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Greetings!
The East African Center is a grassroots
development organization, on the ground in
Africa right now, fighting extreme poverty. We
are so grateful for Bob Geldof, Bono, Brad Pitt,
Jeffrey Sachs, and many, many others, for
bringing attention at this time to the
unacceptable inequality in our world today.
As many of you know, Bob Geldof is organizing
a series of concerts taking place around the
world, all on July 2nd, to bring attention to
extreme poverty in Africa. Regarding his Live-8
project Bob Geldof writes, "These concerts are
the start point for The Long Walk To Justice,
the one way we can all make our voices heard in
unison. This is without doubt a moment in
history where ordinary people can grasp the
chance to achieve something truly monumental and
demand from the 8 world leaders at G8 an end to
poverty. The G8 leaders have it within their
power to alter history. They will only have the
will to do so if tens of thousands of people
show them that enough is enough. By doubling
aid, fully cancelling debt, and delivering trade
justice for Africa, the G8 could change the
future for millions of men, women and children."
If you have a chance to attend one of the
Live 8 concerts, please do. EAC board members
and volunteers will be attending the concert in
Philadelphia on Saturday, July 2nd. Hope to see
you there!
Click on the image of Mandela to hear
more about why Live 8 is happening.
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Thank you West Seattle Rotary! |
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Our New Van!
On June 13th, the EAC received its
first vehicle, funded in full by the
West Seattle Rotary. The vehicle is a
9-seater (removable seats) Nissan
mini-Van. We are thrilled to have this
vehicle. It will help the people of
Takaungu and our organization, in
innumerable ways, for years to come.
From the people in Takaungu, the EAC,
and all of our supporters, thank you!
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Our new Takaungu label "Hip Bag" |
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The Takaungu "Hip Bag" comes in a
variety of colors and is a great
"carry-all". These bags have a 36-inch
strap length, are secured with a zipper,
and come complete with an inner pocket,
great for keeping your keys, phone and
wallet in easy reach. Order one today -
just $19.95 USD or 17.95 Euros. (not
inclusive of shipping - US orders
shipped from the US, European orders
shipped from Holland)
To place your order email
Takaungu@eastafricancenter.org.
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Volunteer Insight - Kristi Arthur |
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I have been working with the sewing
club a lot the past few weeks. There are
three big orders from the U.S., Holland
and South Africa the women are working
hard to get done. I have now perfected
the art of making silkscreen labels (it
has been a long hard road) and with the
help of volunteers, printed up over five
hundred in one day! I have shown a woman
from the sewing club how to mix the
paint and print the labels so that she
can continue to make more as orders come
in. I feel very proud to work with the
sewing club because it is such an
excellent opportunity for people to
learn the skill of sewing and then turn
it into a regular means of income.
A professional tailor heads the
program and is paid a salary for
teaching and supervising the students
and manufactures. I am working with a
woman who will one day head the orders
department. I am helping to teach her
basic computer skills so that she can
send and receive orders over email. This
is a very good opportunity for this
woman and I am excited to help her in
this process.
My time in Kenya is winding down now
and I am becoming sad to think about
leaving. School is ending next week and
it is hard to believe I am done! I am
now realizing that three months is not
long enough to stay in Kenya and I am
hoping to return for a longer period of
time some day soon. I am looking forward
to my father coming in 4 weeks and
seeing more of Kenya with him. In two
weeks another volunteer and I will
travel to Tanzania and Zanzibar
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Call for Volunteers - |
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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 Theresa
Wilson at twilson@eastafricancenter.org.
We 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)
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Donate Now to the East African
Center
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Did you know that it costs just $20 an
hour to run all aspects of the EAC? Even
with such low costs, we very much need
your help to keep our doors open and our
programming going. Please consider
sponsoring an hour or day each month so
we can continue to offer all our great
programs to the people we serve. Your
gift will make you a partner in
providing education and resources that
hundreds of children, women and men can
use to improve their own lives.
Other ways to help... |
East African Center
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