Jacob, from the Bridge's class, is in dire need of school fees and has asked if I could send out a request to all of you to please consider helping him at this time. He is about to be chased out of school and that would be a tragedy because he is such a great kid. He owes Takaungu Secondary School $270.00 to clear past fees as well as to cover him for the rest of this year. Please consider making a donation to the EAC to help him stay in school. If you have any questions, please email me, Suzanne Jeneby, at sjeneby@eastafricancenter.org. You can send your money for Jacob, made out to the EAC, to PO BOX 95703 Seattle, WA 98145. Please memo on the check: for Jacob.Thank you.

Teaching an Adult may be one of the hardest things to do. At the same time, I find it one of the most interesting, encouraging and motivating experiences I have ever had. My name is Mohamed Pwani and I am the adult education instructor at Vutakaka Community Centre. Seeing adults, despite their age, family responsibilities, and available time etc. come long distances to get their first taste of a pen is wonderful. One adult testified, "I thought I would never hold a pen in life." - To me as a facilitator, this testimony sounded very deep and candid, and I felt it was the biggest encouragement and experience I ever had in life.

I feel so glad to be working with Vutakaka for it helps illuminate with rays of hope, those who struggle in the darkness of illiteracy. Amongst those involved in the program, there are also a lot of young adults who still have much hope and opportunity available to them in life. I encourage these adults, particularly, because I believe it is never too late to learn. Some of my students are small-scale business owners and now with the help of our adult education program, know how to do their business transactions, and elementary counting.

More so, education is enlightening them to get more and more involved in national development activities. I am dedicated to encouraging more adults to join this program.

The EAC is a remarkable grassroots development organization offering real opportunities for positive change in the lives of hundreds of people, each and every day. In order to keep the organization continually running in good order, we are in need of ongoing volunteer support, both in and out of Kenya.

If you are interested in volunteering in Kenya, visit www.comekuona.org. Come Kuona is a separate organization, based in Kenya, that recruits and guides volunteers through the entire volunteer experience of working with us at Vutakaka Center in Takaungu, Kenya. We always need more volunteers to help us run the Center. If you have any questions about the program, please email volunteer@comekuona.org.

Moreover, if you have a passion for international development, and/or skills in non-profit / NGO management, and can't get to Kenya but would still like to volunteer, please contact me, Suzanne Jeneby, at sjeneby@eastafricancenter.org. I would be happy to list you as one of our "on-call" volunteers in the US. (This means we would contact you if we need extra assistance for specific events or special tasks)

Hello, I am Martine Eysink and I come from Holland. I will stay here in Takaungu for 2 months. In Holland I am a nurse, working in a hospital. I really love Africa. Last year I was in Tanzania for three months doing my last practical for my nursing studies. I wanted to come here to Takaungu to help with the Health Classes and making curriculums about different kinds of subjects related to health care. I have been in Takaungu for 5 weeks now and have already given a few Health Classes.

In the second week that I was here we discovered that one of the children who comes to Vutakaka has ringworm. We decided to check all the children on ringworm. You can recognize ringworm on open round spots on the arms and legs. The children are getting ringworm because they play a lot in the sand, and are not washing their hands before eating. The ringworm is in the sand. Sometimes also when eating, a bit of food may fall to the ground. Then, they might pick it up and finish eating it. This is another way they are getting ringworm.

There were 16 children at Vutakaka who had ringworm. I and some other volunteers went to the pharmacy to get some medicine. It is an antibiotic treatment for 5 days. It is called Cloxicilline and it costs about Ksh100 ($1.35) and they also needed another drug for Ksh85 ($1.07) for the little wound on their arms and legs. We gave the children a note for their parents with how to use the medicine and where it was for. There was not enough of the drug we used to treat their wound - we only had 4 tubes - so we decided to put it on the children's wounds when they were at school. We did this for 8 days. After 2 weeks, most all of the children were healed! (But once you have ringworm, it can always come back! - so we must continue to watch for it.)

I arrived in Takaungu 6 days ago and I am already starting to settle in and feel at home. I am a social work student from the University of Washington School of Social Work in Seattle, Washington USA and will receive school credit for my time at the EAC in Takaungu. I am very excited and grateful about the opportunity to study and volunteer in Takaungu, Kenya. I have been warmly welcomed into the community and I look forward to getting to know community members.

It has taken me a few days to get used to the heat, but now I find it comfortable and relaxing. I had great chapatti and lentil stew last night for dinner. The EAC is doing very important work in Takaungu and I feel proud to support this organization. - Kristi Arthur

The Vutakaka Sewing Club is a group of men and women, who are being trained in basic sewing skills and in the process, are making INCREDIBLE! items. (you should see their latest designs!!) For many of their bags, they use a single black button at the top for fastening. The buttons we have been using are plain, solid black, and 1-inch in diameter. The problem is, they are expensive AND hard to get locally. We need your help!