Caring Across Continents: May 2007

Caring Across Continents

Caring Across Continents is the May service project for the Capitol School.

This is an amazing opportunity to help children at a school in Kenya!

The Caring Across Continents project has been taken up by Forest and River Copeland, students at The Capitol School for the last 5 years, to bring support and supplies from one school in the US to another in Nairobi, Kenya.

The children need the basics:
Food, water, shoes, paper, pencils…
We can help!

Most people (>80%) in slums around Nairobi live in extreme poverty. This means that they earn less than a dollar a day—less than the minimum required for shelter, food, and clean water. Schools try to meet the needs of the children (many of which are AIDS orphans). Schools try to feed the children once a day. Oftentimes, this is the only meal these children have each day. The children are surrounded by poverty, AIDS, malaria, drugs and alcohol, and yes, death.

Miraculously, these children are filled with hope! They are beautiful kids.
We can help to make a difference in their lives and learn about their culture in the process!

We will be able to reach out to children in need across oceans and continents! We will also bring their stories (and pictures, too) back to share with everyone in the fall! We are asking only for money because it is so very expensive and unreliable to ship packages to Kenya. We will be able to purchase more there with less money and no shipping charges.

Please help us make this project a success! Some of you probably saw the American Idol Gives Back special. This is another way we can help people stricken by disease and poverty. Please consider making a donation today.

Will you make a donation?

Forest and River will visit with the children at the school to share stories of their home and learn stories from the students. They will also be able to find out what the school needs most—food, water, paper, shoes for the children, etc.

100% of all donations go to supplying the children with what they need.

As many of you know, Toni Copeland is working on her Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology. Her focus is on HIV / AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, especially among poverty stricken women. We (Chris, Forest, River, and Toni) will be leaving on the last day of school to go to Nairobi, Kenya for 5 months for her dissertation research.
Unlike most other aid programs, we are traveling to Kenya anyway, so NONE of your donations are being spent on our travel or lodging for the trip. Everything we collect for Caring Across Continents goes from our children to help buy much needed supplies for the children of a school in a slum around Nairobi, Kenya.

Will you reach out to the children?

Take a few moments to look over The Project in more detail and some Photos taken three years ago when Toni last visited Nairobi.

Will you make a difference?

To find out how you can donate, Please contact us at caringacrosscontinents@gmail.com.

Albert Schweitzer:
"I have always held firmly to the thought that each one of us can do a little to bring some portion of misery to an end."

Margaret Mead:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

21 May 2007

Contribution Total

We have collected the contributions from all sources and to our elation, the total donations for the 3 weeks since we started collecting for the project is $1520.

This is so AWESOME!
With this much, we may be able to help 2 different schools.

Thank you so very much for all your assistance.

Watch the web site for updates as we post them.

17 May 2007

Contributions Accumulate

We received the Contribution from St Paul United Methodist Church in Fort Payne, AL = $420

Combined with what we have already collected, we have accumulated over $1000 to help school children in Nairobi.

We thank you and the children will also thank you very much!

11 May 2007

School in a Nairobi slum

This is a school I visited called Youth for Hope. The building is constructed of tin sheets, has no electricity, and no running water. But, they educate children. They also try to feed the kids one meal a day.

This is 1 of the 2 classrooms at Youth for Hope. There is only 1 room inside. So, the older children have class outside.

This is a picture of the area just to the right of Youth for Hope. It is one of the many garbage heaps That is often filled with goats, pigs, and people sifting through the plastic bags looking for food.

Children at Play in a Nairobi slum

These children are playing in the streets of their neighborhood on Saturday.
There is sewage draining next to the road in the background.
In some areas, this drain-off is their water source.

10 May 2007

Caring Across Continents presentation to Druid Hills Methodist Church

The presentation was given as part of the Druid Hills Methodist Church evening service, today. A collection was taken for the project and raised over $80.

Thanks to everyone.

03 May 2007

Annual Capitol School Picnic

At the annual Capitol School birthday picnic this year, we set up a table and a display board. Though the fliers had only gone out a couple of days before, we were hopeful that we could raise awareness of the project and garner some donations in the process. We collected nearly $250 from this event.

Thanks to all who donated!

02 May 2007

Caring Across Continents Presentation shown for the first time

The presentation was given to the Youth Group at Druid Hills Methodist Church this evening. They have promissed to conduct a fund raising event and donate the money for the children in Kenya.

01 May 2007

Fliers sent out announcing the project

Two Page Fliers were delivered to everyone's mailboxes in The Capitol School (students and faculty)

Caring Across Continents