Dear SACRENA Partners and Donors,

First, thank you so much. When people come to visit SACRENA, we try to be open and don’t tell our youths, orphans or community members what to say. More so we encourage them to tell people/guest who came what they are not happy about. Here in our community people think that we are one of the successful organization. When we receive either positive or negative criticism helps us to build on our weakness. We thank friends and donors who have stood with SACRENA and lives have been improved. In my updates we do say "please came and visit what your dollar is doing"

It is true that at SACRENA youths and orphaned children have had great opportunities for education and training. I believe GlobalGiving donors will give our beneficiaries training and development opportunities in exchange for the sports and education. In our side as SACRENA, we will take next steps in developing a more transparent and accountable organization and that we will provide resources to make that happen through the help of our GlobalGiving donors. I plead with our donors to help us not to leave us.

At every organization, home, government or non profit there may be misunderstanding. In the case of SACRENA we work with 350 youths, 250 widowed women, and 250 orphans these number is big. Considering that you cannot meet every expectation of everybody. There may be delays but some may not be pleased in that comes conflict either of interest or of passion as we know that conflict resolution requires patience and persistence.

We have encourage all our communities and our beneficiaries to open email addresses and join twitter to start going online and talk to people directly though it may take time but it will work so that they connect to donors directly in openness.

It is true with everyone in the world that when negative reports are given to what you do you feel discouraged. This will not play part in me. I will be encouraged and go on.

As human being, imagine am also feeling some pressure and uncomfortableness about the conflicts and stresses within SACRENA and what people we have changed their lives say about their own organization and how to deal with that. It's not easy being in my position. Being the leader is always a challenging position. We all know how difficult it is to make everything happen and all the complaints can be directed at me. It's not that the expectation in an organization should be that the workers complain to the boss and the boss has just to fix it. In English we have the expression that you don't want the tail wagging the dog. It's the dog that must wag the tail. But, there are times when the director has to listen to concerns and problems that the workers in an organization are having and respond and address those issues. The key is to set up an organization in which there is good communication and a feeling of mutual respect I believe there must be a channel and systems in case of SACRENA we depend on our goodwill persons will like you to get us going on with little support to help us pay a contact, office secretary and one youths manager..

From my own experience, and from what all directors and managers say about their work, that it is always the case that we have to learn how to be a good leader of an organization. So that will be true for you also. There can be a tendency to react to this kind of situation with defensiveness. But that just makes things worse. The key is to be open to hearing and learning and at the same time to be sure that everyone is in agreement that the director must continue to be the director and donor relationships be maintained with respect and openness.

All for now. Thank you again for being willing to pass my message along to the donors I think it is important that they get that from me. I think they will feel better if they know that I didn't refuse people to comment negative reports about SACRENA. And I think donors and the guest who visit SACRENA it will be better for me and for the organization that they know I and donors are not ignoring their desire to talk about their experience with the organization, to be heard and acknowledged and more so comment on what they saw and for them then to have a chance to hear from you as well. All this is kind of complicated to talk about adequately just by email but we will do the best we can.

Wycliffe Mboya.
Director. SACRENA

On May 5th, 2009, Leah visited Sacrena as part of a formal evaluation. This is what she saw and what she heard from beneficiaries and community members during her visit:

"We arrived in Kisumu to a warm morning, Wycliff Mboya the director of Sacreena was at the Moi stadium kisumu with a group of youngsters. They were all milling around, some in sports jerseys and boots, other bare footed, others in casual wear, it was about 120 of them. There was a mixture of excitement and confusion, a matatu was hovering around blaring some popular Kenya tunes by nameless ( salary oooooh !! oo!!! , salary oooooh !! oo!! ) this tune is very popular with young people in Kenya, because it talks about joblessness among Kenyan youths. Some of the boys were boarding the matatu while others just hovered around lazily.

After introducing ourselves to Mboya and our purpose for the visit, he insisted that we must talk to the youths, he told us that they were headed for Uganda for a tournament so we should take as little time as possible, however he gathered the boys together we were able to introduce ourselves and our mission. We could clearly see that, this boys besides participating in the football tournament, they had no idea what else Sacreena does, all they knew is that they go to the stadium daily to play football, they hope against hope that when the national clubs are scouting around for younger players they could just be among the lucky ones and that is their happiness.

We talked to Mwangi a 16 year old orphan who dropped out of school in form four due to lack of school fees. We sought his permission to record this discussion on tape, to which he consented.

I quote “my name is Mwangi, I started playing for this project (Sacrena) in 2008, I play full back. I dropped out of school this year due to lack of school fees, I was in form four, I do not have any hope of going back to school since my two elder brothers are unemployed and can not help at all. I come for practice twice a day on a daily basis (morning and evening).

This project keeps me busy and also keeps me away from getting myself into a lot troubles like doing drugs and other antisocial things that many young people get into due to desperation. I don’t even know if I will ever go back to school, the chances are very minimal.”

"Are you aware that the project pays school fees for orphans?" I asked.

The answer was in the negative. All he knew was that the project provided an avenue for him to keep way from unnecessary trouble. It keeps his mental capacities up to date and he hopes that one day somebody will recognize his potential and take him back to school on a sports scholarship are recruit him in the Kenya national league tournament. For Mwangi, this is a hunting ground for opportunities.

We sought to know if he has had any training in peer counseling and he said No. “Our director is very secretive. I wish he could tell us what is happening in the project. We just see a lot of visitors come and go. Then we are assembled here at the stadium to meet the visitors and that is all."

Mwangi continued, "We don’t even go to the office or help out with any work at the office. As much as we have been offered the opportunity to join the team, we also have our own challenges with the club, but we are not given a chance to express ourselves. If you do then you are kicked out of the club. This project can help the youth more, if we can be given some roles to play.”

"Does the director listen to you?" I asked.

"You can’t dare speak, you will be kicked out." However, Mwangi affirms that some of them had travelled to Tanzania for a tournament some time last year.

Leah's Note: In this particular project we are forced not to use Mwangi's real name for fear of victimization of the interviewees. However we have the recorded interviews on tape with the actual names.

Marc Maxson's note:

Leah's report is very illuminating and somewhat disturbing. GlobalGiving is committed to an open process of keeping donors informed about their projects, including negative reports. Leah is an excellent evaluator because her postcard puts Sacrena in the larger context of delivering some good results (keeping kids out of trouble and providing opportunities through sports) while giving voice to the unmet wishes of the youth. Without openness, Sacrena will not improve. Without your involvement, GlobalGiving cannot improve its offerings. An honest and open dialogue allows you - the donors - to see the complexities of development work on the ground.

I URGE you to comment on this report. What should GlobalGiving do next with SACRENA?

What YOU DECIDE will shape our ongoing conversation with Sacrena. If you say nothing, then Wycliffe, their founder, learns nothing about what you expect of him.

Christine and Kara traveled to Kenya in March of 2009 and visited over a dozen GlobalGiving projects. Each wrote a separate account of their visit. This is what each one wrote about SACRENA:

Christine wrote:

"After negotiating a car for the day so that we could see some of the more rural sites that SACRENA supports, I got the opportunity to spend the day travelling with Wycliffe Mboya, the founder and director of SACRENA. We started off the visit by seeing his office, a one room space open to the street. I met with the volunteers that help SACRENA, and heard about how great their soccer team was. The team seemed to be a major focus for the volunteers, and I learned little about what they do for the community, but I do know that they have the best soccer team in the area and dreams of becoming professional players.

More interesting were the stories from women that are being served by SACRENA, many of whom suffered due to the recent election violence. I had no idea that the violence was so tribally focused, with most of the women fleeing home where they would be safe from opposing tribal violence, often having lost their husbands. Unfortunately, while they did share their tragic life stories and situations, none of them said what SACRENA was doing to help them.

Afterword, we visited one of SACRENA's first schools, where enrollment had gone from @15 students to hundreds. We were treated to a school production including dancing, singing and some of the poetry written by the children. The school had come far from its humble beginnings, with most children having uniforms and shoes, and the classrooms having some desks and chairs. The current goal is to get enough funding to lay cement flooring in the buildings, since the dust kicked up by the children isn't healthy for them.

Next we saw one of the most recent schools added to SACRENA, where @40 students in an extremely rural location are studying in the local church. There was more singing and dancing, but it was uncomfortable when Wycliffe promised that my partner and I would purchase a desk for them (they have only a few) during the production, without asking us first. SACRENA is trying to provide pencils, clothing, and improved facilities for the school. We played soccer with the kids for awhile and passed out the candy that Wycliffe had insisted we buy. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit the last location that we had planned on visiting.

Throughout the day, Wycliffe repeatedly asked me and my partner to purchase things for the soccer team and the children. It was clear that providing for so many beneficiaries weighs heavily on him, especially considering how diverse his constituency is. It’s a shame because I do believe that SACRENA is doing good work, but their approach is a turn off. Only hearing about the need, but never about the work being done doesn’t encourage support."

Kara wrote:

"While in Kenya last month, I spent a day with Wycliffe Mboya, the director of Sacrena. It was a busy day, spent visiting the office, the staff, and two schools in Kisumu and the surrounding areas. Although Sacrena’s main initiative seems to be focused on combining sports and education, it has also worked with women who fled to Kisumu after the post-election violence in 2008. I saw the sadness on their faces and in their words as they described losing husbands and homes in the violence. However, I am not exactly sure what Sacrena is doing for these women.

I also visited two of the schools that Wycliffe wants to help. Both are impoverished, lacking even the most basic resources and supplies. hope that Sacrena will be able to invest in improving education for these children in the future.

A few things surprised me during our visit. 1) We were supposed to visit the orphanage that is run by Sacrena, but we never got the chance, which surprised me since their main project on GlobalGiving has to do with those orphans. 2) Wycliffe asked us for a lot of money throughout the day: to rent an expensive car, to pay for footballs and snacks for the schoolkids, to buy benches for the schools, to get him a digital camera, to tip the driver, to buy drinks for the football team, and more. By the end of the day, I literally had no money in my pockets, and I left feeling a bit taken advantage of, a feeling I did not have at any of the other organizations we visited. 3) I was surprised by the focus on serving just the Luo tribe and the animosity toward other tribes by the Sacrena staff.
Wycliffe Mboya is a likable guy and Sacrena has the potential to be very impactful, but I left with mixed feelings about the organization as a whole."

When asked for an overall comment, Christine thought SACRENA had "Good Projects" whereas Kara was "Not Impressed."

GlobalGiving is committed to incorporating many viewpoints on our 600+ projects. We feel that more information, especially from eyewitnesses helps donors like you continue to support organizations doing great work in the community.

Progress report.

It has been wonderful year with many of “Support 250 Orphans Education and Sport” project activities. We have seen tremendous success, challenges turned into strengths and gaps turned into opportunities.

1) In January with your support we took 20 orphans to primary school. We purchased uniforms and education materials. In that same months we organized a exchange programs with our local grass root partner organization for exchange programs and series of friendly matches in Rift Valley Province. This was opportunity for the kids to explored culture and used the event and trip to promote peace and cohesion within the two provinces of Nyanza and Rift valley owing to last year’s post election violence here in Kenya. The challenge was that that month is that once of the orphans passed away as a result of malaria. We contributed burial expenses and laid him to rest in the nearby community land. We were hit with stress and confusion. It was the dark period just starting the year and we loose a child in class five the rest of the children were to go under counseling. We build another toilet and named the building after him(James Opere).That month Our Organization together with other 5 local Partners within the Sports for Social Change hosted by CARE International gathered at Eldoret for the “Play your part promote Peace” event which Dr.Auma Obama invited USA-Kenya Ambassador Michael Reinaberger .It was happiness as children interacted with the Obama’s family and the Ambassodors.There was the training where the players went through of conflict management and sports ranging from tennis, football, fun games clinic. Thanks to the area Member of Parliament who was in attendant and the Mayor of Eldoret and many local elders and fellow orphaned children. When we came home after the event all the children had certificates of participation, T-shirts of the evnts, photos, balls, and barners.the event received a lot of media attention both in TV, radios and news papers for that whole week with focus on “Support 250 Orphans Education and Sports Projects”

2) February: We received more than pencils through the Maria’s “Pencils Projects” with the help Nebraska Youth Council who did a recommendable work within Nebraska collecting pencils and sent them over to us. We received with Thanks. Within the orphanage was cheers and happiness as everything went”Wow”Though we received pencils but we encourage our donors both collectively and individual to support with both writing and test books. That month we had a community visitation to talk about what the Donors are doing to us through globalgiving.We said one dolor contributions changers live within our community. We asked views of our community and needs. But all that they needed in developing SACRENA projects not just as an orphanage home or soccer academy but more than that. When we asked what should be done to our community? In that one set meeting where 560 people gathered they said with one voice that we need a Youth Center where everyone can be integrated if sports academy, orphanage homechildren, teenage mothers, vocational trainings, and different programs. So they asked our project to ask donors to visit our community and see where they invest.

I.   NB:”Support 250 Orphans Project” entered a challenge with the Changemakers-Ashoka and we didn’t qualify. Then one lady Called Tyler Ahn was really impressed on how SACRENA is working to help orphans. She promised us her second hand lap top computer. Since we didn’t have any. This February she came to Nairobi and met with me face-face. And donated one lap top to this project. We say thank you Tyler. We need to open a computer vocational training where Orphans can learn how to go techno. But this only one cannot be enough so we encourage donors and friends of this project to donate used computer to us. We shall make a classroom and children will know how to us computers. We need between 5-20 Computers. Then later we shall connect them to internet.
II.   SACRENA have received a lot of International intrest.this has been successful through You and people like you who supports “support 250 orphans education and sports” In the month of February The University of Oregon-Tim Hicks who is the Director of Oregon’s Master Program in Conflict and Dispute Resolution and the International Studies Department, IE3 –a global internship organization and the Raymund Fund, the Savage Chair are joining forces to “Support 250 Orphans Education and Sports through student internship and exchange program opportunities, international research and support, the potentially much more offer expertise services. In return it will be like a win-win situation of culture and experience will be exercised. I encourage donors and friends of our cause projects for orphans to send their students, friends and families to come over. I mentioned to orphans and children and the Youths at SACRENA that new friends are coming, they were so happy. Friends and volunteers who will help with coaching at the Soccer Academy and also with teaching at the orphanage school center. I am not sure but I guess other programs may come along under Support 250 Orphans Education and Sport through donors and friends like you.
III.   We asked you on how to help make youths get empowered and initiate income generating activities so that we don’t depend on others, well. One organization came in. When they visited us at the home they said they have known us through global giving. These people are called Korean Volunteers Organization through their President Mr.Haa. They interacted with the kids at the center, players at the academy training grounds, coaches and volunteers. They were not happy to see children play bare foot without shoes and naked so they offered to buy seconds hand clothes as uniforms for soccer and for school. We received with thank you. When we were asked what Youths can do because of transitional period they are growing from children who are orphans to youths. We said we need One Tuk Tuk.This will be used to create income for youths bringing an avenge of 15 USD a day.This idea will help the youths to access shelter, vocational trainings and food in their hostel. We urge persons who are donating to this project like you that we plan to have 15 of Tuk Tuk then we start a Tuk Tuk Taxi company to create job opportunity to youths. So we make a appeal for support to help us buy more Tuk Tuk if not one in the next three months so help to became part of this a one Tuk Tuk costs $5333.So contributions will help us support orphans transition to youths stage with job empowerment.
IV.   We hosted training on behalf of Global Giving here and 42 participants gathered at YWCA-Kisumu hall. Marc Marxel introduces twitter to all of us. The attraction of that conference was the “Support 250 Orphans Education and Sports project”. You can now follow Orphans and Widows on twitter or SACRENA.or you can join www.sacrena.ning.com as a member and as a friend. After that we hosted friends from Washington Kara and Ryan who visited us through global giving and they visited all our 3 sites talked to beneficiaries and players and the community. Everywhere people would called them”Mzungu”that means our friends who are white welcome!
3) March-We walked from market place to market place bagging for food to help orphans at home. We had nothing. Here in Kenya hunger is already declared national disaster and at the orphanage home here we go without food now for the 3 days until today we cry and seek help from well-wishers from you. We would like friends and donors are part of the growing list of individuals supporting a worthy course orphans will no longer go hungry as your 10 USD help will feed a child daily with 3 meals. You may decide to forgo a meal and donate to this project. We will feed 250 0phans daily at the center We appeal to you. Please help us bring hope by feeding them and making children happy, healthy and accessing clean water. We rely on you kind and generous donations and contributions. Be part of the growing list of donors so do just that!
4) April-we are having the U12 category local grass root tournament. So far we have received 40 teams participating drawn all over Nyanza province this year. (Updates on this activity will come to you later). Through donors we need trouphies, balls, goal nets, shirts and refreshments. This is the first ever event last year we did the U17 in the month of December and it was great. As we said we will in April have the U12, August U15 and December U17.The goal in to tap and nurture raw Africa Soccer talent. Last week after the top Kenyan soccer professional player Teewo Awuonda visited us 3 of our players were called to the Kenyan National Team-Harambee Stars by the head coach Mr. Hey.This month also the top student in Kisumu District in the last years Kenyan National Examination Council (KCSE) Dan Awour came from SACRENA Orphanage Home. We celebrated his success. Your supports have made to him since 2005 and other children here became the tops in all secondary and primary schools.Thanks.We need now to take Dan to University. Already he has been called to Kenyatta University here in Kenya where he wants to study medicine and after 4 years came back anf work at the center. With your support Dan will join and for him to join we need 2000 USD.

Dan says…..”One more time when given opportunity by our global giving donors and friends I know I will go to school and learn medicine and play for the university club. When we close I still came back at our orphanage”.

We did employ part time teachers at the kindergarten which they work. If you donate 30USD a month will help pay allowances for one teacher. We need 150 USD a month to pay these teachers. Please help pass the word should you be able to translate this into any other language please go ahead.

In the month of May we are again been invited to the European Union Cultural Uganda –Kampala.

Pictures:

• We need text books and unifoms (JPG)
• We need more food. (JPG)
• We need trining equipments (JPG)

A week ago I met Wycliffe Mboya, the founder of SACRENA, in Kisumu Kenya. I was in town to facilitate a workshop for 40 new organizations trying to use GlobalGiving to fundraise for their projects. Many organizations are doing good grassroots work, but not all of them understand social media. Many need a primer on Internet and twitter in order to thrive in the digital world. Wycliffe had volunteered to organize this workshop, so here I was.

He took me to see his project, an orphanage and youth sport program for the Kisumu slum of Minyata. About 50,000 people slum it out here, and it has a rough reputation. As friendly as the kids are, Minyata’s violent criminal underbelly comes out when the sun goes down. Many of these orphans are the children of AIDS victims, and all of them speak glowingly about being part of a sports team.

SACRENA’s office was one of the larger shacks on a street in the heart of the slums. It had a nice hand-painted sign. A small crowd of eight youths were gathered there, in preparation for my visit. Wycliffe understands how globalgiving works. I know because when I talked to fast, he translated into local idioms for me and heads nodded in recognition of the idea. Here and elsewhere, the local Swahili translation for GlobalGiving is “Harambe.” As one teenager explains Harambe, “when you have something heavy to lift and you cannot do it yourself, you yell ‘harambe’ and the people come help you so everyone does it together.” Harambe is a village revival fundraising event where the people pool their money to support a common purpose. Wycliffe said, “GlobalGiving is Harambe for our sport project on the Internet.”

We handed out bumper stickers that say “What does your community need?” and the site: www.globalgiving.org/ideas. They were a hit. Everyone likes stickers, even if they don’t quite understand the website part. We’re trying to engage kids in slums like Minyata to tell us (and you) what they need most. They are the ‘experts’ on what they need so why not let them speak?

Another common word used by others to explain about the idea of GlobalGiving is “opportunity.” Wycliffe explained to his youths, “GlobalGiving is an opportunity for us to talk to the whole world and let them know what we are doing.” Wycliffe is experimenting with twitter. Maybe if he can do it you can 'tweet' on his behalf too.

Newsletter for the past one year of the Support for 250 orphans educations and sports.

Implementing project: SACRENA-Kenya.

Many thanks to our great individuals and cooperate donors and the challenge grants that have come over our way in the fund-driven for this year. We are grateful and are like giving us the whole world. Companies urging their employs give for this project, families getting their relatives to donate and friends recruiting friends, fellow work mark mates encouraging fellows to help. We than you dearly and through your Dolor have changed lives of most of these children. Though we haven’t meet with you face-face but hear tender loving heart, passion, call, commitment and human voices in supporting these 250 Orphans to get education and also sport.

Offering Services at the IDP camps January-March 2008
As organization it has been giving and takes…a win-win situation. In the Month of January-April: here in Kenya we had apolitical crisis after the looser was announce the winner and the winner the looser. Kenyan was in problem with our Community hardest hit. This crisis left 5500 people dead within 2 months, 2.6 millions of Kenyan lived in the Internally Displaced Persons camps, Millions of properties destroyed and children and women were hardest hit. In 3 moths there was no food, water, where to buy, where to go for civilians were short dead.

Intervention: Through your donations we pinched a tent at the IDP camp in Kisumu to help children who were the targets and victims. We donated assorted food stuffs, drinking water, and clothes to 30,000 IDPs, bought balls for orphans’ soccer at the camp. We offered ongoing counseling services to 4,000 persons at the camp and reinstated families 800 families. We conducted medical camp for over 200 women and 160 men. We gave people. We also received urgent help from the global giving-Kenya Crisis fund. At the end we were able to keep 82 children whose parents died as a result of the violence at the center so that they get supported by you. These means our number have gone higher and over 350 children are in the center. Where we feed them, send them to school and get trainings at the community soccer academy. At this center we drilled water well/bore hole, and one community member donated 2 hectors of land for our project.

Rose Onyango aged 14 years” My mother’s head was chopped in Nakuru and they killed my father too. I don’t know where they buried them….I need them, I miss them. When I am here at the center I see loving fellow children and communities loves me. I only need fees so that I learn and be a doctor”

Challenges for these includes: No school informs/clothes for this children, lack of medical attention, No kitchen and eating hall facility to be build in the 2hcts donated community land, lack of staffs and no one to pay their allowances/salaries, No mosquito nets,beddings,mattresses,cups and plates,administartio costs and no sports equipments.

Educations:
It has not been easy since we have 120 children (orphans) in secondary/high school out of this number 10 are have sat their 4th form exams and await to go to the college or university, 105 children in kinder garden/nursery school and 50 are going in primary next year, 88 in primary school and 20 are going to secondary school next year and other 19 children and yet to be in school and 10 are going to kindergarten/nursery school next year. We have a need! In schools where our orphans go reports is that all the top students/children in these schools coming from our center

Jeremiah Okumu aged 15 years “When I finish my fourth form, I want to be a pilot. The global giving donors I know will sponsor me…I leant through hardship I have a lot of unpaid fees in school and I may not get results till I pay. Fellow orphans at the center to get food, clothes, and uniforms and be visited, as you can see I go to school without shoes, uniform torn and look at my bag with no books inside. But I must live this life for God knows”

Challenges for these include: High number of children stay at the center when fees haven’t been pay until we get your support it has resulted to poor performance a child who was number one last tear is now number 5 this term, Lack of school uniforms,shoes,sox,sleepers for most number,(for those in boarding and day school:fees,fare,feeding,books,medications,and treatment of opportunistic infections).We also need to have counselors at the center to offer psycho-social support services. We need to build dormitory so that we have girls in the other side and boys in the other side. There is also challenge of food at the center sometimes we go hungry for even more that 2 weeks and we have to beg in the streets.

Sports:
We started Community Soccer academy. In the Month of May-invitation to Uganda for European Union Uganda trophy and we worn it. It was happiness as we represented our country. We brought the trophy home. We have participated 5 local tournaments. With this, we have received a lot of media attention both radio, TV and Newspapers/magazines. In the month of July we conducted a soccer clinic for U15 years-50 soccer players within the center .We managed to train 4 of our members to be as referees, 5 as coaches and 2 in sports managements. With your support through global giving-We have accessed the sports cooperate wares that includes Nike. They trained us on digital marketing and power of marketing, fundraising, mobilization and the power of sports. We have also through the Sports for Social Change Network being championed by CARE and NIKE which we are to be part of. have build our capacity in Coaching trainings, the use of sports in counseling children, Exchange program with the Sea-Cost United min USA.We developed a contract forms for all our players at the academy. We conducted one tournament called”Mpira Mtaani”Kiswahili word that means in the Communities. With the goal of bringing our talent as a brand, market it so that our children also are part of whorl achievers. We extended this and we formed 32 teams to which winners took trophies home. We suggest that we do this yearly. Of all, we documented it to be used as a best practice and lesson that can work. And we pled with our donors to fill free and give us address so that we can send this DVD quickly to help recruit and mobilize more volunteers’ donor. We also entered this project with the changemakerrs and we didn’t win. Through your generous contributions and support of donations we have managed to have teams of U8, U12, U15, U17 years old both boys and girls at the Academy.

Isaac “Etoo”Omondi”I didn’t know to play 2 years ago. Now they call me a good name. I saw myself in KTN television and Newspaper when they featured SACRENA using sports. I was happy. May be I will play for our National team and play professional soccer in biggest club in the World. What we lack are sponsors, sports equipments and facilities. We need exchange programs, more tournaments and came up with our own league and teach our communities how soccer can be used as a tool for social change”

Challenges for these include
·   Lack of Sponsors.
·   Lack of sports equipments (ball, uniforms etc) and high cost of high hiring training facility.
·   Inadequate volunteers to help us in making website and reporting format, visit, exchange programs, working with our organization and staying with us.
·   Digital cameras and videos or documentations.
·   Administration costs and programs facilitations.
·   High community demand on services we can’t offer.
·   High Dependency syndrome.
·   Lack of allocations for sports programs and specific donations.

10 Help Recommendations:
1.   Help build orphanage hall facility for children to eat on the community donated land
2.   Help buy utensils, beddings, and dormitory building and kitchen structure.
3.   Help sponsor one child at a time paying fees at a particular child in your name.
4.   Help pay for the administration costs (email, phone, electricity bills, rent, and typing).
5.   Help purchase sports equipments (shoes, jerseys, sox, pads ets, and first aid kits.)
6.   Help 10 students go to college/university, 20 students go to secondary/high school and 50 orphans intake for nursery school next year-2009 out of the 250 programs orphans.
7.   Help identify interns’ students/volunteers to visit and come and work with us here.
8.   Help get sponsors of the U15 youths league and the “Mpira Mtaani Tournament” a yearly event in the month of April, August and December.
9.   Help purchase foodstuffs (cereals and edible goods) for the center for the orphans.
10.   Help recruit more donors and well-wishers for us to meet the goals.

Two Good news as we end the year:

1)To the USA Citizen and the rest of the world-Thank you for having your elections and to the President Barrack Obama.He has his roots here in our communities of Kisumu-Kenya and could be opportunity for visitations, tourism and cultural attractions to come and see.

2) For valuable member of the Global Giving community, donors/contributors of project: www.globalgiving.com/1713.So that we came again as usual and receive the invite for us to participate in an upcoming "challenge" funded by the Kellogg Foundation that could result “support 250 orphans education and sports receiving prize grants ranging from $2,500 to $15,000.I encourage you to be part of this opportunity by recruiting just 3-5 donors for this project
This challenge is open to project “support 250 orphans education and sports “as you know this our project through you are the best projects currently listed on Global Giving working in children's health and education. This is opportunity for us all to reach out to your supporters and fellow donors and encourage them to give, contact us directly and advice.
If you help recruit this donors here, we shall have opportunity of helping 10 students go to college/university, 20 students go to secondary/high school and 50 orphans intake for nursery school next year-2009 out

Pictures:

• soccer_clnic_for_orphsn_August_2008.JPG (JPG)
• IDP_Mobile_Clinic_2008.JPG (JPG)
• orphans_supported_by_the_GG.JPG (JPG)

To our Partners and donors and friends of SACRENA.We are delightened to mention that on 1st December we shall hace 8 years of exelence and success with fun,kids conner,widows exhibitions,soccer games,Trainings,community enviromental clean ups,and involving diffrent schools where our orphsn are learning.the Commemorartion wil; start in the month of 1st October with build up activities like boat ridding,cycling,tounaments,media brievinfs,community work and much more.We shall invite renown local artist like Roghton who sings gopel songs and mobu Yans who sings local rap songs and is based in uganda.We shall also invite our regionsl soccer partner-the kids league kampala-Uganda.Also we wish to invite our welwishers wo attends and be part of the great day.We shall use the vents tio fund raise to take more chilfren to school,purchase soccer uniforms,looby for access to health care both for 25o women caring for these 250 orphans.In this case we invite you calls,emails and communications for more.We have atched some of the media print outs for our partners like you.

Pictures:

• SACRENA feutured in the Starndard newpapers (JPG)
• Fearured at the daily Nation news paper (JPG)

Achievements and Plans:
Support 250 Orphans with Education and Sport has a new big initiative, Volunteers and Community service…. “When you Volunteer at this project, you get benefits and everything…” We have a database of volunteers and encourage interns to consider SACRENA. We recently developed current information and data for every orphan supported by you. We are planning and thinking ahead this quarter for more partnerships with GlobalGiving and encouraging people like you who are our donors to kindly give more and to come for a visit to see what your contributions have done. All our online donors are providing a tremendous, fantastic, and recommendable help and they all understand why they should support this cause. It is very important in such a relationship and friendship to build linkages, give and take, invest, and give back to us – thank you! On our part, we are determined to organize and support a more child friendly environment and community participation and find solutions to our problems through sustainable ways.

No child here wants to be reminded that he or she is an orphan. What they need is to communicate with you directly as their sponsors. Therefore, when you make donations please give your contact information so that one child at a time can write to one willing sponsor.

Education success Story:
Anyango and Linet are twin sisters. Both lost their parents due to AIDS in 2003. They also discovered that they too are infected with the AIDS virus when we bought the Voluntary Counseling and testing to the center last year. It was the beginning of full blown stigmas, fear, shame and discrimination. Today they are both in class 8 and looking to be enrolled in Secondary School next year. They are on life prolonging drugs-ARV and life is normal and must continue this way. This is what they had to say:

“Now fellow children don’t discriminate us, stigmatize us, and even shame us at school because we have friends who care for us and pray for us….they are the parents we have, they donate money and send us to get food, medication, water, school fees, uniforms and what we need. We just know them as GlobalGiving friends and thanks to them all – they may help others too. ”

Through your donations, we are determined to help more than 30 cases similar to that of Anyango and Linet who need your help with $85 for every child .

Sports:
To prevent unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, early marriages, female genital mutilation and dangerous cultural practices, we started a U15 (under 15 years old) girls soccer league with the goal of training the girls about children’s rights and protection ,behavior change, abstinence, life skills and maturity. Through this, we shall tap nature and market the girls’ soccer skills within the professional arena to explore the hidden talents in Africa. We need used sports equipment and trained coaches’ services or additional support for this.

Recommendations:
Urgent need to pay school fees for 30 orphans this term, build kitchen, drill a water bow hole, purchase sports equipment (balls, jerseys, bibs, corns, T-shirts and hiring training venue) for girls’ U15 soccer team.

Challenges:
Inconsistence of direct communication with the online givers and also a lack of international volunteers and guest who come to experience what their donations are doing here.

Pictures:

• DSC03147.JPG (JPG)
• DSC03563.JPG (JPG)
• DSC03412.JPG (JPG)

SACRENA "support 250 Orphans education and Sport project"has penetrated across the Sub Saharan Region.We recently became the runners up for the Uganda-European Union Tournament and we brought Trophy home.It was a joy to see the Orphans celebrate the win and they want to thank all the well wishers and donors through the globalgiving.We have seen challenges of of food distributions at homes for double orphans taking care of fellow siblings.

There is a need of having a kitchen for all the Orphans to eat together as a sign of fellowship,support and physical support.Also there is problem of water as we have to search for 3-4 kilometers.This disturbs children and we seek donors to build for the children a bowhole or a well to help access water for use.Also with the sports for orphans we ask the donations of second hand sports materials like balls,uniforms,equipments etc.Here it is now second term and children have open schools.

Through you kind support we have now paid school fees for 3 girls and have worked with other partners to recruit orphans with disability in other support institutions here.

lastly we would like to hear more from you.i encourage you to communicate directly to us.For advice,information and sharing.We love you and continue to pray that you will continue to have the plight of orphans at heart.

Pictures:

• Pictures from SACRENA in Uganda (JPG)
• Uganda orphans photo of SACRENA (JPG)
• to the sacrena players (JPG)

Through wellwishers, friends, donors and colleagues have helped SACRENA for now to be here now. We said we shall make sure the children are in school...Yes it is happening now. After the Kenyan post election madness, children like the beneficiaries supported by you were really affected-- there was no shop to buy books, pens, uniforms, food, medicines and security was worsening. BUT now, Happiness...children enjoying the fruits of your support. If you see them now I tell you tears of joy will come out. They want you people to come and visit us.

Through you have given SACRENA a name. We now have expertise, new innovative ways, and have joined the movement around the world. Through Sports for Social Change Network championed by the Nike, Care, USAID, GlobalGiving and other implementing sports grasroots projects have earned SACRENA a name. Now we have a voice to share lessons and the best practices how through your support we are using sports in development and in programs to address the plights of orphans, people with HIV/Aids, youths, and the teenage widows and the entire community. By joining the SSCN-We are coming together with excellent Kenyan sports bodies to share, learn and scale up our organizationl capacity. Monitoring and Evalution is also good in the process. Just last week, the Care, Mercy Corps and Nike approached as to attend the 3 day Moving Forward Project targeting sports ambassodors and grassroots projest like SACRENA. We learnt new skills and informations of tools wich we are now putting in place. The Sports here help the orphans now to over came the past electione Trauma through Sports in Counselling. Through the Second Disbursement that we got last we trained 100 Community members gurdians on how to get involve to also sustain and own the SACRENA-Support 250 OVC education+ Sports Project", peace building, advocacy, reconstrution and how to have food security, distribiton of food relief to the orphans, buying of another 50 sets of uniforms and also visiting the Internally Displces persons at the Camps within Kisumu with the Peace message from Donors like you.

Through Sports and your double contribution. We as SACRENA through you and the Kenyan Ministry of Sports we are plnning to host youths through soccer challange called "Rebuilding Positive Image of Kisumu City through Soccer challenge" This will help in giving the City we are based in a positive image for Donors and Investors, grow sports and nature talents of OVC with sports and Education. Attached find the call to help and concept paper. Let us here from you. Any ideas,informations and encourage you to directly contact us. Thanks for your solidarity, support and helping the Orphans.

Attachments:

• Soccer Challenge for Peace Global Giving SACRENA and the Kenya Ministry of Sports Nyanza.doc (DOC)

Thanks you so much as our dear partners and donors you are very unique to us. We are proud of you and you have made SACRENA to be what is it now. Wellwishers through the CARE USA announced SACRENA as one of the winners of the Chege Challenge Grant. The success of this is you. We cannot forget to mention you by names! This will help us to do part of the Activities intended for this year, most importantly adding value in the part of Sports as a tool to bring Peace here in Kenya so that orphans can be in School without any pressure, worries and challenges. SACRENA is dedicated to support 250 orphans in Education+Sports and as our donors we encourage you for more fundraising, good ideas, direct communications and raising a voice for what you feel necessary.

This time to commemorate the life work of Geoffrey Chege, CARE USA in collaboration with Nike and GlobalGiving have teamed up to offer the Chege Challenge for Sports for Social Change Initiative partners in East Africa. The Chege Challenge offers matching grants of $1000 for successful online fundraising.

Geoffrey Chege, a 25 year veteran of CARE, was killed in Nairobi in early 2007. Chege directed CARE USA’s programs in East and Central Africa and was committed to serving Africa’s poor and vulnerable. Chege was a strong advocate of gender equity and equality and believed that the SSCI was an innovative approach to reach youth. As we struggle to bring dignity and hope to the world’s downtrodden, Chege’s life and sacrifices continue to shape and inspire the people who knew him.

SACRENA (#1713: Support 250 Orphans with Education & Sport) as a Sports for Social Change Initiative partners have met the requirements of the Chege Challenge and will receive a matching grant: along other implementing local partners like:

-Sadili Oval
-Alive & Kicking )
-AKWOS -
-TYSA
-Moving Goalposts Kilifi
-Best Buddies Kenya

SACRENA will be awarded for having the for having the highest number of donors and unique donors in same.

Please contact us through direct email for one -one communication or call:

email:sacrenakenya@yahoo.com
Tel+254 724 799 727
web:www.globalgiving.com/1713

Attachments:

• Chege grant announcement (DOC)

Kenya as you have been following up is of late the headline news all over the world. The flawed-controversial Kenyan elections results to which the loser was announced as the winner and the winner as the loser have made us a country lost to much (lives through deaths, outbreak of disease, lootings, houses burnt, properties destroyed and now ethnicity kills more than AIDS itself here.) Estimated 3.4 million Kenyans are now refugees in their own country and more than 3000 lives lost within one month.

Kisumu where SACRENA project is situated is the most hard hit areas with children now engaging themselves into acts like prostitution, thuggary and no security at all.

SACRENA during this crisis was affected much, our projects here supports children without considering ethnic backgrounds as we have done before helping orphans who are luos, Kikuyus, luyahs, kalenjins and other 42 Kenyan tribes. Now Kibaki belongs to Kikuyu and where we are belongs to Raila whom is said to have won the elections now we were targeted as organization. More than 4oo youths armed with crude weapons, pangas etc came in looted all out computers, office stationaries and everything then set the office on fire.

We had no alternative but first to make sure all the orphans, people with AIDS, vulnerables and our volunteers were safe. Then we Hid them in our church knowing that they also made it to the church stole all the chairs, PA system and set the church too on fire. It was terrible.

But were still to do something. With the help of the Kenya Red Cross we pitched 2 tents outside the field whre SACRENA iffice was to accomodate the displaced victims. Starting with our volunteers providing Counseling service, Alliasing with the Police for Security, and now the situation for the past 3 weaks is overwhelming we cannot help any more-There is no food, fear of outbreak of communicable diseases, no temporary structures, clothes, medication, no latrines. This is the urgent request for the desparate needy Kenyans hosted at SACRENA needs your urgent double support for bringing hope.

As the politicians with the help of the UN, EU, Commonwealth, Africa Union. The mediation efforts to bring this to an end is there being chaired by the former UN boss HE.Koffi Annan and other eminent persons as they looks for the long time solution, Kenya has been a home for many outside refugees e.g Rwanda, Uganda, Somalia and Sudan. Already through the American Embassy here in Nairobi-Kenya they are seeking International Aid Urgency to help nation wide. The UN has already said they are considering helping Kenya, the EU soliciting support too. At the organizational level we cry for you to come to our aid. You can get clothes, food, toys, blankets, temporary tents, soap, sanitary towels etc. This can be urgent through our contacts here.

The support we got from the Globalgiving we spent it for the specific purpose of orphan support that it was meant for and we didnt want to interfere first children were to get back to school, get office again where we can run our activities, build 2 toilets, Build one house for the orphan taking care for fellow orphans -one family, purchase 50 uniforms for 50 OVC and purchase 5 balls.

We are now convinced that with your help we can help our country, community and our people solve their own problems. I encourage you to kindly write to us directly and ask any questions, input and idea through email or call telephone directly and alos encourage others to become part of SACRENA as patners, assocaite and taking SACRENA as their own initaitives.

We are proud of you and bringing smiling face to us is something that will not be forgetted. We are now praying to get Child sponsorship directly and solicit for building materials for the orphan school so that all support coming in can be centralized. Should one be interested in this, please come so that we built and named after you. More so we encourage and plead with you to help with fellow donors to invest at SACRENA.

Pictures:

• Kenyans needs your support (JPG)
• We count on you as associate. (JPG)
• Hope and joy as we implement (JPG)

The community and caretakers of the orphans you support with your donations are very proud of you and joyous. This time we managed to thank you all through that short email. Today we say big thank you.

We purchased 5 footballs, 2 for boys and girls respectively and one still kept. We managed to buy food stuffs and provided to 100 orphans with flour, beans, soap and fuel for cooking. Happiness was all over! This was not enough to give for under SACRENA alone the problems are there with us, we have camps of the dipalced people which through your support we worked with the Red Cross and got 2 big tents.

We do not have enough resources to handle the over 18,000 gathering at SACRENA in need of medication, food, security, temporary shelter, water and children to go back to school. We cant unless we get help. What we have done is to provide counselling services, build 2 toilets and make appeal to you our donors to help support us through this situation. This time the GlobalGiving sent us your donations of $1,744 USD. This money helped us alot.

As you know they looted all office (stationaries and properties) at SACRENA and burnt the offices in name that we are supporting minority groups, we managed to pay office rent for the period of 3 months (January-March) we are now happy to have office just to the opposite where we used to be. The tents are just infront of the office. This money also we purchased schools uniforms for 50 orphans, 20 boys and 30 girls this was not enough to buy like shoes for it was bit little.

We ask you to continue your donations and to communicate through email or call us directly. We love you and appreciate you and your support for needy Kenyans. After the flawed Kenyan elections Kenyans felt that their expectations were not met when they voted for change and were shortchanged. The announcement of the winer to looser and loser winner was a reaction and responce that have now claimed more that 2000 lives, left hundreds of thousand displaced, properties destroyed but this is not enough for millions af Kenyans now suffer for insecurity, no basic needs, no health care and children go to school but most teachers are not seen.

"I am just from school and heard them killing our neighbours and killed 4 of my relatives...we need Kenya of all tribes. If the GlobalGiving donors can support this like they gave us uniforms, food and build toilts to us then i know we shall be ok." -- Jane, age 14.

Kenya needs your prayers and help to the needy. We welcome your more contributions and support.

Pictures:

• Photo of SACRENA supporting orphans with food (JPG)

Happy Xmas and New year 2008! Make a child enjoy Christmas Holiday and a happy new year just as me and you this year by showing generous donations that you care about others too during this festive season!

-Avail bottled water.
-Second hand computers for the orphan’s resource center.
-Second hand clothes/shoes and toys.
-Miss a meal a day to support HIV+ children with packed foods and through your material and financial support.

Do you have something that when you give offers opportunity for empowering a future generations of our children’s children in human- kind like us all to have hope, a smile, and sponsorship to one needy child at a time?

Sports: -Thank you so much for when we asked you to help with sports, we were able to purchase one set of uniform for the boy’s orphan’s soccer team recently through your unconditional donations.

"I want to be Ronaldinho of Brazil and Ronaldo of Man U" -- Billy, a member of the soccer team on the first day with uniforms.’

We now seek the girls’ set of uniforms. Who can purchase this? Who have balls? Soccer boots? Get yourself be part of this!!!

Education: -Schools open early January and we know that when you educate a girl child, you educated the whole village!! The boys too are bright and wished to get opportunity and reliance to your cent for school fee, school uniforms/shoes/bag, medication, shelter, and food…. Let’s do this, any support goes along way.

Community orphanage school project named after the sponsor just awaits a well wisher. Land is ready donated for free with the community. (Iron sheets, nails, polls, contractors, learning desks etc) for the school named after you as your foundation in Kenya-Kisumu.

Came and visit and see how it works for part time, Send a student internship/volunteer opportunity with us. How best we can learn lessons, best practices and documentations!!

For Donations you can give through GlobalGiving, or send material support to:

SACRENA 250 Orphans Education and Sports Project.
P.O.Box 138-40123.
Mega City
Kisumu-Kenya

Or feel free to call; Wycliffe Mboya.Tel +254 724 799 727 for any enquiries.

Best wishes, hopes, congratulations, prayers and a happy Christmas time and prosperous New Year full of blessings as we count on your donations!!

Team Leader-SACRENA

Pictures:

• Through your support we were able to buy boys soccer uniforms (JPG)
• Donate bottled water this time to orphans! (JPG)
• Donate second hand clothes and computers for the resource center (JPG)

Dear again colleagues,

I am sending you updates on the pictures about the school. The appeal out there for our friends like you is to kindly recognize with such initiative. Sacrena loks for your smiling face to go along in changing future of the challenges children. If one can support the renovation of this school so that we just have an orphanage home then the school can be named after the wellwisher as afoundation or in honour of support. We shall acknowledge this as acommunity!!

Should you have any commment suggestion or idea and want to come and vist or volunteer at Sacrena org. you are welcomed.

We await you here through your little support, promises and hand of mercy.

Links:

• Children supported through you.
• Approaching world cup in SA-hosted as organization doing sports
• Thanks to change makers.

Pictures:

• Photo 1, school project (JPG)
• Photo 2, school project (JPG)
• Photo 3, school project (JPG)

Dear all,

It has been a very busy past 6 months to Sacrena Organization. For most of you that could have heard it it is true that to help our 250 orphans with basic needs effectively we were to develop the 5 year plan of the behavior change communication strategy we have considered to:

1)Implement the government of Kenya Policy on Children and the Children Act.
2)To work with governmental structures for all the children rights and conventional rights.
3)To make sure that we share with other partners not only us but through others that may want to join ha nds e.g the following websites:
www.changemakers.net
www.sportanddev.org
www. sport4change.com

We have also been able to write to individual here quarterly to mention the challenges and the successes. If you donate a dollar will add value to bringing a meal, education and clothes and even treatments to the 250 orphans. In our next report we shall send out the picture of few of the children to be able to identify with you out there and also view the community orphanage school that we are just looking at to be able to make and call in the name of the well wishers. We hope to sponsor it so that these 250 children orphans can be in one school. his time please enjoy the Sacrena BCC documents.

Attachments:

• BCC Strategy (DOC)

Sacrena organization has now thought to introduce a component of sports to help meet the target of reaching support 250 ophans with basic needs. This has been through assistence of friends of Sacrena like you opening their websites for Sacrena to have a paragraph on sports!

Through you we ask you to kindly sponsor one child at a time! Should you be interested in this please contact us on the contacts given and we shall give you the details and the requirements of the needy orphans, guardians and what is needed of you. Feel free also to voluntary pay Sacrena a visit and introduce Sacrena to other partners and individuals that may be interested in investing, donating, visiting, volunteering services, collaborating and engaging Sacrena organization as their partner.

Click the link below to read more!

Attachments:

• Sacrena sport program to support 250 orphans (DOC)