Crossroads Springs Institute Children's School/Care Center for African Orphans of HIV/AIDS

CROSSROADS SPRINGS CARE CENTER
Hamisi, Kenya

Newsletter #4 November, 2006  “Save the Child!  Build the Nation!”

When we heard the news of this year¹s Nobel Peace Prize winner, our first thoughts were of Crossroads Springs and Hamisi. This fall the Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Bangladeshi-economist Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank. Mr. Yunus has helped millions of people pull themselves out of poverty through a microloan program, a program not unlike the one our partner organization, Both Your Hands, has started in Hamisi.

As the founder of Both Your Hands, Deb Naybor has traveled the world, distributing small loans to people to start businesses and work their way out of poverty. This past June, Deb traveled to Hamisi and met with a group of widows and widowers who have volunteered at Crossroads Springs or have children at the school. The group split into seven smaller groups, and each came up with a plan for a business: a bakery, a goat farm, a tea shop, a sewing cooperative, beehives for honey production, a used clothing shop, and a chicken farm. Both Your Hands will give each group a total of $500. With only $3500, 100 new jobs will be created in the community.

Jobs for the caregivers. Education for the children. Food, water, and medicine. While the big picture of poverty and disease in Africa is all over the media, we are happy to be able to help this one small community, one day at a time. As Mother Theresa said, “If you can¹t feed a hundred people, then feed one.”

Brief Updates:
We are pleased to report that the blankets, shoes, and toothbrushes we sent to Crossroads Springs back in July did in fact arrive! The shipment of 21 boxes (600 pounds total!) was quite an undertaking ­ many people were involved, from the Poughkeepsie, NY, dentist who donated toothbrushes, to the groups that donated blankets, to the 10 East Aurora, NY, parents and children who spent four hours on Fathers¹ Day packing up and recording the contents of all those boxes. We are also most grateful to World Courier, which donated the shipping costs. (And thanks to the Parkdale Elementary kids who donated their gently used shoes!)  To see photos of children trying on their blankets, shoes and using their toothbrushes, click on: November 2006 photographs.

At CSI, Term 3 began in early September with 135 children. The children receive a meal and a snack every day, as everyone recognizes that nourishment is essential for learning. Very few schools in the area offer food during the day.

Inspirations:
Inspiration comes from both young and old, North American and Kenyan. While widows and widowers are purchasing bees for honey, and chickens and goats, American teenagers at Federal Way (WA) Public Academy are planning fundraisers, as are students at Kenmore (NY) West Senior High School who have started a Both Your Hands Club. And in Blauvelt, NY, one 93-year-old great grandmother is donating $250 toward a well for Crossroads Springs Institute. Tanks underground and on the CSI roof are designed to store and collect rainwater; however, there hasn¹t been enough money to drill a well. While the well will cost about $2300, every little bit helps, and this anonymous great-grandmother invites others of all ages to join her in raising money for a well.

In this season of Thanksgiving, sacred holidays, and planning for the New Year in North America, please consider giving a gift to Crossroads Springs. While $300 provides for one child¹s needs for a year, a gift of any amount is significant in their lives. Remember that 100 percent of your tax-deductible gift is transferred directly to Crossroads Springs account in Kenya (97 percent if by credit card online).

 In Peace and Hope! Alison and Arthur Hyde