Sunday, October 23, 2011

Empowering children in Kenya

Twenty years ago three young Rhodes Scholars met in Oxford, England. Mary and Janelle were from Kansas, Paul from Kenya. Time passed. Paul stayed in Kenya and became active in business and politics. In time, Mary became Director of Leadership Studies at Kansas State University and Janelle the Head of the Division of Engineering, Business and Computing at Penn State.

Paul's heart went out to the abandoned and orphaned children of his country. There are more than 50 million of them. His head followed his heart and led to the establishment of the Children and Youth Empowerment Centre (CYEC) in Nyeri, Kenya.

A couple of years ago, Paul invited Mary and Janelle to join him in establishing Zawadi Fund International, a U.S. - based non-profit to support CYEC.

CYEC effectively addresses economic growth and the alleviation of poverty through a comprehensive program that includes housing, health care, education and training that transforms young victims into proud and responsible contributors to a better world.

Last year folks in Colorado Springs signed on and raised enough money to purchase material from which young girls in training at CYEC made attractive and useful carryall bags.

Last Saturday (October 22), we raised over $1,000 by selling these bags at the Broadmoor Community UCC Church's Alternative Gift Fair. See the enclosed pictures. That money is already in the pipeline to be used to enrich the program at CYEC.

*A word for those only in the Colorado Springs area: To arrange a program for your group, to order more bags, or to make a tax deductable contribution, contact Maurine Hale, fromtheporch@comcast.net, or 719-488-1974.

But anyone can make a contribution to Zawadi Fund International by contacting Janelle Larson, jnblarson@gmail.com or www.cyec.net

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