Habari za Kusoma, the 2012 Newsletter

Check out Habari za Kusoma, the 2012 Newsletter of Kusoma International - Laurenti Mohochi Educational Foundation.  Read about Kusoma’s recent scholars workshop and learn more about the construction at Kusoma’s future library site.

The newsletter also profiles the developing relationship between Kusoma - LMEF and NURU International. During his meeting with NURU, Sangai discussed plans for the community library, which neighbors NURU’s land.  NURU offers outreach programs aimed at assisting school children to develop their reading skills.  However, the turnout of 700 students at the previous event was overwhelming. When the library project is complete, Kusoma and NURU hope to collaborate to offer assistance with their educational efforts.

Kusoma - LMEF

www.kusomainternational.org

Kusoma International-Laurenti Mohochi Educational Foundation admitted its first group of scholars in 2009. These were: Esther Mahiri and Carolyne Nyangi who went to Daraja Academy in Nanyuki; Richard Zungu who joined Tarang’anya High School in Kuria; Annastancia Ghati who went to St. Albert’s Girls High School Ulanda in Migori; Diana Nyamohanga at St. George’s Mixed Secondary School in Oyugis; and Jane Moherai Kalechi of Keveye Girls High School in Vihiga.

Having completed the 4 years cycle of high school education in Kenya, the six are currently sitting for their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination. This is a national examination that started late last month and comes to an end on November, 23. This is our first batch of scholars and we are hopeful that they will do well in order to serve as an example to the others. Admission to college is pegged on performance in this one exam and we wish them all the best.

One of the main purposes of the exercise is to identify kids who need extra attention and device ways of working with them. They had tried a program that rings students to their centre during holidays but were overwhelmed by the turn out. They had 700 students turning up and managing them became a nightmare. They think they can try this later, especially when the library in running by inviting smaller groups at a time. The team thinks that the library will be of help to them as a focal point for harnessing a reading culture and improving literacy levels, as well as a source for books and other materials.

Kusoma Library: http://www.lmefoundation.org/library.html

NURU: http://www.nuruinternational.org/

Exciting times for Kusoma.  Our library foundation has been completed.  Check out the latest photos of the foundation after completion.  The little plastic pipes you see in some of them are to be used for electric wires.  The next step will be to install walling.

More photos: www.flickr.com/photos/lmef

We had a meeting with our scholars on Saturday the 25th of August.  See more photos below.  All but three students attended the meeting and an excellent time was had by all.  We had a one-on-one with each of the students to discuss their progress in school.

More photos: www.flickr.com/photos/lmef

Great news everyone! It gives us tremendous pleasure to announce the ground breaking of Kusoma’s community library located in the Kuria District, Kenya. Construction has finally begun on the foundation and infrastructure needed to take us through Phase I of the building.

We are planning to make the library a center for education as well as a community gathering place. The Kuria Community Library and Learning Center will work to increase literacy, provide access to information, and develop a culture of reading in the area. Fencing and excavation for the foundation will soon be completed on the Kusoma land (some of which was donated by NURU, a partner organization located nearby).

Many of the Mohochi Scholars have assisted in the early construction work and are encouraged to see the library project grow. “The students who live nearby are eager to use the library.  It will also be a welcome addition to the growing NURU facilities,” says Sangai Mohochi, Kusoma founder and Kuria Committee chairman. The library will house many books for children and adults in Swahili and English. The facility will also offer classes in literacy, health, education, and basic computer skills. Our expected completion date for the construction phase is October 2013.

More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lmef.

INTRODUCTON

Kusoma International is a non-governmental, international organization spearheaded by Sangai Mohochi in conjunction with sponsors from the USA.

The organization’s primary objective is to uplift living standards in Kuria through promotion of education. This is done to effect change in institutional structures and promote unity among neighborhing clans. This will in turn foresee development in the marginalized community of Kuria.

Apart from total sponsorships to exemplary students from the district, the organization organizes workshops for the students during holidays. The seminars gives the students an opportunity to share ideas, exchange materials compare their performances, provide an opportunity for mentorship, counseling and encouragement from fellow students and various lectures from invited guests.

The August 2011 workshop was one of the most empowering workshops to date.  The students had an opportunity to meet representatives from the USA (Enzo and Sarah) as well as guests from different fields to share with the students on themes that focused on creating a better society.

THE WORKSHOP

The workshop ran for five days with each day having different theme of discussion and appropriate guest(s). The mode of the workshop was two way involving discussions from both guests and students. The workshop was blessed to have learned from widely traveled Enzo and Sarah; university students from the USA studying at the University of California at San Diego who gave the students the best  teachings and shared their personal experiences.

The topics of discussion ranged from educational, cultural, social and to some extent political.

The workshop began at 9am and ended at 5pm with breaks for lunch and group discussions or some days for community service. Meals were served and eaten together and cards were played to reduce boredom and rejuvenate the students for the afternoon sessions.

The workshop was based on different approaches ranging from lectures in class, presentations from invited guests, group discussions, and one on one discussion for personal questions, practical especially for community service as well as guiding and counseling.

DAY ONE: INTRODUCTION (Sunday 31st July 2011)

Guests SARAH and Enzo arrive, were shown around Isibania, and got acquainted with the students.

They had an opportunity to meet with the host Dr.Sangai Mohochi who showed them around and acquainted them with the Isibania area. Later in the evening the students had a Skype lesson.

DAY TWO: HEALTH ISSUES IN KENYA

Guest speaker; Dr.Mwita

The prevalence of epidemic and pandemic diseases in Kenya, causes, transmission, prevention measures STIs and related diseases including; HIV/AIDS, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia and other related diseases.

Abstinence was advised to the students as the most appropriate method for preventing STIs and HIV/AIDS further recommended not separate those affected or infected with HIV/AIDS as this are guys who just made mistakes as Enzo would put it hence stigmatization was not a solution.

The stages of HIV/AIDS from infection to diagnosis were highlighted in detail. Measures to take  in order to prevent outbreaks of contagious diseases were also discussed in details, keeping proper hygiene to prevent food and water born diseases, seeking treatment early enough whenever symptoms of any diseases were felt, preventive measures of malaria and other tropical diseases.

Break for lunch at noon. The afternoon session began with group discussions to discuss health challenges afflicting students in Kenya and allow for questions and answers in any health concerns in a freer environment as girls went with Sarah and Enzo and I were with the boys at a different place.

We resumed the common discussion after one hour discussed the concerns and shared some of the findings of our discussions. A comparative health lecture was given by Sarah and Enzo on health issues in Kenya and those in the USA and it was found that people in Kenya were posed to more health challenges than in USA.

It was finally concluded that everyone should be concerned with his/her personal health as well as common health of the community and by extension the health of the whole world.

Break for dinner and Skype lessons followed later in the evening

DAY THREE: ETHNIC ISSUES IN KENYA

Guest speaker Mr.Samson Mwita Nyagakende (a former area member of parliament during earlier days of independence)

Introduction of the guest and the audience present.

The lecture began with a detailed Kuria history and factors leading to inter-clan clashes as youths from each clan fight to protect the community resources; majorly land and water as well as cattle. Cattle rustling was allowed as a way of confirming bravery and maturity of the youths especially from a different clan or any tribe that was not on good terms with the community.

A detailed history of the Kuria District during the pre-colonial periods, colonial era and after independence, their migrations and settlement patterns was presented.

Cultural rituals such as naming, initiation and female genital mutilation, marriage and factors resulting to broken marriages, death and believes associated with the rituals.

Structural leadership hierarchy of the Kuria and mode of governance by elders.

Role of parental guidance in discipline maintenance among their children as children were believed to belong to the community.

Causes of clan clashes include:

1. Cattle rustling

2. Struggle over common grazing land and water for the animals

3. Disputes over clan boundaries

Staple food of the Kuria society is millet and sorghum but initially they were pastoralists, hunters and gatherers.

Questions and answers session. And a break for lunch.

A comparative discussion on ethnic issues facing Chinese immigrants in the USA and the role of students in spearheading more reforms to make Kuria a better society and sensitizing reforms for civilization.

DAY FOUR: COMMUNITY SERVICE

Lecture on community service by Sarah and Enzo.

Explanation on the need for community service, how it is done in the USA, and how the community views it in the USA and a comparative approach to Kenya. Most of the students were aware of community service and always spared a day during each of their workshop for community service as well as did it on voluntary service in their respective schools. They majorly paid visits to hospitals and helped the sick and helped in the general cleaning of public (social) places e.g. church compounds.

The students lamented on the lack of social goodwill from the society as some people considered it as a way of showing of or doing it to seek recognition or pay but promised to do the same until when everybody understands the concept. There was further lack of government initiative to support community service.

Discussions on the impacts of NGO’s on developing countries

Sarah an Enzo explained the role of NGOs in the USA and how they helped in some areas that even the government could not. A comparison was made for the NGO’S in Kuria and it was evident that NGO’s complement the economies of developing countries and have the best approach in responding to the immediate concerns of the community. As NGO’s are less corrupt, lack the bureaucracy  involved in government institutions they are further  not tribal based and their timely responses to calamities and natural disasters are very helpful. NGO’s contribute immensely towards uplifting the living standards of the people as they are always concerned with the social welfare of the people.

Relocating to community service venue.

We had to walk to the NURU offices and take part in community service this was about 2km from the venue. We met the NURU coordinator Mr. Phillip Mohochi who showed us around the compound and the various projects completed and those underway including space for a community library that was not under construction yet; he took us to the venue for the community service. We spent two hours slashing the compound and leveling the ground only to be interrupted by the rains. Thanks to Sarah and Enzo for their hard work in the manual work, and for showing us that the “mzungu” (white person) can actually work as Sarah would put it. After work we took a walk around the compound and acquainted ourselves even more with NURU offices.

We had to break for home and the students had an opportunity to take part in a Skype lesson.

DAY SEVEN: CLOSING CEREMONY

We had a common meal together as usual as one family..

What was a closing ceremony turned out to be a celebration because it was a day of seeing off the students most of whom were going back to school for tuition but most importantly because they had met and made friends from the USA. The ceremony began on a very happy note and all were full of smiles.

The Founder, Dr.Sangai had traveled all the way from Maseno University in Kisumu to be part of this ceremony. Some committee members of the Laurent mohochi Foundation in Kenya were present.

Mrs. Mohochi had spent the morning with the girls giving them maternal advice. We thank her for recognizing as a mother that girls in Kenya face more challenges of education than boys. We believe she offered the very best of guidance and counseling.

We had a very delicious meal for lunch and enough refreshment thanks to the sponsors and thanks to Sarah and Enzo for being so kind throughout the whole workshop. We would like to thank Sarah for taking part in the preparation of sweet local meals she’s such a good cook which I believe is part of her readiness to integrate and help.

CLOSING REMARKS

There were remarks from members of the committee. Wonderfully inspiring comments were made.

1. Remarks from Mrs. Edith Sangai Mohochi.

She inspired all the students to put more effort at school, and asked the girls to take their challenges positively.

Remarks from Madam Syprine; and all other committee members echoed the same massage of hard work and determination, better results at school and being disciplined.

2. Remarks from Goko-Dr. Sangai’s Mother at whose house we were having the meal.

She also emphasized on more efforts to the students and told the students to take life positively and be careful on choice of friends and company. She told the students to avoid bad company always. She said she loved her daughter Sarah and son Enzo and welcomed visitors of the Mohochi Foundation in future, she said having grandchildren around was a blessing as she felt honored in their presence.

3. Remarks from Sarah

Sarah also emphasized on the need for hard work from the students and expressed special thanks to Goko, the students and all the participants of the workshop.

4. Remarks from Enzo

Enzo was pleased with the level of activeness from the students in answering the mathematics jeopardy game and for discussing all the issues openly and thanked the students for their cooperation. He extended his gratitude to all who took part in the workshop

5. Remarks from Dr. Sangai

He made closing remarks thanked all the members present and urged the students to work hard as usual when they go back to school.

SPECIAL THANKS

The workshop was very successful special thanks go to all our guests and the wonderful students. Special thanks goes to project coordinator from the USA; Sarah and Enzo for making the workshop a successes.

1. Sarah Sypris

Project Volunteer at Kusoma International- the Laurent Mohochi educational Foundation.

Special thanks for her immensurable kindness, for listening to all our queries and providing appropriate answers, her inspiring lectures as one will say ones a teacher for ever teacher thanks for being such a wonderful teacher. Thanks for the financial support and for being kind enough to prepare for us such delicious meals and for being so welcoming. She actually did what a typical Kuria lady should do. So it’s not for nothing that Goko called her my wonderful daughter thank you Sarah for taking time and opening email addresses to all the students what a determination. Thank you Sarah, for taking time to know all the students personally. Thank you Sarah- see you soon as promised. We will miss you Sarah. Thank you for making the workshop a success.

2. Enzo Fabrizio Haussecker

Thanks buddy for being a friend to everybody; for being so kind to share with us so much ranging from social life, education, personal experiences; wonderful lectures and for listening to all our questions some out of hearsays about the USA .Thank you ,you are welcomed here in Kuria. We will miss you Eenzo. Thanks for being so kind and for making the workshop a successes.

3. Mrs.  Edith Sangai

Thanks madam for hosting us for being so welcoming. For getting time to be with us in some discussions during the workshop your contributions were immense; for providing special counseling to the girls.

4. Dr. Sangai Mohochi

The mastermind behind the Kusoma International-the Laurenti Mohochi Educational Foundation, speciall thanks to you. Thank you for the support, personal sacrifices and for everything. Your role in the organization is such immense that I can’t even comprehend it fully; more importantly for allowing me take part in such a wonderful workshop; I came out of it a different person.

5. Mr. Phillip Mohocchi

Thanks for inspiring remarks during the closing ceremony and for allowing us and organizing for us to do the community service at your NURU offices.

6. Other committee members.

Special thanks to all committee members here in Kenya as well as abroad for embracing the organization; for their support, time, and resources and for strengthening Kusoma International. Thank you.

Special thanks goes to students as they keep Kusoma International alive and all our guests for finding time to come and be with us. Thank you very much our dear guests and everybody else who may have in one way or another made the workshop a success.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Gugwa Charles Mogesi is a student at Moi University perusing a degree in Bsc. Microbiology in Kenya in 4th year. I am the current chairman of university students from Kuria districts (KEUSA), the current secretary Kuria professionals’ forum (KPF) where Dr. Sangai happens to be a very active member an organization that partnered with USAID to work on ending clan clashes in Kuria. I am actively involved in different organizations in college. I was invited by Dr. Sangai to take part in the workshop as a mentor to the students alongside Sarah and Enzo and other guests, as well as act as a bridge between guests and students especially whenever clarifications were required. Thanks to Dr. sangai for granting me such a wonderful opportunity to meet friends Sarah and Enzo and share with my brothers and sisters (students) I bet I learned a lot. Thank you Dr. Sangai; thank you everybody.

CONCLUSION

The August holiday was a big success majorly through efforts from participants and for having various guests with us. So much insight was given to students who were pleased to have the guests around.

We wish that the same will be done in future workshops.

We are pleased to announce that the Summer 2011 Mohochi Scholar’s Workshop will be sponsored by the Davis Projects for Peace Foundation, in joint delegation with the University of San Diego, California International House and respective representatives Enzo Haussecker and Sarah Sypris. During the course of the full week, participating students will be afforded the opportunity to gain strategic and thoughtful insight through a variety of mediums into the value of education, health, wildlife conservation, cultural history, international analysis, with particular focus on Kenya and the United States, and other varied subjects all under the thematic umbrella of ethnic interconnectivity. Exposure to target topics will be conducted through presentations, guest lectures, group endeavors, and community excursions which will reinforce the ambition of participant commitment to community service locally, nationally, and internationally, while strengthening friendships and cultivating individual qualities for continued growth and success.

Proposal: Defusing Ethnic Tensions in the Kuria District

www.davisprojectsforpeace.org/media/view/1817/original

Kusoma - LMEF

www.kusomainternational.org

12/8/2010

The third and last 2010 Mohochi Scholars’ Workshop was held between 12/08/2010 and 12/11/2010 at Kim Mohochi’s residence in Isibania. We thank Kim for offering his house for the function.

After supper, Philip Mohochi spent the evening discussing different aspects of Kuria culture. He had given them an assignment in the August workshop and each of the scholars who were present then reported back on what they found. They had also been asked to write a Kuria story and the author of the best story received a modest reward. We intend to have a session on Kuria culture because it is, to a large extent, threatened. The youth know very little about their ancestors’ way of life and we feel they need to be in the know about the most important aspects of their culture.

12/9/2010

The workshop began after breakfast on the 9th at 10 am with a word of prayer by one of the scholars. That was followed by introductions because not all scholars present had attended the previous workshop.

The first speaker was Dr. Sangai Mohochi, who revisited the topic of community service which he had handled during the previous workshop. The feeling was that the topic had not been appreciated well enough by our scholars. He also took them through a Mohochi Scholars’ Community Service Record Form that was designed to be used in tracking community service hours.

Together with the scholars, the following were identified as sites where our scholars can do community service while at home:

- Churches

- Chiefs’ camps (a chief is a local public administrator)

- Public schools

- Hospitals

- Water catchment areas

- Children’s homes

- Elderly peoples’ homes

After a short break, the second session began. In this session, there was a discussion of Kenya’s constitution making process, the general implications of the new constitution to the country, and the marginalized communities like Kuria in particular. Also discussed was the recent electoral constituency boundaries review. These are topical issues of concern to all Kenyans and we would like our scholars to be abreast with what is happening around them - this session was led by Mohochi Scholars.

This was followed by a lunch break. Our scholars prepared and had lunch at the workshop venue. This was very convenient as they did not have to move to a different location.

The first session after lunch was led by one of our invited facilitators. The session was on the Provincial Administration, and was led by Chief Mokami Getang’ita of Bukira West Location. The provincial administration is a governance structure from the president all the way to local representatives that deals with public administration and security issues. It is an important part of public administration in Kenya and people are expected to know the structure and functions of its different officers.  He took them through the system and our scholars participated very well by asking questions, which he answered adequately.

The second session after lunch was led by Mr. James Owino, the Principal, Kamwala Mixed Secondary School, North Rachuonyo District. Mr. James, who was my Masters student last year, has close to twenty years experience of teaching in high school. He has been involved in youth guidance and counseling with different organizations for quite some time. He talked to our scholars on goals and dreams.

He had a very well structured paper with an introduction, objectives, ground rules, definitions of goals and dreams, and a top five list of challenges in the pursuit of goals. After going through the introduction and ground rules for the presentation, he defined the two terms, and gave examples of short term and long term goals & dreams.  His presentation was scheduled to be continued the next day.

Our scholars started preparing dinner early so that they could be ready for a Skype call with Sandra, Bonnie and the Pinewood students in California at 7:15pm.

The last activity of the day was a very exciting Skype call between our scholars and Pinewood students in California. It was a very good experience for our scholars, who appeared eager to know more about the situation in U.S. high schools. The main topic of discussion was community service, and I believe it did our scholars a lot of good hearing what students do for community service in the U.S. We had technical problems in our discussion on the first day but the situation was much better when we talked with Sandra the next day. Thank you so much Sandra for coordinating this, and for being there in person.

12/10/2010

After breakfast on the second day of the workshop, Mr. James Owino continued with his presentation on goals and dreams. In this session, he zeroed-in on achievement of goals and dreams, the top five things one needs to consider in the process and challenges in the pursuit of goals and dreams among the youth. His whole presentation was very exciting and he did very well in involving the scholars throughout.

The second facilitator of the day was Mrs. Girwa, a nurse with the government of Kenya. She made a presentation on health, discussing her experiences dealing with teenage pregnancies and rape cases in the Kuria District where she works. She also warned them against sexually transmitted infections and advised them on how best to deal with peer pressure on sex related matters. Being from the community, she also used herself as an example for the girls, especially in how best to avoid distractions and concentrate on studies for a better future.

Mohochi scholars then prepared and took lunch before proceeding to the local Isibania Catholic church for 2 hours of community service.

After dinner the scholars had two topics to discuss on their own under the leadership of one of them. The topics included:

1. Reflections on the school. and

2. Another look at the Mohochi Scholars’ Agreement Form. Scholars were meant to examine their level of commitment and adherence to the agreement.  They prepared to make a brief presentation the next morning.

12/11/2010

After breakfast, our scholars made presentation from the previous group discussions. I was impressed by the fact that they divided the task so that more than one scholar presented what they had found. In that way, a number of them got an opportunity to talk to the entire team. They pledged to adhere more to the agreement that they signed. Many echoed the same complaints about some schools which do not have enough teachers and other facilities. Of great concern was the situation is schools that do not finish the syllabus for the year meaning that students move to the next class before finishing what the curriculum prescribes for the class. These are the issues that convinced the committee to plan to move some of the scholars to different schools. Lack of books was once again cited as a big impediment to their goals.

There was a meeting between Sangai and the parents/guardians/relatives of the scholars. The scholars had been told to invite a parent, guardian, or responsible relative for this meeting. We thought that it is good to involve the guardians in Kusoma International and our activities.  It is only one scholar who did not have a representative attending.  The following issues were handled:

1. Introductions

2. Brief information about the foundation and our activities, aspirations etc.

3. Scholars obligations

4. Need for them to contribute to their kids’ education. We discussed and agreed that each one of them would make a modest contribution to the foundation’s kitty. This is something that the committee had agreed on earlier and it is meant to make them feel part of the initiative of educating their kids. This was also borne out of the experience in Africa where many people take donations for granted. We want to cultivate a culture of working together with the parents/guardians of the scholars in this journey. By making the contribution, they will ultimately feel part of the foundation’s efforts. They all agreed on an annual contribution of Ksh. 5,000 (approximately $65). However, we are aware to the fact that not all guardians and relatives are equally able. Should there arise a situation where one is unable to raise the amount, no scholar will be affected by that failure. Our preliminary investigations indicate that all the scholars, save one, have relatives able to make that contribution.

5. Their responses and questions. Basically they were all very appreciative of what Kusoma International is doing for their kids. They posed a few questions to which Sangai responded.

The scholars, their guardians and parents, together with 3 members of the KCC present had lunch together. The guardians left immediately after lunch leaving the scholars to clean-up and close the workshop. As it had been agreed earlier, each of the scholars got a letter indicating the state of his/her scholarship. We had agreed that we shall be indicating the renewal or otherwise of the scholarship in an official letter every end of year. They then left for their homes after what appeared to be time well spent together.

COMMENTS

The level of excitement exhibited by the scholars was higher than was during the August workshop. The fact that the scholars were housed at the same venue was very helpful. I also feel that the large attendance was also a factor. In general, it was a wonderful workshop. I personally enjoyed it a lot.

I will post pictures from the workshop on our flickr account.

To donate, go to OWCF.org and select Kusoma International in the “I Would Like to Support” drop-down list on the donation page (this is VERY important).

All donations made are entirely tax deductible under OWCF’s 501(c)3 non-profit status. 100% of donations made through OWCF are dispersed directly to Kusoma International. Thank you.

The Kusoma - LMEF Team

www.kusomainternational.org