Cura at 10!

On Saturday, Cura Rotary Home celebrated its 10th birthday! 

It's hard to believe our projects have been underway for a decade already,

but we definitely think the milestone warranted a party!

Founder, Evelyn Mungai Eldon

Deputy Director, Mike Eldon

Dancing, of course!

Dignitaries in attendance

The Mothers, entertaining the crowd

Please share... and GO!

Special for August! Burning Torch will be selling gift cards to benefit Cura Orphanage!



Creative Visions Foundation will host its monthly sun-downer -- always a good time! -- but the event on 7 August is special to us because Burning Torch will be there to sell gift cards that will benefit US!


Please attend if you can... and tell your friends!

Thursday, August 7th 6-8pm*
Online pre-sale - $20
At the door - $25
*CAP Members are free

Dan Eldon Center for Creative Activism
18820 PCH Suite 201, Malibu, CA 90265

RSVP HERE

A big week!

This week saw the launch of a project started nearly two years ago with a contact from Southwest Airlines who wanted to see if Cura could help re-purpose the leather from the airplane seats that were getting a make-over. In partnership with Creative Visions Foundation, GoodMakers and the Gina Din Foundation -- and largely due to the amazing work of Tilo Ponder -- the project is much bigger and much more successful than we could have initially imagined!

Watch the Southwest package on this project  -- and check out the Wall Street Journal online piece about it, too!

We are so grateful to everyone involved, and we're looking forward to getting kids in Cura outfitted with backpacks, shoes and footballs made from the "upcycled" leather!

There is also big news at Cura Secondary School, in that the process of having the school officially designated by the Kenyan Ministry of Education is nearly complete. This designation will mean that the government will take over responsibility for paying teachers' salaries (a major financial burden lifted from the current administration!) and the school will be eligible for other forms of government funding.

This will allow those of us on the US fund-raising side to concentrate on the next step for Cura's young people... college, job training and mentorship. Stay tuned for more information about the programs and scholarships we'll be putting in place this year!

Thank you Kenya Education Fund!

Many thanks to Kenya Education Fund administrators and generous Cura donors -- you made it possible for two Cura Secondary School students to participate in this weekend's Mentoring Workshop!

With funds from donors who want to support educational opportunities in Cura, we sent two students to this workshop in June 2013; we plan to send two more to the sessions set for this July, as well. The students are selected to participate by their high school teachers, and they are expected to present materials and information to their classmates when they get back to school. Both students and teachers at Cura Secondary say that the strategies and resources that come back from the workshops are getting results! 

Medical Camp by the Numbers

Jane, Margaret and Peris have gathered some of the basic data from our Medical Camp day, and here are some of the significant numbers...

The number of Cura community members who participated in our Medical Clinic day...
Actually, it's OVER this number, AND this doesn't include the 50 of our children at the Home!

The number of male patients screened for prostate cancer.

The number of female patients screen for breast and cervical cancers.

The number of patients screened for HIV. Of that number, two patients screened positive and were referred to the appropriate government clinic for further treatment and information.

The number of patients screened for diabetes.

At least 100 people, including our 50 children, were also screened for hearing, vision and ENT issues. One of the girls in our Home has significant hearing loss, as it turns out, and is now pursuing treatment. As Jane recently pointed out, all of these services are expensive enough for the local community that almost none of them would have had either testing or treatment had we not collaborated on this important event. 

THANK YOU to those who gave their time, talent and resources in support of this successful day!

Mondays are for Books

Thanks to generous donors in the US and Canada -- and most especially thanks to Afretech, who provided shipping -- Cura Secondary School just received new library books!

Quick Sunday Visit -- with socks

More socks from One World Chorus and the Rox and Sox event in Portland? YES, please! 

Also, let's dance! It's what Sundays are for. 

Happy Mother's Day from Cura!

Cura Clinic and Valley ENT --- Best Medical Camp partners, ever!

The Grace Wanjiku Mweru Cancer Foundation, Valley ENT and ACK Cura Clinic partnered yesterday for an event that exceeded our expectations in every way. Our volunteers were on-point, the community turned out in droves, and even Citizen TV made an appearance. The event was possible because of fund-raising done by Leah (see previous blog post!) back home in Louisiana -- I was thrilled that she could be here to help with the preparations and even conduct some of the testing along side her Cura counterparts. 

John, Stephen, Leah, Gilbert and Duncan -- with the banner announcing our event.
Many thanks to Roselyne from Valley ENT for providing our signage!

Emily with the Grace Wanjiku Mweru Cancer Foundation, woman-ing a table of educational materials. Cura community members were screened for breast, cervical and prostate cancers, and were welcome to take informational flyers. Many thanks for the Foundation for providing qualified personnel to do these crucial screenings!

I was working all day, so didn't have a lot of time for photos... but this is one from early in the day. Once the tents were up at about 8:30, there was already a queue and the Clinic waiting room was full. Many thanks to all the volunteers who got the word out in advance of our event!

Special thanks to Roselyne, who found us a couple of years ago and has kept up such great energy for volunteering with us. She rallied her Valley ENT team, brought equipment and supplies, and tirelessly conducted hearing testing all day. Here's Henry, her first Cura Rotary Home patient of the day!

Leah woman-ed the blood pressure testing area -- and once the adult crowds abated, Joyce and Minne came in for their own assessments.

Citizen TV came out to capture images of our event -- here's Moses, the Home Manager, doing his interview for the press. Thanks, again, to Roselyne for making the arrangements for the media presence!

Here's our team after a 10-hour work day -- having served hundreds of people and still smiling!

Yeah yeah, work. But also fun.

We had lots of work to do today to finalize the upcoming Medical Camp and organize for the lab maintenance... but we also had lots of fun!

Car ride!

Coloring!

Blowing bubbles!

Hair-stylin'!

Gratitude Art

Leah worked at the Clinic again today, and I worked with the teachers at Cura's Primary and Secondary schools to prepare them for completing scholarship applications on behalf of their students. We had a little time, though, for a  lunch time art project -- and the kids made thank you drawings for their sponsors!

Lunchtime Shenanigans

I stayed in Nairobi today, meeting with three different potential non-profit partners and picking up scholarship applications from Kenya Education Fund -- but lucky Leah got to spend the day in Cura, shadowing the activity at the Clinic and hanging around the Home! We'll both be back in Cura all day tomorrow -- and Friday, too -- as we finalize plans for Saturday's big event!

Un-Glamorous Tuesday

Everyone's back in school in Cura now -- teachers and students are hard at work, and I'm trying to stay out of their way. I'm still peeking in windows, though, and feeling thankful that I'm not in charge of washing the lunch dishes! In fact, we were treated to a lovely lunch at the home of Moses and his wife -- and we even outran the downpour mid-day. Life is good!

Volunteer Leah was a great sport today, as the Clinic staff and I labored over each line of the budget for this weekend's Medical Camp. We've got a wonderful team member in Roselyne, who's bringing her colleagues from Valley ENT (Nairobi) as part of their social responsibility program -- and civic-minded members of the Cura community have signed up to help the event run smoothly. Watch for more photos this weekend!

Monday Scenes

The word is out that our Clinic will host a medical camp (Health Day) next Saturday... signs like these lined the road on the way up to Cura today!

We ran into Grace along the road, too, which is always a pleasure...

and this sign awaited us when we arrived. The greeting was from the children and for each other, of course -- they are excited to be reunited after their holiday break!

Saturday at the Clinic

Volunteer Leah has arrived with a bag full of useful donations for Cura Clinic -- with help from Dr. Sophie Omoro in Louisiana. Jane, Perris and Margaret helped unpacked the bags and sort the new inventory! We are grateful for the donation!

Prior to going through the stack of swabs and syringes, we had a meeting to prepare for next week's Community Health Clinic, which will include screenings for HIV, diabetes, and breast and prostate cancer, as well as ENT, vision and hearing assessments. Lots to plan -- the word will start to spread after tomorrow's event announcement at church! 

Friday

Cura is quiet when the children are on holiday...

But the teachers at both the Primary and Secondary schools are busy with preparations! 

Balls

The Seattle-based Olsen Family made a recent donation that came with a special request that I buy soccer balls and other athletic equipment for the Cura kids to enjoy this trip. I picked up some of those items today, and I concentrated on balls made by Alive and Kicking, another Kenya-based non-profit that's doing admirable work. Also, their tagline is pretty awesome.

Thanks, Olsens!

Birthday Goodness

Monday is ending here in Nairobi, but it's still Cura-sponsor Beth's birthday on  the west coast of the US... and she's been encouraging her friends to give! 

In lieu of gifts to her, her friends have already donated about $4500 through our Network for Good link. As I put my jet-lagged head on my pillow here, I'm sending a big 

Happy Birthday!

to Beth and a heart-felt 

Thank You! 

to the generous people who have included Cura in their celebration of her.

Louisiana Garage Sale for Cura Clinic!

Leah decided to raise funds to support a Community Health Day through Cura Clinic, and her weekend garage sale got the job done! We're looking forward to having her in Cura in May!

High Tech Plea

Last June, we did a major overhaul of the computer lab equipment... and it's time to do it again! Our Nairobi-based IT folks say we need about US$800 worth of work done... please message me if you're willing to contribute to this cause!

Pipe Cleaners for Cura

James made a pipe cleaner man that he wanted to show the new calf...

Sundays are fun in Cura because the schedule is loose after church is out... so we brought art supplies and jump ropes and candy and socks, all donated by well-wishers from the other side of the planet. 

(You know who you are!)

Sharon couldn't decide whether she wanted to start with the pipe cleaners or the construction paper...

Maxwell started a colorful glasses trend!