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Dear Friends of Boniface and Hamisi:
Herbert and I are very excited about all the new developments with the project, and are pleased to be able to share them with you today!
The most exciting news is that we’re now linked up with two schools in Kilifi, Kenya, and we’re going to be in a position, with some hard work, of providing them with substantial support. Herbert and I, along perhaps with some of the good people working on the project, and perhaps some media, will be making a return visit to Kenya next July to check on the project to date and help make it expand further. We’re hoping to interest citizens of Ottawa, through the media, in becoming involved with this return trip, by sending in letters and donations of $15, each of which will permit us to purchase a desk for a Kenyan school and save children from sitting in the dirt to do their studies. We’ll let you know more as that project develops. Just about daily, new people and schools from different parts of Canada get involved, as the story of Northern Magic makes its way around the country. It is truly a magical time to be involved in this burgeoning project!
Majaoni Primary School Project
The focus of our efforts right now is Majaoni Primary School. You can see from the photo attached, that this school is in desperate need of repair. Parts of the school don’t even have a roof, and eight of the 12 classrooms don’t even have desks.

We’ve received a detailed breakdown of investment
required to bring this school up to a minimum standard of human decency, and are
hoping to raise $20,000 for a school renovation project in the next six months.
Already, three schools, two in Calgary and one in Gatineau, are actively raising
funds for this project, and more schools have expressed an interest in
participating.
We have also received a list of 48 students at this school
whose families can’t afford to pay the $35 per year in tuition fees. We have
committed to the school that we will find a way to finance the studies of these
primary-aged children.
|
MAJAONI
PRIMARY SCHOOL |
|
|
|
|
||
|
SCHOOL
FEE ASSISTANCE |
|
|
|
|
||
|
PUPILS
NAME |
SEX
|
AGE
|
CLASS |
CLASS
POSITION |
NEXT
YEAR FEES ($Cdn) |
REASONS
FOR HELP |
|
Happy
Charo |
M |
14 |
7 |
3 |
35 |
Single
parents and Jobless, Landless |
|
Bendita
Samuel |
F |
15 |
7 |
3 |
35 |
Parents
are separated with out job or land |
|
Kanze
Thoya |
F |
16 |
7 |
9 |
35 |
Have
small land and parents are jobless |
|
Samuel
Karie |
M |
14 |
7 |
4 |
35 |
Parents
have extended families to take care of and have limited resources |
|
Fransic
Yawa |
M |
15 |
7 |
8 |
35 |
Parents
are old and jobless |
|
Mariam
Alfan |
F |
14 |
7 |
8 |
35 |
Her
father died and the mother is jobless |
|
Dhahabu
Kazungu |
F |
13 |
7 |
8 |
35 |
Her
parents have many siblings and are jobless |
|
Dama
Kitsao |
F |
13 |
6 |
9 |
28 |
Parents
are aged and jobless |
|
Amani
Kalume |
F |
11 |
6 |
2 |
28 |
Her
father is a casual worker with many children and jobless wife. |
|
Dama
Paul |
F |
14 |
6 |
14 |
28 |
Single
parent living with a guardian |
|
Dhahabu
Simba |
F |
14 |
6 |
1 |
28 |
parents
are jobless and landless |
|
Neema
Chambi |
F |
15 |
6 |
6 |
28 |
Father
is a casual labourer and mother is jobless |
|
Mathias
Silvester |
M |
14 |
6 |
3 |
28 |
Parents
dead living with a poor
guardian |
|
Kache
Karisa |
F |
14 |
5 |
20 |
27 |
Father
died leaving many children jobless mothter without land. |
|
Riziki
John |
F |
14 |
5 |
8 |
27 |
Father
died and mother is jobless |
|
Charles
Kerina |
M |
11 |
5 |
1 |
27 |
Single
parents with no Job |
|
Eric
Chengo |
M |
15 |
5 |
1 |
27 |
Father
dead mother is old and jobless without land |
|
Bahati
Charo |
F |
14 |
4 |
1 |
27 |
Father
dead mother jobless have small land |
|
James
Kadenge |
M |
14 |
4 |
4 |
27 |
Father
died mother jobless small land |
|
Fenny
Mwachizi |
F |
10 |
4 |
2 |
27 |
Father
dead and mother jobless |
|
Kadzo
Nguma |
F |
12 |
4 |
7 |
27 |
Parents
jobless with small land |
|
Hope
Mwasabu |
F |
11 |
4 |
9 |
27 |
Parents
jobless |
|
Kahindi
Rama |
M |
10 |
4 |
3 |
27 |
Parents
jobless with small land |
|
Hassan
Hamisi |
M |
14 |
4 |
12 |
27 |
Father
is a casual labourer and mother is jobless |
|
Rehema
Thoya |
F |
9 |
3 |
2 |
27 |
Poor
old parents with limited resources |
|
Rukia
Salim |
F |
10 |
3 |
3 |
27 |
Father
casual worker mother jobless with small land |
|
Winnie
Mruri |
F |
10 |
3 |
6 |
26 |
Father
casual worker mother jobless have small land and many children |
|
Nyevu
Kitsao |
F |
10 |
3 |
1 |
26 |
Parents
jobless with many children and small land |
|
Suleimain
Bakari |
M |
11 |
3 |
5 |
26 |
Single
parents without job or land. |
|
Baraka
Kalume |
M |
10 |
3 |
7 |
26 |
Father
a casual worker mother is jobless and have small land |
|
Karisa
Kahindi |
M |
14 |
2 |
18 |
26 |
Father
dead mother jobless small land |
|
Mwalimu
Baya |
M |
12 |
2 |
17 |
26 |
Parents
are jobless with small land |
|
Sidi
Yeri |
F |
11 |
2 |
10 |
26 |
Parents
are jobless with small land |
|
Sidi
Jumaa |
F |
13 |
2 |
5 |
26 |
single
parents and landless |
|
Sauda
Karisa |
F |
8 |
2 |
1 |
26 |
Separated
parents and mother is jobless with small land |
|
Esther
Njagi |
F |
10 |
2 |
3 |
26 |
Father
is dead mother is jobless with six children and small land. |
|
Safari
Ngala |
M |
10 |
2 |
15 |
26 |
Father
dead mother jobless with ten children |
|
James
Karisa |
M |
13 |
2 |
11 |
26 |
Father
dead mother jobless with ten children |
|
Benson
Yawa |
M |
13 |
2 |
4 |
26 |
Parents
old and jobless |
|
Michael
Mlanda |
M |
13 |
2 |
9 |
26 |
Parents
separated mother jobless and landless |
|
Kadzo
James |
F |
10 |
2 |
6 |
26 |
Parents
jobless and landless |
|
Eddna
William |
F |
10 |
1 |
7 |
26 |
Father
dead mother jobless and landless |
|
Dama
Konde |
F |
9 |
1 |
10 |
26 |
Parents
have ten children with limited resources |
|
Mvera
Said |
M |
11 |
1 |
5 |
26 |
Parents
have twelve children with limited resources |
|
Rehema
Said |
F |
9 |
1 |
11 |
26 |
Father
a casual worker mother is jobless and have small land |
|
|
|
|
|
|
$1258 |
|
Many people this Christmas have joined in this effort
by sponsoring a child as a Christmas gift. Attached is a copy of a Christmas
card we’ve developed for this purpose. If there’s someone on your list you
don’t know what to buy for, this may be a great solution, and make this the
best Christmas ever for an African child!



Majaoni Secondary School Project
We are also
embarking on a fundraising project for Majaoni Secondary School, which is
located right beside the primary school described above. This is the school
where we supported 12 students last year, at a cost of about $300 each. This
year we expect, with the continued support of interested Canadians, in
sponsoring 23 needy students from this school. 7 of these are students we
supported last year, who this year are in their final year of high school; the
rest are new students.
|
ADM
No. |
NAME
|
GRADE
|
UNPAID
FEES FROM 2002 ($CDN) |
2003
FEES ($CDN) |
TOTAL
|
REASON
FOR ASSISTANCE |
|
631 |
Irene
Neema Lewa |
10 |
90.00
|
260.00
|
350.00
|
Peasant
Farmer Father |
|
705 |
Christine
Mwayele |
10 |
102.00
|
260.00
|
362.00
|
Old
Poor Parents |
|
701 |
Sanga
Hilary Jilani |
10 |
157.00
|
260.00
|
417.00
|
Unemployed
parents |
|
674 |
Mwangala
Gaskel |
10 |
110.00
|
260.00
|
370.00
|
Parents
are casual labourers |
|
683 |
Rose
W. Mwacharo |
10 |
72.00
|
260.00
|
332.00
|
Father
is a casual worker |
|
675 |
Purity
Mwangudza |
10 |
50.00
|
260.00
|
310.00
|
Father
is a quarry stone cutter |
|
704 |
Mercy
Kahindi |
10 |
125.00
|
260.00
|
385.00
|
Father
sick in hospital |
|
642 |
Abulla
Kunyuga |
10 |
100.00
|
260.00
|
360.00
|
Subsistence
farmer |
|
697 |
Irene
P Mwaro |
10 |
147.00
|
260.00
|
407.00
|
Poor
parents with no stable income |
|
673 |
Muye
M. Fellister |
10 |
100.00
|
260.00
|
360.00
|
Older
parents, subsistence farmers |
|
570 |
Claris
Mangi |
11 |
NM
sponsored |
260.00
|
260.00
|
Unemployed
single parent |
|
722 |
Gladys
Ndundi |
11 |
NM
sponsored |
260.00
|
260.00
|
Parents
are unemployed |
|
598 |
Patrick
Kitsao |
11 |
188.00
|
260.00
|
448.00
|
Father
is casual labourer |
|
599 |
Antony
C. Mandela |
11 |
82.00
|
260.00
|
342.00
|
Mother
has no stable sourse of income |
|
567 |
Lennox
Katana |
11 |
293.00
|
260.00
|
553.00
|
Parents
unemployed and sick |
|
604 |
Davis
Randu |
11 |
264.00
|
260.00
|
524.00
|
Parents
are subsistence farmers |
|
594 |
Achieng
Dennies |
11 |
231.00
|
260.00
|
491.00
|
Guardian
is casual labourer |
|
620 |
Fatuma
Loda |
11 |
NM
sponsored |
220.00
|
220.00
|
Orphaned
child |
|
610 |
Alfred
S. Mwaro |
12 |
NM
sponsored |
220.00
|
220.00
|
Father
is a retired driver |
|
539 |
Lydia
Kazungu |
12 |
NM
sponsored |
220.00
|
220.00
|
Parents
have financial problems |
|
527 |
Amina
Ziro |
12 |
NM
sponsored |
220.00
|
220.00
|
Father
is a casual Labourer |
|
619 |
Jonathan
Shume |
12 |
NM
sponsored |
220.00
|
220.00
|
Subsistence
farmer |
|
504 |
Samuel
Maina |
12 |
112.00
|
220.00
|
332.00
|
No
source of stable income |
Five of the students we supported last year have
now graduated. Of these students, we have offered to support the top one, George
Ouma, to continue on to university. George is an excellent student and his
top-notch marks will gain him access to any university in the country. George,
the son of É quarry stone cutter has a great ambition to become a doctor. It
will cost at least $2000 a year to send him to university, but we see tremendous
potential in this young man and his principal, Christine Kahindi, has written to
us that “he will never disappoint you”. Andrew Thuva has visited him as well
on our behalf and is likewise impressed.
We see in George an uncommon man of huge
potential just as a young Andrew Thuva was when the YMCA gave him the chance to
pursue higher learning. Because of their investment in Andrew, we became
involved in helping Andrew’s family, and now his entire community, in Kilifi,
Kenya. We’re hoping that launching one more little pebble down the
mountainside by helping George realize his great help create another small
avalanche of change in Kenya.
You can see a picture of George, and some of his ongoing letters to us on our website, www.northernmagic.com, by going to “Projects” and then to “Boniface and Hamisi Project”, and from there to “Majaoni Secondary School”, and clicking on his name.
Majaoni
Seondary School is also in dire need of repairs and expansion, and requires
$40,000 for its basic infrastructure. We will be doing our best to provide what
we can for them.
Hamisi’s cow, Magic, is doing well and producing eight litres of milk each day. Magic’s calf is also doing well!
We’ve now sold 300 shark tooth necklaces made in Kenya, with approximately half the proceeds returning directly directly to Hamisi and his sub-contractors. The income this has brought them in the past three months is the equivalent of more than eight year’s pay for a grown man working ten hours a day in a sisal field, and continues to make a huge impact on their local economy. Hadley Junior High School and Stephanie MacGregor, who has a very complementary fund-raising program going on for a Maasai school and village, have sold many of these necklaces, with the profits going to the charitable projects. Read the story below, published in today’s Ottawa Citizen, for more details.
Ottawa Citizen, December
17, 2002
Shark-tooth
necklaces a show of support for Kenyan students
By
Shauna Rempel
The
must-have accessory this season at Gatineau’s Hadley Junior High School is a
shark’s-tooth necklace.
The
Grade 7 and 8 students at Hadley say the necklaces, made of fossilized shark’s
teeth and beads, are cool because every one they buy helps a school in Kenya.
“I
think it’s really cool and I like to help people,” said 13-year-old Hadley
student Erica Rothschild, sporting a blue-and-white beaded shark’s tooth
pendant. Erica wanted to help so much that she spent $100, her life savings.
Hamisi
Mwandoro, a 20-year-old from Kilifi, Kenya, started making and exporting the
necklaces with help from Diane Stuemer and her family two years ago.
During
a round-the-world sailing adventure, the Stuemers spent time in the impoverished
village of Kilifi, where many families couldn’t afford to send their children
to school. They also saw students sitting on the dirt floor of a schoolroom with
a leaky roof.
When
Mrs. Stuemer – in her weekly Citizen column about her family’s trip
– wrote about the efforts to pay tuition for Kilifi children, she was flooded
by donations.
The
project took on a new dimension this fall when Eva Blush, who had just started
teaching moral education at Hadley, heard about Kilifi’s plight and saw an
opportunity to show her students they could make a difference.
Along
with fellow teacher Melanie Johnson and some students, she is raising money for
Majaoni Primary School in Kilifi. The school needs major repairs and lacks basic
supplies such a desks and books.
The
necklaces have become a hot commodity, raising more than $600 so far. Students
like the shark’s-tooth and bead jewelry because it “looks like something off
Survivor,” Mrs. Blush says.
The
fundraising effort also helps kids discover who they are and tap into their
talents Mrs. Blush said. “That’s why this project is important. The students
feel as though they are making a difference.”
The
lesson isn’t lost on the students, who have spent time during lunch and after
school planning and strategizing.
“In
Canada, we’re so lucky,” says 12-year-old Sara Graham.
James
Farr, 13, has a new appreciation for school.
“They
have a different attitude,” he says of the Kenyan students. “They want to go
to school, but they can’t.”
“Everyone
deserves a good school,” Olivia Doggett, 13, says.
The
students say the necklaces, which sell for $20 and $25, do make a fashion
statement, but also say wearing them shows how much they care about their Kenyan
counterparts.
Sales
have been so brisk that another shipment of jewelry has been ordered to
replenish stock before the annual talent show on Thursday. Mrs. Blush is sure
they’ll sell like hotcakes so close to Christmas. But based on the excitement
and goodwill of her students, she says, “this is feeling like Christmas
already.”
We’re
now anxiously awaiting a new shipment to replenish our depleting stores!
Boniface and Andrew’s daughter Dama are also both involved; apparently Dama
has made 45 shark-tooth earrings to add to this exclusive line!
Boniface completed grade 10 at Sokoke Secondary School in December, and has asked our family for support to send him to a better-equipped private school beginning in January. Although the fees are higher, this school has stable electricity and even computers, so we consider it a good investment. Boniface’s brother, Katana, also finished off a year’s studies, supported by you.
Mark
Thuva Hair Salon Project
Mark’s hair salon, named Mark’s Magic Hair Salon and Beauty Centre, opened December 1 in Mtwapa Kenya. He has already had his first customers, although he reports that his landlord has been slow about connecting electricity to the building and he has had to obtain electricity from a neighbouring business at high cost. We’re awaiting pictures of his new business, established due to the continuing support of Karen Sharp of Charly’s Hair Design on Richmond Rd. We’ll keep you posted!
Andrew Thuva
Andrew works at the Sun ‘n Sand resort just north of Mombasa, and very close to the Mombasa Paradise Hotel that was recently bombed by terrorists. Attached is a draft report on the bombing he prepared recently for the Ottawa Citizen, which you may see printed there one of these days!
November 28 was the day the devil visited this small village of Kikambala, Kenya. A day that had started rather lazily suddenly became the centre of the world's attention when religious fanatics visited terror on a tourist hotel, killing 15 people, tourists and Kenyans alike.
I
work at the Sun ‘n Sand Hotel, just down the road from the ill-fated Mombasa
Paradise Hotel. While I answered telephone calls from media houses all over the
world, only a few kilometers away, smouldering wood, burning flesh, sooty faces
of survivors and the uncontrolled sobbing of friends and relatives of the
victims, were telling evidence of the pain and loss that an act of barbarism had
caused just moments before.
Enemies
have brought their war to our land, and we Kenyans have been left with the
consequences.
Elsewhere, out in the sea, guests of our hotel, an English family of three - two
women and a boy who taken a boat earlier in the morning to go fishing - captured
the billowing flames and smoke on a digital camera.
Back in our hotel, guests and hotel workers whispered in hushed tones trying to
comprehend everything, unsure of their future. Soon, flocks of media houses with
their heavy cameras would descend on our hotel, hurriedly checking in and
heading for the scene of the tragedy. By the end of the day, I had not done much
in my office except making endless recounts of the day's happenings.
Such was the day hell was let loose in our peaceful village.
Almost
three weeks later, my neighbours are slowly counting their losses and painfully
trying to come to terms with a new and painful reality.
Dama
Safari Yaa, whose husband was the leader of the local traditional dance troupe
that was entertaining guests on the fateful day, is agonizing over how to bring
up her eight children without her family’s only breadwinner. His life suddenly
sacrified to a war he knew nothing about, Safari Yaa would never be there to
fulfill his parental obligations. Will Dama be able to pay the school fees for
her children? Will she be able to feed them and clothe them, without income?
Dama’s children are victims of this tragedy too, but the world doesn’t know
about them.
Relatives
of the other victims: Lucia Magia, who lost her husband, a member of the dance
troupe. Charo Kadzolugo lost his wife – also a dancer - in the blast. Salim
Yaa lost his daughter and so did Mweni Mramba. Young Pendo lost her beloved
mother, also a dancer. Juma Mwangiri lost his sister and Vincent Tuku lost his
sister, Rebecca Nyamvula. Rebecca was a hotel waitress who had resigned and had
dropped by to collect her final paycheque. It was her final act.
The
manager of the bombed hotel, Mr. Maina, has been burned beyond recognition, and
it finally took DNA testing to identify him. He was his family’s sole
breadwinner and with his death, the family is not sure of their future.
Mercy
Mwagambo, the hotel receptionist on duty on the dark day, who suffered severe
burns is still in hospital, traumatized and uncertain of her future.
The
effects of the bombing go far beyond the immediate victims. Curio traders will
have to look elsewhere to sell their ware. The kiosk owners near the hotel will
have to close down for lack of customers. Beach boys will find few customers.
Suppliers of goods to the hotel will suddenly find themselves with nowhere to
send their merchandise. Travel agents and taxi drivers will suffer too.
Tourism,
being a major earner of the country’s foreign exchange, will certainly affect
other sectors of the economy. All of us who depend on visitors will be affected.
I don’t know about my own future in the nearby hotel where I work, if tourists
stop coming to our country. Jobs will be lost, and many schoolchildren will no
doubt be forced to abandon their studies, with no one able bear the already
heavy burden of school fees.
This
has been a terrible jolt to our country, a country already struggling to catch
up with the rest of the world.
I
hope that potential visitors will remember that terrorist targets are to be
found anywhere in the world. While Kenya has proved to be vulnerable, no
countries are completely ruled out from being targeted, as New York City
discovered on its own day of terror.
In
the stark glare of all this misery, the world has yet to remember to offer help
to the Kenyan victims of the tragedy, the ones who have ended up paying the
highest price in this battle of a greater war not of their own making.
Ironically,
within hours, the world was able to mobilize the best journalists and equipment
worth millions of dollars to be at the scene of this cowardly act of hatred.
Relatives of victims were made to endlessly recount what they heard, saw, felt
and thought about their respective experiences, even in their moment of extreme
grief. The world was shown the humble surroundings of these villagers.
And
then, as suddenly as they had come, the media disappeared. In a few days, the
wretched of this village had been forgotten. The bodies of my dead neighbours
became merely a news item that boosted network advertising revenue for a few
days. For the rest of the world, life and business went on as usual, while here
in a modest Kenyan village, we continue to grieve over our losses and
contemplate our uncertain future. No
one will be erecting memorial tributes to our victims in the war on terrorism.
We will be forgotten.
I
pray the world won’t turn its back on my fellow Kenyans – the vulnerable
victims of a war we cannot understand.
BY
ANDREW THUVA
P.O. BOX 588
Office Tel. 041 – 32621//32008/32127
0733 644555/611514
0722 204333/799
Andrew
has been informed that he’s likely to be laid off from his hotel in the next
year, but we’ve offered to hire him to work for our project instead. Andrew
will be visiting the schools and students we’ve been supporting, as well as
making an inventory of additional schools and other worthy projects we might be
able to support in future. We will be supplying him with a camera so he can send
back photos for us to post on the website. We’re hoping to post a “menu”
of projects that people can choose from. When we visit him in July, we plan to
bring him a digital camera and laptop computer for better communication with us.
Charitable Status
We’ve been temporarily stalled in our application process to receive official charitable status (making us capable of issuing tax receipts.) Getting this status is complicated for overseas projects, and we had to put the application on the backburner during this busy fall, because we were entirely consumed by the launch of our book. In addition, we need to find an accountant who can conduct the required annual audit of our books. Since everyone else who has worked on this project, including our lawyers, Fraser Milner Casgrain, has done so free of charge, we are hoping to locate an accountant who will contribute his or her services to the project as well. If any of you know of such a generous person, we’d surely appreciate your help getting them involved. It’s been our policy so far to have zero overhead expenses, so that all the money we collect goes directly to Africa. Other than a few government filing fees, we’ve managed to stick to this policy, and we don’t want to deviate on it now.
Northern Magic Book Launch
We had a very successful
private book launch, and will be contributing at least $500 from the proceeds of
the books sold directly by us, at our private event and through the internet, to
the project. My national book tour has provided me an opportunity to spread the
word around the country, and at each event people come forward with donations
and offers to help. This is what has been driving the growth of the project.
We’re now making approaches (and being approached by) several service clubs,
such as Rotary, Kiwanis and Lion’s Clubs, and we do expect to include some of
them as partners in this ongoing adventure.
So that’s what we’ve been up to on behalf of all of you, who have generously made this possible. Sorry for the length of this report, but there was so much we needed to share with you!
Herbert and I, and our children, wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, and our thanks once again for helping make a difference in the world.
With best wishes,
Diane