Field Trip to the National Museum!

In 2009, The Kibera School for Girls had two wonderful volunteers: Kate O'Reilly-Jones and Matt Podolin. Both have stayed involved since then, and a few weeks ago they used their tax returns to sponsor a field trip for The Kibera School for Girls! The trip had an amazing itinerary: a visit to Kenya's National Museum, followed by lunch out. After lunch, the girls went to the snake park, and then had a thrilling experience on paddle boat rides in Nairobi's main park. They capped off the day with an ice cream treat. We can't thank Matt and Kate enough for giving the girls this incredibly fun and educational experience!

From Kate:

When Matt and I started volunteering at the Kibera School for Girls in the fall of 2009, I was struck by how many kids in Kibera never leave the slum, despite living minutes away from a bustling city center. Their parents certainly can’t afford bus fare to take them into town, so most kids in Kibera spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week surrounded by metal shacks and dirt roads slippery with sewage.

The Kibera School staff works tirelessly to prepare their students to excel, both within Kibera and wherever the girls choose to go in life. Still, I realized that it might be tough for a six-year old to imagine succeeding at life outside Kibera (college? medical school?) if she has never really seen life outside Kibera.

With this in mind, we took the girls on a zoo fieldtrip that winter, hoping to give them a unique experience and show them a glimpse of the world outside their own. Since they enjoyed it (and other school trips that followed) so much, Matt and I thought it would be fun to sponsor another fieldtrip this past Friday – this time to the Nairobi National Museum and the park. The hope was that by giving them a day free from the stresses of Kibera, they would have a chance to relax, learn something new, and think about all the possibilities the world has to offer. And of course, eat massive amounts of ice cream.

Kennedy and President Clinton

We couldn't be more proud of CEO Kennedy Odede, who was featured on a panel with President Clinton and Sean Penn at the closing plenary of CGIU!

This was a conversation that you don't want to miss! Watch it here (beginning at 18:00).

cgiu on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Here are some of our favorite quotes from the session!

From President Clinton to Kennedy:

"...this is kind of a breakthrough in Kibera, what you're doing for young girls and women, it's a breakthrough that has to be done everywhere."

"why are you so moved by him? Well he's impressive he got out of this horrible slum, he's at Wesleyan. He gives a good speech, he's charismatic, but oh my God he still cares about all those people he left behind and he knows that a bunch of them could do what he's done if they just had the same set of chances. He sees them. You think about all the people in the world today who are never seen... I'm very grateful that there are people like Kennedy...who are helping."

From Kennedy!

"It's time for a revolution. It's not just Africa---it's everywhere. It's time to change the world."

"The ideas that you have can change the world."

At Shining Hope, we are thrilled to see how Kennedy's ideas really are changing the world, day by day. We too are grateful for people like Kennedy, who really "see" people.

March 24th was World TB Day!

Last week, the Johanna Justin-Jinich Clinic had the amazing opportunity to participate in a festival commemorating World Tuberculosis Day!

Along with other distinguished partners, including DREAM, Medicine Sans Frontier and the U.S. Center for Disease Control, Shining Hope and clinic staff marched through Kibera in a parade to spread awareness about this serious, but treatable, disease.

The parade concluded in Kamkunji, where performances, including a play and poem read by our community health workers, and speeches where staged for government representatives and the Kibera community. Information booths, VCT and TB testing sites were also set up at the event, encouraging everyone in attendance to know their status.

The event was a huge success and a major step for the clinic. Our fantastic new administrator, Angeline, is hard at work coordinating more special events and relationship for the clinic- keep up the good work!

Weather Field Trip

This week, the Kibera School for Girls took an exciting field trip to the Kenya Meteorological Society to cap off their latest science unit: weather.



The students have been studying an array of topics in weather for the past month--cloud formations, shadow-lengths, temperature, and weather instruments, to name a few. Our favorite student question of the day: "Where is your barometer?"


They were enthralled to see these professional instruments in action. The day culminated in the release of a weather balloon into the atmosphere, and a private presentation by a weather-forcaster.



Looking forward to returning again next year!

Shining Hope's Volunteer Opportunities!

Are you interested in coming to Kenya to volunteer with Shining Hope for Communities? We have new opportunities open for summer and year-long volunteers at our projects in Kibera! If you are interested in living abroad, doing development work, and changing lives, you may be perfect for one of these positions.

We are looking for enthusiastic summer volunteers to work primarily at the Kibera School for Girls for our new Summer Institute. To read more about it, please click here.

We are also looking for interns to help run our programs in Kibera for a year. To read more about these opportunities, please click here.

Please pass the word on to anyone you know who would be interested. We look forward to hearing from you!

Thank you for helping us reach our goal!

We would like to sincerely thank everyone who made our matching campaign such a great success. Newman's Own Foundation has officially matched your $50,000 in donations!

To read our note of gratitude, please click here.

And here is our thank you video:

Margaret's Safe Place girls update!

The girls at our boarding facility, Margaret's Safe Place, are doing incredibly well! They are all flourishing in the house under the care of our school's social worker and they absolutely love living together as sisters!

This weekend we visited the house and they paused their game of soccer to enjoy lollipops!



From left to right: Matron Ishmael, Lucy, Beldin, Prudence, Sarah, Ciro, and Faith

KSG Parent Meeting

The Kibera School for Girls held a meeting for all of its parents this past Friday. Baba Diana (Father of pre-kindergarten student Diana) is the Chair of the Parent Committee. He can be seen here preparing his notes at the KSG library, where the meeting was held. The Parent Committee consists of 6 highly dedicated parents who meet every week. They help plan meetings with all of the KSG parents to discuss important issues.

The most recent parent meeting discussed topics relevant to the start of the new school year, such as class reassignment. We held academic assessments at the end of 2010 and have moved some students around according to their skill levels. Our Administrator George and Baba Diana explained this carefully to the parents. We also gave away clothing donated by a Kenyan company, which the parents were extremely happy to receive.

It was a very successful meeting!

We Have Vaccines!

The Johanna Justin-Jinich Community Clinic officially received vaccines today in Kibera! We are all very excited about this new development for our child wellness program.

Pictured here is our nurse Katherine holding one of our new vaccines. Katherine sees all of our expectant mothers and young pediatric patients at the JJJ Clinic!

KSG Students Brushing Their Teeth!

The Kibera School for Girls has a new tradition -- brushing teeth together after lunch! Each of our students has a toothbrush with her name on it. They have learned how to properly brush their teeth (with toothpaste) and are so excited to own their own toothbrushes! The SHOFCO compound turns into a tooth-brushing-party around 1pm every day.

It is adorable to watch!

Sarah's Trip to the Eye Hospital!

Yesterday, we took our student Sarah to Lions Sight First Eye Hospital in Nairobi -- a wonderful facility specializing in all kinds of eye care!

Sarah has been suffering from chronic allergies that make her eyes inflamed and itchy, causing her to scratch them and impair her vision. They checked her symptoms and her vision yesterday at her appointment. We came in expecting Sarah to need a surgical procedure -- an injection of steroids directly in the eye -- but were relieved to learn that she no longer needed the procedure!

The doctor is optimistic that Sarah's allergies will decrease as she gets older, and was happy to tell us that the prescription eye drops have made huge improvements for the inflammation and itchiness of Sarah's eyes since her visit last month! Thanks to the generous help of her wonderful sponsor, we have been able to take Sarah for regular follow-ups at Lions Eye Hospital.

Interested in helping a KSG student like Sarah through sponsorship? To learn more, please click here.

SHOFCO's Research Project!

Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) recently completed its first research project in Kibera. We trained 20 community members from Kibera to conduct interviews and use GPS units to randomly locate the participants’ houses. Programs Director Ari Tolman led this training and helped create a comprehensive survey that covered all aspects of life in collaboration with our research team. The SHOFCO interviewers successfully completed interviews with over 1,200 households in Kibera.

We are so excited to enter the data and analyze the results! The goal of the survey is to assess people’s true needs in Kibera and SHOFCO’s impact over time. We will conduct the survey again one year from now, and every few years after that.

On December 18^th we held a huge community celebration at the SHOFCO Community Center to thank the community for participating in this important project. Over 1,500 people came to enjoy food, music, and a raffle drawing. We are thrilled with the success of this project!!

Many Ways to Make a Difference

There are times when I am so touched by how many people find a unique way to participate in our work. The matching challenge from Newman's Own Foundation is really an invitation to all of our supporters to get creative and help us maximize our impact.

I was really touched and inspired by this story from one of our amazing supporters (and a sponsor of a student at the Kibera School for Girls), Chad Smith. Read what Chad has to say, and perhaps get inspired with ideas of your own!

"Last year our neighborhood created a luminary walk at Christmas time. Candles are placedin little white lunch bags which line the sidewalks. As the sun sets, the candles are lit and the illumined bags trace the sidewalks with light. It is a beautiful sight. A dozen neighbors or so go around caroling and the evening concludes by gathering for wassail, hot cocoa and desserts. It all makes for a lovely evening.

This year instead of only taking in a beautiful experience, the neighborhood wanted to do something beautiful as well. Each house chipped in for the cost of the luminaries, but in addition, agreed to give to a community development project. One of the neighbors came across an article in a magazine this past summer about work being done in one of the largest slums in the world and submitted we give to the project. $500 dollars was raised for Shining Hope through the luminary walk.

Instead of only taking in a beautiful experience, a little neighborhood in the Chicago suburbs was able to reach out half way around the world and do something beautiful."

-Chad Smith

Thank you so much to you Chad, and to your community. Our work is really only as strong as the grassroots movement of support that we are building. $50,000 ---- here we come (but only with your help!!)

Newman's Own Foundation hosts a $50,000 matching campaign for us -- Now through the end of January!

Every day at our projects in Kibera is filled with significant victories—a clinic opening, a new boarding facility for students like five-year-old Sarah who was abandoned by her parents, a student reading for the first time. We want to express our gratitude to you for helping us to make these moments, and many others, possible. We asked a mother of a student at our school if she had a message that we could share and she said this: “Tell them that they have given me the best gift possible—just by caring about Shining Hope for Communities they have given me hope that tomorrow will be better than today, because today is already better than yesterday.”

We need your help to continue making a profound difference in the lives of our students, their families, and the residents of Kibera, Kenya—Africa’s largest slum. Our work is not possible without your support.

This holiday season Newman’s Own Foundation is hosting a $50,000 matching campaign! Help us make this match!

This means that every dollar you donate to Shining Hope for Communities this December and January will be doubled, allowing your gift to go twice as far. You can track our campaign's progress on the homepage of our website by clicking here!

Every dollar counts—$5 feeds an entire class of students for an entire day, $25 feeds an entire class for a week, $250 provides all of our students and staff with a daily meal for a month. Please give now to give the most. You can make a donation online by clicking here or by mail to Shining Hope for Communities, 14 Red Glen Road, Middletown, CT 06457.

Peace and best wishes for a happy holiday season,
Jessica Posner & Kennedy Odede & the whole SHC Team

P.S. Please consider helping our campaign by forwarding this information on to friends, family, and anyone else who might be interested. Thank you so much!

World Aids Day in Kibera, 2010

Today, December 1st, is World Aids Day, and the community of Kibera came together to commemorate. The Community Health Workers of the JJJ Clinic and members of SHOFCO joined a Kibera-wide parade, marching to music from the Kenyan Police Band. The CHWs handed out fliers advertising the clinic and its services as they marched, and passed out condoms to all who asked.




We stood out in our bright blue t-shirts as we carried our makeshift banner at the front of the line, leading the parade to the final rally at the railroad tracks.

This World Aids Day theme was "Universal Access and Human Rights," and everyone in attendance resolved to help embody this theme.

Today, we urge everyone to remember that the fight against HIV/AIDS is far from over, even if it sometimes feels far from home.

The Johanna Justin-Jinich Community Clinic is Now Open!

The Johanna Justin-Jinich Community Clinic opened its doors to the community last week! With the opening, all 67 students from the Kibera School for Girls came for a special clinic, so that our clinicians can get to know and follow the health of all of the girls.

The Community Health Workers have been spreading the word, recruiting patients throughout Kibera to come receive personalized and quality care -- and there has been fantastic feedback! One of our patients told us she came because she had heard that "such good services were being offered at this clinic."

The last few days have proved the need for a clinic here. Our clinicians have already stitched up a gash in a patient's face, treated over 10 cases of malaria, and followed up with the sickest of our patients.

We are excited to see what an impact the clinic will have and are proud of all of our Kenyan staff for making this abstract idea a reality!

Our new boarding facility - Margaret's Safe Place - is now open!

As of yesterday, five of our students have officially moved into Margaret's Safe Place -- our new boarding facility housing our most vulnerable girls. They are living there with our school's wonderful social worker. The girls have been eagerly anticipating moving into the house all week. According to her kindergarten teacher Julia, one of the girls kept asking, "Is it Wednesday yet??"







After school let out, the girls walked to the house with teacher Julia, our administrator, our social worker, and several of our American volunteers. We were struck by how few belongings they had -- one of our volunteers realized she had more in her day's backpack than these girls had in the world. The walk over was very sweet; the girls held hands the whole way there, and we could see the start of a lovely new family dynamic. When they arrived, we gave them a tour of the house, including their new backyard with banana trees! Teacher Julia is seen here helping the girls feel comfortable in their new home.

The girls excitedly ran up the stairs and discovered their names on their doors:



... and they were thrilled about their new rooms with bunk beds, flip-flops ("slippers"), toothbrushes and toothpaste, towels, and of course... beanie babies!




Once they had settled down about their new "slippers," the girls were enchanted by the window. They are not accustomed to having more than one level in a home, and are definitely not used to a room with a view. They stood in front of the window for several minutes pointing out anything they could see.


The girls are so happy to be living with their friends - it is such a wonderful environment for them. They quickly figured out that they can play together whenever they want now, and they didn't waste any time! They had a blast running around in the front yard:



Once the girls had seen their new house, we sat down at the living room table to have a little soda to celebrate their big move. We are incredibly grateful to Margaret and Bob Patricelli for giving these girls a beautiful, safe home!

Our Girls Went Shoe Shopping!

Last Wednesday, our students at the Kibera School for Girls got a very special treat. Not only did they get to go on a field trip to town, but they also got to take home a brand new pair of shoes and three pairs of red socks (to match their pull-overs)!

This special day, sponsored by our generous supporter Eric Weider, put a gigantic smile on each girl's face. They will proudly wear these shoes every single day, and we cannot thank Eric enough for such a thoughtful gift!


Several of our girls had never before seen downtown Nairobi, and none of them had ever owned brand new shoes. An anecdote from the day -- several girls had never looked in a mirror before, so they had a great time checking themselves out and making faces at the Bata store's mirrors!

Who doesn't love shoe shopping?

"The Gadget" - a Gift from the EDC

The Kibera School for Girls has a new favorite piece of technology -- nicknamed, "The Gadget."

The Education Development Center (EDC) has generously donated this mini-projector (actually called a "razorBee") to our school, along with technical support and training, as part of its worldwide testing to see if it can be useful in marginalized schools which do not have reliable power sources. As "the gadget" is updated, the EDC will provide us with newer and better versions! Our SHOFCO Coordinator, Peter, has accompanied our teachers for several weeks to receive weekend training on how to use "the gadget," and how to download videos and programs for it. Now our teachers can show videos of anything they can imagine!

Our students' favorite video on "the gadget" so far is a song that teaches them about the 5 senses. Watch the video below for a clip of them singing their new favorite song!



Thank you, EDC!!

Sex-Ed Classes with our SHOFCO Girls

The shocking statistic that 66% of girls in Kibera trade sex-for-food to survive, some as early as age six, is devastating enough on paper. But the lived-reality of the rampant violence against women and girls that Shining Hope works with necessitates action. That's why this June, Shining Hope took on a new initiative: to provide the young female participants of the SHOFCO youth programming with the tools to protect their physical and emotional sexual health.


In addition to weekly soccer practice, for the past few months, over 20 SHOFCO junior girls (under 18) have been coming together on Sunday afternoons in the Shining Hope Community Center for facilitated workshops addressing all physical and emotional issues associated with growing up: puberty, menstruation, sexually-transmitted infections, contraception, sexual assault prevention and response, and self-esteem. In these interactive workshops, the girls have gotten the opportunity to create and discuss tough relationship scenarios, learn about different methods of protection, play games, and ask "anonymous questions." In addition, these workshops have been included monthly sanitary napkin distribution and weekly snacks.

Yesterday, we took a mini-field trip with the girls group to Uhuru Park in downtown Nairobi for an afternoon of outdoor games and team-building. It was so much fun!

In the near future, we plan to host high-school peer-facilitators from Kibera trained in health education, and a guest speaker--a survivor of sexual assault from Kibera. In the more distant future, we hope to expand this program to provide more resources for these incredibly at-risk teens: our wish list includes annual school uniform distribution, art-therapy, and more field trips. Stay tuned!