We have made a commitment to our children that we will fund whoever earns sufficient marks to attend high school.  This began with one child, Faith, who will be starting grade 12 this month.  In addition there are now twenty other students in high school.  While many were returning for grades 10, or 11, those just beginning had to be ‘outfitted’ with the school uniform, clothing and toiletries, school supplies and text books.  While the final costs are still being tallied it is going to cost approximately $4,500 in total for the tuition fees of these children.  Some of the funds both previously raised and donated this month will go toward these fees.  In February we hopefully will have a full accounting of these on the website.

As always the monthly food distribution took place.  This month, as always, approximately 1.2 metric tons of food was given out which impacts over 400 orphans and their extended families.  In addition this is the time when ‘wishlists’, letters, parcels, beds, uniforms, goats and chickens are given out.

Construction of the new Rolling Hills Residence continues.  It is a massive undertaking.  Already the boys reside in part of the new building and the dining hall is being put to use.  Hopefully in the nest month (or so) the girls will move into their new floor.

Funds Raised

Here’s a letter from a young girl who has put her heart, and time, into helping the children of Kikima.

My name is Fatema Zahra Kermali.  I am seven years old.  A few months ago, I
started crocheting Neck Cozies for people to wear in the winter.  I sold a
few to family and friends and  I collected some money and decided that the
money should go to charity.  Creation of Hope was brought to my attention by
a family friend and right away I wanted to help the children in Kenya.
Please accept my donation and I look forward to being able to help some more
very soon.

The money donated by Fatema supported all of the children of Rolling Hills Residence for one day.

Musical Fund Raiser

The Winter Melodies concert was held at the Unitarian Congregation hall in Mississauga on the evening of December 21^st, 2011.  There was classical, contemporary, holiday and cultural music performed by a string quartet, a flute quintet, numerous pianists, a trumpet player, and players of the Chinese and Vietnamese cultural instruments “Gu Zheng” and “Dan-Tranh”.  

The artists created hand-made crane earrings, 3D origami animals, and cut-out cards for the holidays.  All performers and artists attending the Winter Melodies concert are students of Glenforest Secondary School.  This event was planned and organized by the members of Artists Inspiring Miracles (AIM), which is an independent fundraising committee run completely by high school students who want to contribute to the great vision of Creation of Hope. ”

Special thanks to Hanna and Mary, the organizers of this event.  The sum of  $782.96, raised by Mississauga high school musicians, will be used to pay high school tuitions for Kenyan students.

Clarkson Secondary School Donation

Support from Queen’s University

Dear Creation of Hope

Please find enclosed a cheque in the amount of $380.00, raised this fall by students in Queen’s University’s Music 171 “The Social History of Popular Music” class.   Classmates Nicole Chapman and Emily Dawber launched this initiative after a class in which we looked at Live Aid and Ethiopian famine relief efforts in the mid-1980s.

Please use these funds in any way you see fit.

Thank you for your work.

Merry Christmas

 Robb MacKay

Lecturer, Queen’s School of Music

This money was used to supplement our costs for the January food distribution.  Emily’s sister, Kate, volunteered in the program for two months and will be going back this summer.  Our volunteers remain involved, as seen in the next contribution.

Individual Donations

Andy Dilla spent two months in our program last year as a volunteer.  He is now in medical school.  He and his family continue to support the program.  One of their more recent donations became a water tank and collection system at the school, Kyangoma, where Andy volunteered.

Andy’s mother – Liz – who also spent time in the program, made a donation of $350.00 along with a $50.00 donation from her friends, Charles and Jean Kibler.  This money, in celebration of Liz’s birthday, will be used for a meal for all of the children of Kyangoma.

Below are a number of individual donations – some of which have gone directly to our daily sponsorship or Rolling Hills Residence.  $50.00 per day provides food for 44 children, their school supplies, clothing, medical care, the salaries of the matron, night watchman and tutor, and the electricity, water and sanitation for the entire building.

A donation from Dr. Lisa Bentley

A donation from Eleanor and Mabel’s Fables

A donation from Kathryn Mathisen

A donation form Sandra Gray

A donation from Marybeth McTeague

Barb and Eric Ross are sponsors in the program.  The Sunday School in their church is small – 6 children ranging in age from 2 to 10.  They held a concert and raised $200.00!  They are allowing us to use the money where it would most benefit the children of Kikima.

$75.00 from Bradley and Christina Ashmore

$50 from John and Lois Salter

$25 from G.Y. Millette

$200 from Lula and Adriana Field

$50 Glenn Bonsal

$150 Kienna Mulroy

$40 Norm & Amber Dashwood in honor of Ryan Rumsby and Mrs. Perry for Christmas gifts

A donation from Susan Corbett

A donation from Kim Spurgeon

Ian Robertson – an incredibly generous donation of $1000.00 to be used for construction costs to finish the building

$2.75 from Marg where the ‘jammer bags’ are sold

An incredibly generous donation from Brigitte Giesler

Werner Zimmerman and Jo Ellen Bogart donated money to buy a goat.

Thenusha donated $10.00, which is from her birthday money.  She is a student at Alexander Graham Bell, and as you can see from the picture below, this is a school that continues to make generous donations to support the children of Kikima.  This is a thank you picture from a donation made previously by Alexander Graham Bell, under the direction of Barb Kettle.

Sharon Wilson, and her students in Jack Hulland E.S. in Whitehorse raised money to support our entire Rolling Hills program for ten days.

Here are two more pictures, as thanks, which have already been sent to the people who made contributions to the program.

Sponsorship

We have been fortunate to add more sponsors this month and to provide for more of the orphans of Mbooni district.  At present we have more than 110 sponsors who are providing direct monthly support.  This support does more than simply provide for their sponsored child.  As well as the sponsored child, their siblings and cousins who reside in their homesteads benefit from food distribution, wish lists, seeds and tools and other contributions that are provided to the extended family.

We are, and shall remain, a small organization, run by one family in Canada and one family in Kenya.  Originally we felt if we ever had the involvement of 100 sponsors, we would basically cover the needs of the most vulnerable orphans in Mbooni District.  We did a reassessment and made a decision to ‘stretch’ ourselves because we were able to identify an additional 25 children and felt we could provide service effectively to this extent.

We have posted the last group of children needing to be sponsored.  When these children are sponsored we will be ‘closing’ the sponsorship list.  This doesn’t mean that we still do not need support or ongoing funding for Creation of Hope community outreach or child support projects. We feel, however, we cannot provide service and information to a larger number of one to one direct sponsors and children, in the same transparent, accountable and immediate manner if we were to try to become larger. We are clear that we know our limit.

We look forward to the preparations of the group sponsor trip taking place this July and to the many activities taking place in upcoming months! Thanks for your support.

This group photo of many of our children wearing their new clothing, was taken at the December food distribution.  These clothes become treasured Christmas gifts.  Each sponsor received pictures of their child wearing their new clothes.

Enjoy these following pictures.  Look at the shy smiles and looks of pride!

Baraka

Mercy

Victoria

Faith

Along with new clothing and shoes some of the children received presents and letters or parcels from their sponsors.  We try to give back to each sponsor pictures of their child with the thing that has been sent for them.  Sometimes the letters or parcels arrive quickly, other times it takes weeks or even months.  So far everything sent has eventually arrived – we’re keeping our fingers crossed for the future!

Lorna with a Christmas letter from Sue & Brian

Ndaisi with a parcel from Barb & Eric

In addition the food distribution days often are used to give out wish lists, special presents, and special requests.  Two of our children received an incredible donation of 10 chickens each from their sponsors.

Mwendwa David’s chickens from Marc

Kanini Beth’s chickens from Marian and David

A gift like this – $80.00 for ten chickens – makes a significant change in the ongoing life of a child and their extended family.  Thanks to Marc, Marian and David.

Chickens were a major theme at this past distribution.  In reading the November update you would know of the efforts made by Kettle Lakes Public School to raise money to buy chickens.  Here are the first of the chickens being given out.

In the coming weeks the rest of the chickens – as well as other things funded by Kettle Lakes – will be posted.

In the background of those pictures you might notice slats and posts for beds.  As always the food distribution days were used to give out wish list items and the specific pictures were sent to the person who provided the funds.

Approval and Registration

Our program, as with all children’s residences in Kenya, is under the direct supervision of the government.  They have requirements, regulations and inspect facilities.  We have just received our three year certificate!  This is a testament to the great work being done on the ground.

Supporting Rolling Hills Residence for a Day

One of our new initiatives this year is to have schools or individuals provide direct support for the Rolling Hills Residence.  $50.00  pays for the entire Rolling Hills residence program for one day – this includes food, clothing, school supplies, medical treatment, the salaries of the matron, night watchman and tutor, and pays for the electricity, water and sanitation for the entire program.  We return a personal ‘thank you’ to each person who made the donation.

This new initiative has become so successful that we have daily sponsorship throughout all of January (you’ll see the signs in the January update) from Alexander Graham Bell P.S. and almost all of February from a variety of schools and individuals.  March is still open for sponsorship!

High school results

Late November and early December are not just the end of the Kenyan school year but also the time that Grade 8 students ‘sit’ their high school entrance exams.  This is an extremely important event for these children as it determines whether they can attend high school and the type of high school.  Many of our children wrote these exams and we will know in early January not only their marks but the schools they will be accepted to attend.  We anticipate we will have 20 children in high school and the funding for their education is through the Andrew Curling Scholarship fund.  The cost will be approximately $5000.00 for the combined school tuition for all these children.  We have funds that have been already raised by Kelly Betts and from individual donations and schools that have made contributions.

School Fund Raising:

Alexander Graham Bell Public School in Ajax Ontario, under the direction of Barb Kettle, remains one of our most dedicated group of students.  Below is a letter outlining their activities and the funds they have raised:

Dear Eric

Thank you for the presentations yesterday. They were enjoyed by both students and staff. You had asked me to follow up with an email about how we raised the $924.46 this fall. ($18.75 to come from Terracycle at the end of December)
The student council held an I-Pod day where students, who had made a donation to Creation of Hope, could wear their I-Pods during non-instructional times. My Creation of Hope committee members ran “healthy” snack bars during the Hallowe’en dance and the two seasonal concerts and sold ice cream cups on pizza days. We are also involved in collecting foil drink bags, yogurt cups and zip lock bags to be sent to Terracycle. This company pays a charity of our choice (Creation of Hope) for the materials that they receive from us.

I also took a number of the foil drink bags and sewed them into reuseable “Kool Aid Jammer” bags. I took these bags with me to a number of craft sales that I participated in this fall and sold them for $9.99 each with all proceeds going to Creation of Hope. We also sold these bags at the school’s seasonal concerts. One of the shop owners in the Courtyard complex in Pickering Village had made a display with some of these bags and is also selling them for us. In total we have sold about 20 bags so far!

Barb Kettle

This is a letter from our friends at Lasalle Public School, in Lasalle Ontario, to Elijah who runs Exodus Children’s Home in Kenya.  While they are a separate entity we work with them to provide rent, supplement their food supplies for the children and offer additional support.

Dear Elijah and the children of Exodus House,

 Merry Christmas and a happy new year! We are writing to tell you that Mrs. Laing’s “Laing Gang” (her class in the morning) sold over 40 scarves and earned $230 dollars for you!!!! We are sending the money to Eric, and he will ask Ruth to buy you food with the money! Hooray!!!!

 The scarves were sold to teachers, students, the principal, vice-principal and some parents! Our friend, Mrs. Trappitt, made them for us to sell to you. She’s been sick lately, and we are hoping you can keep her in your prayers. Her full name is Laura Trappitt. Mrs. Martin is going to send a picture of us with her, with Mrs. Laing, from today, so you can see us!

 Merry Christmas again!

 From Mrs. Laing’s class (The Laing Gang!)

Glendale Public School, St. Catharine’s Ontario

Ryan Rumsby has changed schools but not his commitment to the program.  Last month we reported on his annual campaign with his students to raise money for the program by raking leaves in the community (pictures in the November update).  They raised $772.55 which will be put toward our next big water project in the spring.

In addition to personally sponsoring a child, his students also sponsor a child and make monthly donations.

Jack Hulland Elementary School, Whitehorse, North West Territories

Here’s a letter from some of our supporters at Jack Hulland School:

To the Creation of Hope:

I hope this letter finds you well.

We are a grade four class in Northern Canada (Yukon territory).  There are twenty students in my class, all age 9.  Thirteen are girls, and seven are boys.  As part of our world culture and geography my class has fundraised, by selling coffee from a local fair trade roaster.

One of the teachers at my school, Sara Tillet, heard about our fundraising and suggested we help support your orphanage.  We eagerly accepted.  My students raised $530.00, which we have enclosed for you.

My class was very excited to see pictures of your home in Kenya, and would enjoy hearing any stories or tales you would like to share with us.  In conclusion, my class sent these messages;

-          If anyone is sick we hope you are better soon

-          They admired your strength in a tough situation

-          They were happy to do the fundraising and hope our contribution helps

Peace is with you.  I apologize – I don’t know if you celebrate Christmas where you are, but it’s our holiday season.

 Sharon Wilson

Grade 4 teacher

Jack Hulland Elementary School

December 14, 2011

You will see in the January update that we’ve already put this money to use in supporting the needs of Rolling Hills Residence.

Brookside Secondary School, Cobourg  Ontario

$146.30 was donated by Brookside, under the direction of Maryanne Watson to purchase the following items; 10 saplings, 3 chickens, 2 tool sets, 2 goats.

Corporate Involvement

Our program has received incredible support from the people on the ground in Kenya.  It is such affirmation when the people there not only see the benefits of what’s happening but feel ownership and then make their own contributions.

Aviation & General Security Consultants (AGSC) is one of the leading companies in the world in providing security for large scale installations such as ports and airports.  They have also shown that they are world experts in helping.  Employees of this company have made trips up to Kikima four times in the last year, bringing with them food, clothing, blankets and boundless energy.  Their donations in this year have exceeded 80,000 Kenyan Shillings.  What they also bring along with their donations is a willingness to meet with the children, provide encouragement, and help our children see more Kenyan role models for education, success and compassion.  Great thanks to AGSC!

Individual Donations

Deborah and Jordan Kerbel made a holiday donation,

Sharon Jennings made a holiday donation – the children have such fond memories of her visit

Koko and Rob Saar gave a donation in lieu of gifts for the godparents of their children

Lucy Falcone and her sister provided a donation

Kelly, Rodney and Morgan paid for a wish list for Safari Peter.

Ieva Butkevics made a donation (see ‘thank you’ picture above)

Karen Danderfer made a donation (see ‘thank you’ picture above)

Robert Ford’s donation was both in honor of Sharon Freeman and also from his generosity.  You’ll see the thank you sign in the January update.

Sally Briggs made a generous donation and you’ll see the thank you sign in the January update

Shelley and Lucio Scodellaro made a donation.

Henry, Ryan, Lindsay and Matthew Krahn made a donation to support a number of wishlists – they will receive pictures in the coming months to show where the money went.

Sharon Freeman in Burnaby BC, wrote: “ I’ve enclosed a cheque for Christmas presents for the following people:

Ila and Jim Appleby, the Brunato family, Karen  Danderfer, Angela and Nick Dasovic, Rae Figursky, Linda and Bob Ford, Jody Freeman, Rob Freeman, The Gambron Family, Janet Goodman, Mark Harding, Pam and John Hossack, Patti Jukes, Danica Kanjer, Vesna and Slav Kanjer, Heather Mackay, Christine and Marjan Markota, Janja and Zvonko Markota, Monica and Tom Markota, Kath Mathisen, Jeff Peters, Tanya Porter, Giannina Rakic, Marina and Ivo Steko, and me…

Have a wonderful Christmas season and the happiest of times in 2012.”

New Sponsors

We have seven new sponsors!

1. Brigitte has sponsored Mutuku Mueni

2. Elizabeth Lawrence has sponsored Kelvin Muendo

3. Koki Muli has sponsored Safari Peter and Mutuku Mutuli

4. Marjorie Clerke has sponsored Faith Nzilani Ndinda

5. Craig Livingston has sponsored Victoria Mueni

6. Cecilia Mbithe has sponsored Kilonzo Mutuku

7. Audrey Hamilton has sponsored Edwin Safari

We hope that you have all enjoyed a relaxing and rejuvenating holiday season and we look forward to sharing with you further developments and successes as our support to the Creation of Hope program continues in 2012.  This year promises to be an exciting one complete with a group visit from some Canadian sponsors to Kenya!

This time of year also marks the end of the school year.  While this is significant for all students it is particularly important for those in Grade 8.  They have been completing the most important exams of their lives.  The results of these exams determine if they are allowed to attend high school and the type of high school they can attend.  The higher the marks the higher level of school.  We have guaranteed our children that if they qualify for a higher level – a more expensive level – that we will fund their education.  The results will not be known until January and then assignments are made.  Between our existing high school students and those attempting to enter we could be supporting 18 high school students this coming school year.  We are estimating a cost of between$4000 and $5000 to pay for their tuition.

Our new building – the new Rolling Hills Residence – continues to go up.  The two lower levels which house the youngest boys on the first level and the oldest on the second, have been completed and are in use.  The kitchen is now in use and the dining hall – The Whitehorse Room – is having its finishing touches put in place.  The final story, the residence for the girls and the offices for the outreach program has had its external shell completed; walls, windows and roof; and hopefully will be fully functional within the next two months.  In the interim, the girls continue to reside in the existing residence, although with twice the space now, as the older girls stay in the previous boys’ room.  I look forward to showing you pictures in the December update and then finished pictures in the new year.

Fundraising

November has brought about some amazing fundraising efforts

Kettle Lakes P.S.

Hi Eric, Anita, Ruth and Kay,

I wanted to let you know that a cheque for $2300 made out to Creation of Hope has been written and will be coming your way shortly.  This was the total amount raised by Kettle Lakes P.S. through our “Chores for Chickens” campaign, as well as through events during Halloween.  As per your suggestions, below is a breakdown of how our Character Council would like to spend the funds:

$1970 – raised from “Chores for Chickens” to purchase as many chickens as needed (as well as other items as required)
$250 – to purchase school uniforms for children
$80 -  to purchase 2 goats

Please let us know if this is alright.  Our students are looking forward to celebrating the success of our fundraiser at our school-wide assembly in about a week.  At that time, Michael (our principal) will be dressing up in a chicken costume – as he promised he’d do if the students raised more than 225 chickens!  It would be wonderful if we could have some pictures of the kids in Kikima with some chickens to show our students at the assembly too… do you think that would be possible???

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Farhana Panju

Farhana Panju
Kettle Lakes P.S.

The schools efforts were noted in the community newspaper and on local cable.

Below is the link forwarded by Farhana.  Please have a look at the link to the cable segment and celebrate the achievements of the staff and students of Kettle Lakes.

Hi Everyone,

I’m excited to share with you a link to the TV segment that was aired this past week on our local television station about Chores for Chickens at Kettle Lakes.  The link was just made available online today, and will apparently be available for about a year:  http://www.rogerstv.com/page.aspx?lid=237&rid=17&sid=4002&gid=88225

Ruth/Kay, I really hope you are able to view the clip (about 3 mins long), and perhaps even show the kids in Kikima how other kids across the world are caring for them!

Enjoy!

Farhana

Glendale Public School

Ryan Rumsby is a long term supporter and a personal sponsor of our program.  He has transferred schools this year but continued to provide his “new” students with the opportunity to get involved and has involved two more classes – Mrs. Perry’s and Mr. Newman’s classes.  Not only have they assisted their students to understand the importance of helping, but as with Kettle Lakes, the children are doing the work to raise the money.  That is so important.

As well Mr. Rumsby has again asked us for a ‘grocery’ list of possible ways the funds raised will be spent and he allows his students to make the decisions.  Those decisions will be shared in the update in the coming months.

Dear Eric and Anita,

We are Alana Franco and Emily-Ann Kyle from Mr. Rumsby’s grade 5/6 class at Glendale Public School. We decided along with Mrs. Perry’s 4/5 class and Mr. Neuman’s grade 7/8 class that we we’re going to rake leaves for the Creation of Hope, your charity. We raked leaves because we think it’s a nice thing to do for the homeowners who may not be able to rake their own leaves. All the homeowners we’re very generous to give such great and thoughtful donations. Everyone worked extremely hard. There was even one group that worked through our lunch break. We raked from 9:00 in the morning to 12:50 in the afternoon. There was one thing that we all knew, we were helping the homeowners and the people in Kikima, Kenya. That’s an amazing thing that we are helping with. We’re helping two communities. (Killing two birds with one stone.)

Right now, we are deciding what to put the $700 towards. It is very hard because every little thing counts. You gave us so many amazing options. We really hope to do a lot more work. We thank you for all of these wonderful options to put the money towards.

Sincerely,

Alana and Emily-Ann

Jack Hulland School

Jack Hulland is one of our two amazing Whitehorse schools that continue to raise money for our program.  The dining hall in the new building is called The Whitehorse Room in honor of their ongoing efforts and the final touches of the dining hall will be finished in the coming weeks, complete with pictures of the students and a Whitehorse flag.

Here are their latest efforts.

Dear Eric and Anita,

Please find enclosed a cheque for $1000.00 from Jack Hulland School for the Creation of Hope.

These funds were raised by my grade seven class by running a canteen at our yearly craft fair as well as at a volleyball tournament.  I am proud of these students and their efforts to be active citizens in our world.

All the best,

 Sara Tillett

Grade 7 Teacher

Jack Hulland School

Lasalle Public School

Lasalle, under the leadership of Martha Martin, has been an amazing supporter of the program over the years.  This year they asked me to come to their school to present as a writer.  The fee that they paid me was given directly to the program and provided the money to pay for the food for Exodus Children’s Home for the months of November and December.

Exodus children

Sharon Jennings was there for the ceremony

Sharon was in Kenya as part of a program to help promote writing in different African countries.  She has been a supporter of our program – having given her time in two different literacy days – and we offered her the opportunity to go up to our program.  She spent three days in Kikima, living on the grounds of the orphanage in Ruth and Henry’s home, visiting the community and meeting the children and donated $350 for one week of the orphanage’s operation.

Spruce Ridge Community school students donated $16.00 – reaching into their pockets at the end of my presentation.

Andy Dilla spent two months in the program early this year prior to entering medical school.  He was a valued member of the community and decided once he returned to fund a special present for the school, Kyangoma, where he taught.

Kate Dawber, one of our other wonderful volunteers who spent two months teaching at Kyangoma held a ‘movie night’ with Nicole, Lisa, Ashley, and Adam and showed ‘A Small Act’ and raised $65.00 to be put toward drought relief.  Kate has inspired her sister Emily, who raised money at Queens, and her father, Fred, to continue to make donations.  Fred has become one of our most generous, caring supporters of the program.

Steve Pitt – our original ‘goat guy’ – made a donation of $200.00

John Wilson – another great Canadian writer – made a donation of $100.00 to the program.

Peggy Thomas has made a generous donation of $200.00 to be used to support the program.

Glenn Bonsall made a donation of $50.00 for his sister-in-law Mary Ann Watson-Bonsall.

Koko Saar, who with her family sponsors Koki, has made a $270.00 Christmas donation in honor of the Godparents of her children.  She has asked that this money be used for a water project.  Our next project will be initiated in the coming months.

Often I am given presents from schools.  We try to bring these over to Kenya where they will be used and appreciated by the children.

Mutunga is sponsored by Maple Grove

Kettle Lakes book bag

Wanza with a Goodwood book bag

Support the Orphanage for a Day Program

We have launched a program where individuals and schools can support the entire Rolling Hills Residence.  $50.00 provided one day of support – this funds the food for 31 children, their medical care and treatment, school uniforms and supplies, electricity and sanitation for the building, and the salaries of the matron, tutor and night watchman.  Here are our first supporters.

Other Updates

From Sharon Jennings:

“On February 14, I was invited to do some literature-based volunteer work in Kenya. I immediately let Eric Walters know and by the end of that day, I received an email from Ruth Kyatha confirming my stay at the Hope Development Centre – my tour all arranged by the tireless Eric! And so on November 3^rd, work finished, I drove along one of the worst roads in the world to one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Up at 5:00 a.m. with the rooster (whom I secretly nicknamed Eric), I walked around the grounds with tea mug in hand and stared off into the distant highlands where I could just make out Mt. Kilimanjaro. I watched the cows being milked and the goats being tethered (they take the place of lawn mowers) and ate bananas off the tree. Kay collected our banana peels and when I asked about composting, she smiled and led me to the compost – the six cows who love banana peels! Later, I was taken on a tour of the new bio-fuel tank. Cattle dung is collected and through a feat of engineering is turned into methane gas. Tubes lead the gas into the kitchen, and that is how I boiled the harvested rainwater for my tea.

To me, The Hope Development Centre is an Eden; but to over 30 children, this place is home. And so I marvelled at the work being done to make the centre sustainable and I was moved by the imagination and inventiveness of those making it all work. Do not think for one moment that even a penny of your donation is being wasted. (By the way, I was not a guest at donor expense: I paid to stay and I paid for the gas to drive me around.)

I spent three very busy days in the surrounding countryside, visiting those schools and children who receive sponsorship from so many generous Canadians. I was warned by Eric that I would be an oddity, and after much staring and giggling (at my pasty white skin – and one little scallywag had to lick me) we posed for lots of photos and speeches and running of hands through my hair. I was often asked to give impromptu pep talks along the route. At Kyangoma Primary School, for example, I was invited to pray for those children about to write their grade eight standard exams. These exams are nerve-wracking! How well the students do determines whether or not they get into the better high schools; and if they don’t, well…the writing is on the wall for their futures. I prayed my hardest!

If you have been thinking about going to Kikima, stop thinking and sign up – your life will be changed. But if you can’t go to Kikima, rest assured that your donation is changing the lives of others. I know some of you have expressed trepidation about making such a long journey. Honestly, the only thing you will find difficult is having to leave and come back home.”

Sponsorship

We have added four new sponsors this month – two Canadian sponsors and two Kenyan sponsors and now have 111 sponsors who provide support for over 400 orphans in the Mbooni District.

All in all it’s been quite the month for Creation of Hope and Rolling Hills.  Thank you to all our supporters for your generous contributions.

From the newsletter of Kettle Lakes

On October 7, Kettle Lakes P.S. received a visit from Anita Walters, wife of renowned Canadian author Eric Walters, who spoke about Creation of Hope. This charity, created and run by the Walters’ family, provides outreach support to over 400 children who live in the rural village of Kikima, Kenya. Mrs.

Walters explained how small amounts of money can go a long way in providing school supplies, blankets and clothing to children and livestock for families who are in desperate need. Every cent goes towards the children, as there are no overhead costs incurred. The staff and students of Kettle Lakes are looking forward to partnering with Creation of Hope as the focus of their fundraising efforts this year.

And here are the results of this visit!

It’s with a lot of excitement that I send you this e-mail as an update on the recent fundraising efforts we’ve involved in at Kettle Lakes for the Creation of Hope.   After hearing your presentation, we felt that at least for our first fundraiser of the year, it would be best to focus on something tangible that our students could easily relate to.  Therefore, last week our school launched a “Chores for Chickens” campaign where students are asking their parents to sponsor them the price of a chicken ($8, as stated on your website) for doing simple chores around the house.  Our students have been washing dishes, vacuuming floors, raking leaves, setting tables, etc., and donating the $8 that they earn to help purchase chickens for the families in Kikima!

To launch this campaign, our team of Character Council student leaders were trained to teach a short lesson to each class in the school. Their lesson focused on the idea of empathy and how we can help others.  They discussed why it’s important for us to help the kids in Kikima, explained the fundraising campaign, and even sang a “Chores for Chickens” song (attached!) to get classes excited!  Each student was provided a paper print-out of a chicken to colour and return to school with their name and the chore that they did to earn the $8.  These chicken print-outs are proudly displayed in our front foyer for all to see and celebrate!

I am very pleased to inform you that in less than a week, our Kettle Lakes has raised nearly $900 (equivalent to 112 chickens) for Creation of Hope!!!  It’s been wonderful to see the enthusiasm that our students have shown so far.  Some staff members have even encouraged their own personal children to participate!  With another week and a half left in our “Chores for Chickens” campaign, we’re looking forward to seeing how much more we can raise for this wonderful cause!

We look forward to keeping in touch with you, and will keep you posted on “Chores for Chickens” at Kettle Lakes!

Glen Park

Hello Chantal,

I trust you are well? We have just finished distributing wishlist items to 10 kids, four of them the ones that your school provided for. I have attached pictures of the kids with some of their wishlist items.

Kay

Hello Melanie,

 I trust you are well? We have just finished distributing wishlist items to 9 kids, 6 of them the ones that you provided for. I have attached pictures of the kids with some of their wishlist items. They were measured for uniforms and will collect those on 29th of this month, together with their new clothes, shoes, beds and textbooks for those who asked for them.

  I have also thrown in a picture of dad’s pickup as taken by mom…that’s how I came down from the market…no wonder I got all those stares:),

 I looked like I had wiped out a shop or two! You should have seen how packed the back was and in the passenger seat!

 Thanks again for everything you do for these kids!

 - Kay

Kenyan Donations

Our program is a true partnership between Kenya and Canada.  It involves not only the decisions being made and the actions taking place but the actual funding – many of our sponsors, and a percentage of our funding coming from Kenyan sources.  We are also highly supported by the local church community.  Three times per year the 109 churches in the Mbooni District take a special collection for The Creation of Hope.   Below is a letter from Ruth outlining this last offering for our organization.

The regional churches made their regular contribution this October and raised Ksh. 160,047 that was used to buy the iron sheets and nails. The roofing will begin within two days.

It is great to see the community support. This year alone, the regional churches have contributed a total of Ksh. 473,307 (contributions were held in February, June and October) which has all gone into the building. It is such a blessing to have such service in the midst of drought – as this whole year was dry with little income for most.

Please keep praying that this support spreads further and the rains continue to fall, as that is one way of increasing the contributions.

Ruth

To convert those numbers to Canadian figures – they raised almost $1700.00 this collection for a total of almost $5000.00!  In the midst of an incredible drought, when individuals are suffering themselves, they still reached into their pockets and donated to help those are even less fortunate.  People who have so little but still give are such an inspiration.

Christmas Donations

We want to thank all of our sponsors who have generously made donations for their child to have something special as a present for Christmas by sending an additional $30.00.  We suggested that sponsors limited their donations as we would not spend more than that amount of their sponsored child.  Some sponsors donated more with the understanding that the additional funds would go to another child in the community who was in need.

Longtime supporters

Amongst our first donations we received funding from Channel.  She, and her mother, Sophia Attema, just made another donation in honor of Sophia’s birthday.  They provided $115.00 to go toward ongoing support of growing crops for the children at the Rolling Hills Residence.

High School Tuition

While grades 1 – 8 are government-subsidized to make it easier to send children to school in Kenya, there are tuition costs for high school.  Last year (January – December 2010) we had 3 students in high school. At the beginning of 2011, 9 students joined high school but one dropped out. Next year, January-December 2012, we expect all the 7 students writing their exams this year to join high school depending on their exam results.  This is a total of 18 students including children who are not presently sponsored but have been offered support due to their dire circumstances and their great potential.

Our predicted cost of high school fees for the coming school year for these 18 students is approximately $4,500 (about Ksh. 393,000).  We expect to provide this amount from both a dedicated scholarship – The Andrew Curling Scholarship – as well as funds from our regular sources.   The fees vary according to the level of school that they attend. District and Provincial schools are much less expensive than national, but in general all are less than $500 per year.

For the second year in a row, Kelly and Chris Betts have hosted a Halloween Party to raise funds to be donated to the Andrew Curling Scholarship.  This year they raised over $800.00!

In addition some of our sponsors have decided to make contributions to pay for either part or the entire high school tuition for their child.

Food Distribution

As always, over 200 orphans and their extended family members attended a food distribution at The Rolling Hills Residence.  This includes not just the sponsored children who continue to reside with their extended families but the extended family members of children who reside in the children’s residence.  This is always a day of celebration and those families – some of whom have a round trip of up to 30 kilometers – are given transportation, food, wish lists are distributed, as well as goats and tools and beds given out.

Construction

The new Rolling Hills Residence continues to rise.  As the top floor – the new girls’ residence – is being completed the lower levels are already in use with the boys living on the two lower levels and the kitchen and dining all being used.  Here are the latest pictures. Our hope is that it will be completed in the first two months of the new year when additional funding is raised.

The cost of any product is based on the supply and demand for that product.  When production goes up or supply goes down, the cost goes up.  With the drought – which must be noted is hitting the North-East part of Kenya far harder than it is our area around Kikima– people are less able to grow food.  This means that they must purchase more food, while less is generally available because others cannot grow it either.  This causes a general increase in the price of food which ripples throughout the country and the entire region.

Our orphans and their extended families have been able to grow less of their own food, which has made them even more dependent on the monthly food distribution to survive.  However we now have to pay much more for the food that we distribute – in some cases staples such as corn meal have more than doubled in price – from 35 to 85shillings per kilogram.  We have made a commitment not to change the amount of food that we have distributed.  While this has cost more money, we feel that at times like these, the orphans and their families need our help even more.

In doing this we have had to redirect money from ongoing projects.  For example, two water projects that we had hoped to finish have been delayed.  This is a rather cruel irony that lack of water has stopped us from doing projects that would make people less dependent on rain.

The new building, which will feature an area named Diana’s Wing, will be rededicated as The Rolling Hills Residence in honor of our most generous school supporters.  We had hoped that the entire building would be finished by now.  Instead it will take until the end of January at the earliest to fully finish the building.

One of our sponsors, Stephanie, is going to take on the responsibility of drafting a ‘Corporate’ letter.  We have never sought outside support beyond our sponsors and schools but are making an overture asking for support to help defray the food distribution over costs, finish the building and undertake the two water projects that we’ve planned.

Despite the delays there has been progress with the building.  In September the boys moved into the completed two lower floors of the building!  This allowed the girls to ‘expand’ to take over the entire older building.  The dining room is now finished and the children use it for meals and for the study area.  Ultimately this whole floor will be available to be ‘rented’ out to community meetings and the revenue will help support the orphanage.  The top floor, the girls’ residence (Diana’s Wing) is now taking shape.  This building is the keystone of the entire project – not just the children’s residence, but the offices which will house the outreach and community programs, and will host the local and regional conferences to generate income.

This picture is taken from the side, at the top of the hill.  The white, plastered layer is the kitchen/dining area/study area which will also double as a conference area.  The bricks being completed on the top layer and are locally made, are going to be the girls’ residence – Diana’s Wing – as well as offices for the entire program.

This is a side view that shows the main door (in red).

This shot shows how the building flows down the slope.  The green door on the far left is the side entrance to the boys’ residence which is subdivided – little boys on the lowest level and older boys on the next level.

This is an interior shot of the wing which houses the littlest boys in our program.  The enclosure on the far left is the house father’s room – you’ll notice it has walls (and a door) but no roof so that he can ‘listen’ in and make sure the boys are cared for even in the middle of the night

This next picture shows the electrical line leading down to the pump house (the biogas pit in the foreground) which draws water up from our well.

You’ll note in the picture lots of ‘reds’ and ‘browns’. If the water situation was normal these would be green with growing crops.

One of our newest sponsors, Melanie, made an incredible gift this month.  She went to the ‘Needing to be Sponsored’ section of the website and noticed that the children all had wish lists needing to be filled.  She sponsored six wish lists!  Thank you so much for your generosity Melanie.  Six children will have their lives changed, and of course, you will receive pictures of each child and each item.

Kate Stadium was made in honor of Kate Dawber who had a two month placement in Kikima working at the school and helping at the residence.  Kate and her family are amongst our most generous supporters and part of that support has been to provide the school with sports equipment, uniforms and facilities.  Her father, Fred, has decided that they might need some new equipment and provided a further donation as part of Kate’s birthday gift, to fund this.

Once again we asked our sponsors if they wished to get involved in providing a donation for Christmas.  We asked that people provide NO MORE than $30.00 for their child.  Some sponsors have not only made a donation for their child but have also made a donation for other orphans in the family or for other people in the community.  The generosity of our sponsors continues to inspire me.

New Sponsors

We have four new sponsors this month – one from British Columbia.

Nicole and Trevor Brodie sponsoring Mwendwa Mutheu

Michelle Hall sponsoring Kalekye Ndolo

Dale Clark sponsoring Michael Mbaluka

Janis Hetu and Maple Grove students sponsoring Mutunga Mativo

Four more children, and their extended families including other orphans, have had their lives changed because of these generous sponsors.

Halloween – The Andrew Curling Scholarship

Our sponsors Chris and Kelly love Halloween.  Last year they combined their love of Halloween with a desire to help the program.  They held a party with donations going toward the children in our program.  The location was at Lou Dawgs in Toronto. Two weeks after the party there was a tragedy when one of the D.J.’s at the gathering, Andrew Curling, suddenly passed on.  Subsequently the money raised by the gathering was placed in a fund, named after Andrew, to support high school fees for orphans.  Last year 15 children attended high school with the money raised through this program.

Once again Kelly and Chris are holding their party.  This money will again be put to use, honoring Andrew, and helping to pay for 22 children to attend high school.  Their school year begins in January.  It is estimated that we  will need  a total  of approximately $4500.00 to fund their year of education collectively.  We won’t know the exact numbers of students until they write their exams in November. Unknown also is the total cost because their scores on these tests determine what level of school they can attend.  Better marks open up better and more expensive schools and we have made a commitment that if they score the marks, we can find the money!

James M. James P.S.

Last month I noted the fund raising efforts of John M. James P.S. in Bowmanville but failed to put in this wonderful picture – I guess this just gives me a second chance to note their efforts and extend our thanks!  Thank you Sarah for giving me a gentle reminder that I had neglected to put in the picture.

Funds Raised

September is the time that schools across the country start fund raising again for our program.  We will, as always, make sure that 100% of funds donated from schools and students go directly to service, and then through the website, show exactly how we used the money.

Our first school to donate funds is Glen Park Public School, which donated $492.00.

Below is a letter from two students explaining their fund raising efforts.  Their principal Susan Hearn, took on a great leadership role and we’re very grateful for all of her help.

These funds will be used to grant wish lists of children needing to be sponsored, as requested, and the specific children will be shown when those lists are granted.

Happy Birthday

Last month I noted that we held a birthday party for 97 children in our program.  Many of the children do not know their birthdates – in some instances they are not even sure of the year.   Along with the help of  Rolling Hills, we decided to honor them with a birthday party – to let them know that the day of their birth is indeed a day worth celebrating!  As well, now that the children have a birthday they also can get a birth certificate.  It’s important for the children to eac  be officially documented and registered with the government.  Kay orchestrated this birthday party and if you want a guaranteed smile go to;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86lu8SoHULA

And just a couple of other clips you might want to see;

Wayua and Wanza singing, supplied by Kate; http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=VK8100O2Y5Y

A thank you from Exodus for LaSalle School; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IPwU3CKtMY

We look forward to new and exciting progress in the 2011/12 school year.  Thank you for your ongoing attention, support and care!