Thanks again to all of you who supported/came to my Kageno event last Tuesday. The final tally isn’t in yet, but the evening was a success! I have deepappreciation for your kindness (and will definitely try to reciprocate at some point in the future.)
I wanted to avoid boring speeches during the party, but a number of you have asked questions – here are the answers:
The Nursery School
The school we are building has 4 classrooms (spanning approx 6,000 sq ft) and serves 300 kids (ages 3-6). The mortality rate for village children under 5 is quite high, so the school is meant to give the poorest ones (many of whom are orphaned) an ‘early education’, day-time shelter from the sun and rains, medical attention and at least one square meal a day. The uniforms are also the only real clothes that many of these kids have. My view is if we can save a life or two, the school will have been worthwhile (despite whatever turns the political situation in Rwanda may take.)
The Kageno Story
Kageno was started by Frank Andolino and a Rob Place, a Peace Corps volunteer he met while climbing Kilimanjaro. Together they met Alphonse, a young man from Rusinga Island in Kenya. Alphonse realized that with an HIV rate of over 60%, his village was on its way to disappearing. To feed their children, many women were trading sex for fish from the itinerant fishermen – and so HIV was spreading quickly. Frank and Rob founded Kageno to help Alphonse break the cycle of prostitution, poverty and disease on Rusinga. Kageno came in and with village leaders, built a school, pharmacy, clinic, waste management system, water and power systems and the like. Maybe more importantly, Kageno instituted micro-loan programs and gave the women access to vocational skills so that they could move away from prostitution. In essence, Kageno has given the village people the tools to help themselves… That process is now being replicated at Banda Village deep in a valley in Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest – where “my” school is located. Already, Maggie Q has donated the pharmacy, Lillian Vernon has donated both the medical clinic and community center, a water system has been built, an agricultural program is being funded by Edward Norton and funds are now being raised for a nearby eco-lodge… Other income-generating and micro-loan programs are also underway. Unfortunately, there is still no electricity in the valley…
Why Kageno
I chose to build the Nursery school through Kageno for 2 reasons: 1) the organization is about helping people help themselves and NOT about continuous handouts, and 2) I have a deep appreciation for the grassroots nature of the organization. Because Kageno is run by volunteers with little US infrastructure, almost all money raised goes straight to Africa – our money is not going to pay for “overhead.” That’s important to me. Plus, I really like that fact that otherwise normal individuals in NYC are trying to make a difference in the world.
There are a lot of bigger, fancier organizations doing similarly valuable work in Africa – but Kageno is real.
Me and My Project – Not a Forever (or even “Annual” thing)
When my father died, I decided I wanted to do something philanthropic in his memory. I chose Africa for a number of reasons. But to be honest, I was thinking I would send a nice little check and some teddy bears to an orphanage there. Never in a million years did I imagine taking on a $250,000+ project or that I would be “hosting benefits” two years later. I hate fundraising and I am not good at it. However, I liked the idea of a lasting school for little ones and wanted to bring attention to Kageno’s broader work. Hopefully we have accomplished that.
While the Nursery School “technically” opened in February – it is not finished. We need to build a kitchen, buy additional furnishings and supplies, hire teachers’ assistants and generally maintain the school until the village can take over. While it is true that one dollar goes a long way in Africa – these projects are not cheap (the kitchen alone will cost $30,000, medical supplies for a year cost $12,000 and the food program costs $20,000/year.) The good news is we are close to the finish line and this is a finite project. I would like to finish the construction and find larger, established organizations to take over various school programs (e.g. food for the orphans) over the next year or so, so that the project can be turned over to the village for maintenance going forward…
I am open to any creative ideas people have for fundraising. Also, any introductions to larger NGOs or corporations that can donate in-kind are also much appreciated. I would like to avoid another benefit (for the rest of my life J) if possible. Depending on what in-kind donations we can secure (and what costs we can cut) we are really only $75,000-100,000 away from being DONE.
If you haven’t donated yet and want to (or know someone who might want to) – please click HERE. If you have any questions about Kageno or just are planning a trip to Africa and want guidance, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me or Frank Andolino (Frank@kageno.org). Hopefully, some of you will be able to visit the SL Nursery School (or Rusinga Island) at some point in the future.
Thanks again for your support (and apologies for the long mass email.)
Happy summer!
Danielle
