2009 Holiday Kikapu Report - Organized Random Acts of Kindness

Another holiday season, another successful Kikapu campaign; thanks to you our faithful and generous supporters. Faithful because you took the leap of faith and believed in this cause and this campaign. Generous because in spite of the difficult economic times you contributed to this campaign and made it the most successful yet! Because of you many families in Kenya celebrated their Christmas with a smile. The board of directors, volunteers, and the Kikapu recipients thank you.

The primary goal of the Kikapu campaign has always been to bring a smile and give a glimmer of hope to the poorest in the rural communities in Kenya during the holiday season. The poor are selected by our volunteers on the ground through local churches. During the week of Christmas, they are surprised by a visit from our dedicated volunteers and given a Kikapu (basket) full of food items; providing at least 10 meals to a family of four.

On previous years, the Kikapu program efforts have been geared towards delivering food to the doorsteps of the poor families. In 2009, the program was extended to deliver Christmas cheers to patients and families at a rural hospital on Christmas day.

As with any program at Nuru Center, the Kikapu program is implemented in a manner that ensures maximum impact. The 2009 Kikapu campaign delivered a five-fold impact.

The first and obvious impact is to the poor families that are the recipients of the distributed food. Many of these families leave on less than one dollar a day. It is not uncommon for many of them go without food for several days. We are happy to report that with your help and that of volunteers on the ground in Kenya, we distributed over 3,600 meals to 90 poor families in rural Kenya.

The second impact was to the patients in the hospitals. The new hospital mission reached out to over 45 patients who received food equivalent to four meals on Christmas day. All these patients depend on their families to provide meals for them for the duration of their stay at the hospital. As seen in the pictures in the gallery section, the Molo district hospital has substandard amenities. As a result, it mostly serves the poor people who cannot afford to go to hospitals with better facilities. Needless to say, their families cannot afford to provide these patients with food for every meal, not to mention nutritious food.

Nuru Center was also able to give out clothes for children in the hospital and also infant clothing for women in the maternity ward. These clothes had been donated by friends of Nuru Center and shipped from the US earlier in the year.

The third impact was to three patients who had completed their treatment at the hospital. However, their families did not have money to settle their bill and the hospital could not release them until their hospital bill was paid in full. Instead of providing these three patients food, Nuru Center paid their hospital bills. This afforded the three patients a chance to go and spend Christmas with their families. One to these patients was a woman who had just delivered a new born. The mother and the new born were able to go home and have the newborn’s first Christmas with the rest of the family.

The Kikapu program also had a direct economic impact in the community. All the food is bought from the local communities. While the processed foods are bought from wholesale suppliers, the remaining items are bought from the local markets. Most of the merchants, mostly women, make three to five dollars in sales on a good day. By purchasing from them in large quantities, these merchants are able take home thirty to forty dollars; many times more than their best days thereby affording their families a decent holiday season.

Finally, the volunteers on the ground benefit by knowing that they are fulfilling a good mission. Not only are they adding value to the lives of the recipients and the local merchants, but they know that they are fulfilling your vision. Even though the volunteers live in these communities, the process opens their eyes to the plight of many in the community that they never had a chance to interact with. This has resulted in these volunteers making follow up missions to some of the recipients’ homes through their churches; in effect galvanizing the community to action.

At Nuru Center, we actively evaluate our programs and look for ways to maximize the impact of your donations. As this program continues to expand and gain momentum, we like to get feedback and new ideas from you. Think about the next holiday season and what you would like to see happen to people who have been forced to view food as a luxury. As children in the United States and other developed parts of the world get new toys, take winter vacations and enroll in extra-curriculum activities, many children in rural Kenya simply long for a good meal.

Please, take a moment and visit the photo gallery and see for yourself the smiles that you helped plant on the faces of many.