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December 2005

Holiday Gift Giving Opportunity

This season, make your Holiday Gift more memorable when you give a donation in honor of family, friends, or business associates. Your Christmas/ Hanukkah/ Kwanzaa gift will benefit people living in poverty in rural Kenya.

Among the special projects for which I am raising funds, is an income generating and life sustaining project of Corn Farming for Yote Yawezekana Women’s Group. The women in this group, with whom I was fortunate to spend time last summer, are all widows affected in some way by HIV/AIDS. Many of them have children and little or no income to support themselves after their husbands (the traditional breadwinners) have passed away of AIDS. The women of Yote Yawezekana have come together to find sustainable solutions to the challenges they are facing. They have identified and planned an industrious initiative to grow maize (corn) so their children will have enough to eat. They will also be able to sell the extra maize in the market to earn income to support their families. Profits from selling the maize will allow the women to lease the farmland in subsequent years thus creating a sustainable project.

While in Kenya, I met many people without enough to eat, some families had nothing at all; sometimes they would have a fruit from the tree or only a cup of water for the entire day. This project will begin to change some of that difficult reality. I hope that through the efforts of Yote Yawezekana fewer children will be going to bed hungry at night.

A gift of $30 will lease one acre of land for growing and harvesting maize for a year
A gift of $40 will purchase corn seed for one acre of land
A gift of $70 will provide fertilizer for the maize to grow

The second way you can help through holiday gift giving is by sending a child to school. Elementary school is free in Kenya but high school students must pay tuition. For families living in one of the poorest areas of the country, and earning less than $1 a day, this is very difficult. Many children do not have the opportunity to go to high school because of the tuition. In Shikokho village, the tuition of Shikokho Secondary School is $180 a year. 21 children have been identified and we want to meet their dream of attending school. Their families have been affected by the challenges of AIDS. These kids are very dear to me and would love to have the opportunity to continue their high school education this year.

A gift of $180 will send a child to school for a whole year
A gift of any amount, from $1-$100 will help tremendously in meeting the tuition needs of these beautiful kids who want to grow and learn.

THANK YOU!

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In Honor of: _____________________________________
For: _______________________(Christmas, birthday, anniversary, etc.)

I will be happy to personalize and mail your gift card for you. Or you can request a blank card, to personalize and mail yourself.

Please specify your preferences and addresses, etc.

For a tax deductible or matching gift donation you may make your check out to the “Foundation for Sustainable Development,” this is the non-profit organization that I represented while in Shikokho village, that will be involved in the maize farming project.