Well, panic is setting in as funding is within sight of running out again! Anne has been madly writing proposals- and has even had a reply from a few- both negative unfortunately (Shell Kenya, and KCB Bank).
Some positive stuff tho!!
LITTLE HANDS, BIG STEPS.. This is our family reading project! We received a donation of $205 USD from American Friends of Kenya (via funding from Norwich Rotary foundation) to purchase African books. Anne and Patrick went to Westland Sundries here in Kenya and were able to purchase 29 picture books for under 5 year olds for our Little Hands project- at 20% discount! We still need more books for this project, as we plan to offer 5 books in each of - intitially -10 bookbags for Mathare North, and possibly Kawangware.We need board books, and other picture books to encourage our youngest members to use books. We aim to ask 'family' members to sit and use books with their under 5's for at least 5 minutes every daypreferable sitting in warmth and safety on a knee, talking, showing colour and shapes.. not necessarity reading at all! This develops language, and a positive 'feel' for books from a very young age. AFK are also supplying the bookbags, which our hard working trusty Trustee Susan will collect on her visit to the US at the end of April.
Girls United! Mathare North has started our first Girl child club! Anne Chege - who used to work for SHOFCO in Kibera - has just completed their second meeting. At the first meeting they talked about what issues affected the girls living in Mathare North area 4. These included periods, hygiene, boys and sex, HIV Aids,child labour, and early pregnancy. 20 girls between the ages of 10 and 22 years old came. We plan to have inspirational Kenyan women to come to talk to the girls about what is possible being female! We have a Kenyna psychologist, a lady engineer, a lady lawyer lined up just to mention a few!
New Centres Still no progress from Ngong Town, Kasarani, or Githurai. Maili Saba should be opening just as soon as the rest of thier furniture arrive (carpet, catalogue drawers, shelves, staff desk, notice boards...)
Safaricom and our pick up! We are still awaiting the donation of our vehicle from Safaricom! They say by the end of this month...
Duty Exemption??? We are still pursuing duty exemption for KLT. Neil our accountant should have accounts ready for KRA this coming week... then we all cross our fingers!!! Tight!
Tink that it guys!! Talk again soon!!! Send us any comments about the new website too, OK??
Hey everyone! Hope all well out there in the Big World! A few things happening here. Have a read! ESPECIALLY watch out for re launch of new website due by 1st March!!! Meanwhile...
Sipili, Laikipia West.
January 2009. We have been able to donate a collection of African materials to Sipili in February, after requests from community members. These should go into stock in February, in addition to the final numbers of Encyclopaedia Britannica! We are still trying to find sustainability for this centre. Joseph is still working 6 days a week for no pay. Two people in the UK are trying to find usa tractor with a plough. If we are able to get a tractor donated we can hire it out with our own driver, and with the profit sustain the library.
A mzee has been coming to the library to tell stories and teach songs to the children every Saturday! Also the drama group is still meeting every Saturday. We are still hoping to start a girl child group here as soon as we get funding (see ‘possible future KLT projects’).
A new library committee is nearly in place. There are still some detailsto sort out, but we are hopefulthese will be resolved soon. The new committee is keen to pursue the building of a purpose built library on the ground the community previously donated.
Membership: 644.
Use in January: children who used the library220 . Adults who used the library172 .
Stock:- Adults 2552 Children’s 2851
Kawangware, Nairobi
January 2009 has seen some major changes. WFF were unable to find sustainability for the centre after Safaricom funding finished in January, so it has now been taken over by Dagoretti Empowerment Centre, who also manage the building where the library is now housed. DEC have agreed to pay the rent, power and staff for an initial period of 4 years! WFF will still have a representative in the new library committee who will administer the library, and 3 of their staff will still run the library. KLT will continue to support this centre as always!
Bookclub. The bookclub has already had its first meeting for the year with Braeburn primary school! The group looked at
Stock
Membership total:
Use: children who used the library January. Adults who used the library January.
Mathare North (a MYSA centre)
January 2009. We now have a working TV areal (donated by KLT) so are able to watch KTN educational programmes at the library (including ‘Art Attack’). The TV and DVD player donated some time ago by a lady form Peponi House school are being well used to run music for the Rap and Hip Hop groups to dance to.
Mathare North drama group performed for the representatives from the Ministry for Youth Affairs. The children also questioned the visitors about what they would do for the children who live in Mathare North area 4.
A local Mzee is also teaching the children informally about the history of Kenya as a Nation within Africa. Is it so good to have local community participation.
Africa collection has been purchased through the donation of money from a school in Eastleigh in the UK!! When Maili Saba has finished with Eastleigh’s typewriter we can get these catalogued and onto the shelves!
Adults fiction categories and new children’s sections. The adult’s fiction is now fully categorised. It now has Romances, Horror, War, Thrillers, Science Fiction and Fantasy, and general Adults fiction. We have also created a teenage section, but are awaiting more shelving before this can be made available to the users of the library. It will be located between the adults and children’s rooms. We also now have a first readers section
Class Visits to the library. This month we had only two class visits to the library. This was because, after we refurbished the library and re opened it was in the middle of national school exams.
Activities.
Book reading club: After being closed for several weeks the children are now back into their routines. This group help to keep the library organised and tidy, as well as participate in book reading activities.
Drama Group: The Drama group is currently working on a drama entitled:- Men abuse on the Women
Art, Drawing and Painting:Most of the children from here have now joined MYSA Haba Na Haba group, and are working from their premises
Computer groups. 50 children were trained on basic computer skills
Challenges:
We need more shelves! More stock! Books need to be repaired, and children taught how to handle books,
Membership total: 6070
Use in November: 480- most being children
Stock: 4952
Maili Saba (a MYSA centre)
January 2009. The staff here have been working hard to get all the stock processed, in the hope of opening in February! We are still waiting for carpeting and the rest of the shelving and the catalogue drawers before we can open!! Should be early March I think!!!
Githurai (a MYSA centre)
January 2009. The ceiling and floor still need to be completed here, before the carpet and shelving can go into this wonderful new building! Thenthe books can go in, THEN staff training can begin THEN we can start counting down to opening at last!!!
Possible New Centres
Ngong Town. We have been approached by a lady who owns a small building in Ngong town, and she is keen to put it to use! KLT has been to see the site, and the potential for a children’s library is very great.Because the building is on a piece of land with some space it may be able to set up a chicken farm as a sustainability project close to the library. We also may be able to create a gardening club, digginga small shamba which library members learn how to cultivate, and maybe even sell their produce or just take it home.
Gilgil. We are hoping tostart the library in Gilgil this year. The Sonata Trust hopes to start building their community centre at the end of this year. We are hoping to find a temporary site for the library, where books can be processed and staff training started, so all stock can be ready when the new library is built. The residents of Gilgil are trying to organise this.
Kasarani/ Zimmerman, Nairobi. ICEI are very keen to get their project started. They have been attending our monthly meetings for some time now. They and KLT have been sending out proposals for funding (both for setting up the library, and for setting up their sustainability project), but no luck as yet.
Nakuru
Donations January 2009
KenyaPopat FamilySeveral boxes of books
KenyaRosslyn AcademyMany boxes of Books
UKBakewell Rotary Club £500 to purchase camcorder (plus case, wires etc!)
USAPaterson Family Foundation cheque cleared!
Office News January 2009
KLT office now has a guillotine (courtesy of funds raised at the fundraiser in December2008), in addition to the computer (donated by the Pandit family in December last year), printer and laminator! We have already made replacement shelf guiding for Mathare North!
New Subject Index. This has been updated as we have been classifying Maili Saba! It is now available on the computer, and can be printed out for all centres.
KLT General update
Leaflet/ Brochure. This is designed. We are just waiting for a donor to pay for us to get it printed!
Vehicle. We are still waiting for a definitive reply from Safaricom whether they will give us a suitable vehicle!
Accounts. Neil Jones Accountants have sorted out KLT accounts for us for free. This has included organising Pin numbers, PAYE for tax, and applying for duty exemption on behalf of KLT. THANK YOU!!! It is good to know that all our administration needs are in good hands!!
Website design. Ian MacKay and Susan Philips have been working closely on this for the last several weeks, and there is light at the end of the tunnel!! The site should go live in the next week or two!! It is looking SO good!
KLT DVD. Clare is still keen to do this, but we still have no funding for editing and production costs. Still hoping someone will take this on! We have sent proposals out to several organisations.
Staff Training
Anne held a staff training session on ‘Storytelling using books written in English’ on February 11th. Staff from Maili Saba, Eastleigh and Kasarani attended.
Mary is continuing to train all our staff in the use of sign language at our monthly meetings. She was concerned that what she is teaching is actually being used by the staff.
Possible Future KLT Projects.
Girlchild Safe places. Whilst we were setting up the library in Sipili, Anne lived there for 3 months, and became aware of the plight of girls. Most girls here have no ambitions beyond becoming mothers and raising a family- as their mothers did before them. They are still often married off as young as 12 years of age, to men over the age of 45. Here female circumcision is still common, even though it is illegal under Kenyan law. Many girls have no time at all for school, being kept at home to look after younger brothers and sisters, clean, tend the shamba, look after goats or sheep, cook meals etc etc.. They know no other way. Girls also are kept away from school during their monthly periods, as they do not have access to sanitary towels. This also impedes their education.
When the library opened a great number of girls started coming in to read the books. They had never had access to books before, other than school curriculum books (for those lucky enough to go to school). It was a joy to see them talking to each other about what they were reading, asking questions, and feeling free to talk.
We do not want to tell communities that their traditions are wrong, but merely offer choices and access to information.
We want to create a girls club at the library in Sipili, where girls can come to meet, to talk to each other about ANYTHING:a safe space where they can talk about marriage, boys, sex, clothes, goats, hygiene, hair care, families, periods, babies etc. To do this we need to employ a coordinator based in the library who will organise meetings for the girls, and who is willing to sit and listen. In addition we want to bring inspirational guest speakers from Nairobi to talk to the girls once a month: a lady lawyer, a lady doctor, a lady chief, a shop owner, etc etc. Some of these speakers have already agreed to come. We had over 70 girls turn up to an informal meeting about this in December 2008, so we know there is interest. .We also want the girls to create dramas, musicetc to show their concerns and needs to other groups. It may be possible to show DVD’s etc from a laptop computer to small groups. DVD’s on certain issues are available to borrow from AMREF and from Red Cross. If this works it may be possible to create girlchild clubs in each of our centres. We have sent a proposal to several organisations.
Family Reading Groups.Family reading is a new concept here, as is reading for pleasure generally. We would like to set up family reading groups, initially in Kawangware and Mathare North centres. This would involve talking to parents, and giving them a book-bag of books to use with their children every night. The books will be returned and replaced every week. This can also include information about reading and using books with babies.
More Book clubs. We are trying to find an international school to pair with each of the KidsLibs centres. Mathare North is currently paired with ISK, Kawangware with Braeburn. We are tryingto find a partner for Eastleigh and for Sipili.
Ministry of Youth. Anne and Patrick went to visit the Ministry of Youth, and later took 4 members from the Ministry to visit Mathare North centre. They are interested in KLT creating libraries attached to their Youth Empowerment Centres. We are currently working on a proposal for this. As our centres are runby youth members, and all activities are organised by youth, we feel we have a big role to play in giving the youth of Kenya a chance to shine and show what they are capable of.
The Directorate of Adult and Continuing Education. We are still waiting for them to get back to us. We are VERY keen to start adult education sessions in all of our centres –OUTSIDEOF LIBRARY OPENING HOURS!!- and hope the department will be able to assist in making this possible.
Well, here we are in another new year! Here we are still making libraries! Hope for another 4 this year..
DONATION RECEIVED form Paterson Family Foundation!! for $10,000USD!!! Waitng for cheque to clear! This will enable Anne to stay here longer and make more libraries, paying for fuel, phone, car maintenence, office etc, as well as help with some KLT projects! THANK YOU!!!
Maili Saba will open next month as long as furniture and carpeting arrive by then! Staff have been GREAT during training! A MYSA library
Githurai I REALLY hope will open this year. Work remaining to do on the floor and roof of the building before carpeting and furniture can go in, and then the books- which have been sitting at Eastleigh for 2 years or more! A MYSA library
Gilgil. Again hope this year will finally see some action here! If we can start in a temporary building, getting staff trained and books processed, and with luck by then the new building with Sonata Trust will be ready!
Kasarani. This is with ICEI. They are still trying to find a donor to support their centre and their sustainability plan. Fingers crossed! They are SO enthusiastic and determined!
Ngong Town. This is a possible new centre. Teh building and land are being donated by the owner for a children's centre! We may b able to start gardening clubs, teaching children how to grow produce in a library shamba. Their planned sustainability project is chicken raising next door to the library.
Kawangware. Is a bit desperate. We are trying to save this library from closing - SO desperately needed by this community, but the CBO has been unable to find sustainability, and rent is due for 5 months so far. Should know more next week..!
Sipili, Laikipia West is developing and growing all the time! We are trying to find funding for a girl child project here in the library. We want to set up a ' safe space' for girls to come to talk.. about anything from being married at 12 years old, to hair styles, to raising goats, to school, to female circumcision, to nail varnish... We want the to be able to talk freely to a coordinator and each other, then create drams, poems or music to express thier issues to show to others. We also want to bring inspirational speakers from Nairobi every month .. a lady lawyer, a lady chief, lady doctor etc who can show these girls that they are able to do more than just become a mama age 14 like their mama's did before them.
Mathare North has a great girls rap group, and a hip hop group! Trying to get this recorded and onto the blog! Watch this space! Eastleigh now has thier adults fiction arranged in genres, as Sipili is. Mathare North will follow in the next week or so. The problem is that their typewriters are in use at Maile Saba until they open!!
KLT CAMCORDER. This is now available thanks to Bakewell Rotary Club! We are just waiting for the wire to transfer to computer to arrive! THANK YOU BAKEWELL ROTARY CLUB, UK.!!!
Braeburn schools. Anne is now doing one day a week advising Braeburn on their school libraries. Money from this is going to KLT account.
Book Clubs. The are now at ISK- Mathare North library (next book is 'Hoot'), and Braeburn primary school - Kawangware. Still trying to pair Eastleigh with Rosslyn Academy! All books chosen are chosen loosly on a theme of reconciliation and tolerance.
MINISTRY OF YOUTH, KENYA. We have just had a meeting with the ministry of Youth today, and there may be possibilitie for partnership , to help the youth of Kenya.
Well, finally have a car again!!! A matatu (small bus) hit me over two weeks ago, and after much palava getting poice abstracts, and insurance assessors to the right garage, I FINALLY have my car back!! YEAY!!! I actually had to hire a car to take a lady from Safaricom Foundation to see to of the centres last week.. the only car I could get was a Toyota corolla.. this was fun trying to navigate the holes and trenches of Mathare North! As we were asking Safaricom to donate a 4 wheel drive vehicle, it was - I suppose!- quite appropriate as she saw the need!! I have been riding matatus to meetings in the meanwhile!
KLT STUFF. We are still trying to get duty exemption status! Neil- our accountant- is working on this for us.
KLT UK. Stil hoping to become a charity in the UK. I have a meeting with a lady this week who may know someone in the UK who is willing to take this on.Fingers crossed!!!
KLT CENTRES . Most of the centres are closing from Christmas eve until January 4th. Sipili is opening some days in between!
KLT LEAFLET. Still hoping to get a meeting with Colourspace to see if they may help with this. Is really important now to have a leaflet we can give out to prospective donors.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR to all donors, staff and friends of KidsLibs Trust!!!!!
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Hi! Well a lot happening here for those interested! We moved Kawangware centre to its new premesis 2 weeks ago now! This is the new children's library- story section! Nice n bright and cheerful!! We had helpers from the proposed Kasarani centre, and from the proposed Gilgil centre!
Adults fiction section
Kawangware is still trying to find means to become sustainable.. any offers?? They want to either start a radio station, or a cyber cafe... with cyber cafe will need at least 10 - 15 computers donating, complete with UPS, software etc...
KidsLibs Trust office now is complete!!! We now have in addition to the printer and laminator a DESK TOP COMPUTER - donated by the Pandit family-! We also now have funds to purchase a guillotine. Just need a filing cabinet..
Bakewell Rotary Club is sending us £500 to purchase a camcorder (plus tapes, plus memory sticks etc)! This is greatly needed to record library activities and events! I hope this will arrive with us before Chirstmas so we can get the camcorder soon and start recording!!!
Neil Jones is now our accountant, and is working for us for free!!!Also his son- Mike who works for Colourspace advertising agency- has made us 600 business cards for free!!! MANY thanks!!
Maili Saba is coming along nicely! The staff are so keen to get open by January!
Ken, Douglas, and Simon
Fundraiser 2008!! On December 5th KidsLibs Trust held our first ever ice cream and books fundraiser!It was all organised by Susan Phillips- our newest Trustee and held at her house! Kids form Mathare North girls rap group performed, as did the drams group, who performed a drama written about how the post election violence was viewed by the children living in the slums of Nairobi. Very moving. Unfortunately not many people came, but we hope the ones who did will be the ones who may help us!!
Sipili November 2008.. the school for the deaf drama group performed for us! Here is the video of their performance! Anne goes back to Sipili on December 16th with a representative from the Girlchild Network. They will talk to a group of girls in Sipili about girl issues. We hope that this group of girls will become a permanent group, so we can send guest speakers to talk to them, and inspire them to become all they can be.
Wanna Be a Trustee?? We need another new Trustee! Smita is no longer able to be our chair, so we need someone willing to take on the role!
OK thats it for now!!! Talk soon!!!
Thursday, 13 November 2008
HI All!
Well, November has arrived!!!
KidsLibs now has an accountant! neil Jones in Nairobi is now doing our accounting for us.. which is a great relief!!!
Paterson Foundation also are supporting us! They are sending a one off donation of $10,000USD!!! thank you ! thank you!
Susan Philips is working on a fund raiser for KLT on December 5th.. Looks like an opportunity to enjoy books- and your favourite ice cream!!! hope people will donate their money as well as their time to support us!
Maile Saba is progressing nicely!! the guys are now pretty much perfect cataloguing Junior fiction books! they have completed the Junior fiction (yellow labels), blue labels (younger fiction), green lables (story collections) and are making their way through the picture books (pink lables)!
Anne visited Mathare North library on Saturday, where the drama group and the hip hop group and the girls RAP group all performed!!!! WOW!!!! They were awsome!!! I managed to video them , so when the website is eventually available you will be able to watch their performance on the site!
Anne and Patrick visited Eastleigh centre today, where THEIR drama group performed!!! There is so much talent out there! the group is also the bookreading club, who help in the library, keeping the books in order etc.
We have alSo visited the new possible site for the Kasarani centre. However, we are working on approaching the Ministry of Education to donate FREE OF RENT a building through CDF finding... watch this space!!!
Kawangware centre we are still trying to find sustainability before moving in to the new building. I am hoping this will be resolved by the end of today! We are still waiting to hear from Safaricom Foundation as to whether they will pay for further shelving as we expand, and pay for 6 months sustainability whilst WFF (the CBO who run the library) finds their own source of income. Dr Gitu (chairman of the CDF committee for the building) is being very supportive!
Sipili centre (Laikipia West area) are still wonderful! We took one of the KLT Trustees there last week, with some other interested parties! The children from the school for the deaf performed again .. this time I got them on video!! We need 6 sheets of mubati (corrogated iron sheeting) to repair the roof, and further work to create a veranda roof to protect shoes during the rains. We are also now quite hopeful that a new libary committee will be in existance before the end of the year! YEAY!!!
We are in talks with the Ministry of Education re adults education, and starting classes in all of our centres. Will keep you up to date on this! They have also suggested contacting the Ministry for Youth for funding for youth issues, also the Book Development council... I have meetings next week with both!!
Still pursuing the Girlchild Network to come to our next meeting to discuss Girlchild issues.. really needed for Sipili particularly
Talk soon!!! Sitting in Java coffee house (free internet!)! ned to go home!!!
t! We received a donation of $205 USD from American Friends of Kenya (via funding from Norwich Rotary foundation) to purchase African books. Anne and Patrick went to Westland Sundries here in Kenya and were able to purchase 29 picture books for under 5 year olds for our Little Hands project- at 20% discount! We still need more books for this project, as we plan to offer 5 books in each of - intitially -10 bookbags for Mathare North, and possibly Kawangware.We need board books, and other picture books to encourage our youngest members to use books. We aim to ask 'family' members to sit and use books with their under 5's for at least 5 minutes every daypreferable sitting in warmth and safety on a knee, talking, showing colour and shapes.. not necessarity reading at all! This develops language, and a positive 'feel' for books from a very young age. AFK are also supplying the bookbags, which our hard working trusty Trustee Susan will collect on her visit to the US at the end of April.
