Our Statement of Need
From Twinklelittlestars
Kenya is located on the East Coast of Central Africa. With a total area of 582,650 sq km (slightly more than twice the size of Nevada), most of the area is dry, with water only covering about 13,400 sq km. According to 2005 edition of country reports, the total population is 32,021,856. Majority of Kenyans live and work in the highlands, which supports extensive and subsistence farming. 83% of the Kenyan population occupies 19.2% of the (arable) land while the remaining 17% are to be found in the arid and semi-arid lands. Most people living in rural Kenya live below extreme poverty. There is a big gap in income distribution between urban & rural Kenya and over 60 % of rural families live on as little as $1.00 or less a day. To some like these children, even the $1 is a far fetched dream for their families. Twinkle Little Stars aims at preventing situations from getting this far.
Photo: WFP 2006/Peter Smerdon
Statement of Need & Justification of our Program
HIV/AIDS has become a major challenge to the Kenyan people, topped up with poverty and especially in the rural areas. HIV infections are higher among those aged between 15-49 years (especially women), which means a dying future for most young people and an erased generation for the nation. Due to this and other poverty related factors, some underage children are forced to drop out of school to care for their ill parents and fend for their younger siblings. Most of them either turn to coffee picking or tilling hard grounds for pennies a day; while others turn into local terrorists as their way of earning a living. “In the coffee-growing region outside of Nairobi, fields are crowded with children who once filled classrooms. Too often, farmers take advantage of these young workers” - Scholastic News In-Depth
For many, this becomes the end of the road for their education and needless to say, their future begins to hang on the string of poverty. Some of them engage in illicit sex and drugs at an early stage in life, exposing them to the deadly HIV and drug related complications. Although Kenya has recently introduced free tuition for Primary school education, the burden of feeding the kids and providing them with uniform and other school supplies still lies on the shoulders of helpless parents & guardians. Our program primarily targets the Eastern province and we hope to gradually spread out to other parts of Kenya.
Sources of clean water are few in many districts and most residents have to walk an average of 3 miles one way, to fetch water from crowded wells. This becomes a major deterrent for school going children, since they are extremely exhausted by the time they go to bed and can hardly concentrate on their school work. Ten gallons of water which an average family uses per day, has so to compete with limitless needs including cleaning, cooking and laundry. Hygiene standards are quite low, with children suffering from Typhoid and Dysentery in most cases; not to mention the limited or no access to basic medical treatment and/or resources! There is therefore need to provide them with basic hygiene products, to improve their living conditions and immune system; therefore ensuring a healthier community. Adequate water supply would also improve the hygiene as well as enable families to grow crops for better nutrition - especially vegetables which are a great source of vitamins.
We welcome your donations!