Please help us to faise funds for Peacemakers work in Kenya by obtaining sponsors for Jess Walker, who’s going to complete another Sponsored half marathon run on Sunday28^th September in Windsor. It’s looks like a fantastic venue for the event, see for yourselves by clicking here. Jess Walker is running for Peacemakers and will be wearing the t-shirt shown below, so that people will recognise him amongst the other competitors.

A Sponsorship Form is available to download from here. Please try and help Jess raise as much money as possible for the Kenyan Porridge Mill Building Fund. A facility which will be open to use by the local cummunity in Runyenjes, Kenya, and one which will help the resource centre become self sustaining.

Patrick’s Funeral took place on 21^st February and was attended by over 1200 people. In Kenya, everybody feels part of the family’s grieving and a great procession was formed to view the body via a glass panel in the coffin. It was placed on a bench in the prayer house within the Peacemakers site and Chrissie tells us that many ladies were overcome and were carried out weeping. Chrissie found the continuous singing very uplifting, confirming to her the passing of one who had gone to live with his Lord and Saviour.  The coffin was then carried to a field where there was a photo session with his wife Harriet and various groups followed by the valedictory speeches from colleagues, church and family members, the eulogy; which included reference to his love for peacemakers and finally Pastor Moses who preached and Bishop Salesio who spoke. There was African singing and dances and a time of prayer before the burial on family owned land. There were further hymns and a sermon at the grave before, and as tradition requires, the soil was placed over the coffin by the same youth who had dug the grave.  Wreaths were placed and those remaining fed with rice and stew before leaving. It had all taken 7 hours.

 Chrissie reported it had been an emotional day as the whole community and Peacemakers had lost a teacher, a preacher, a seeker of the lost, a helper of the addicted, an advocate and intermediary, a dear husband, a father, friend and brother in the Lord.

 A full account of the funeral and a “last memory”can be read below on previous posts.

Patrick’s Vision for Peacemakers was expressed to Chrissie only days before he died. He had a burning desire to help those who had missed out on life’s chances and to extend our current Bible Study classes and create a Bible School. Chrissie still half expects him to appear around a corner shouting, “Hodi! (Swahili for “is anyone home?”), is there a cup of chai (tea) there?”

Tributes: Thanks for all the tributes to Patrick from Peacemaker friends which have been collated and together with all the pictures we have will be presented to his wife Harriet and family.

 Sponsored Half-Marathon Run by Jess Walker has raised £322 for Peacemakers projects. 1500 took part and Jess completed the race in 2hrs 2min 56 sec. Congratulations to Jess who’s set himself a further challenge to beat 2hrs. at another half-marathon event at Windsor in September. He will be wearing a Peacemakers T shirt as before.    Watch this space……………..

Building Work.  A good start has been made on the foundations for the restaurant, bakery and clinic with £6000 approved by the committee for materials and labour costs for some of the continuation works. The materials include hard-core, ballast, sand, cement, bricks and timber which need to be on site before the heavy rains come.

If there are any fit and able people out there who would like to give of their holiday time or even a longer period, to visit Kenya to get involved in the above building work, or any other project, it would be fantastic.  I’m afraid you will have to pay your own fare and expenses, but the reward you would receive from living and working in the community, outweighs the cost.  The accommodation would be very reasonable as you could stay on site.  If you are interested please get in touch.

AGM for Peacemakers Kenya has elected Peter Wagakindi as chairman with Lucy Ndwiga and Grace Kauma re-elected as Treasurer and Secretary respectively. Sammy Gitunga (an original Peacemaker with Patrick) was made an honorary member of the committee.

John Musiymi is now 24, is mentally unstable and lives with his grandmother. His mother had died of aids years ago and his drunkard HIV+ father in December 2013 having refused for years to take the anti-retroviral drugs. John had TB in 2010 and lots of other sicknesses but has made good progress socially. He attends school with the children but needs training for simple tasks to get a job. He also needs a home of his own.  Peacemakers are caring for him at the moment.

As we have mentioned before, there is no ‘Special Needs Care’ in Kenya, so certain individuals in the UK are sponsoring children and a few adults monthly by Direct Debit for them to receive education and medical care.  You will see fully grown adults sitting with a class of young children and handicapped children attending schools.  John is a prime example of the difference you are making to these unfortunate and deprived people. In fact John is beginning to come alive and claps his hands in excitement of being able to walk and talk a little now. 

Thank you for your support and care.

SAD NEWS from Kenya: Patrick Kavungura Nyaga, a key man in the formation and development of the Peacemakers project died a few days ago from a heart condition. We are all terribly saddened by this and send our deepest sympathies to his wife Harriett and the extended family. Anyone wishing to send a tribute to Patrick’s life please contact Brenda who will forward it to Chrissie who will be representing Peacemakers at his funeral. If you feel to contribute in any way to his family, please forward your gifts to Brenda. A tribute to Patrick and his work for Peacemakers will be produced later and posted on the website for everybody to read.

Sponsored Run: Just a quick reminder that the half marathon run is this coming Sunday23^rd Feb. It’s the first one ever held at Hampton court. Jess Walker is running for Peacemakers and will be wearing the t-shirt shown below, so that people will recognise him amongst the 1500 competitors running.  A sponsorship form is available to download from here. Please try and help Jess raise as much money as possible for the Peacemakers Projects in Kenya.

It’s the time of the year when we think about giving gifts to others who are less fortunate than ourselves.

Thanks Jess and good luck!

Sponsored Run: Jess, a friend of Peacemakers is planning to run a half marathon to raise funds for us. He’s an English teacher in Hertfordshire and will participate in an organised event for some 1500 runners at Hampton Court on 23rd February 2014. The distance is 13.5 miles and a sponsorship form is available here. The money raised will be used to provide mosquito nets and malarial medication in response to the sad death from malaria of the 19 year old Kenyan Samson Musoyka which we reported in our October bulletin.                                        

The resource centre is currently hired-out for teaching, conferences and a wide range of events involving the local community.

The Committee are looking at plans to develop new projects on site including a Restaurant, Bakery and more Traditional Houses to accommodate friends and visitors of Peacemakers. In the light of lives lost to malaria, the second phase hopes to provide a medical clinic offering emergency malaria support and other medical needs.

We have started a ‘Building Fund’ and our target for the above external building work is £19,000.00

Mosquito nets save lives.

Peacemakers has an anonymous sponsor who has thrown out a challenge to all our friends.  For every child, youth and adult who donates £5.00 to ‘Save a Life’ this Christmas, the sponsor will donate £1 to the Building Fund.  The £5.00 will buy a family size Mosquito Net and malarial medication for one person.  One thousand £5.00 donors = £1,000.00 from our sponsor towards building a Clinic; Guaranteed.

Invitation to new young Fund Raisers: Brenda’s seven year old great nephew sold some of his clothes and toys on eBay to help feed the starving children in Kenya.  He is hoping to set a trend and encourage other young people to do the same and sell some of their unwanted toys.  If you do want to join this scheme please contact Brenda on 01920 830317 and your achievement will be rewarded with a Certificate.

Opportunities for Student placements are being explored at the Runyenjes Resource Centre for 2014 gap year or other students to visit and work with the Peacemakers’ Project Director Christine.  This is a great chance to become actively involved with the local Kenyan community.  School teaching, basic health care, Drugs Awareness, Food Hygiene, care of animals, woodworking skills and general building work are just some of the areas in which visitors can be involved whether for a few weeks or months.  Accommodation will be provided free, but each volunteer will have to cover the cost of their flight, transport to site from Nairobi, food and spending money.

Further details from Brenda Marshall 01920 830317.

Local Contact: George Kamau has responded by email after finding Peacemakers on the internet and offered his support.  Amazingly he lives in Runyenjes just down the road from the Resource Centre and has visited our site.  He has just finished his degree at Moi University and awaiting his results and is very happy to serve the Community working alongside other volunteers.  A young Australian graduate Matthew finishing studies in Milan has also expressed a desire to spend some time working in the Kenyan Community; it would be great if the two could work on a project together early next year.  The door is open to all who would like to serve in this way, using their talents and skills.

Students from UK lending a helping hand!

We had a real set back in the summer of 2012 when Kisimani House was gutted by fire and Isaac our Foreman died, but I can truthfully say that we have turned a corner and are very hopeful in seeing Kisimani completely restored and other workshops, clinic etc. built in 2014/15.

Thank you once again for being so faithful in your giving and support of our Fund Raising Events in 2013.  We are hoping for a team of volunteers to visit Kenya throughout the year and get involved practically and spiritually.  You know the old saying “Many hands make light work”, it’s very true and at the same time having fun doing it and working together – working towards the same goal of making a better place to live in for the local communities.

You will find great blessing in this as you bless others.  The rewards come from giving. 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY  from Peacemakers’ Team  And a Prosperous New Year for the Kenyans.

Every Blessing from Brenda

Busy Summer:  Chrissie returned to Kenya from the UK in July and was immediately immersed in building work and organising visitors to the Resource Centre site. Since her return the grills and window frames have been repaired, glass fitted in most windows in Kisimani House and 8 doors remade.

Mazera stones were laid to the kitchen and in front of the Prayer House, the kitchen was repainted and cabinets repaired/replaced. The fire damaged internal walls have been cleaned and painted white. The plumbing is almost complete, with all materials purchased and phase-1 of the electrics and other maintenance work done.

Visitors from UK: included Toni (a teacher at Ardeley School) and husband Aaron Minson who stayed a week.  Aaron worked on mapping the site using Google and planning for the future restaurant and costing’s for a cyber café, which is hoped to start next year.  Aaron also knew, being a surfer, how to clean the bath with wet and dry sandpaper and Vim.

Sandra Colman stayed for two and half weeks and helped with computer work, planning, sorting, cleaning and of course art classes!

Funds Used All the £2210 raised for specified uses and collected from donations by a very energetic Chrissie during her home visit have been put to good use. In addition to the above work to KIsimani House, the cooker and other kitchen equipment has been provided.  The £500 raised at the Mohan restaurant get together in June and the £470 raised at the open day at Brenda’s in July have gone into general funds for the local community, buying materials and maintenance of the Resource Centre.

School Sponsors Individual sponsors are supporting the handicapped and destitute children at the local Junior and Secondary Schools by the payment of boarding fees and provision of a ‘starter pack’. This includes the basics i.e. pens, pencils, toothbrush/paste, soap, Vaseline as a moisturiser and a calculator for the older students.

TWAM A UK organisation which provides second hand tools restored to new has recently provided two sewing machines, a carpenter’s kit and a leather worker’s kit which Chrissie collected after a 10 hour drive to the Kenyan border. We only pay transport costs. The tools were excellent.

Please advise Brenda of any thoughts or ideas you may have.  All donations and funds raised are welcome.  We have minimal overheads since all the team members are volunteers.

Gift Aid:  It is of great advantage to Peacemakers if donations can be gift-aided.  You need to be a UK taxpayer, see HERE for details.

Funding Needs: Significant funding is still needed to restore Kisimani House and toilets and we are seeking help from Kenyan Business Houses I.e. Kenya Power, Sarfaricom etc. Help is sought from UK sponsors and individuals to build the restaurant, cyber café, bakery and clinic. This will help create more income on-site.  Chrissie’s car needs a lot of maintenance work i.e. welding etc. and new tyres.  This vehicle is a very essential part in the running of the site, being a work horse to transport people, the hiring out of chairs and other equipment to different venues from our site plus the delivery of building materials.

Meanwhile all building work will have to cease while funds are being raised.

The Kitchen Table Trust is being approached for support for HIV Women’s Group and their work with widows.

Shopping List:  The particular needs at the moment are, water filters £45.00 each (to provide clean water to homes and schools). School starter packs £20.00. Mosquito nets £5.00 each (Malaria is still the highest killer in Kenya). Flip flops to provide protection from  ‘jiggers’ (a Chigoe flea that lives in the soil) (£10 for 3 pairs)

“Jigger” a flea with awful consequences!

young or old, bare feet makes you vulnerable.

What “Jiggers” can do and more!

Breaking News:  Sadly we have just heard of the death of Samson Musyoka, one of our sponsored students.  He died of cerebral malaria last week at the age of 19.  After not treating his incessant headache he was in agony by week 2 and felt his head was bursting with pain, turning him delirious. He was a bright student and had all sorts of plans for the future and wanted to study law. Deaths like this could be avoided if only there was free medication. It is therefore appropriate to add to our shopping list the following:

Malaria medicine:  1 dose £2.00, Cerebral Malaria pills- £18.00. This is the reason we wish to build a Clinic in the next building phase and hopefully hold an emergency stock of medicines run by a qualified pharmacist.

Samson’s funeral was on the 19^th October, any contribution to the cost of this would ease the financial burden on the family as his only close surviving relative is his disabled sister.

It’s been sometime since my last update and I apologise for my lack of communication through the summer months. It has been totally due to ill health in members of the Peacemakers’ team, (including myself) and, of course, it was the holiday season as well when not many people were around.

Anyway you all know that Christine Gibbard was home from Kenya for a vacation, from March to June this year, and many of you spent time with her. During her time here we had fundraising events – thank you again for your participation and support, the donations received have returned with Christine to Kenya.  From these monies a double oven cooker was purchased, but not connected yet until we have restored the electricity to Kisimani House, after the fire of last summer.  The glass and lead window frames have been repaired and replaced, making the house more secure.

Crazy paving has been laid in front of the Prayer House and pathways from House to Kitchen, making everywhere so much cleaner and drier in the rainy seasons. Inside walls have changed colour from charcoal to white and are more user friendly. Thank you to all the sponsors supporting secondary school and handicapped children through their education, day and boarding.  School fees have been paid for the term and school packs bought for some.  If you would like to donate £20 for a school pack it will contain all the essentials they need to start i.e. pen and pencils in a case, toothbrush/paste, soap, Vaseline as moisturiser and a Casio Scientific Calculator for secondary school pupil.

It is our intention to send quarterly bulletins to you, giving progress reports on all projects you are supporting. If you could visit and see the effect your continued support is having in the community through the many varied projects that have established over time and the way the Resource Centre is already being used, you would be amazed and thrilled.

Thank you as always

Brenda Marshall

A big thank you to everyone that supported us at the Peacemakers fundraiser. It wasn’t well attended but we still had a lovely time with those who did come along. A special thanks to Luke Crouch who gave up his day off to help raise funds for the needy of Kenya. It was great to see the gap-year students who had previously been out to Kenya. I would encourage any new youngsters who would like to go to get in touch; it’s a life changing experience.

A big thank you to everyone who supported the Peacemakers fundraiser at the Mohan and made it a very enjoyable evening. We raised a £300.00 donation from the Mohan for the meal (35% of the takings) and £165.00 from the raffle. All proceeds will go towards the rewiring of the Kismani community House in Kenya.

Here’s a link to a short article in the South Wales Evening Post, about Chrissie visiting her home town to raise the profile of Peacemakers and our work in Kenya.

Christine returns to Manselton!

Chrissie has managed to send these photos through using some else’s computer as her laptop was destroyed in the fire.

They’re heart-breaking to look at.