Maltese volunteers for Kenyan mission

Thirteen members of the NGO Kare4Kenya leave for Kawangware on Wednesday for a month of missionary work, focused on the education of children and their parents to "help them help themselves".

Kare4Kenya, which was founded in 2002, believes that education is a vital factor to empower people to achieve economic independence, improve their health and build a society, its spokesman Brandon Pisani said.

The organisation is helping with Kenya's development by working closely with Kenyan children, youths and their families to provide educational opportunities and access to schools.

Around 90 Kawangware children are currently being sponsored, and Kare4Kenya monitors their progress throughout the year, Mr Pisani said.

Kawangware, on the outskirts of Nairobi, is a densely populated slum, with poor living conditions and scores of children running barefoot in an unhygienic environment.

It is planned, during the group's stay, to organise three projects: a summer school of art and crafts for the children in the mornings, teaching parents crochet using plastic bags, and an educational media programme to teach young people how to produce a TV documentary.

Mr Pisani explained that the young people would be given camera equipment, which has been sponsored, to film whatever they wanted.

The raw footage would be edited into a documentary that could possibly be aired on local TV stations.

It was also possible that some of the cameras would be left in Kenya for the year so the young people could continue filming and another documentary produced.

"These people want to progress, and to do so independently," Mr Pisani said.

Kare4Kenya started off with 60 children who could not afford schooling. It also helps them with uniforms, books and stationery. The children have to pay for school reports and take their own desks to school, Mr Pisani explained.

The organisation has also helped families elect a committee to be in control of their needs and initiate income-generating projects to take charge of their financial situation.

Kare4kenya has also helped set up the youth NGO Changamoto Kawangware to collaborate on projects.

The Maltese group, the largest to go to Kawangare since the NGO was set up, is made up of people from various walks of life who have managed to take a month's leave and finance their own trip, some with the help of sponsors. They have been planning and preparing for the trip since last November.

They raise funds throughout the year and every single donation goes straight to Kenya and the projects being organised, said Mr Pisani.

The organisation, however, needs more assistance. Donations can be made to Bank of Valletta account number 40012719129 and SMS 50617515 for Lm1. People can also sponsor a child.

For more information e-mail: info@kare4kenya.org.