Our New Home - Kibera Pride, Opens July 1st 2013

All the best to Irene Kasandi - today and tomorrow she is representing Kibera Pride at the "TRAINING ON THE NEW NGO ACT ITS EFFECTS AND IMPLICATIONS TO NGOs IN KENYA" Conference. Update on KP. Irene and I got way more done during my time in Kibera than I had imagined could ever happen. The first and most important news is that we rented a house - and we will have an option also to purchase. It is ideally located - in an area called Olympic, just outside Kibera and only a few minutes from the Brothers compound. It will serve first as a community outreach and office for Kibera Pride and in the future as a safe home for some of the more vulnerable children of Kibera. It has room also to accommodate 4-6 volunteers at any one time and room to expand for more if need be. Very exciting. If you are interested in volunteering at Kibera Pride all the details will be published both here and on the website soon. It's very exciting to be a co-founder with Irene of KP at this time. Nice to see KP now, in its early stage. Those of you who follow will be playing a key role in establishing a viable and sustainable operation in the near future and you'll have the privilege of seeing it grow and mature. Additionally, Kibera Pride has funded its first community outreach program. This is very exciting also. There is a youth group that formed and has been working to wash cars. Currently, they haul water by hand but with our help, the group can now get a meter and dig the trench to have the water pumped. This is a major improvement and will also allow them to sell the water to the community - saving everyone the need to carry. Irene will be meeting with the group and we hope to have a report about their efforts soon. Also, an initiative to start a Kibera Photography project was conceptualized and we have applied for a Grant with AIGA, Design Sparks Change, and Adobe - it's actually a grant competition. Even if that doesn't happen we are going to be moving forward with this project. Its purpose is to bring income to the people of Kibera and also there will be a community training and educational component of this project. Thanks to the Brothers of Mother Teresa - who were the most gracious hosts during my stay. It is an amazing group doing great work in Kibera. Having interviewed Irene for the film "The Road to Punda Milia" - I know the influence/impact of the Brothers in her life and that now comes to life in the Kibera Pride organization. Thanks, Bros! For everything you do! peace, daniel