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Shinners DiaryHet verslag van de Shinners Women Group, over de zorg voor...
Shinners Diary
Het verslag van de Shinners Women Group, over de zorg voor de kinderen en hun dagelijkse activiteiten.
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Januari 2009
LITTLE ANGELS
It is a Friday evening and the children are so exhausted. They have just finished playing with some guests who came to the centre from Ugenya, closer to Alego where the president elect Obama, hails from. They have come to the centre courtesy of one pastor, Johnston who coordinates Migosi family focus working with street boys. This group from Australia has been moving around, visiting people in distress and spending their time with them too. They are about 15 in number. The kids have had a good time.
One little new girl aged 2 years who is too young to speak and is getting the first opportunity to be on the laps of a white woman, decides to poop on her. I watch her reaction, but she calmly carries the little girl and asks for water to wash her. She gently tries to clean her, but I notice she can not hold water in her palms to sprinkle on the girl. Vivian moves towards her and assists her. When they are done. She is dressed in clean clothes. (someone had donated some clothes that we keep at the centre for such emergencies). She puts the little princes on her shoulder and soon she falls asleep. The day has been long for her. That was so touching, and I am impressed and happy.
The kids sang and danced with the guests and the day ends happily and they walk slowly back home for the weekend. They have been showered with a lot of love and that is what they need to encourage them and help them face the harsh reality of poverty and pain of having no one to call dad or mum.
THE CHILDREN
The new children are now 11. We have a total of 34 children at the centre. 2 new girls were brought to the centre when were done with intake, but because their case was unique, we took them in.
An old lady came to Shinners last week. They have been living in doors under fear for a whole year, while the children they had with them wanted to venture out and go to school.
The lady is Kikuyu. She once owned a home in Koru somewhere in the scheme. She also owned businesses in the town centre, but all this was brought down under fire during the post election violence. They got a small dingy room in the slums and only come out in the night. She passed and saw the centre one day and after observing what was going on, she came in and my heart went out to her. One, we need to heal and live in unity like before. I allowed her to bring the two pretty angels and they are here with us, except the younger of them is uptight. She rarely talks nor smiles. They lost their father last month. He had gone into depression and did not manage to make it. They now live with their grandmother who is also old and can not make a living.
The little girls saw a lot during that period and even lived on the ceiling for days. They are still in fear and noticed how she behaved when one boy was hitting a tin during play time. She run and hid in the classroom and sat on the floor shaking. Veronica held her in her arms and assured her all was okay. They are traumatized. One of our volunteers, Cornilla, who is a psychological therapist is already trying to make friends with them and support them go through it. We hope for the best.
We have tried to make this place as comfortable as possible for them and again have not mentioned about their tribe to the other kids for the time being. We are teaching our children to live in Harmony, about love and the effect of violence and bad language. They will soon be able to understand.
Caroline
New Year
Shinners centre that came into operation as a community based organization targeting the needy children and women of Obunga slums is now on its 5th year of operation.
Shinners centre opened its doors to 15 orphans aged between 2-5 years of age in November 2006. They were so tender, afraid, lacking language, malnourished, crying, and lonely with no one to give them affection and with staff beginning on their first assignment to make change and give hope to this group and afraid to make mistakes.
This group is sensitive and must be handled with care, not to spoil, but to guide towards the road to success, ability to manage their lives and good health.
Today we have children who are so vibrant, having a positive attitude and healthy.
Shinners has seen 8 children through secondary education with the support of well wishers and partners. 15 children have graduated from the day care centre to various primary schools.
A number of girls have been trained on tailoring and 3 are now employed elsewhere and are earning a living. They are now empowered and able to negotiate for safe living and contribute in the society.
A number of women are registered with Shinners. Most of them have openly declared their status and are living positively. They talk to other women on subjects bordering on safe sex, living positively with HIV/ Aids, farming (chicken keeping), bead work and savings. It is working well for them and encouragement to those who had lost hope.
Internally displaced persons have had support from the centre. We have organized meetings between them and the groups that are counseling and assisting them start a life.
We organized for a local Radio station interview (Ramogi) through one activist ion this town, Kisumu. We encourage them to visit and get skills with us. We hope our nation will come together to support these people start all over again and get healed from their deep emotional wounds.
Shinners has been involved in chicken keeping. The beginning was rough and we lost a number of birds. With time we got experience and have been doing well. This has enabled women to earn a living and put food on their tables. We intend to expand on our capacity on this too. This will be a source of money and food for the children if done in a larger scale.
Bead work is one major activity that has managed to bring the women together as a family. Initially they lacked trust among themselves. They harbored, suspicion, low self esteem and negative attitude towards life and development.
The women now sing as they work together. They are embracing Shinners as their own, though still carefully. Most of them are now working as our ambassadors.
Shinners has been able to create job opportunities for a number of people in the name of teachers, nurse, kitchen assistants, trainers, coordinator and a big group of volunteers. All these have been done in a certain level and Shinners hopes to advance and expand its operations in due course.
Shinners has had the opportunity to work with volunteers from different nationalities that has inspired them a great deal.
Last year we had a visit from 7 students and 4 teachers from Holland who took us through training on chicken keeping. Tomato and vegetable farming. We are now agents of manure making, courtesy of the students. We learnt a lot and are putting in use well. We also have volunteers working with us from Denmark, United States and the UK. It has been a great pleasure being with them
We have acquired sewing machines that have supported training on tailoring and sale of clothing.
Shinners has computers and pottery equipment which they intend to start using in the New Year. It has been tough putting in good use the machines and we have put on announcement to the public on anyone who has knowledge and willing to assist us as we lack funds to employ , especially on the computers, pottery machine and the industrial sewing machine.
We have also had our challenges varying from lack of experience, limitation of funds , post election trauma after the violence and difficult times affecting the world and hence Kenya.
Shinners is going to put their heads together to strategically plan for 2009 and hopefully pursue and succeed in a number of projects touching on children, women, and sustainability. We thank everyone who put in efforts to encourage us when it was difficult, to apprehend us when we slackened and guide us when we lost it.
We wish you all A HAPPY YEAR
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Een kerstboodschap van De Shinners en de kinderen
http://www.shinnerscentre.org/
Hallo everyone,
We come to the end of a year that is ending well, though started off with alot of pain due to violence. It is something that we would all like to push at the back of our minds, but some of us went through so much that will take time to heal.a period can be so tough, difficult and slow and almost all the negative effects accompanied to it, but one gesture from someone would give you reason to smile and look forward to another day. Someone could be as caring as your own parents in the absence of parental love, feed you, educate you, encourage and give you a shoulder to lean on and correct, push when its slow and reprimand because they care.what would you tell or do to such a person?. What of if you got nothing but the only gift you can afford is telling them -thank you so much?. Would it be enough?.thank you so much and may you be granted the desires of your hearts.shinners say, thank you.have a merry christmas and happy new year.
Caroline
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23 oktober 2008 - A visit from KTN Live show
VISIT FROM LOCAL TELEVISION STATION KTN
It is a fine Monday afternoon. The volunteer from Denmark is working with siaka and David in the jewellery room. Veronica the teacher is busy with the older children in class. Usually she gives extra afternoon lessons to them. Nancy, Margaret, Lopez, Vivian and Mama Rhoda are busy in the next room sewing and making beads too. Caroline is in the office with Little Garby, s guardian. She has come to see the progress of her grandchildren as she always does. Caroline's phone rings and it is a strange number. The man says he is calling from standard newspaper and is wondering if it is possible to pay us a visit. I go like, “now?” And he says yes. I tell him that it is fine.
Twenty minutes later I see a car from KTN Live show with their crew arrive. They have very big cameras and microphones. I panic, but calmly usher them into the office. The men introduce themselves and ask me if it is possible to do coverage on Shinners live on television. They say they are going round finding out what impact organizations run funded by groups from oversees have on the communities and if there are any volunteers, so that they interview them. I took them round and explained everything we do in detail.
They asked questions about how we managed to acquire the sewing machines, computers, pottery equipment. I talked about the team from Holland, how we met Peter the first time, then Adri. How we recruited the children and how Shinners came into being.
They asked us how much we receive monthly and what we do with it. We showed them pictures of the children in secondary, Christmas pictures and who supports it.
The children, the students from Holland and the reason why they came and the achievements we had.
I talked about the chicken keeping, where they interviewed Veronica.
They interviewed Siaka in jewellery making, David on pots and other volunteers like Lopez.I mentioned some of the people supporting us on volunteer basis, like Mathew and what exactly they do.
They asked me to mention some of our future plans and I talked about
- Buying a plot to cut costs and to expand the project.
- Intention to start chicken keeping in bulk.
- Open Shinners school on the plot
- Work with more women, empower them financially and use rights based approach.
Teach them on rights to go to school and encourage their girls on the same, access health sectors, employment, be leaders and also to vote.
The challenges I talked about included lack of enough funds as our partners in Holland have run out of money.
I also mentioned culture and lack on the part of the government to support small organizations like Shinners.
They were very impressed and this was aired live on television on Wednesday the same week.
Caroline and Cornila
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13 juli 2008 - A new volunteer at Shinners Centre
Goodmorning,
We had a good week and i say so because the children who are the backbone of the project were fine and happy.
The week was alittle bit encouraging as we managed to sell one or two things and meet new people too.
Mathew came in with his wife Nelly who is here with her boyfriend who has signed a contract with the Danish embassy for 2 years. She requested if she could volunteer her services at shinners as she loved the place and loved the kids too. She has a degree in children's education and a wide experience in working with the children. She is trained in working with the disable kids and is able to support children in need of emotional support too. She is from Denmark and this is her first time in Africa and said she had hoped to find a children's centre that she could spend her time as that would keep her going. She requested to start in 3 weeks as her boyfriend's parents were coming to Africa and also requested if they could visit the centre. She said her mother in law also worked with a children's organization and would love to see shinners.
She also said she is creative and is going to work with the youth and the women in making beads. She also is going to work with the clothing department in creation of dolls. She spent the whole morning till 2pm playing and getting to know the kids. She is very nice and kind to the children.
We explained to her about the group from Holland and that we would let you know of her intentions and that she would meet Peter when he is here.
We also had a talk with one of the managers from British council who is also a rotarian and he agreed to be a partner with shinners women and would assist with advice and any other thing. He will also meet Peter, though he is based in Nairobi, but comes down to Kisumu alot.
Otherwise all is well and we look forward to a new week.
Caroline
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11 juli 2008
Peter,
It is very good to hear from you. The Shinners have been busy! I am quite sure we will have time toupdate you when in Kisumu, but in brief: The computers that were sent have been repaired (or are in the processof being repaired - getting needed software has slowed our work). Several machines were not working due to software/hardware issues and have been converted over to Unbutu (a free linix based system) with improved multimedia for the kids and more art-based programs for the staff. Seems to be working thus far. We have are still working on the marketing for the items Shinners hasbeen producing. The fund raising music album directed at this goal, Imentioned previously, has been released and donations have been coming. We are still working to increase exposure and generally "get the wordout". You can get an idea of what is going on at: THE HEAL BLOG - This will have the most up to date information:
http://healpartners.wordpress.com/ THE HEAL WEBSITE (Album Page) - This has back ground about the Shinners and the project:
http://www.healpartners.org/chasingstorms.html . There is, of course, much more - but I'll sign off for now. Hope to see you soon and have safe travels.
Matthew
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11 juli 2008
Good evening,
We are doing fine at the centre so far. Today, mathew came in the morning accompanied by a colleague called Nelly. They both work at the programme on Male circumcission as a means of preventing Hiv/ Aids infection. Had mentioned earlier that he was willing to be coming in once a week and will support us in sales and marketing. They brought sketches of skirts that we had discussed with them earlier. They had talked about the kind of clothing that white people prefer. Its quite different from ours. Mathew updated us on the blog in the internet , where he has been sending news about shinners centre. He had interviewed one of the youths on jewellery and posted some pictures too. In 2 weeks he says they have managed to raise about 700 dollars. He had talked to a musician in America who agreed that every CD bought online, some money would be coming to shinners. People are writing inquiring about shinners and he will give them more information next week. He intends to use the money collected in promotion of the clothing , pottery and the jewellery. He hopes to open a small shop for us to sell our items. This will let people know about us.He said he was still working on the computers and would bring them. He talked to Tina concerning stitching of dolls and selling them to people to buy for the shinners kids. He will explain more to you.We gave him Peter,s email address and he promised to write and tell him more about what he is doing and intends to do, since they had met.They will buy the materials on friday and start off.He had measured the computer tables and says he will pay for them so that someone starts working on them.
WR, Caroline
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4 juli 2008
Hallo,
It is a friday once again and we are just getting ready to go home and release the children. We had let them stay for a little longer than usual as Osiaklo was doing with them special artwork and drawing. He said this would make us understand what is in the kids mind. The drawings are quite interesting. One little boy, steven drew a man pushing a handcart and swayed side ways. When asked he said that was his neighbour who was always drunk. One little girl Diana drew a woman running with her babay in her arm and she said that that was awoamn running foirm the beatings of her husband. Children have a way of expressing things and only talking about what affects their lives. They have been coming in well, Gabby is well and back at the centre. Everline is sick and admitted at the new Nyanza general hospital. She has severe malaria. There is an outbreak of malaria and so many are down with it in the community. Celila has a skin condition and the Nurse says it is allergy and that she will out grow it with time. she is swollen on the face, but comes. She is a jolly girl.
We started slaughtering the chicken yesterday. Like had said earlier, they look small , but weigh enough. It is hard explaining, but atleast some that were bigger are sold.They are quite tasty.
Peter had talked to one Asian, about giving of food to the centre once a week. But the wife to the man said to me the last time we were in the temple that their programme was full and she would get back to us through the contacts i gave her when we visited the temple. So we are still waiting for response from her. Guess that would help in cutting down cost of food here.
Peter had given us suggestion on candle making as a means of making money. It is agreat idea and we are trying to get all the information about candle making. The equipments needed. We need wax and someone was working towards that and will get back to us about the price and the procedure that is practical. It is a very good idea as candle as are cheap and would sell fast if we get market. Most of the times we have started some things without proper info and we would not want the same to happen. we will get back to you soon on that.
Otherwise all is fine and continuing with the clothing and jewellery.
Caroline
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18 juni 2008
Hallo Everyone,
I am very sorry about the communication that has been bad. We had a problem with the computer, but thats still no excuse for lack of communication.
I had been attending a training on child rights. We had good guidance on how to work with the vulnerable children. What to do and what not to do when working with children. I went over the training with the workers on tuesday morning.
Generally the kids have been doing well, though most of them are coughing now as it is cold.
Gabby has been unwell and was admited at the new nyanza hospital. The number of the children has been varying between 26 - 30 daily.
We had a meeting with the workers on monday, just to have a chat among us to see how far we have come from and where we are and going to. The workers mentioned that the begining had been trying, but they have gotten used to the situation and so far alot is going on well for them. The workers said that they are now able to feed their families and take some responsibility for their lives..
We asked them to take their work seriously and that we must start looking at shinners as a way of making a life for the needy. we agreed to work hard to produce and soon start relying on ourselves.
They aprreciated the coming of the students from holland, especially Veronica was happy with Bart, s ideas.
The chicks are doing well so far and they are 4 weeks old, though look smaller than the last batch, but they are alive and doing very well. We have been giving vaccine and everything in good time. We appreciatted the support they gave us, their time and even the jewellery they purchased from us.
This morning, Mathew who is an american nurse ( we had met him with Peter). Came in with 2 more white ladies. We took them round the compound and they were impressed with the work you are doing with the children here.
They had a look at the computers and noticed 2 computers were bad and one monitor. Mathew said he was going to fix them and will be coming in once a week to train the children in computer from 8.30 - 5pm.
We shared about selling our products on the web and marketing. They said they would get back to us.
We had a good time with the children as they sang and danced. Otherwise all is well.
Caroline. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 juni 2008
It is a friday morning and i come in early as usual. I prefer doing my reports in the morning when it is still quiet and am fresh. sometimes the day gets to be so busy and hectic. All sorts of people with both sad and stupid problems walk in here. It can be both interesting and frustrating at the same time.
The previous day we had walked the students to kondele to have their hair done like the african way. it was not easy walking with them as all the attention was drawn to us. People shouted and others wanted to get married to them and get rich instantly. We were amused as we knew these were just students.
All the same we decided to take a chance again as we had agreed to take them to the slum to see how people live out here in africa too.
At about 9am, the students arrived and found all the shinner family waitng. we left for the slum at about 9.40am, reason being, we wanted to be there early before the men go out drinking and get the enegy to frustrate us. Usually it is difficult to walk around the slum especially with white colored skin men and women. The white skin stands for money and the people here know that there is food for them and you have all the little children and adults following you. It might scare one who has never been here and it is also a little bit tricky for us as the community concludes that we have alot of money when the guests come around.
All the same we went and headed straight for the old ladies compound. She was not expecting us and was surprised to see us walk in. She asked us why we did not tell her we were coming, but we told her her home is like our place and she was happy.
She was home with 3 of her greagt grandchildren. She had one clapped on her side and it was not a veryt good sight to see, especially due to the fact that people her age should be taken care of instead of her working so hard for her age.She invited us in and from the look of things the students were wondering what the old lady meant. i saw the look on their faces as they all turned to look at me as if asking me to explain to them where to sit as there was nothing described as a seat. she has some old furniture made of metal and are not very welcoming. . Her house is small and dingy , yetb it houses about 20 adults and about 6 little babies. They all sleep in the one tiny room .
I introduced the studenta as soon as they managed to sit down. Tthen the old lady began to narrate how, she gave birth to 7 active sons , who married wives and had children. Then one day, she began to loose them to death. soon she had lost all the sons and their wives. She said she does not want to go through the details of how she felt and still feels. That it is too painfull for her to remember.
Her joy and source of fear at the same time are the children under her care. She said that her major worry was what happens to the children when she passes on. She claimed the older girls have children and abandon them there for her. . She appreciated so much the work shinners was doing for her and said that most of those kids will be under our care. That the ones who will be willing to do something with their lives we should not neglect. That vinn who is 5 years old and one of the shinner kids had always mentioned to her that when she dies he will come to live with Caroline at shinners. we did not give her any promises, but throughout their stay here the students cried so much. We went to other parts pof the slums and they took pictures and we came back to the centre. It was a new new experience to them.
Caroline
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29 mei 2008
We had a meeting with David, Leander, Roderick , cornila and Caroline.
We learnt about vegetables and Roderick went over the objectives they had for us and they were.
- How to farm good tomatoes and onions.
- Compost and what it is for. It was half done by then. we would learn about what goes in there and what does not.
- Cultivation plan. How to grow, where , why and how long. why plants should be rotated and why?.
- Explanation about tomatoes and onions.
- Planting of tomato seed bed to avoid being swept away.
Thursday
I came to shinners early in the morning and veronica mentioned to me that we had lost one chicken. she was very sad and showed me one other that had one eye blocked. After a few minutes it died and did not mention to the students as they were away on a trip to Kericho tea factory. We again gave out the caps students donated to the workers.
Noticed that one of the kids , celila had a funny skin condition. Her skin is dry and is scaling. she has rashes on her back and on her tongue too. her eyes were red and same to her lips.she is generally a calm child and easily smiles, but on this day she sat by herself and was quite moody. The nurse took her home to her guardian and to the hospital. right now she is on medication and back at shinners. she is still sick but loves it here instead. some of these children are living in pathetic situations and conditions. we visited Gabbys grandma and noticed that the children sleep on bedsheets that are torn,dirty and spread only on the dusty rugged floor. Their house is a mess and and they literally go hungry at home as the old lady is sickly and old. her sister who was at shinners last year and now doing grade one at salem academy is a happy girl but always says she wants to come back to shinners as there is always food for them.
Cynthia and the brother were aabandoned by their sickly mother (dead now) after their father passed away and have only the old woman. we pray that when we get land ,we shall have a place put up, then some of such children can always have a place to be when their loved ones pass on.
Otherwise the rest are fine and looking forward to being all the big people in this country when they grow up.
Caroline.
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18 mei 2008
Good evening,
we had a good day at the centre. We received a visit from a local upcoming artist who sang and danced with the children at the centre half of the day. The children were excited. He distributed cookies and sweets and that summed it all.
The work here is going on well. The women come for bead work and as i said, the trainer has done some good work and we are happy with what they are already doing. we collected fish bones last week from the obunga slums for our earrings and necklaces. Usually the fish bones have no use as they are thrown away, so what we did is ask some girls to collect them for us and we are now going to produce something good out of them.
We planted vegetables and tomatoes ,but unfortunately, they turned yellow and withered. The students from holland advised us on how to go about it next time. Roderrick, said that shades from trees make it very difficult for the plants to grow well as they need enough sunshine. He showed us where to put onions, tomatoes , vegetables and how to keep changing them( rotation) to avoid over using the soil. He advised that sometimes we leave the land fallow so that the soil can rejuvinate itself.
So far we have managed to sell 64 chicken. we had slaughtered about 50 that had been ordered by a certain restaurant , but they turned them down, claiming under weight. They offered to store them in their deep freezer for us as we do not have any. Think this time we will need one to help us in storage.
The students are here and thay have been consulting amomg themselves. We have been working together towards the chicken house.. They have asked questions that will guide them in showing us how to go about the chicken project. We are expecting new chicken on monday and we hope that with the help of Bart, we shall start together with the right instructions. He has been slightly unwell and we hope he will be better by monday.
All is well and we look forward to the next week.
WR, Caroline
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7 mei 2008
Hi Everyone,
Shinners centre opened its doors early today. The workers here come in very early. initially the children from the slums hated waking up early to come to the centre, but with time they have come to love here so much. people of obunga have very little to worry about especially time as they spend all their time drinking .
The children are fine except Gabriel who fell sick, same to cynthia.
The bead work is going on well, and i remember i sent you my picture with a fish bone necklace and you did not comment. The work on the beads is going on well and we are preparing pictures that we hope to use in the brochures .
We managed to sell 20 pieces of chicken today. David and i were out looking for market for our chicken and we shall sell some tommorow. The process of slaughtering is interesting the children and they gather to watch.
One major problem we are having is storage, if we ahd a deep freezer then the buyers who just walk in for a few or more would easily pick and walk away. It also cuts cost on feeds as the live ones still feed and well. Kindly consider this.
Otherwise, all is well and hope for the best.
WR, Caroline
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2 mei 2008
Hallo,
We have just closed for the day and for the week too.
We had a good week and the kids have been constant in their numbers ,except yesterday that was a public holiday and the kids and the workers stayed at home.
So far it has been good with no major incidents.
The chics are now big and ready for sale next week. We appreciate the fact that we havent lost any though they have replaced the children in their class. The little ones learn ooutside as we havent fixed the henhouse yet. We hope to do that in time for the new chics that we have already put an order for.
Clothing and beads are going on well, except we still have a little problem with the mothers . They will need to be given something small weekly or monthly so that they are constant. It is kind of tough for them as they have to look for food for the kids while they are training too.This will encourage them. They are poor and do not see the benefit of learning skills while they go hungry. The person who has been training on beads will expect to be given something too and we are now ready for production. The women and men are now ready for to start.
We have managed so far and thank you all.
We had a meeting with Maarten yesterday. Cornila and i met him , but we were not able to have him meet any government officilials as he had other groups to meet too. He came to the shinners centre, saw what we do. Being a holiday, the kids and workers were away except me amd the care takers of the chics. He had alot of questions for us and we gave him our best answers. We later moved to a place where we had a talk. He advised that we should enhance more of training for the women and the young people of the slum. Vocational training as this would give them skills and soon they are set off to start on their own. He gave us an example of what they are doing in Zaire. Training and then buying sewing machines for the trained girls and giving them little money to set them off and it has worked. That we should introduce carpentry too and produce clothing at a bigger scale too. That way we are able to approach supermarkets and oragnizations and supply in bulk. and that we should be unique to achieve. He agreed on the idea of the centre having a plot so as to be able to have mass production of vegetables , tomatoes and chicken too. That way we would have more workers and orphans come to the centre and have a Rescue centre for the very needy and homeless. He said he was willing to assist the centre in any way,but would have a meeting with the veer group too to air his observation.
Otherwise all went well and we hope for the best.
WR, Caroline.
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8 april 2008
Good morning Peter,
We have woken up to another day of anxiety. The cabinet has not been chosen, yet we are quarter way through the year. very sa for kenyans, that we have to continue suffering. Things have been inflated so much Every passing day, prices are shooting up.
We at shinners centre are giving the orphans hope all the same. The kids are here. Happy and innocent. unaware of the problems the country is facing.
It is very sad that another project in Nyanza province in kenya has been shit down. The dominion group of companies in Yala was shut down when irate memebrs of the public, idlers were given changaa by some stupid people who hate development were told to burn down the company. The yala project empolyees thousands of people who are now jobless. The religious community is holding a peacefull demonstration, condemning the unreasonable act. They are encouraging investors to come back to kenya. Most of the factories in Nyanza are closed down and this has led to the level of povery in this region.
The chics are doing fine and our prayer is there will not be any riots as this will interfere with the chics. we are on our knees concerning that as nobody will care about how much we shall have lost in terms of money, time and manpower.
I have attached pictures of the chics on day 2 and the new hen house for our local chicken.
The picture of caroline is showing a necklace made form fish bones. The nile perch that we call " mbuta ". we had someone pick the bones from the slums and Eunice is training the girls and boys make beads of ouf it.
We are fine and hope for all the best.
With regards, Caroline
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4 april 2008
Dear Peter,
Thanks for the manual again..This time i decided to be reporting daily occurance concerning the chics so that the students are able to know where we go wrong and its helped in time. since David has enough on his hands, sewing, beadwork, pots,Veronica requested that she can assist the care taker with the chics and she has been sleeping at the centre as we can not trust someone else with all the stuff at night.. The chics are doing well and yesterday they were getting out of the brooder, we returned them and have spread something in the entire space to avoid the chics getting hurt.
we noticed the roof was leaking and feard cold on the chics. so we had someone fix the roof top. The chics are warm and have the lamps on all night.
This morning the chics were already looking bigger and are developing feathers. They look beautifull.
the kids now have to play at the front as they make so much noise that upset the chics.
Otherwise all is well.
Caroline.
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19 maart 2008
Een treffende brief uit de Obunga slums . . .
Hallo Everyone,
we are all fine and keeping our hearts crossed that nothing goes wrong with the peace initiative thats going on. As at now, things are good between president Kibaki and the prime minister designate Raila. kenyans are celebrating. The politicians are happy, because soon they will get their prestigious posts. Huge loans will be given to them towards their big machines that guzzle like nothing else. Their families will be more comfortable than before. the big business men will have rewarding contracts awarded to them.
You see, life will be sweet once more. The european community is soon giving money in billions to help in reconstruction of country. Red cross is still receiving millions to feed the people leaving in displaced camps (wonder how much really assists).
But, someone somewhere right in the middle of poverty. Who knows nothing or understands little about whats happening is facing every coming dawn with pain and misery. Reason being, They do not know where their next meal is coming from.
Children are dying out of mistakes that someone did. On monday evening, 2 little boys from one mother aged between 5 and 4 were playing next to a toilet erected outside their house lost their lives when the blocks came down and hit them .one died on the way to hospital, while the other was buried under the rubbles and died on the spot. It was very sad. This structure that serves about 10 families as sanitation is scarce in obunga slums, was construcuted under poor conditions, Everything used to build is substanded, but no one cared.
Obunga people live in pathetic conditions. They have no one to care for them, no one to fight for their rights. People walk in and out of this community looking for pictures to send to donors for fundraising, but when the money comes, they see nothing.'
During political campaigns every fat politician promises them heaven, but they are not even given the earth. We want to appreciate what you are and have done to the obunga children and the widows. if every every able person in kisumu could contribute just 100 ksh monthly for support, then we would have more women and children supported, but kenyans are selfish and care very little, though we have few with good hearts and support dearly.
Every month I earn my allowance, then i part with half of it in order for some woman some where or child to move on with their lives. Cornila and Tina the same. We are only doing what we think is right. I thank VEER group for the allowance they give me. It has enabled me to do alot. Thanks alot. Alot of women lost their businesses during post election violence and are suffering greatly.
We were in the slums yesterday to visit the families. Cornila and I put aside 3000 (we for go lunch to do this. Helps us watch our weight) ) per person monthly and we shop and buy things that some families that are very poor need most. Over the weekend during one of our usual visits, we met Mama Emma, one of shinners women. We cried when we entered her house. the poor woman is suffering greatly. She was seated at her business premise with her 2 month old baby on her lap, frying her groundnuts for sale. She heard the sound of gunfire and hurriedly started packing. Her little boy aged 5 years, picked the baby and ran home to allow her to pack her stuff for safety. Her son tripped and the baby fell. She did not sleep for many nights as the baby cried day and night. She could not do much as all the roads were blocked and could not access the hospital. She resorted to a herbalist who noticed that the child had dislocated her shoulder bone. it wasnt easy to notice as the baby is very young. Since then, she has spent all she had in treating the baby locally. We could notice the bone swollen. Mama Emma lost all she had. spent all her little capital in treatment. She could not leave the house as the baby was in great pain. She has been going hungry with her children and has lost so much weight. Emma loved dancing so much, But had noticed the little is withdrawn and does not play with the rest. We decided to have a merry go round with them to boost them. She and five other women in the same condition told us that they are able to contribute only 20sh daily if we start them off with 1000 each. We will collect the money and give each to start atleast something small, then they will start collecting the 20 sh daily. Tina, cornila and i will collect 50 sh daily and the collection of 5 days will be gvien to one person to boost her business. They were very happy and looking forward to it. Things will be fine for kenyans soon and we pray for the best.
Caroline
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15 maart 2008 - Een bericht van Caroline vanuit Shinners Centre
Hallo,
We woke up to a good day this morning. The children are here. same to the workers.
Mary came in yeaterday, but was not feeling well. She hasnt been well in awhile. She was taken to see a doctor who diaognized serious malaria that has lived in her for long. Most of the people buy drugs over the counter. Any time one has fever, they buy paracetamol to cool down the fever and rarely seek treatment . we took her to hospital last week , she would come and just sleep. when the mother asks her to stay back home, the little girl cries. she has been well and came in from monday, but yesterday , she wasnt well again. The nurse will go and visit her as she hasnt come in this morning.
We took pictures of the new kids and will accompany them with profiles which peter will come with.
Last week we have a visit from the area administration who controls a location, we call them councillors. He came in with a girl called Rose. she has been living at the displacement camp in kisumu. This girl lived in Nakuru with both parents , but she lost them during the clashes. Rose happened to have performed well and now has no one to turn to. She knew that she had relatives in Kisumu and had never seen them. she now lives in Obunga.
The local leader said he has alaways known about shinners and the support we give to the needy.
He also praised the work we do here. he said alot of people are poor and lacked someone to assist them. we told him to tell others about us especially the items we are making , that when we sell then we support more . '
We told him that we normally have our budgets sent once yearly, especially school fees. It was sad sending the girl away.
luckily this morning, she walked in to tell us that she found someone to pay her school fees for one year.
There are so many such cases, even of young ones left on their own. we met 2 little children who had lost trace of their parents as people were runing away for their lives.
We also met a woman who had been sent away from her husbands home , yet she lost him in the chaos.
Things are very sad here and yet overwhelming . we hope someone in authority will come up and find a solution to the displaced, especially in Resettling of people in their homes. I really do not think things would be ever the same, as in one goes back to a place where they watched their loved ones loose their lives brutally.
Our only prayer is that the funds should be put in the hands of organizations working on the ground. This way, the funds will reach the intended people.
Otherwise ,all is well and look forward to a stable country.
Caroline ________________________________________________________________________________________________
8 februari 2008 - A message from Kisumu:
Good afternoon,
Once more we are at peace today, There are no running battles and the kids are able to work under condusive environment. The workers are here and all putting their best forward.we Got someone else who is training in tailoring as tina is still at home. They are now 2 together with the person who was there earlier.The work is on well. One thing i can assure you about is that the children being supported from holland under shinners, are blessed. People are suffering out here, no food for days, but we can give these kids something to eat and a place to have as a school. It is good and we too are happy.
one little girl sandy was telling her teacher that she does no want to go back to her home as, Grandmother beats her when she asks for food as there isnt any. That she wants teacher to be her mummy. we were so touched. The kids are coming in well except some who were displaced and havent been able to report. we hope they will settle down and come.They were 26 .
We had a visit from the chicken consultant and he told us that we are still not able to do chicken as the bosses of kenchic left town as they are kikuyus. It has not been possible to have anything from nairobi come to kisumu or up country as buses and other means are burnt. we will have to wait.
The kids in secondary were set off to schools on Tuesday. They were happy to go as the scenes here are horrible. They are safer there. Irene wrote a letter saying she is gratefull as most kids have no school fees for the term. Thanks again.
We sent Peter the pictures taken when we distributed the food. The man who had taken them was out of town and came back yesterday. A picture of Caroline was in the standard newspaper today in pg 2 showing her and one child of shinners called Phenny. The story was that we had distributed food in the obunga slums. we have received alot of phone calls from people thanking us. we will scan the photograph and send it to you. we had to split the items in small bits for easy photographing.
Caroline
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Kisumu, 30 januari 2008
Hallo,
we are happy to be still alive. Kisumu has been once more ablaze with running battles, looting and mugging in broad day light.
we woke upto a bad day on monday. we had reported to work. Had just began our activities for the day at shinners when , we had gunshots. we were so terrified especially due to the fact that we gad little ones with us. we managed to take them back to their homes.
The area where wea re was broken into, a house behind shinners was broken into everything stolen and they burnt the cars that were packed. 4 houses here experienced the same.
Today it was abit calm though tensed, thge workers were here and we have just come back from the slums to visit the women and the kids.
They were happy to see us as we did not go empty handed. Tomorrow our centre will be on as usual .
Caroline
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23 januari 2008
'Onderstaand bericht is confronterend, maar het is niet anders'
DWKK
Hallo Peter.
we are fine at the centre. we are just winding up for the day.
Thanks for your email and i can assure you that the families will be excited about getting some food donations.
we are giving you a budget for about 40 families with each having between 5 - 30 members.
The food should see them through 3 weeks as we check the situation.
MAIZE 8 BAGS - 16,200
BEANS 4 BAGS - 43,000
SUGAR 100 KG - 8,000
PORRIDGE MIXTURE 50 KG - 8,500
COOKING OIL 75 KG - 7,250
RICE 200 KG - 12,000
We managed to go to Red cross and requested for food. one of their staff had to accompany us to the slum tom see the terrible situation for themselves.
They were shocked and sent a team of doctors to curb dysentry, malaria and trauma.
They have promised to give us SOAP, POWDER MILK, MEDICAL ATTENTION. Al ready children are dying in the slums and stench of dead bodies that havent been buried is bad. They can not afford the mortuary , so keep them at home. we gave them some little RICE AND BEANS, as the situation is very sad. we will be happy to receive help.
Thank you very much,
Caroline
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22 januari 2008, laatste nieuws uit Kisumu:
Good morning,
We have started our week well, although we have power problem. The protestors brought down electricity poles that has not made life easy in kisumu, especially kondele, the region where we are and most of the slums and the areas surrounding them. since they have been burning houses, the kenya power is reluctant about installing back power supply. or just beat people up and take what ever one is carrying. The situation will get out of hand. yesterday, the women who had brought vegetables from western kenya were waylaid and everything taken away from them. Massive destruction took place in this country and already alot of people are jobless. They are now snatching handbags . last week we were reaching out to them in their homes with food. we realised that most of them were literally going hungry for days. yesterday we had a situation where women and their kids were coming to shinners begging us to give them something to eat after we had been to the slums to visit our children. it was sad watching them go away with their heads down as we did not have any spare food to give out.
we hope the government will stop this and wonder how things will be in the near future. we have 25 today. meaning that Margy and Austine came with their brothers and sisters. I could not send them back. They are playing , though cautiously. The stitching is going on of shirts. we we would buy tshirts from a shop here in town but it was burnt down. we are sending someone to buy for us from Nairobi as soon as things calm down a little.
we do not know when we will start chicken again as there are no chicks and chicken feeds is still aproblem. we will let you know as soon as the situation is calmer abit. There is still alot of tension here and cars do not even move freely.
we hope for the best.
Caroline
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The 10th of January,
Hallo,
I really do not know what to say, our year isnt happy ,all the same happy new year.
Kenya is bad. we voted in big numbers expecting the best for our country, but what we have here is blood shed.
our people have died, shops have been looted , building brought down under fire.
Roads have been blocked and women and girls raped.
We almost went hungry for days as the security was bad, gunshots everywhere, battles with the police,tear gas and no food.
All the supermarkets were looted except Nakummat that is for the rich.
we did not manage to open on 7th due to the situation. prices of everything has gone up 3 times. water that we were buying at 120 is now 240sh a handcart of 12 jerricans of 20 litres each.
There is no food in the market if any it is very expensive.
shops have been vandalized. people are scared. The children have night mares. we just hope kenya will be peacefull again. we need peace especially the poor.
we are opening on monday and will review the situation. The prices of everything and get back to you. what we do not know is all the chic farms were razed down.
I came to the office to give a brief description of the situation on the ground. However, we will come to the office as staff on Monday, then we hope the to purchase a few items so that the children can come in on Tuessday.
We will try to start and as the situation normalizes, we will be in a position to give a better picture of what is happening.
With Regards
Caroline
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The 15th of November
Dear Caroline,
I have had a meeting to day 15 November with students of an agriculture University. They are working on a project to assist you with chicken and growing tomatoes. They will raise the funds for it and next year they want to introduce the project themselves. Therefore it will be important to work on obtaining a plot asap.
They request me to find a contact and like to communicate with a person who is able to answer questions concerning chicken. My proposal is to ask the person from Kenchick or he is willing to be available for communication with these students. I have requested the students to report in English. Than everybody will be involved.
These students shall introduce their project in Kenya therefore it is very important that you have staff who is willing and able to work together with these students. The planning is that will be around June next year. Later more.
love
Peter
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The 13th of November
Hallo,
We are happy to have Adri here with us. He has been with us at the shinners from monday 9am till 4pm.
Monday: Adri went round greeting the children and the workers. The kids were 30 yesterday. He looked at the hen house. it is done , but the wiremesh was under estimated and it was not enough. Adri said we improve it and report it. It also needs to be filled on the lower part so that the chics do not run away. The man was already sticking the wire with sticks. What was remaining by monday was the murram that was being done today. we
are picking the chics tomorrow.
We had a look at the kids swings an noticed the materials we used wear out too fast and it not enough. Adri asked that we send a budget for kids toys so that the kids can be happy.
Water has been a problem and even some of the facilities are not enough. we requested if we could dig a shallow toilet to assist as the number coming is now big.
We discussed the plot . It has not been easy to find a genuine plot as the owners sell them more than once. we are waiting for our office agent to get us something. we told Adri that once a plot is cited then we need to do
