START WITH ONE KENYA CHILDRENS EDUCATION FUND

We believe that in order for a child to thrive, their needs must be met physically, mentally and spiritually.

A New Approach To Child Sponsorship

First Term 2013

Inside this issue: page
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A New Approach contd

Child Spotlight: Collins Kiprono

There are 35 children enrolled in the pilot Childrens Education Fund program. Thirty one children are enrolled in Holy Trinity Academy as of January 2013. Four of the total of 35 are in their first year of high school. Children in the program range from age 3 to age 18.

Volunteer Spotlight: Sarah Waithera

Since our inception, Start With One has remembered what our Lord taught usthat we should tend to the needs of widows and orphans. In that spirit we have been able to sponsor children on a one sponsor to one child basis. Each time a need would arise for a child or children, we would go and search for a sponsor for that child. This meant that one family or one organization would have to make a pretty large yearly commitment and usually for many yearsuntil the child completed secondary ( high ) school. In the fall of 2012, we started looking at another way to do sponsorship. If we look at the needs of an individual child , it is immediately apparent that those needs vary from child to child. Without knowing the full story of a childwhere they live, with whom they live, etc it is impossible to cater to those needs. Two members of the Start With One team visited the home of every child en-

rolled in the program. We have met those who are trying to take care of these children. We know where they live. We have seen their homes. Some of the questions we asked ourselves as we prayed about this program were: Even if a child has a parent, are they in a safe situation? Some of the children in the new program have a mother who may have turned to alcohol or prostitution because of extreme poverty. Or live in a household where the father abuses both the wife and the daughter. What happens if a child does not perform well in school? While we pray that all of the children in this program go on to finish high school, we are following them all closely to prepare some for trade school. We intend to see a child through high school or until they have a viable skill that will allow them to provide for themselves.

What happens if the sponsor is no longer able to support a child? In the fall, if that happened we had to look for another sponsor. While there are some who are able to afford the $600-$700 commitment per year it was difficult to find sponsors for all the children who needed help. While we are still not able to help every child in need, we have expanded the sponsorship program and changed its structure for the Childrens Education and Welfare Fund. Our pilot program now allows an individual or group to support children with whatever they are able to give as often as they wish and still maintain a one on one relationship with any child or children they wish. Have an extra $20 this month? Send it to the Childrens Education Fund. Want to support a child but cant afford $50-60 each monthno problem. You can make monthly donations of any amount you wish. Contd page 2

Dental and Health Assessments

Georgia UMC Teams Visit

Aylett Country Day 4 School making a difference in the lives of children in Kenya

Letter from the field 5 Letters from your children

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To make a donation, go to www.startwithonekenya.org

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A New Approach To Child Sponsorship ( continued from page one)

Start With One team members will visit the families of our children at least twice annually. Based on the type of need, some parents are able to make some purchases for their child. For some children we are providing tuitionfor others, we provide everything. This also means that the time we spend at Holy Trinity with our children is very important. We want them to know us and we want to know them as well. The average cost for a child in the program is about $600again, some more, others less. In addition to the education costs for these children , we have also done health and dental assessments on each child. If a child is not physically and emotionally well, they will not do well in school. To ensure that the child is healthy physically, mentally and spiritually, it is important that we be present for these children. We have seen many faces change from those of despair to those of hope. We will spotlight one or two children each term. There will also be a general report on each child and a list of special prayer requests for the program. Pray that God continues to help us help these children.
Karen , one of the last children enrolled in the program went from shy little girl to a little girl with a beaming smile and lots of curiosity.

CHILD SPOTLIGHT: COLLINS KIPRONO

Collins Kiprono is in class 4 ( fourth grade.) Collins was born in 2002 but we are not sure of the actual date. Collins Mom is doing the best she can for him, but needs our help to get Collins through school. Collins is a special needs child. While Collins will tell you in almost perfect English that he had polio , we are quite sure that Collins has cerebral palsy. Kenyan children with disabilities are often forgotten or institutionalized. We are pleased that Collins is not set apart in any way. Collins is blessed to have a Mama who was able to find Holy Trinity Academy. In this school, Collins is in a class with 20 other students. Last year, Collins marks ( grades) were 398. To give an idea of how bright he is, the best score for the national exam this year was 430 ( out of 500.) The other children at Holy Trinity are expected to help Collins with some daily living issues at school, as well as incorporate him in games. They are taught to be thoughtful and assist Collins in any way that they can. He is happy and his sense of humor will grab you right away. He has an incredible sense of humor and a very quick wit. In a picture you can see that Collins looks like the other children. But his right side was affected by the cerebral palsy. His right leg is significantly shorter than the left. We were told by a doctor on a team from the US that a shoe with a lift as well as a brace would help Collins seem even more like the other children. Plans are being made now to have those shoes made and a brace fitted for his leg.
Collins is pictured here with a members of a team from North Georgia. It is important to us that everyone who comes to join us in mission here gets to meet our children. We are and want you to be keenly aware of what is happening in the lives of our children.

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VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: SARAH WAITHERA

Meet Sarah Waitherabut youll never hear anyone call her that. She is Mama Shiko. Mother to three of her own children and mother to many other children. Mama Shiko is an integral part of all that we do at Start With One. Mama Shiko played a vital role in the initial start up of the Childrens Education Fund. She is able to speak to the children in their native language. She is able to assure students who have never interacted with mzungu ( white people) that we really are not going to hurt them. During the initial interviews with the children, Mama Shiko was often in tears. She is able in a glance to tell which children are hurting, are very poor, or are living in terrible conditions. While we are learning to discern the needs of our children, Mama Shiko is guiding us in understanding Kenyan cultures and the issues we might face. She is strong and courageous. She is someone that both the children and we at Start With One trust. More than once she has interceded for us to get the best price on something we need to purchase for the children. More than once she has thanked us for what we are doing for the children in Kenya. As seen below, Mama Shiko has many talents. When the truckload of 2000 buckets for water filter systems came in, Mama Shiko was the first to jump in to help. She is pictured on the left assuring Karen that coming to live at Holy Trinity

Mama Shiko presents students with awards at a ceremony at Holy Trinity.

would be a good thing. Below and right, Mama Shiko plays football with two boys who were rescued from the streets of Nakuru. Thank you Mama Shiko from Start With One and from ALL of your children.

First Health Assessments Medical and Dental

In January, retired nurse Sarah Eastwood spent a month with Start with One. Part of what she helped with was the initial health assessments for the children in the program. girls, has an umbilical hernia and will have had surgery by the time this newsletter reaches you. Dr. Muchiri ( a Kenyan friend) agreed to do dental assessments for our children on This meant a basic check of each child for Easter Sunday afternoon. We packed up immediately discernible health issues. For our mobile dental chair and headed to example, after looking at the first 6 chilHoly Trinity. Dr. Muchiri and his assistant dren, it was painfully obvious that oral hy- first held workshops on proper dental hygiene and the care of teeth was a major giene and the importance of brushing. area of concern. A list was made of those After this, each child was seen by the denchildren who urgently need to see the den- tist for a check of condition of teeth and tist. gums. We were thrilled to see that other than the usual maladies found in children in this area, our children are healthy. We are able to supply medicines regularly for those who are in need. Sylvia, one of the younger A few children had broken teeth that will need to be removed, but others require only fillings. These children are well on their way to great health!

Aylett Country Day SchoolMaking a difference in the lives of Kenyans

In just a few months during the fall of 2012, middle school students at Aylett Country Day School raised nearly $700. Aylett Country Day School is a coeducational, private day school with children from EC 3 to grade eight located in Virginia. Susan own shoes to a child in the program. Susan provided their teacher and mentor, Kathy Watkins, with a list of needs for the children in the program. There were many items on this list. Start With One was overwhelmed by the choices that the children made. First, they wanted the children to be healthy. With the help of a family in North Carolina who gave money for the water filter, a large water filtration system was put in in March of 2013 that will provide fresh drinking water for all 250 children in Holy Trinity Academy. Mosquito nets were hung over every bunk in the dormitory. The children of Aylett also wanted the children to have fun. A team from Georgia came and put up basketball goals, a net and another team built soccer goals. .

Eastwood of Start With One started her education there in first grade. Susans experience at Aylett has been a driver for the type of education she hopes every child in Kenya will receive. Susans nephew, Alden, is in eighth grade at Aylett. He and his classmates wrote pen pal letters to each of the children in the program, saved their coins in water bottles and more personally, gave a pair of their

For more information about school partnerships, contact Susan Eastwood susan@startwithonekenya.org

Georgia UMC Teams Visit Holy Trinity

We were blessed with two teams in the first semester of school this year. We always try to have work and play involved when it comes to teams. Getting to know our children, making relationships with them is so important. They need to know there are people in the US praying for them and keeping them close in their hearts.
Children and missionaries take a ride on Lake Naivasha. Members of the team installed basketball goals and a volleyball net that had been purchased by Aylett Country Day School students.

Crafts are always a big hit.

Other team members helped assess the needs of the children. Shoe sizes and condition as well as number of uniforms they had

To make a donation, go to www.startwithonekenya.org Donate Now! Select Childrens Sponsorship

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Letter from the field

Since I was a teenager, I have felt a pull for lack of a better word toward Africa. But then I got busy with MY plan for my life. Marriage ( although that didnt happen until I was 37) , children ( that never happened) and last of all career. The career did happen and I was blessed to work with an amazing group of people for 20 years. But none of that was in my plan. In 2006, I was able to go to Sierra Leone on a mission trip. That trip turned me upside down, inside out and shook me until I nearly fell apart. God had figuratively taken me by the shoulders and saidYou are to be my hands and feet in Africa. I felt the call to Kenya and started coming in 2008. How I got here, what happened in the 6 years between that first trip and a decision to become a missionary is a very long story. The decision to become an advocate for children and their well being did not take long. For me it has always been about the children. The children of Kenya are full of hope and despair paradox surrounds me here. But it went further than merely paying school fees for children who could not afford to go. God was telling me to remember the whole child. It is not enough just to pay school fees. We must constantly keep watch and protect them. In Kenya, that can mean so many things. Protection from disease, protection from predators both human and animal. It means protection that allows them to ( as my St. Margarets school prayer said) grow in age as they grow in grace. We cannot help every child. But we can help those the Lord puts in our path. On the second trip to Kenya, I met a bright young girl named Mary Wambui. While the story of my relationship with Mary is a long and tough one , I want you to get the basic reason why she has inspired me to assist children, one at a time and with intent. Mary did not go to school. Mary had asked me for help, but I was busy on the mission team working in the clinic. I left Kenya not really knowing if she was back in school etc. She was tugging on my heart. My friend and brother Peter ( who is Kenyan) was able to find her after we left. She had in essence been sold as a house girlthe equivalence often of a slave. Peter brought her back to his home. She was put in school. What we did not know, was that she had married and had a baby. She was 14. I had not acted fasted enough. Two years later, I moved to Kenya full time. The first month we were here, a friend came by to say she had news about Mary. Mary had just the night before taken her own life. In memory of Mary, and most of all because our God calls us to, I will not forget the ONE. Start With One or 35 in this case. But care for the children dont just pay their fees. CARE for them. I look forward to helping you watch our children grow. Already, some are leaders in their classes. Some are making top marks ( grades) in their schools. All of them are learning to be followers of Christ . We understand the commitment you have made to our children. Please know that the goal of this new approach to sponsorship is to be sure that no child is forgotten or lostthat there is never a need they may have that is not being met. With this in mind, we will be updating all of our supporters on EVERY child at least 2 times yearly. In this issue, you will have a list of the names and class level of each child. Please keep this picture directory and pray for these children by name. In subsequent newsletters, you will get a spotlight on one or two children. In each newsletter, you will receive any updates on health issues or other issues as well as updates on the childrens progress in school. We will also use these newsletters to advise you of special needs that may arise. We at Start With One say thank you to youYour children say thank you as well. In His Service,

For information on a specific child at any time or more information on how you can get involved, please send an email to susan@startwithonekenya.org

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September 2012 to May 2013 in Pictures

We take this space to say thank you . Thank you for your monetary support. Thank you for praying for each and every one of these dear children. Thank you for remembering the teachers at Holy Trinity and the missionaries at Start With One. For more information on how to help, send an email to Susan Eastwood susan@startwithonekenya.org To make a donation, go to www.startwithonekenya.org Donate Now! Select Childrens Sponsorship