Hamisi (in white cap), Boniface (holding small girl) and Andrew (in orange shirt)

Click here to listen to a radio interview of Diane talking about Northern Magic's experiences in Africa. (requires RealOne Player)

For more photos of Boniface, Hamisi and their families, click here.

The Boniface and Hamisi Project

Kenya

Making a difference, one person at a time

The main purpose of this project is to provide tuition fees for students, and to help establish small businesses, to provide additional income to poor families. In our view, there can be no progress in solving Africa’s many problems if the population does not have a minimum standard of education.

The project consists of a number of sub-projects, which are growing all the time.

School fees for Boniface Kitsao and his family, Kilifi, Kenya

Starting in 2000, we began paying the high school fees for Boniface Kitsao (approximately $500 per year, not including uniform, books and supplies), so that he could attend high school. Boniface is one of Andrew Thuva’s younger brothers, and his ambition is to become an engineer. Beginning in 2002, we began supporting Boniface’s brother, Katana, as well. In 2003, we have committed to sponsor at least 25. With your help, we can do it! Click here for more information on this project.

Majaoni Primary School Twinning and Tuition Project, Kilifi, Kenya

We are now in the process of linking up Canadian schools to this needy primary school in Kilifi, Kenya. There are more than 40 children at this
school who need help with their school fees of only $35 per year, and the school itself is in desperate need of desks and repairs, including a new
roof. We need your help in bringing this school to a minimal standard and supporting the young children who need basic education. Click here to find
out more.

Majaoni High School Tuition Project, Kilifi, Kenya

In 2002 we began paying the high school tuition fees for 12 students at Majaoni Secondary School in Kilifi, Kenya. These are all top scholars who were about to drop out of school, or who had already dropped out of school, for lack of money to pay the school fees. In 2003, we have committed to sponsor at least 25. With your help, we can do it! Click here for more information on this project.

Hadley Junior High School twinning project

Hadley Junior High School in Hull, Quebec, has joined the Northern Magic adventure by raising funds for a counterpart school in Kenya. Using funds raised from a craft and bake sale, a talent show, and sales of Shark Tooth Jewellery by Hamisi, they're going to be purchasing much-needed supplies for an elementary school in Kilifi, Kenya. More updates on this wonderful project are coming soon! Click here for more information on this project.

Mark Thuva Magic Hair Salon Project, Mtwapa, Kenya

In 2000 we paid the cost of Mark Thuva (another of Andrew’s brothers) to attend a post-secondary hair stylist course. He completed the course in 2001. At the same time, an Ottawa hair salon owner, Karen Sharp, of Charly’s Hair Design, began allocating all her salon’s profits from the first Tuesday of each month for the purpose of Mark receiving the financing necessary to establish his own salon in Kenya. In August, 2002, we supplied Mark with a low-interest loan to establish his business. Click here for more information on how this project is progressing.

Hamisi’s Dairy Cow Project, Kilifi, Kenya

Although the primary focus of our overall project was in education, in the case of Hamisi Mwandoro, education was not a viable option. We therefore, in consultation with Plan International (Foster Parent’s Plan) decided to purchase him a dairy cow. We have some good news about Hamisi’s growing herd; click here for more details.

The Shark Tooth Jewelry Project, Kilifi, Kenya

We helped establish a micro-business turning shark tooth fossils into beautiful beaded necklaces and earrings for Boniface and Hamisi and their families to sell. We’ve recently received a limited number of beautiful shark tooth necklaces, made by Hamisi, which we are offering for sale in Canada. The income Hamisi will earn from just 50 necklaces is the equivalent of a man working full time for six months in a sisal field. Click here for more information on this project.

Kitsao Thuva Surgery Project, Kilifi, Kenya

Boniface and Andrew’s father, Kitsao, required life-saving surgery to remove a growing tumour from his prostate gland. Thanks to the generosity of two Ottawa families, Kitsao was able to have that surgery. Click here for more information.

The Vinani Education Project, Kilifi, Kenya

Following the publication of the story of Northern Magic in Reader’s Digest (August 2002), a number of generous Canadians came forward with offers to help those in need in Kenya. One of those donors, from Newfoundland, will be funding a young Kenyan boy, Vinani, and his brother, to go to elementary school. Their family is even too poor to provide this most basic level of education for these children. Click here to find out more.

Andrew Thuva
Andrew Thuva, of Kilifi, Kenya, is our main point of contact for our Kenya projects. He’s an extraordinary person, a real-life hero whose unselfish dedication to the education of his family caused us to become involved as well. He’s also a gifted writer whose articles have been published in the Ottawa Citizen. He works at a hotel near the one that was bombed in November, 2002 by terrorists. Click here to read his account of the bombing, and more.

How you can help

If you would like participate in any one of these projects, you can send a donation payable to the Northern Magic Fund for International Development, at the following address:

Herbert Stuemer
565 Brookridge Cr.
Orleans, Ontario
K4A 1Z3

or e-mail hstuemer@rogers.com.

We are in the process of setting up as a charitable non-profit organization, but the paperwork has not been approved yet. In the meantime, we continue to raise funds and sponsor additional children to attend school. If funds permit, we hope to begin providing much-needed supplies to needy Kenyan schools as well.

If receiving a tax receipt for your donation is critical for you, since we can’t do this at the moment, we would like to suggest that you consider supporting Foster Parent’s Plan. While in Kilifi, we spent a great deal of time with their staff there, visiting their projects and discussing the ways they were making a real difference in the lives of villagers. Our family has supported children through Foster Parent’s plan continuously for more than 20 years, and we give them our wholehearted recommendation. Click here to read reports on our visits to their projects, or visit the Foster Parent’s Plan website here. http://www.fosterparentsplan.ca/DisplayPage.asp?PageID=HP

It is possible to ask Foster Parent’s Plan for a foster child right in Kilifi, Kenya, in some of the same villages we visited. Your contribution to the lives of these children will make a crucial difference in their lives. So if you don’t want to join in our effort, please consider supporting the great work of Foster Parent’s Plan, in Kenya or other places.

"It may not be possible for us to solve the world's problems, but we can make a real difference in the lives of many people, who have not had the incredible opportunities we in the Western world have had. We hope you'll want to join in and make a difference too. Thank you!"

Herbert Stuemer

----------------------

July 24, 2002

Dear Herbert and Diane;

Like thousands of others, I have just read your story in Reader's Digest and the tears are still flowing. I wasn't going to read it but am very glad I did!

I just bought my first home (condo) and was going to buy a big comfy chair but I think my money is better spent by sponsoring a year of schooling for a student in Kenya. Please find enclosed a cheque for $500.00. Both my father, Dean, and his sister, Marion, passed away in the past three months and I would like to make this donation in their memory. Dad was a sailor on the Great Lakes before he and my mom started their family and he would have loved reading your story.

I wish you continued success with your projects and hope to be able to contribute again next year.