Thank You Letter to Baskets and Beads Sponsors

Dear Baskets and Beads Supporter

Thank you so much for your support of the fundraiser for this most recent trip to Kenya. We are so grateful for you and your support. Without it, we would not have been able to do some of the things we were able to accomplish.

I wanted to share with you some of what your donation helped to support.

1. Built a house

This is Phoresteen and the house you helped build. Phoresteen lived in a mud hut similar but not as strong as the one shown here. Kenya had severe flooding right before the trip. Their rainy season lasted longer than it should have due to a strange weather system that kept circling around and continuing to dump rain. Many people lost everything.

Her 3 children weren’t in the house and something made Phoresteen go outside. Just as she walked out the door, the whole house was swept away by flood waters. Had she remained in the home one more minute, her children would be motherless.

The funding built her home and provided supplies like mattresses, dishes, pots, pans and utensils. This is the photo before it was completely finished. It’s made of mud and cow dung.

2. Provided medical care for a sick baby.

 This is Elibit and her grandbaby Elizabeth. Elibit is one of the older mama’s in our group. She has 2 sons that were both married and had 2 children each. The wives took off and abandoned the children. The sons are both working and can’t take care of their children properly so Elibit has taken them all in. Elizabeth is 1 year old. She had quarter sized sores all over her face.

Elibit took her to the free clinic where the doctors were on strike. They told her it was nothing. We took her to Sister Freda’s clinic, which has a hospital and doctors on staff. She was diagnosed with septic dermatitis. They cleaned the sores and applied antibiotic cream and gave her some medications to take and put on the sores. We also got some basic supplies like diapers, wipes, porridge, soap, water, hand sanitizer, milk etc.

This is a recent photo of Elizabeth. She’s pretty much healed up , healthy and happy!

3. Paid school fee’s for several kids.

School isn’t free in Kenya and illiteracy is high in communities where parents can’t afford to pay school fee’s. Some of your donations provided school fee’s for these kids so they can go to school and have hope for a better future.

It also keeps them safer as they are at an age where many girls get raped and/or pregnant because of too much time on their hands and wandering around the streets. 

4. Provided food to over 30 families.

The biggest challenge in the Kipsongo slum where our ladies live is earning a regular sustainable income. We haven’t built Baskets and Beads to monthly sustainability yet. It costs about $50 a month to feed a family of 4-6. We provided food packs that will last a little over a month for our women and their families. Visit our foundation page to learn more about that program (see link below at end).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILyIZZORXgQ

We also shipped 11 boxes and brought back 3 suitcases or product for our latest bead order which we are starting to list here in our store. Here's one of the new products.  Check out the others in the store. 

Unfortunately the Coronavirus has halted any sales for them currently as Kenya is in the social distancing and stay in your homes situation. They have gone to a curfew overnight. We will be providing food packs to make sure they still have food.

They also have no means to wash their hands regularly and are not able to follow many of the protocols suggested such as social distancing and staying in their homes. If the virus strikes anyone in the Kipsongo slum it will take many lives.

I know many are without an income, if you still have the capability to donate and would like to become part of our “Double High Five” program with a $10 a month donation to help with food packs click here to find out about the program and to donate:

https://basketsandbeadskenya.org/give-a-double-high-five-or-a-high-five-for-food-program/

Thank you for your ongoing support of Baskets and Beads and the hope we are creating through teaching entrepreneurship to these women.

Upendo (Swahili for Love)

Eldonna