trip to Wongonyi Village this past June I took over a digital blood pressure monitor. You should have seen Beatrice's face light up when I presented her with this new tool. She was so excited to be able to take people's blood pressure (above you can see her taking Ronnie's blood pressure). The second day she had it she called Ronnie excitedly saying we had saved a life. She had visited a woman and taken her blood pressure which was in the extreme range. Beatrice told the woman to go to the hospital to get medication. The woman didn't believe Beatrice but did go to the hospital. When she arrived she did not tell them why she was sent but asked to have her blood pressure taken and they were shocked. The nurse asked the woman how she had come to the hospital and she said she had walked slowly. The woman was given medication and kept at the hospital until she was able to walk home. At another meeting of 18 women Beatrice askked how many had ever had their blood pressure taken. Only Ronnie's mother Getrude put up her hand. Beatrice said she would be around to visit all the others in the next few days. Since I have been back in Canada Beatrice visits the women on a regular basis monitoring their blood pressure.

Before I came home Beatrice asked for a few more tools that would help her in her job. A stethoscope was one item. In Bracebridge a nurse Way Lem came to our aid and we sent over his two stethoscopes. Again Beatrice was overjoyed. She visited Mwambira hospital to learn their proper use and has been busy with her enhanced health care work. Beatrice is one of the unsung heroes in the world. She also works with the Kaza Moyo Mwambira Support Group( seen below), a multi generational and gender group of HIV positive people in Wongonyi Village helping them with health care issues and trying to assist in finding economic opportunities so that they are able to support their families. Many people shun those with HIV/Aids because they do not understand how HIV/Aids is spread. Beatrice  provides hospice care in her home, which requires repairs, when HIV patients are at end of life and have been rejected by their families. She also serves as the midwife for the four villages of Wongonyi, Mrangi, Mole and Makaleri, the last two being a two hour walk from Beatrice's home in Wongonyi Village.

On August 19th - World Humanitarian Day for 2012 and throughout the year - we salute Beatrice Whanga for her outstanding work as a Community Health Care Worker in Wongonyi Village, Kenya.

Celebrate Earth Week Every Day

Last week was Earth Week and all over the globe people were initiating or continuing projects to help save Mother Earth. Each day we are doing things that destroy the precious planet we inhabit. Cities expand at an alarming rate with farmers fields being destroyed to make way for megahomes to house the expaning urban population but no one seems to question how we are going to feed ourselves as that precious farmland can never be reclaimed. Industry spews out chemials into the air poisoning our environment and polluting the air we need to survive. But all is not doom and gloomed as all over the world sensitive people are realizing the terrible state of our world and are working away, not only on Earth Day or during Earth Week but every day of the year on projects that are helping to return health back to planet earth. Wangari Maathai, the Nobel Peace Prize Winner from Kenya started the Greenbelt Movement planting trees, returning forests back to her native country and prior to her death encouraged everyone to plant trees to achieve the Billion Tree Campaign, a billion trees to be planted worldwide. I recently read of a man in India who began 30 years ago to plant trees in a sandspit and now his forest covers 1,360 acres, a testament to the spirit of regeneration and rebirth for our world.

Jeremy and Peter plant four trees with Ikanga Scouts at Ikanga, Kenya

Earth Week is a reminder to all of us to look at the world we live in, to do our part to make a difference. It doesn't have to be something huge, something simple like planting just one tree every year can help the environment. Trees are an investment. But it can also be turning out your lights when you don't need them, washing your clothes in cold water instead of hot, turning off the tap when you are brushing you teeth, having a quick shower instead of taking a bath. It is the simple things that can really add up and make a difference. Look at what you are doing in your home and see how you an make a difference. Planet Earth is not an infinite body, someday if we don;t take care of what we have, our children and their children will not have a place to all home. So make a difference in our world not just during Earth Week but all year long.

International Women's Day - March 8, 2012

Today is International Women's Day celebrating women worldwide with this year's theme "Empowering Rural Women." It is hard for women here in the developed world to think that women are impoverished in the developing world.

My work in Kenya has given me a true appreciation of all that women in developing countries have to deal with - HIV/Aids, lack of food, proper shelter, difficulty in paying her children's school fees, husbands who leave to find better employment but fail to send funds home to support their families, rape and much more. I have only respect for these women who seem to draw from a spirit deep inside themselves to accept, deal with and rise above these problems. They have a true resiliency that I don't know if I could find within myself.

We need to support these women and help them move from poverty to prosperity by assisting them with education, training, and microfinance loans. I have seen the benefit that these women get from a small loan that can help them improve their business and increase income to support their families. Training can give them new skills again to help with income generation like the woman in the photo above. She works for Bega Kwa Bega, a fair trade organization in Mathare slums in Nairobi. Here former drug users, prostitutes and alcoholics have been given life skills and craft training and now are able to get useful work. Her life has changed for the better.

Today celebrate a woman who is special and close to you or a woman you don't know in a developing country, think about the beauty that lies within her despite her circumstances.

March 3rd - Wangari Maathai Day

Members of Lukundo Youth Group check seedlings in their tree nursery.

It was this past year 2011 that Wangari Maathai, the Nobel Peace Prize winner from Kenya succumbed to ovarian cancer. It was a very sad day for those of us who work and live in Kenya for she had been an outstanding leader for the country giving hope to those like herself who have grown up with social injustice and poverty.

Wangari is best known for starting The Greenn Belt Movement, a tree planting campaign that she initiated to provide empowerment for women by planting trees. A staunch environmentalist she realized the effects on the environment from deforestation and the ripple down effect this had on women's lives and the lives of their families. In the past year Wangari had initiated the Billion Tree Campaign, asking people around the globe to help in planting a billion trees worldwide to help counter the effects of climate change.

With the development of The Mghongo Leadership Centre, Eco Lodge and Demonstration Farm soon to be built in Wongonyi Village, Kenya we celebrate Wangari and her work as a role model and great leader to the youth and women in our village. On the day of Wangari's funeral, each student and teacher in the village planted a tree in Wangari's memory.

Today we forever will mark as Wangari Maathai Day as designated by The Green Belt Movement organization and we will continue to plant trees in her honour on this day. Wongonyi Village, located high atop the Taita Taveta Hills in southeastern Kenya is a biodiversity hotspot of rare flora, fauna and bird life who inhabit the indigenous forests of the hills. Deforestation has touched our remote area too as villagers have ravaged the forests for firewood and building materials without thinking about or knowing the consequences of their actions for daily survival. Ronnie is working diligently to educate the youth and villagers on the consequences of deforestion, more mudslides in the rainy season, loss of soil due to rain and wind, the effects of the loss of the forests on weather patterns. And to this end we have also embarked on a tree planting project to revitalize this important ecological feature. Youth groups have set up tree nurseries and are propagating tree seedlings for planting. The forests are being regenerated and wildlife is returning and with each tree that is planted we will continue to keep Wangari's dream alive.

International Development Week - Feb 5 - 11, 2012

I just finished reading John Stackhouse's book "Out of Poverty and into something more comfortable". An interesting read to be sure which highlighted the many issues and challenges with international development and the quest to effect change in developing countries. I could certainly relate to many of the situations he described in the rural villages he visited in Africa, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia. It is not simply a matter of sending funds and physical resources to help move people from poverty to prosperity. If one doesn't already possess patience, one will certainly learn it when dealing with the developing world. We can't come with our western preconceptions about how development will take place. We may go and see the problem and know an easy solution but it takes time to learn the local history, tribal ways and other cultural issues that can hinder development like witchcraft, village politics and people's jealousies.


However that being said, there are great joys in seeing positive change take place and one must never let despair or dissolutionment get one down. During our 6 years of working with The Ronnie Fund in Wongonyi Village, Ronnie has often felt discouraged when things do not go as planned or fellow villagers try to derail a project but a positive outlook and continued education can turn a project around.



The focus for 2012 International Development Week is Empowerment for Women and Girls and Sustainable Economic Growth. We know that women are the lifeblood of all economies worldwide - they are the ones who keep the families going. In the developing world it is women who work tirelessly to provide food, clothing and school fees for their children and it is women who are left to look after families when their husbands desert them after learning their partner has HIV/Aids (most often given to them by the husbands). These women, often considered widows, are left to fend for themselves often suffering abuse from their families by shunning and rape for those living in slum conditions. Recently we were given a special gift from Bracebridge United Church which allowed us to provide doors, windows and iron sheets for roofing for a church in Wongonyi that is building homes for widows. Kinandi, a mother who lives and supports two adult daughters and 4 grandchildren living in a one room windowless mud hut, cried with joy when she heard she was to be the recipient of new roofing. She has invited me to sleep at her new home on my next visit to Wongonyi Village. I am constantly amazed by the resiliency of these women. They seem to have an inner strength that I'm not sure I could possess. They continue day by day to provide what they can for their families.

Constance, one of our secondary school graduates is now taking computer courses while waiting for her acceptance into university.


For girls, it can be just as difficult as they are often the last to be supported by the families for secondary school education. If a family can't afford their fees, they will send them out to work or marry them off at a young age keeping them in a perpetual cycle of poverty. We are doing our best to keep girls in school for we know that education is the only way to break out of poverty. Our Sere Girls Club is providing an opportunity for 30 girls in Wongonyi Village, Kenya to meet for educational, spiritual and emotional guidance along with a mentoring program and training in leadership skills. We have seen girls blossom under this program.

Some of the women of Jitolee Crafts group - empowering women who advocate about HIV/Aids


Finally sustainable economic growth is the key to improving women's lives and that of their families. Through our Microfinance program we have been able to provide small loans to women to help them expand their businesses. This has provided them with increased income to supply their families with the basic necessities of life. A key component of our Microfinance program is training in business skills so they can continue to expand and improve their businesses. We also support women's groups like Jitolee Crafts, a group of 15 HIV positive women living in Kiberia Slums of Nairobi. Because of their HIV status they are unable to get jobs and so have banded together to help each other and themselves. After making beaded crafts and clothing, they visit markets to sell their wares. At the same time, they educate the public about HIV/Aids and the empowerment of women to take charge of their own lives.

During International Development Week 2012 we salute and celebrate the wonderful women of the developing world for the optimism and their quest for a better quality of life.