The Advocates Kenya Outreach Project provides desperately needed resources and supplies for individuals with disabilities and their providers in Kenya.
Check out this the new documentary video about the Project.
History and Mission
The Advocates Kenya Outreach Project was started in 2009 by a group of Advocates employees originally from Kenya who recognized a unique opportunity. Aware of the lack of resources and often deplorable conditions for people with special needs in Kenya, the employees hoped to find a way to share the resources and knowledge of Advocates with those in urgent need across the globe. The group reached out to Advocates leadership and with their support and encouragement established the Advocates Kenya Outreach Project.
The Kiriko Special School
The first priority of the Project was to identify a Kenyan organization that could benefit from a partnership with Advocates. The search led to the Kiriko Special School in central Kenya. With just four teachers, the school provides vocational and academic support to 74 Kenyan children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Lacking the most basic of resources, staff members sometimes even struggle to provide adequate food and clean water for their students. There are no computers or internet connection, not even a phone on site.The school lacks adequate sanitation facilities, teaching supplies, books and sports equipment. The list goes on and on.
What the Kiriko Special School does have is a dedicated team of teachers and support staff who work tirelessly to educate and care for their students. With just the most basic of supplies, they could do so much more. In Kenya, a little goes a long way. The cost of tuition per semester at the Kiriko Special School is just $50, yet even that is too expensive for most of the students' families.
Small Steps for Big Change
The group of Advocates employees that launched the Project recognized right away the tremendous good the Advocates community could do for a school that serves its students with special needs for less than $200 per year. With that in mind, the Advocates Kenya Outreach Project is taking small steps to make big changes for the children and staff at the Kiriko Special School. Recent accomplishments include:
Clean Water for Kiriko
As members of the Project learned more about the Kiriko Special School, they realized the most urgent problem is a lack of clean water. For years, the school got its water from a polluted source upstream. Local Kenyans involved with the school suggested a holding tank as the best solution to sustain the school through the dry season. A highly successful fundraising campaign raised $6000 in just a few months - enough to complete construction. Recognizing that local school and community officials best understand the nature of the water problems in the area, the Project empowered the school officials to devise a solution. In June 2010, local Kenyan contractors completed construction of the cement tank that will collect rain water from the roof and store water brought in by train. The tank will allow the school to meet 100% of its need for clean water for the staff and students.
Resource Library
The Project's first initiative was to supply the school with a resource library of books and training materials covering a range of topics related to supporting individuals with special needs.
Kenya Outreach Shoe Box Initiative
Project volunteers challenged members of the Advocates community to fill small shoe boxes with everyday essentials for the school such as toiletries, arts and crafts supplies, cooking utensils and first aid items. The initiative was a great success, with over 80 shoe boxes filled by Advocates employees and shipped to Kenya courtesy of a generous community donor. According to xxx, principal of the Kiriko school, the cartons represented a "real treasure trove in the education of intellectually challenged" students. Members of the Advocates community are so inspired by the efforts of their peers across the globe that they continue to gather supplies, clothing and other needs for the Project to ship to Kiriko.
The results of these efforts are already making a profound difference for the children and staff of the Kiriko Special School. Benchmarks of success include the designation of a human rights officer at the school and the new water holding tank presently under construction.
You Can Help
The Advocates Kenya Outreach Projects relies solely on the contributions of individuals from the Advocates' community and beyond. If you would like to get involved, please contact Project Director, James Irungu, at . Donations can be sent to:
Advocates
Attn: Developement
One Clarks Hill, Suite 305
Framingham, MA 01702
Checks should be made payable to Advocates Kenya Outreach Project
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| Advocates is a 501(c)(3)organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. |
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supporter impact
Your generosity makes possible invaluable programs and activities that enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities and otherwise would go unfunded.
Realizing Dreams - The Cherry Street Garden - The wish of a resident in Advocates Deaf Services program - to have a wheelchair accessible vegetable garden - came true last spring because of support from generous donors and volunteers from Dimension Data in Framingham.
Strengthening Community - Advocates Music Jam - One evening each month, Edward's Hall at Framingham's United Church of Christ is filled to capacity, as staff and clients from across the Advocates community join together to improvise live music, sing, dance, share stories and poetry, and listen.
Fulfilling Lives - Bring to Light Candles - A unique, entrepreneurial venture started by individuals with Prader-Willi Syndrome who receive Advocates services. Last year, the business moved into its own manufacturing facility made possible by generous donors. Learn more.
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