THANK YOU

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!

I want to express my deepest thanks to everyone who contributed to giving money for helping the Deaf community in Kenya during the post-election violence this year. From your generous contributions, we were able to raise about $2,100! Unfortunately, as I came at a bad time in Kenya’s economy, I encountered a horrific exchange rate (about 60 shillings to the dollar). Nonetheless, that still gave me about 126,000 Kenyan shillings to work with, which is enough money to do some incredible things. Here is a summary of what your donations went towards (some amounts are not exact, but pretty close). I wish I could give more details to some of the stories, because each one is amazing. But in honoring confidentiality, I will do the best I can. You can’t imagine what a difference you have made to some of the individuals and groups below, and to the Kenyan Deaf Community as a whole:

1. Food for the members of the Anglican Church of Kenya, a Deaf church in Kisumu – The pastor and I bought maize, sugar, tea, salt, cooking oil, and rice, and gave it out to the congregation of about 30 Deaf members after service the following Sunday. 12,200 KSH or $203

2. Food/supplies for students at Maseno School for the Deaf – Deaf staff member from Maseno and I bought maize, sugar, tea, soap, and other items for the students. 6,000 KSH or $100

3. School books and materials for a Deaf teacher who is currently going to school at Kenyatta University for a degree in Special Education. 3000 KSH or $50

4. School fees paid for one term, for a Deaf student to go to Karen Technical College in Nairobi (a technical college for the Deaf). He will be studying agriculture, in hopes of becoming an agriculture teacher for the Deaf in the future. 17,790 KSH or $297

5. Mumias School for the Deaf – Food, supplies, and development programs to help students at the primary school. 9000 KSH or $150

6. Food and medical supplies for the Deaf community at Nyan’goma – Maize and other food supplies were dispersed to at least 10 Deaf adults in the Nyan’goma community, as well as medical fees paid and medication bought for one Deaf woman who was very sick. 12,600 KSH or $210

7. Food and school fees for one family – An array of different types of food and clothing was bought, and school fees were paid for a family involved with the Deaf community. 18,300 KSH or $305

8. New house/kitchen for another family – One family came back to their community during the post-election violence but had no home, so the mother and two children were sleeping at other people’s houses. This money built them a structure that was half a kitchen, and half a room where they could sleep. In other words, a new house. 15,750 KSH or $263

Here is a letter from one of the families involved in receiving and dispersing some money to the above community:

Hello Friends,

Thank you all! I wish to register our appreciation to you all for the support you have given to some of our displaced families following the election violence in 2007. You helped a family to have a house. Some Deaf adults were also helped with food stuff. Life is difficult for many of us in almost all the areas of life including food, health, education, water, and clothing. If we could be assisted to start some business to help us improve our standard of living, we would be very grateful. There is a Deaf family who needs assistance immediately – She is a widow with three children who are all in primary school. Another family-who is hearing-is in need of transportation (e.g. a motorbike) to start a personal business and help them pay school fees for their six children who are in both primary and secondary schools.

Otherwise, thank you so much for your help!


Kenya Federation of Deaf Teachers:
KFDT is an organization consisting of Deaf teachers from a number of primary and secondary schools for the Deaf around the country. I was fortunate to have been able to work with 10 members of the group, at their respective schools and while preparing for and presenting a weekend workshop near Kisumu. During the workshop, these KFDT members shared their knowledge of Deaf culture, sign language, classroom strategies for Deaf students, and other ideas and insight to a large group of hearing teachers for the Deaf. The KFDT group is extremely motivated, resourceful, and innovative. I have seen individual teachers from the group assist and develop their respective schools in amazing ways, and the group has facilitated monumentally positive changes in the development of the Deaf community in Kenya and hearing people’s attitudes towards them. For these reasons, I wanted to give some of the money to the group, to help sustain the continuing development of the Deaf community in positive ways.

9. KFDT office in Kisumu – an office for KFDT to hold meetings, pool resources, and plan workshops. This money was enough for 4 walls and a roof, but the office still lacks a door and windows, a concrete floor, and any furniture. KFDT will be holding a meeting there in early September to see what can be done to pool resources to help finish the office. 19,000 KSH or $317.

10. KFDT video camera – plans for use of the video camera include: continued workshops for Deaf and hearing teachers, which emphasize sign language proficiency and teaching strategies; videos for students and teachers of the Deaf focusing on topics such as Kenyan Sign Language, HIV/AIDS, Deaf educational opportunities in Kenya; videos for parents of Deaf children, to assist them in areas of Deaf culture and Kenyan Sign Language; videos to put on the internet or local news stations to spread awareness about the Deaf in Kenya. 15,000 KSH or $250

Here is a letter from KFDT:

Dear Friends/International Community,
Receive greetings from all of our members!! We would like to take this opportunity to thank you very much for your assistance and quick response to the matters affecting the Deaf in Kenya. As a result of post election violence, many were left starving. Your contributions helped many people through a difficult time. We greatly appreciate your double donation towards the building of our temporary office (19,000 ksh) and the purchase of a new video camera (15,000 ksh), a total of 34,000 ksh.Please welcome to Kenya, it is now a safe place to live and visit, so encourage others to do so!!

Thank you once again,

Sincerely,

Benard Mulama
Secretary, Kenya Federation of Deaf Teachers


Continue To Help

There are many continuing needs in Kenya, for members of and those involved in the Deaf community. If you would like to continue to help, here are some current needs of the community. The amount given is an approximation, but of course you are welcome to give more, or as much as you can spare:

Food/medical supplies/school fees for family ($100) – A single Deaf mother and her 3 children are in need of food, medicine, and assistance with school fees. This is an immediate need.

School fees for Deaf student ($300) – This amount will cover the 3rd term of a student’s education at Karen Technical School for the Deaf. He is going to school to study agriculture, in hopes of becoming an agriculture teacher for the Deaf in the future. This is an immediate need, since the 3rd school term starts in about a week (September 2008), and without school fees paid, he will not be allowed to attend.

School fees for a family ($450) – A hearing family with 6 children is looking for assistance with school fees. Their children are attending primary school, secondary school, and a college program, all starting in January of 2009, and they are expecting their cumulative school fees to be over $1,300 for the year. However, they have a small business plan, in which they only need a minimum of $450 for a down payment. After starting the business, they will be able to earn their own money to cover school fee expenses for next year, and in the future, and that will allow the family to become more independent. The above amount is needed by October 2008.

School fees for Deaf teachers at Kenyatta University (As much as you can spare) – Four Deaf teachers from different schools for the Deaf are enrolled at Kenyatta University in Nairobi to get their degrees in Special Education. This will give them even more skills to help individual students, and develop the Deaf Education system in Kenya. Unfortunately, the NGO supporting their tuition for the last year is now no longer able to support their university education. Their tuition per person per term is $750, not including interpreter fees (which are about $200 per term). Although these students are battling with the University to provide interpreter services for them for no cost, they don’t know if it will be successful. Anything you could give would help ease the burden on these students. Contributions for these tuitions are needed before December 2008.


If you would like to contribute, please email Becca at pigg53704@yahoo.com