October 2020 Donor Letter
- By Hayden Bixby
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- 24 Oct, 2020
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Starting to plot the way forward to 2021
Dear Friends,
Back in February, I was in Kenya, preparing for another year of supporting our Cura kids through their studies and young-adulthoods. Little did we know then that, merely a few weeks later, all schools in Kenya -- and children's homes, too -- would be completely shut down while the world waited for Covid-19 to loosen its grip.
Back in February, I was in Kenya, preparing for another year of supporting our Cura kids through their studies and young-adulthoods. Little did we know then that, merely a few weeks later, all schools in Kenya -- and children's homes, too -- would be completely shut down while the world waited for Covid-19 to loosen its grip.
We're still waiting... but you can rest assured that I've been working virtually, in very close partnership, with leadership on the ground, and we are very proud of the difficult decisions and creative solutions we've implemented together.
One: We shuttered the Home itself and mandated our social worker to locate homestay situations for all of our kids. 37 local households suddenly became our extended family.
Two: We distributed all of our food and staple supplies to these households, then began a major fundraising push for $2000 per month so that we could distribute life-saving essentials in "kits" every month until the end of 2020.
Three: We continued to cultivate our Garden, using it to supplement the monthly distributions to our 37 local homestay families.
Four: We also shuttered the Clinic,
after a major drop-off in community use that made it impossible to stay financially self-sufficient. We committed to using our health care funding to directly cover treatment expenses for any of our kids who needs treatment, regardless of provider.
Five: We worked with a handful of specific donors to offset expenses and provide business-plan support for our most entrepreneurial recent graduates who had already entered the work world but who lost their jobs. We have seeded their leather crafting, tailoring and pig farming businesses, among others!
There has been a lot of uncertainty this year, and perhaps this list strikes you as a litany of loss... but, actually, we are really proud of our mission-focus and our stewardship of donor dollars.
Now that Kenya is phasing in a return to primary and secondary schools, as well as colleges and universities, we have our 2020 funds to draw from to cover expenses and round the corner into 2021.
We are grateful to all of you who have tracked our progress on social media
and through this blog, and we hope you'll consider making a generous donation so we can make 2021 a year of opportunity and hope for our Cura community.
I know Giving Tuesday is coming up,
and you'll be receiving lots of requests... but Cura won't be participating (for administratively complicated reasons). I would be grateful if you would be willing to make a donation early, and to help me spread the word about our work!
With warm regards, and hoping you and yours are safe and healthy,
Hayden
After a year of covid-pause, our girls are back to school and ready to rule! We are grateful beyond words to have been awarded $5,500 in scholarship funds to help ensure that their expenses are paid. For so many girls in Kenya, concerns over school fees interfere with academic success -- so this award not only pays the bills but also frees our girls to concentrate on doing their own best work.
Check out The White Feather Foundation's announcement of the award here!
Check out The White Feather Foundation's announcement of the award here!
We are beyond thrilled to announce that our Safari Nights Auction is LIVE for browsing, and will begin in earnest on 12 March, at 4:30pmPST https://www.burningtorchinc.com/collections/safari-nights-auction
More information is on its way, but please mark your calendar and plan to jump in to the auction hosted by our wonderful friends at Burning Torch and Henson Studios... there will be rockstar items to bid on and lots of opportunity to help us make 2021 a hopeful and energized year for the kids at Cura. Stay tuned!
As Kenyan schools re-open and life starts the tentative path back to normalcy, our graduates are cautiously optimistic and boldly creative as they plan for their post-covid futures. Mercy, for example, sent me the above image when I asked after her small business... such joy! such empowerment! such confidence! She's spending her quarantine time creating bags like the one pictured below, and she's going to launch her Instagram site soon to start marketing her wares. Saying we feel proud is a massive understatement.
The New Year is getting our kids back on track... Above, some of our high school grads gather at JKR to lay the groundwork for their post-secondary studies. Simon is obviously doing his best to hold the attention of his siblings!
Below, Cyrus looks thrilled to be getting fitted for his new uniform... and getting back to his Form 2 coursework.
Given how seriously the virus is still ravaging the rest of the world, it's wonderful to have these glimpses of normalcy in our kids' lives! Thank you to so many of you who have helped us get these young people back to a place where they can scroll through social media and roll their eyes at us.
Below, Cyrus looks thrilled to be getting fitted for his new uniform... and getting back to his Form 2 coursework.
Given how seriously the virus is still ravaging the rest of the world, it's wonderful to have these glimpses of normalcy in our kids' lives! Thank you to so many of you who have helped us get these young people back to a place where they can scroll through social media and roll their eyes at us.
Our 2019 high school grads have waited so patiently to see where their futures will lead... and we're helping them take their first steps into dreaming up a post-covid world where they are free (and funded!) to pursue their career aspirations. They met recently with the social workers at John Kaheni Residence to discuss their options, and we're looking forward to seeing what inspiring things they'll do in 2021! Please do help fund their academic pursuits if/as you can at : https://creativevisions.networkforgood.com/projects/16422-creative-visions-fiscal-sponsorship-cura-o...
Our Cura families send their love and gratitude to all of you who helped make it possible to distribute food and supplies to keep them afloat during these past 7 Shelter-in-Place months. The sun is shining again in Austin's Kitchen Garden, too, and we're looking ahead to better days in 2021. Thank you, all, for your generosity and thoughtfulness!
As our Cura young people have grown up and into their boarding school positions or their post-secondary enrollments, our Home has emptied of the joyful noises of the 50 watoto who once lived there 24/7. Recognizing that fewer and fewer children would need to call this structure "home" over time, we began the process of managing the underutilization of the facility itself and converting the building to other uses. With covid hastening the placement of our kids into community home stays, the time came to formally turn over the building to new management. We are proud of our Board of Managers in Cura who made this big decision and supported a seamless transition so that our Home can have a new role to play in the village.
Our kids and their families are masked up and staying safe... and they've stayed healthy and fed because of YOU. Since May, we've been distributing food and staple items to the 37 households where our young people have been sheltering in place. YOU have helped us reach our goal and keep our promise to make these distributions through 2020! Our last event will happen next week, in preparation for households hunkering down for Christmas, and then we'll turn our attention to plans for the New Year. Thank you for all of your contributions, words of support and good thoughts for these young people and for the whole Cura community!