KENYAN MUSICIAN POSITIONING HIMSELF AS A PHILANTHROPIST

Lately, Jaguar a Kenyan musician has been a philanthropist rather than a musician. In the past month, he has paid bills for two people in hospital and started a business for a family whose house burnt down.

This week, he has also mobilised his friends to clear a Sh.50, 000 bill for Maria Sanawa from Kariobangi Estate in Nairobi who has been suffering from fibroids for four years.

Jaguar explains that he does not know how people get his number but when they call him to ask for assistance, he finds it very hard not to try and do something. He has also revealed that the Makadara MP also contributes to the bill’s kitty.

musicians too can be philanthropists!

Grantmakers in Africa meet in Nairobi

The month of September saw grantmakers from some 20 African Countries come to Nairobi to participate in the 1st Pan African Grantmakers Assembly within the auspices of the African Granmakers Network. Participants engaged in useful discussions across a wide range of topics in an attempt to try and unpack key issues in the context of African Philanthropy. Participants were in agreement that time was indeed ripe for greater focus on the potential that African Philanthropy holds for the continent. On our part as EAAG, we facilitated and moderated a discussion that sought to explore the subject of middle class giving as well as the giving of high net worth individuals and families. the discussion also examined issues around lobbying Governments for an enabling tax environment for giving. Although progress in relation to provision of tax incentives for giving is slow, participants in this session noted with admiration that the Government of South Africa provides tax benefits to those who give and tax benefits accrue to any one who gives up to 10 % of their income. A recent tax study carried out by EAAG in East Africa indicates that countries within the region have different policies and the study seeks to obtain specific recommendations for consideration by Governments in East Africa. During the Assembly, one key speaker observed that Africa must lead from the front and actors in the philanthropy sector were urged to show that way and lead by example. The key challenge was, how many of those in the sector actually give? The big question was, what moral authority do we have to ask people to give if we are not leading by example?

Big question – are you an actor in the philanthropy sector? are you leading by example?

Let us lead and others will follow!

Local Philanthropy enables students to pursue secondary education in Laikipia, Kenya.

Students from at least five locations in Mukogodo division, Laikipia North District who would otherwise have failed to join secondary schools next year may have a chance to do so after a group of donors promised to build a secondary school. In the whole district, there are only two secondary schools, St.Francis Girls and Doldol Boys, both of which are boarding schools. A third one, IIpolei Secondary was started this year and only Form One Students were admitted.

Donors and stakeholders from the locality have started fundraising to construct a secondary school which will be called Kimanjo. Recently, a marathon was organized to raise the money in conjuction with OL Lentille Lodge and Kijabe Conservancy who were at the forefront of the noble cause.

Most deserving students had failed to join secondary schools because there were none near. The only schools they have around are about 50 kilometres away and they only have boarding facilities. The students who qualify for day schools end up grazing livestock since they do not even have a polytechnic in the district which is categorized as Arid and Semi-Arid by the government and the locals are dependent on relief food from the government and other agencies.

Charity should begin at home!

Orphaned Children in Kenya Living the Dreams of a Philanthropist Priest

The Unique dream, which is slowly becoming Africa’s potential solution to tackling the impact of HIV/Aids on families is the brainchild of the late Catholic priest Father Angelo D’Agostino. Four years ago, the priest modelled his outstanding vision alongside a small pilot project in Kwa-Zulu region in South Africa which is run by the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.

He then began to replicate the Mandela idea in Kenya with ambitious plans to cater for more than 1,000 orphans. Impassioned about making a difference in the lives of children orphaned by Aids, and left in the hands of caregivers who are already vulnerable and helpless, the priest approached several stakeholders including a coalition of donors to make his dream a reality.

Through careful planning and strategy, D’Agostino and his team obtained 1,000 acres of land donated on a freehold lease basis by the Kitui County Council and started working on the project.Each of the 28 households consists of a grandmother and the orphaned grandchildren. There are only two grandfathers in the entire village who take care of their grandchildren single-handedly.

Situated within the village is Hot Courses Primary School; an all orphans primary school where each child narrates to the others about the loss of his/her parents. The school is unique in the sense that its entire student population is orphaned and it is the first such learning institution to be established in the East African region. There are 218 childern, 21 of them in different secondary schools while one is doing a degree course at Kenyatta University.

The village which is gearing for major construction works in its phase two expansion programme will eventually house 1,000 children and elderly guardians upon completion. The programme is supported by private and public donor funding from individuals, foundations, corporations as well as government and non-government sources.

Make your philanthropic dream a reality!

Global Philanthropist Trivani and Partner Charity Supply Mosquito Nets for Kenyan Children

Trivani is the world’s first Purpose Marketing company, using the power and profit of network marketing to provide ongoing humanitarian aid around the world. Trivani’s unique business model consists of two distinct but closely intertwined entities: Trivani International and the Trivani Foundation. This business model helps Trivani fulfill its humanitarian goals through three main missions: Purpose, Health, and Prosperity.  

The Trivani Foundation, a non-profit organization and philanthropic arm of global product seller Trivani International that carries out humanitarian projects has partnered with Koins for Kenya to provide mosquito nets for children in the African country. The project, funded by proceeds from sales of Trivani’s toxin-free, eco-friendly line of personal care and beauty products, was created to reduce the catastrophic number of Kenya deaths by way of mosquito-borne malaria.

In Kenya, malaria kills almost 20 people per 1,000 making it a deadly epidemic that ruins families and destroys lives. The chairman of the Foundation Dee Mower explains that it was amazing how something as simple as a mosquito net which costs nearly nothing by American standards could save a life from the terrible sickness.

The mosquito net project is just one part of Trivani international’s substantial list of global relief goals, which include supplying food, surgeries and school supplies for impoverished children and families in Asia, Africa and North America. As part of the project, each Kenyan child receives an insecticide-treated bed net that blocks out mosquitos in the evening sleeping hours, when mosquitoes are known to be most active.

Give something that really matters in the grand scheme of things!

One tree at a time- in support of orphans

Adriano Ghirardello had been voted the best salesman by Toyota Japan in the year 1998 and when he was asked where he would take his award holiday, he chose Kenya and that marked the beginning of a journey that became a philanthropic mission. Ghirardello has partnered with his wife, Mrs Giovanna Grampa and formed Comitato Gaia Italy Omlus, a committee in charge of the couple’s philanthropic works. When the couple decided to permanently settle in Kenya and bought a plot in Kibokoni where they put up a modest house which they occupied they often felt a desire to mingle with the local people, real Kenyans in their own environment. But the couple were not happy with what they saw. There was glaring poverty in their neighbourhood. They were prompted to take action and hence the beginning of their philanthropic work. The couple has been to as far as Shanga Island in Lamu District where they have assisted residents with water and mosquito nets. They built a nursery school which also served as an adult education centre at Sabaki across the Sabaki Bridge. They adopted 50 orphans between Madzayani and Magarini village in 2004 and started looking for land to build a permanent children’s home. Following the acquisition of a plot in Pumwani, the couple begun construction of the Pumwani Children’s Home in 2006 where they are currently housing 36 orphans. Today the lives of 36 orphans have completely changed and they have acquired new hope for the future. The modern Pumwani Children’s Home easily stands out as one of the best in Coast Province. The couple is also building a polytechnic so that those who leave the home after attaining the age of 15 acquire the necessary skills required to work and earn a living. This will ensure that they do not go to the streets after their stay in the home but will be engaged productively to contribute positively to the local economy and earn a decent living. In response to his vision for the children, Ghirardello has planted valuable trees that include 8,000 casuarinas, 3,000 tissue blue gum seedlings, 500 cedar and 5,000 Jatropha plants so that when they mature, the home can start to sell poles to earn cash. The couple insists that all the proceeds from the sales must strictly go back to the home. The couple has also developed a farm at Misufini which serves as a demonstration integrated farm where multi-cropping thrives. Local people use the farm as a learning tool to adopt modern farming technology which could soon change their lives. This is the case of Pumwani Children’s Home where the philanthropic couple is gradually but surely changing the lives of orphans!

Flying and Giving: From a young kenyan

Aviation is an industry that is still male dominated but despite the challenges, 28 year old Kajuju Laiboni has managed to emerge as one of the most visible and outstanding female pilots in the aviation industry.

In December 2008 she networked with 28 like-minded people in Nairobi  and organised a charity dinner where they raised money to sponsor a girl from Kibera to become a flight engineer. From this event, Women Aviator in Africa (Wafric) was born. Even before she founded Wafric, she had already started an aviation club at Dagoretti Children’s Rehabilitation Centre, a home that caters for orphaned and needy children, which her mother has long been offering volunteer services too.

She organized a conference in August last year. There were 60 participants from the US, Sweden, China, Uganda and Kenya. During the conference, they asked students from Dagoretti Children’s Rehabilitation Centre to write an essay about their dream, and sponsored a record 15 students.

She has also reached out to children in various rural schools in Murang’a, Meru and to a children’s home in Nakuru. As a mentorship programme, she has started an organisation called ‘It Takes a Village’ which gives sanitary towels to poor girls.

She conducts monthly meetings with family and friends, during which she also collects food, clothes, books and toys that can also be distributed to these needy girls, who mainly live in slums and children’s homes. She has also started aviation mobile libraries an initiative to raise children’s awareness about flying. She has also set aside several days a year for aviation clubs to present what they have done.

Kajuju’s message to girls out there is to stop wasting time worrying about how to get to where they want to be, and instead focus on their dreams and believe in themselves.

Find your purpose, believe in your dreams and do something that you love!

 

Philanthropy for the poor in Kenya

Over the last half a century, Mrs Gulzaar Popat has worked tirelessly, engaging in charitable and philanthropic activities; virtually at all major institutions in Kenya. From Kenyatta National Hospital to Mama Ngina Childrens Home among other charitable institutions, her mission was to be involved in selfless acts largely geared at alleviating the plight of the less fortunate.

Recently, one of Mrs Gulzaar’s dreams finally came to fruition, with the opening of a KShs25 million Mrs Gulzaar Popat general practice medical facility at the Lions SightFirst Eye Hospital in Loresho.The purpose built facility, fully sponsored by Mrs Gulzaar and her family led by Kenya’s motor trade father Mr AbdulKarim Popat, will be opening its doors ready to serve thousands of Kenyans.

The facility which is a partnership project in conjunction with the Lions SightFirst Eye Hospital is expected to directly help less fortunate families living around Nairobi’s Uthiru, Kangemi and Loresho suburbs while supplementing the government efforts in providing health care.

Lions Eye Hospital Board of Management Chairman Dr S.P Amin said the initiative will help the financially constrained Kenyans, and will supplement Government efforts in providing health care to the less fortunate members of the society. The partnership between Lions Eye Hospital and the Popat family in putting up the general medical clinic that will run as a day care facility in Loresho, is a much needed gesture.

The medical clinic is expected to help the needy and poor patients, by providing them with high-quality care at highly-subsidised costs and free to those who cannot afford.The medical clinic is as a result of the Lions realising that even after putting up the leading eye hospital in the country; still the magnitude of diseases in Kenya presented a challenge to the country given the growing population, inadequate infrastructure, low per capita income and an aging population.

Currently, when those financially constrained Kenyans living in and around Kangemi and Uthiru get sick or injured, the only affordable facility available in the area is the government dispensary at Kangemi.  Most of the times, this facility is outstretched by the high number of patients seeking treatment there.

Your philanthropic dream can come true just like Mrs Gulzaar Popat’s !

African philanthropy transforming lives

Life comes to a sudden halt when your mother dies. Before coming to terms with her absence, your father falls sick and also dies shortly, and guess what you are now an orphan!15year old Betty Nakacwa from Uganda found herself in this predicament.

Thanks to  the spirit of African philanthropy, Nakacwa found some relatives who paid her fees after her parents died. Unfortunately, whenever there was a financial shortage, Nakachwa had to stay home until the situation got better, her dreams seemed too hard to attain and life was hopeless. Then a family friend, again thanks to African philanthropy, Olive Nalongo, took her in, a month later, she enrolled in a vocational school.“At Oliam institute, Nalongo trained me and nine other children how to make ties, skirts and shirts” says Nakachwa. Today the kind Lady who gave Nakachwa hope and a home showers her with praises. “She is among the pioneer students of the institute; others have been employed in Kampala “says Nalongo. From having three sewing machines the institution now has 10 and admitted 30 pupils.Some pupils are employed on part time basis to make clothes.”They use the money they earn to buy scholastic materials and pay lunch fees”, adds Nalongo.

I am sure that this form of philanthropy is not new to people living in Africa, however what started as a small attempt to help a family friend’s child in need by Nalongo has expanded to help others and helping to transform the lives of young women while giving them hope. This is a perfect blend of African Philanthropy that is of  a horizontal nature and the more vertical philanthropy that is often institutionalized or structured. In promoting philanthropy, we must never loose sight of the need to build on our rich culture of giving which already exists in most African Cultures. This type of giving happens all the time but it is not captured, much less acknowledged and appreciated. We need to appreciate, acknowledge and celebrate these forms of giving.

Protecting civil society space in Africa

Last week ( July 19-21),  Civil Society representatives from 13 African countries gathered in Nairobi in a strategy forum aimed at discussing the current observed trend of Governments working on developing new laws to govern the way the civil society works.  The case of Ethiopia is just one example that goes to show how laws can be used to shrink the space within which civil society operates. One of the reasons why civil society exists is to check the excesses of Governments and the Private sector. In doing this, it is no doubt that civil society will often point out the ills of Governments in issues related to Governance, democracy and human rights. It is no wonder that organizations that work in these sectors are often considered enemies of Government and in some cases they have been branded as representing the interests of the western donors that support them. What is often forgotten though is the fact that the very civil society that is often viewed as an enemy is in many ways responsible for increasing the voices and agitation that led to the independence from colonial rule as well as opening up the political space giving way to the multi- party democracy that now exists in many countries. It is therefore important to recognize the important role played by civil society organizations and it is important for Governments to uphold certain basic fundamental principles in the legal frameworks aimed at regulating the work of the civil society sector. The African Civil Society Platform on Principled Partnership ( ACPPP) is in the process of developing these principles and it is hoped that Governments can honor those fundamental principles to ensure that the civil society in Africa can continue to fulfill its mandate.  Please click link below to see  what is happening in Tunisia.

Please click on this link http://protectionline.org/Amendment-to-the-Criminal-Code-of.html