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!