For many years now, Kenyanito has been burdened with the plight of so many individuals that he comes across who, for all sorts of reasons not of their own making, have lost sight of their dreams. Each time that he has heard from someone about the way life has crushed their dreams, he has felt that story to be an extra impetus to doing something about it.
Well, now that dream of Kenyanito's has been birthed into reality, and the reality is the I Dream Again Kenyanito Foundation (IDAK) which was formally launched earlier this year (https://idakfoundation.org/)
Today I had the joy of sitting in a coffee shop and chatting with Kenyanito about IDAK, and getting an update on what has been achieved so far in the few months of its existence.
There are seven pillars to IDAK's work: education, school feeding programmes, shelter, healthcare, business startup and empowerment, disaster response and environmental conservation, and mentoring and coaching. Already, activities have taken place in 5 of these pillars.
On the education front, 6 students are being supported through high school, each of them from a background that means that they would not have been able to find the fees for themselves. Also 3 students have been given an 'encouragement gift' of finance to help them with daily costs. The government covers tuition fees in the form of a loan, but daily maintenance expenses have to be met by the students, so IDAK gave each of these students a gift towards that.
On the school feeding programme front, a donation to IDAK enabled them to start up a feeding programme at a primary school in rural Kenya that the team have links with. At this school there is no provision of food, and so the students either have to take food with them, or go home for food at lunchtime (if they live close enough to get there and back in time, and if there is someone at home who can make the food - sandwiches aren't an option here), or go hungry. For the little ones who just do half days at school it's almost bearable, but for the older ones, concentration definitely starts to suffer in the afternoons as the hunger sets in. So the setting up of a feeding programme has been very welcome.
On the business start up and empowerment front, 5 ladies in Kibera have been given seed-corn money to start up their own small businesses. One of these is Sally (not her real name). Her background story is one of appalling abuse, forced involvement in family witchcraft rituals when she was a child, massive mental health problems (including more than one suicide attempt), and marital breakdown. But despite all that, she has clung on, and recently was supported through counselling and church-related support. She is now a changed woman, feeling hopeful for the future, taking positive steps to care for her children, and keen to become self-sufficient. Her small stall that she has set up in Kibera is helping her realise that dream. She sells eggs, cooking oil, g'nuts, charcoal, silver fish, kerosene and soap - everything you need to make a simple meal, and wash up afterwards!
The model for these ladies is that as well as the seedcorn money, a savings scheme has been set up, and the aim is that within 6 months sufficient money will have been paid back from their seedcorn grants that another lady can be brought into the circle. And then after another 6 months another lady will join etc.
On the environmental conservation front, 1,000 trees were recently planted at a school in Kisumu, with each student having responsibility for 2 or 3 trees. So the students must keep their trees watered, weed around the roots, generally tend to them and keep them loved and alive! In so doing, there is a direct link between the students and caring for the environment, and this model will be used for all future tree planting projects.
The other pillar that has been started on is the mentoring pillar which had some input when a couple of the high school students gained acess to some work experience relevant to their dream jobs. As a result, they are even more determined to realise their dreams now.
The needs continue: next academic year there are 6 orphan students already identified who have just finished primary school and who will struggle to find the fees from within their own resources. Always there are so many families who have stopped dreaming, but could restart with just a small income of seedcorn money. And there will almost definitely be needs on the shelter and health pillars - that's the nature of life.
But for now - it's so wonderful to hear how this new organisation is making such incredible differences already in the lives of so many. Well done Kenyanito and all the IDAK team - may God bless you going forwards as you help people dream again.
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