January 6th
Dear sponsors and other interested parties,
It is with a lot of sadness that I am leaving my position as chairman and executive of the Twiga projects. As per January 1st 2010 the Twiga children will be handed over to Stephan van Houtem.
What has happened since the last update?
Post robbery I cried, the board has held meetings and thought loads. That process wasn’t smooth as more and more new facts surfaced. Sometimes bullet-proof evidence, other times rumours which from here could not be determined as real or fantasy but nevertheless bring fear.
Doubt between: ‘I won’t be pushed away’ and ‘I won’t risk my life’.
A few examples:
Although I sent several letters and made phone calls to the parents of the Twiga children telling them the education of their children was safe, even sending a public statement to the head of the Gratitude Academy, parents still removed their children from Milalani school…
Milalani is the sublocation from which the attackers originate…
Milalani is the school where head and school committee were always out to get their own way. Openly or not, suggestions directly to me or via manipulation to the contractor, they have tried everything. My resistance and report to the Education Officer were not appreciated…
A suspect was apprehended and justified. Rumour has it he got put away for 14 years. After this news, Stephan and his wife Annemieke heard that I won’t be safe if I ever showed up in the village. True? If so: repercussions from the attackers’ gang? Revenge for lost jobs?
After this threat I decided to discontinue Twiga.
It is a painful process for me with which I am not done. A lot has been achieved so far, for sure, but momentarily I can only focus on what else could have been done. There were many beautiful plans.
Board
The board of Gerard, Gineke, Rob and Joke appeared a fantastic combination. Each had his and her own qualities which resulted in actions, new ideas and a lot of passion. I would like to HUGELY thank them also for sharing my dream, their time, ideas and expertise. Asanta, Asanta, Asanta!
Joke is moving home soon and views this as a good time to quite.
Rob will try to accomplish his ideals elsewhere too.
Gineke and Gerard remain available to Stephan and his team in case of any questions.
I will, for now, remain involved with Twiga in the background and will help Stephan where I can to make this hand over as smooth as possible.
What does Twiga continue with?
ONLY the Twiga children will continue.
Stephan will consolidate what is there in 2010. He will negotiate between sponsors here and parents, schools and children in Kenya. He will make sure that was has been built will be continued. He knows a diversity of parents, children and school, and will meet all others during his first trip as leader of Twiga next February.
Why discontinue all other projects?
Because the community decided not to support us at a time when this was needed. ‘They’ know who our attackers were but never took any action. Scared of the police? Scared for revenge? What was it they could have and should have done? They could have formed a delegation of teachers, parents, members of the school committee, imams, Twiga teachers, Education officer and and the many other people that mean a lot to us and demand the District Officer to solve this case. Names of the attackers are known, police is letting them walk, the community does nothing. They cover themselves. That is a choice. With that choice they choose corruption instead of progress.
They did nothing and I regret that very much. If the community cannot guarantee my safety, returning and continuing Twiga projects is no option.
This results in the loss of 20 jobs, hope is lost and material support is gone but that is the inevitable consequence of their choice.
Sponsors
Next to thanking the board, thank to you, sponsors is very justified!
One can think of beautiful plans, but without shillings it remains a dream.
There were one off donations and people supporting us from day one.
Large and smaller amounts. Monthly transfers and yearly contributions. Schools, companies, private donations, total strangers, family and friends.
Money that used to be spent on Christmas cards, collected in a race for life, International schools of Frankfurt and Dusseldorf raising funds with Spelathon, Bake-a-Cake or Save-it-or-Shave-it initiatives.
I cooked for a church in Nuenen to fund the build of the Leprosy village, the Lions Oude Duinen held a golfday, I spoke at schools, convents and companies, negotiated with the bank several times and convinced my old shoe network.
We would always just about reach our budgetary targets. During the build of the Leprosy village funding was threatening to run out but a few emergency phone calls from Msambweni to the Netherlands saved the day.
Volunteers
For the 3rd time: a big big thank you to you all.
Some stayed 4 weeks, others 7 months. Some just came once, while others kept coming back after falling in love with Kenya. Although several talks before departure where held to prepare there were always surprises upon arrival. Someone was robbed from her phone, another became build coordinator and ‘medicine man’. Some made local friends, while another caught the Africa bug and continued their travels to Ethiopia and Malawi.
All of you contributed to the Twiga project and have somehow left a huge mark and great impression. Just as importantly, Kenya has left a mark on you too. This cross contamination is one of the best things about a hands on project like Twiga.
Thank you all, Asanta sana sana.
Just a brief look at what has been realised:
Chitsanze
Library > Build & books
Kindergarten > Build & toys & furniture
8 classrooms
Toilets
Furniture
RT room, RT programme
Jomo Kenyatta
Furniture
Library
RT programme
Milalani
10 classrooms
Furniture
10 Teachers
Drama teacher
Vingujini
6 classrooms
Renovation 10 classrooms
Furniture
Kindergarten > Build & toys & furniture
Computer room & 4 computers
Security compound > fence, gate, askari, glazed windows, doors
RT Programme
8 teachers
1 Assistant
Library books
Coaching & Training teachers
Drama teacher
Twiga kids
Children who will receive education until they graduate from University
After 13 years I am now handing over responsibility to Stephan. Cheer to my successor!!!
Dearest greetings to all,
MIRIAM
September 15th
For those of you who haven’t heard:
Gerard and I were attacked, robbed and wounded on the night of 15 to 16 August in our new Kenyan home.
It was a terrible experience which confirmed that this can be a dangerous place in a way we will never forget.
For those of you who would like to hear more (in Dutch) I refer to the broadcasts of RTV Utrecht last Wednesday September 2nd and Knevel & Van de Brink aired on Thursday September 3rd. More can be read (Dutch) in an article published in the AD/Amersfoorter Courant, also on Wednesday September 2nd. We decided to only work with these media after numerous press contacts approached us.
The robbery was a real blow to the head after a hectic summer.
I had been busy and productive in Msambweni for two months, together with the greatest invasion of volunteers Twiga had seen. Besides Gerard, there were several volunteers like Rob and girlfriend Inge, 4 students from TU Eindhoven, 2 from Maastricht, Thomas returned and the ThreeLeftHands visited Msambweni following their year long journey in a campervan.
We experimented using seaweed as fertiliser and local plants as mosquito repellent. We trained two reporters to run the local newspaper, worked on micro credits, gave dance classes, built a puppet theatre and gave football training to children and coaches. We checked and improved the student and teacher data at Vingujini.
In the mean time, in the Netherlands, computers were being collected from Groningen to Eindhoven and from Venlo to Den Helder, and set ready for shipment with the Marine to Mombasa. The HM Evertsen has all PC’s on board now and will harbour in Mombasa on September 26th.
Back to Kenya again, where we were busy making the Visionplan for Vingujini. It was our intention to use the donated computers to improve the children’s English language skills.
And then we were robbed and Gerard got pretty wounded. For days we were in complete and utter shock. Days in which we had a lot of practical matters to solve and attend to because our passports, credit cards and phones were stolen.
The community has been informed through leaflets which we’ve strategically placed throughout the village. The leaflets ask the locals for clarity of this matter and punishment of the attackers before we will even consider returning.
Unfortunately, after all this, we have to conclude that nothing is done. People are afraid. Afraid for the attackers. Afraid they won’t get caught. But just as afraid for the attackers’ families if they are caught. And people are scared of the police.
Tips arrived: to us. Not to the police. They do nothing. They are merely interested in the value of the loot. Even when we phoned the police to tell them the whereabouts of one of the attackers, spotted with one of our mobile phones, they manage to let it go. We offered to drive so there was no excuse regarding lack of transportation or petrol, but still… Nothing. Very frustrating. It wasn’t until we contracted province bases police chiefs that some (small) progress was made.
To make things worse, we are almost certain that one of the Twiga children was involved. Well, at that point all is lost.
One of our very first Twiga’s, taken in because he was an orphan being raised by his mentally ill grandmother. But also for him the community is scared. He was locked up for a few days at which point some people came forward with information about his involvement. But as soon as he was released, all statements changed...
Facts as of today:
- one suspect caught, claiming to be innocent
- the other suspects (at least two) are still at large
- the twiga boy is out (but not at school anymore)
- still no fingerprint results
- still no news on the GPS signal tracking of our (and the arrested guy's) mobile phones
It bothers us most that the community does little to nothing.
-Two youngsters who spotted the Twiga boy on the beach with our laptop still haven’t been asked for a statement.
- The local community does nothing to place pressure on this case, by talking to the police or otherwise. Partly this is understandable as they are scared of the police.
- The arrested suspect is known to the police. He has managed to avoid jail time before by bribing the police. The village is buzzing with the names of his accomplices, locals even know where they live, where they drink, but the fear is greater than the need for justice.
In other words, everybody is scared, but begging us to return.
Don’t we have the right to be scared?
At the Twiga boardmeeting on Tuesday September 1st, we decided to (for now) end all Twiga related activities.
- No more teachers, 18 teachers will not work this month, or receive salary.
- No newspaper, two reporters without work
- No computers for Vingujini via the Marine, we are having the PC’s stored elsewhere.
- Vingujini construction put on hold, the build of the two classrooms
- No volunteers who will work there
The only thing we are still doing is paying the tuition for our Twiga children. We want to avoid them becoming victims too. By paying the third term tuition, we are buying ourselves a further 3,5 months to strategise about the future.
The way it feels now, we will not continue Twiga in it’s current format. We no longer feel safe in Kenya and not supported enough by the community (although we understand their fear). The unwillingness and corruption within the police force has given us enough food for thought to not even know where we stand on it.
The moral dilemma is difficult. We/you have a couple of golden children within the programme. Kids that have the intellect, drive and right attitude towards studying. Their parents understand that going to school and education is important. Kids who have a future now and depend on you and us. That realisation places pressure on us and is what makes a final decision so hard.
For individual Twiga sponsors:
At this point in time we assume that you, just like us, will continue sponsoring your individual Twiga child.
For general sponsors:
Depending on any future decisions, we will spend your funding in agreement with yourself. Either we spend your donations as planned, we will return donations or we will spend donations in line with Twiga goals. We will always discuss this with you first, therefore you have a say about what happens to your money.
If you have further questions or suggestions, we like to hear from you.
Of course, we will keep you informed of any developments.
To good intentions and ditto decisions,
Best wishes,
Miriam
May 17th
Jambo readers,
Twigaday was a great succes!
Almost 50 volunteers, sponsors and interested guest gathered together to attend Twigaday. To meet and greet, to share experiences, to hear about the new Visionplan and its impact on Twiga and to discuss Twiga related topics.
Especially the latter contributed valuably on how all of you can get better informed by Twiga and how Twiga can enlist your assistance in finding sponsors and generally making Twiga more successful.
We, as the Board, are very grateful to all those that joined us and contributed in every way they could. Soon, we will send the results of the discussions to all our connections, to enable you to comment even if you weren’t able to make it to Twigaday.
The day was a success and made possible due to kind gifts from Corazon (Krommestraat Amersfoort, wonderful applepie), Hugo (who provided the drinks) and the Catholic Church Franciscus Xavirus for giving us access to the room.
Amazingly, two children were chosen to be ‘adopted’ by participants, who became sponsors to fund their education. Thank you Hugo, Ap and Hans!
Please find an impression of the day below:
Miriam explains recent events in Kenya, amongst which is the opening of 10 new classrooms at Milalani School.
Volunteers, interested guests and sponsors were all captured by Miriam’s enthusiasm.
Board member Joke van Uden ran into this beautiful wooden Twiga during a yardsale visit and presented it to Miriam as a reward for all her hard work.
After which Rob, Gerard, Joke and Gineke presented themselves as members of the Board (this is Rob, speaking full of passion about his experiences)
Gerard revealed the new Twiga Vision plan, which aims for an even more professional setup placing the future of the Msambweni children first. Twiga will always remain a hands on organisation, offering help through dedicated volunteers. In addition, sponsors will always be able to follow their donations.
To stress the importance of financial transparency, we are currently working on applying for a CBF qualification. This qualification expresses a sound ethic surrounding financial reporting and updating regarding good causes. Gineke van Don, Board member, presented the details.
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After lunch, prepared by our own Board members and rapidly ate by the guest, groups were formed for activity play. Two questions were asked and discussed: how can Twiga find sponsors more effectively and how can we involve our network better to gain advantage and raise awareness.
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The group exercise was dealt with grace. Answers to the questions written on overhead paper will provide us with great feedback.
It was a very inspiring day for everybody. So much so that one of our sponsors volunteered to fulfil a long outstanding wish, to give presentations and readings around the country to promote Twiga. After all, more Twiga awareness will lead to more people who will become interested in becoming an Ambassador.
In the mean time, Miriam has booked another trip to return to Kenya. She will fly out on the 16th of June, followed by Gerard on the 26th of June. Both are then able to welcome 4 students from Industria (Business Economics at the Eindhoven University). More information about their projects and ways of supporting them on their site
Rob van Drunen will join, together with girlfriend Inge Lurings, to continue his excellent approach and progress at Vingujini.
The three globetrotters who left last September to travel the World in their indestructible Volkswagen van are due to finally arrive in Msambweni mid June. Just in time to assist Miriam.
At the moment, Thomas van Halen is volunteering in Kenya. He’s assisting at Milalani School. Read more about his experiences in the next update.
April 11st 2009
Twiga day will be held on Sunday the 17th of May
Everybody that has shown in interest in attending will receive an email confirmed the location. You will be able to meet people who have just been to Kenya and those who are due to leave.
Like the four students from the University of Eindhoven (Business Economics). Kristine, Johan, Wouter and Sidney have spent the last weekend with us preparing their departure at the end of June. They will undertake a range of projects focused on creating employment, improving social connections or improving the area for tourism. They will test what is the best way to repel mosquitoes, what is the best use of a lot of coconut trees, how soccer and dance can improve raising youngsters, if Microcredit can benefit small projects, how seaweed can be used best and for what and how Msambweni and its projects can marketed via the Internet. The last subject includes teaching some youngsters how to publish a simple newspaper to post on boards in well visited places.
They are now looking for sponsors to support their research. Therefore, if you are interested to receive further information, please let us know. They will also talk about their ideas on the 17th of May.
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS, INFORMATION LOST
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March 17th 2009
Jambo readers,
Time can fly!
The Milalani classrooms are already FINISHED! The opening is on the 5th of May and normally we would have struggled to complete in time. Miriam is leaving for Kenya feeling relieved to be able to attend the opening ceremony. She is leaving on the 22nd of April (till May 7th) to dot the final few I’s.
Paul and Inge have used their time well. They have trained 11 Twiga teachers and realised the build of a school! Well done to them!
The few safari days they enjoyed were a massive difference compared to the major challenges they conquered during their 10 week stay.
You can read more about their experiences on their website.
Miriam will return to the Netherlands in time for the very first Twiga day, probably to be held on Saturday the 16th of May. We have invited everybody interested in Twiga work (volunteers, sponsors and the like) to meet each other and inform them of results and new plans.
It’s a nice occasion to also meet our new treasurer, Joke van Uden. Joke will relieve Miriam of all administrative duties and reporting. Thanks to Joke, all Twiga finances will be available to view via this website.
The Twiga Board is working on official approval from the Dutch central fundraising bureau, which requires perfect financial reporting that we are now completing. More news will follow on this approval system.
GREAT visitors!
But especially NICE visitors.
The Dutch Royal Marines have decided to help Twiga in October. Their ship MS Evertsen will sail by Mombasa as part of their assignment to protect ships against pirates from Somalia. During their ‘leisurely’ visit in Mombasa they have planned Twiga activities. We are in discussion about ‘what’. There is a family day planned in the beginning of June to further talk about Twiga and Kenya.
Four students from the University of Eindhoven (Business Economics) will join Msambweni this summer to undertake a few projects. Projects that will benefit the social connections in the village, increase employment, improve healthcare or generally improve the area to make it more pleasant to live/stay. The exact project subjects are currently being formulated. Industria, the student organisation is the instigator of these projects. Both University and Industria would be pleased to see the projects become a permanent feature. We would too of course. Soon, another website will be launched by the four students about their projects.
In the mean time, Henk, Minne and Mukkes have been helping Twiga for several months. They are travelling to Kenya in an Old Time Campervan to experience the African culture with their own eyes. They could have reached Kenya in September… However, they are approaching now, which says nothing about when they will arrive. Enjoy their adventures and detours on their special website.
Our SUPPORT
We are regularly surprised by the amazing (financial) support we receive. The International School in Frankfurt (Germany) has raised no less than 5000 euro, by organising a Cake Bake amongst other things.
The students bake cakes at home and sell them at school. The International School supports Chitsanze School.
9th of December 2008
Jambo readers,
As always, there is a lot of good Twiga news:
The Lions Oude Duinen had already collected €30.000 through a golf day and auction, which was later increased with another €2.000. Their efforts were greatly appreciated in the first place, but this additional funding is gratefully received. For instance, it enables us to pay 3 teacher for a year...
The International School am Rhein - Neuss held their yearly International Day on the 8th of November and had transformed their classrooms for this special celebration. Teachers had made special efforts to replicate Antartica, Korea, America and also Kenya. It was quite a show, with a 2.5 meter high Giraffe, a 'safari' using binoculars through netting, Swahili words, 'paint it yourself' wild animals, Masai necklace drawings, replica huts and a quiz. A collection was organised in the assembly hall using penny pots. Each class has its own penny pot for change of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 cent coins. It is unbelievable to realise that some small change can add up to €3.000! Idea anyone?
Industria, a student society from the Eindhoven Technical University is getting involved with Twiga as part of their 40th anniversary. Of course this lustrum is celebrated in the traditional fashion, but is this year also accompanied with a social project. Rob van Drunen, ex Twiga volunteer, pointed the society into Twiga's direction. After a pre meeting at our house, we travelled to Eindhoven on the 27th of November to present to some 100 students, with very positive responses. The society is now going to choose their own Twiga project, collect the funding for this project and travel to Kenya next summer to make that project a reality. The University's directors already offered €2.000 to kick start the project and encourage students to get involved.
The Turing Foundation had promised us last year that we would be funded €32.500 for the Milalani renovations if we were able to match fund. Thanks to the Lions Oude Duinen we are able to do exactly that! Milalani will receive some new build, renovation, furniture and additional teachers.
Jaap & Liseete den Dijken will join Twiga in January for 3 weeks. They will enjoy some of their holiday time here, but are also going to volunteer at Vingujini and Milalani to see if they would like to return again in the future for a possible longer stay.
Gineke Gijs will arrive in the same period for 1 month. Gineke is a communications expert with Essent and will use her coaching experience to assist the Twiga teachers with start of term and to appraise if agreed targets have been met. he Idea
13-3-2009
This week students, staff and parents had to face the decision: "Save it or Shave it!"
Two members of our faculty, Mr. Laurence Makowy of Vancouver, British Columbia and Mr. Scott Neas of Norfolk, Virginia, put their four-and-a-half month old beards on the line to raise money for the school's Kenya project.
A donation to the "Save it!" side was a vote for Mr. Makowy and Mr. Neas to keep growing their beards.
A donation to the "Shave it!" side was a vote to see what's been hiding under those beards for the last four months.
A big Thank You to Mr. Makowy and Mr. Neas for their enthusiastic participation in this worthy cause and to all those who have so generously contributed to the Kenya school project!
Run of Event
From Monday until Thursday, the students, faculty and parents of ISR faced an important decision: to "Shave it!" or "Save it!".
The sight of the two teachers drew the attention of curious students during breaks and even somewhat confused parents after school who did their best to beat the other side. Generous contributors did their best to fill both jars, and the final result was surprisingly close! It came down to the final contribution.
The Result
As the counting had just been completed, a fifthgrader appeared out of breath in the doorway, donation in hand, and asked, "Am I too late?" Little did he know that the fate of the contest was in his hands. Unfortunately for the beard-lovers among us, this student was on the "Shave it!" side.
The final count: 554,60 Euro to "Shave it" and 498,11 Euro to "Save it", making a grand total of 1052,71 Euro in only three days! Much to the shock of the school, the two bearded teachers appeared Friday morning clean shaven for the first time in four and a half months! Mr. Makowy and Mr. Neas would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to the school community for their support and are open to suggestions for future fundraisers.
