What an incredible day! After a year of hard work, challenges, and staggering progress, the Takaungu community gathered on November 26th to celebrate the first anniversary of the Vutakaka Community Center. Over 300 community members came!

Community members decorated the Center with palm fronds and bougainvillea, set up a tent and engineered a sound system for the proceedings. The day began with ceremonies to mark the graduation of the nursery school's first class. The students marched in with special hats they had made for the day and performed songs and skits in English and Swahili. The students received their report cards and sweets and the top students were awarded prizes. The ceremony ended with the announcement of the 25 students who are enrolled in Vutakaka's first Standard One (first grade) class, which will begin in January. Ten of the students will receive partial scholarships thanks to generous donors.

After the nursery ceremony, each of the Center's programs had a slot to perform and talk about their work. The Farmer Field School students explained what they had learned about farming techniques over the past year and performing a skit about how the program has helped them improve their lives. The Health Class students performed a very funny skit about the importance of family planning, while the Adult Education students brought the house down with a comedy about how education prevents unwanted pregnancies. The Sewing Club members manned a booth where they sold their products at discounted prices, while students from the business class prepared baked goods and snacks, which they sold throughout the day. Between performances, community members danced to traditional and popular music from the sound system. The afternoon closed with the dedication of the new library at the center, stocked with books donated by folks from the U.S. (see the article below about the books project). Finally, Suzanne gave an inspiring speech. "Together, we have made this great community center a true success," she said. It was a great day had by all. Thanks to everyone who helped to make the Center a reality!

The afternoon closed with the dedication of the new library at the center, stocked with books donated by folks from the U.S. (see the article below about the books project). Finally, Suzanne gave an inspiring speech. "Together, we have made this great community center a true success," she said. It was a great day had by all. Thanks to everyone who helped to make the Center a reality!

Doing a drive at your office or school is a great way to help us with these needs. If you do collect the items, I will be coming to Seattle in February and can take as much as I can carry back with me to Kenya in March, hence there will be no shipping costs. However, if you do end up shipping the items to Kenya, please make sure to mark "donation to EAC NGO, for educational use only- not for resale" on the box and if possible, on the customs forms as well. Also, please take note that we are required to pay duty in accordance with the value you place on the items. The mailing address in Kenya is EAC PO BOX 85085 Mombasa, Kenya.

Want to donate to a specific need? How about sponsor a nursery or first grade student to attend our school for 2005? The EAC must find 25 sponsors for this coming year. Just $30.00 covers the school fees and uniform for each of our nursery students. A donation of $70.00 sponsors one of our first grade students per year. The EAC has gone to great lengths to ensure that only the most desperate of students receive sponsorship. Upon request, we will gladly keep you informed of your sponsored students progress. If interested in supporting this need, please send a check to the EAC at PO BOX 95703 Seattle WA. 98145. Make sure to memo on the check if you would like it to go toward sponsoring a child. Happy Holidays!!

What a day it was! On the same day as our Year End Celebration, a 20-foot shipping container load of books arrived at Vutakaka Center. The books were brought, thanks to the incredibly hard work of people from the UW's Campus Community Outreach Chapter, Books for Africa (a non-profit in the US) and the Mona Foundation. 25,000 books were donated in all!! Because Vutakaka only has space for several thousand, the rest of the books will be donated to organizations all over Kenya. Thanks to everyone who helped make this donation possible! These books will be treasured for years to come.

West Seattle resident and long-time EAC supporter, Denice Rochelle, has offered to hold a catalogue fundraiser for the EAC. Denice is willing to donate 30%!! of her holiday sales, through January 1st, to us here in Takaungu. She will gladly mail a catalogue to anyone interested in this beautiful line of Jewelry.

You can call Denice for a catalogue at 206.769.1214