The Nasio Trust 2016 Annual Report

CHANGING LIVES

FOR GOOD

2016 Annual Report

We’re empowering communities in western Kenya to break the cycle of poverty by providing education, improving health and developing commerce through our sustainable income generating projects. w w w. t h e n a s i o t r u s t . o r g

About The Nasio Trust At the Nasio Trust we support over 400 children in a family environment so that they can reach their full potential and build a positive futures for themselves. We believe children should not grow up in institutions in isolation from society because of poverty, sickness, disease or death of parents.

Children should live in a loving family with dignity without being disadvantaged by the cause of their vulnerability.

The Nasio Trust fosters a unique, alternative model to charities that support orphanages. There is consensus amongst experts (such as the Better Care Network, UNICEF and Save the Children) that the orphanage model of child care for vulnerable children, can actually cause more harm than good, with institutionalisation undermining the development of social skills, and failing to prepare children for adulthood. Children in orphanages lack the individual attention and miss out on invaluable experiences that are part and parcel of living with a family. Instead, our community-based approach is aimed at providing a holistic solution to ending the cycle of poverty.

We do this by focusing on three strands of community development: education, health and livelihoods.

We believe that our model, developed over time working with the communities to meet THEIR needs, is the right and sustainable approach to ending poverty and the vulnerability of children.

We ensure that money raised goes to where it is needed in Kenya, and that’s why we strive to keep our overheads to a minimum. In the UK we have three part-time staff, and one full-time member of staff supporting the director by covering accounts, events and sponsorships. In Kenya we now employ 50 operational staff including teachers, medical staff, agriculturalists, social workers, cooks and support staff to ensure the whole operation runs smoothly.

2

The Nasio Model 3

Contents Welcome from the director

6

Our values & strategy

8

Our history

9

Kenya at a glance

10

What we do

12

Our income generating projects

16

Child sponsorship

20

Abdul’s story

22

Vincent’s story

23

Saidi’s story

24

Japeth’s story & letter

25

Tabitha’s volunteer story

26

2016 at a glance

28

Innovative partnerships

30

Green power

31

Our aim for 2017

32

Thanks & acknowledgements

34

Dr. Nancy Hunt Co-Founder & Director

6

Welcome from our director I am pleased to present the Nasio Trust Annual Report for 2016.

I am so grateful to all of our supporters, volunteers and sponsors whose hard work and generosity enables us to continue to save and change the lives of people in Kenya.

Despite the fall in the value of the pound following the Brexit referendum decision, we were able to continue our support to the communities of Musanda and Mumias as well as take in more children to our Day-Care Centres. We now support over 400 children.

We employ 50 people in Kenya to run our schools, the medical centre, spirulina production, which also helps the local economy. Our dedicated staff do an amazing job in identifying and meeting the needs of the people they serve. I am so grateful for all that they do every day working in the heart of the communities and tackling whatever needs to be done whether it be helping a sick child, finding care for a child whose guardian has suddenly died or repairing a home.

Sadly in November this year, one of our children, 17 year old Ateya died of cancer. The team in Kenya were at Yassin’s side in his final weeks, but words cannot express the gap he has left behind. God bless him and his family.

67 Volunteers visited in 2016 and have helped enormously in improving the lives of people and in widening knowledge back in the UK of the reality of living in poverty.

The BBC visited our projects following the activities of a group of young volunteers from Wallingford. The footage shown regionally and nationally brought attention to the issues that face the communities daily, including the debilitating effects of jiggers.

The work that we are doing through our model to break the cycle of poverty is being recognised internationally and this is good news for helping to reduce the imbalance of opportunities and life chances in Africa and globally.

Nancy 7

Our Values & Strategy The Nasio Trust derives its inspiration and values from the Christian faith, but works to support people from all religious and non-religious backgrounds. We envisage a world in which all children are treated with love and grow up to lead self-reliant, healthy and fulfilling lives.

Our aim is to break the cycle of poverty through: Providing education, healthcare and nutritious food for orphaned and vulnerable children in the security of a family environment Supporting communities in increasing food production and in setting up and running sustainable income generating projects Running volunteering programmes Over time our aim is to replicate the Nasio model to impact on other disadvantaged communities across the African continent.

8

Our History The Nasio Trust was registered as a charity in 2004, but the mission really started in October 2000 when Irene Mudenyo found an abandoned baby in a sugarcane plantation on her farm. Irene’s attempts to find his parents or relatives proved futile, and despite being elderly, she decided to care for the child, whom she named Moses.

Irene’s search for care for the child opened her eyes to the scale of the HIV orphan problem and poverty in western Kenya. In order to care for Moses and other children like him, one of Irene’s daughters, Lorna, started the Noah’s Ark Day Centre in 2001 in Mumias. It provided food, clothing, medical care and welfare for the children in its care. After the deaths of Irene and Lorna, the Nasio Trust was set up by Nancy, Irene’s youngest daughter, to enable the important work to continue.

9

Kenya at a glance Kenya is a country in eastern Africa with coastline on the Indian Ocean, bordered by Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. Although Kenya’s economy is the largest by GDP in east and central Africa, an alarming percentage of the population still lives in poverty, and life expectancy at birth remains low (64 years).

Kenya has the joint fourth-largest HIV epidemic in the world (alongside Mozambique an Uganda) in terms of the number of people living with HIV, which was 1.5 million people 2015. Roughly 36,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses in the same year, and the are now 660,000 children orphaned by AIDS. 40% of the population is under 15.

1.5M

People living with HIV in 2015

36K

AIDS related deaths in 2015

660K

Children orphaned b

40% 10

Of the population

nd in ere

by AIDS

n under 15 11

What We Do St Irene’s and Noah’s Ark

The first Day Care Centre for orphaned children was started in 2001 by Irene’s daughter Lorna. It was located in a road-side kiosk in Mumias and catered for about 16 disadvantaged children. The new Noah’s Ark Centre was opened on 22 November 2005.

It presently has over 100 children in its care and has a Head Teacher, teaching staff, a cook, a caretaker, and a secretary.

The children who come each day receive classroom lessons and care, as well as time for play. They are provided with a meal which often includes ugali (maize meal, not unlike our porridge) or rice with meat or vegetables. For some of the children this will be their only meal for the

12

day. We keep a watchful eye on their health, particularly those who are HIV positive. There are also a number of children attending the nearby Township Primary School who come for lunch and are they and their guardians are given much-needed support.

The new St. Irene’s Day Care Centre opened on 25 November 2009, and currently cares for 134 children. This Day Care Centre is located in Musanda, a town roughly 16 km away from Mumias, where Noah’s Ark Day Care Centre is situated.

Primary & secondary schools

Although education at primary and secondary schools is provided by the state, children are not allowed to attend school unless they have a

Healthcare

Our amazing new Medical Centre opened this year can meet most of the needs of the children we support but if more serious medical attention is needed we refer to hospitals in the region.

The centre also meets most of the medical needs of our children’s guardians and we are open for use by the wider community who pay for the service. We don’t turn people away who cannot afford treatment but offer alternative forms of payment, such as working on our farms. The facility is available for medical electives (doctors, nurses, midwifery)

uniform which we provide. For those attending schools nearby we provide a healthy lunch for the students. For others who cannot return we make sure that their healthcare needs are being met.

and for younger students interested in pursuing a medical career. All children in our community are regularly checked for illnesses and infections such as jiggers, ringworm and malaria so that they can receive prompt treatment. For those who are malnourished we give them a special diet which includes spirulina from our production unit. We are proud to announce that the Medical Centre, which has a maternity unit, saw the birth of our first child, named George after George Mudenyo (who was a highly respected Senior Chief of the area) in whose name the centre has been dedicated.

13

14

Volunteering We have a range of volunteers visiting our projects; some just come to see what we do, others help by engaging in much needed activities, for example teaching, healthcare, painting or project managing. We are fortunate to partner with Oxford University whose interns oversee projects and bring their expertise. We welcome gapyear students and people who have completed a sponsored climb of Kilimanjaro to raising money for the charity. The experience has a profoundly positive effect on people of all ages and walks of life.

Our secure guesthouse provides the base for a comfortable bed, good local food and a hot shower. From the charges once all the costs have been covered the surplus goes towards the running costs of the charity, including maintenance and development

15

Income Generating Projects

A key plank of what we do is to support the communities to set up and run sus develop their skills and make enough money to support themselves and their families earn as little as a dollar a day.

Spirulina

Thanks to the generous support of Kennington Overseas Aid in Oxfordshire our spirulina greenhouse provides employment for a team of guardians and the produce supplements the diets of children who are malnourished. Any surplus is sold locally and in Nairobi to provide a sustainable income stream.

Farms

We have two farms, wh helped by guardians wh the land and care for live our own food and we ca of the fresh produce we children.

Groundnuts, Maize production, treatment & sales

Thanks to the generous support of Kennington Overseas Aid in Oxfordshire our spirulina greenhouse provides employment for a team of guardians and the produce supplements the diets of children who are malnourished. Any surplus is sold locally and in Nairobi to provide a sustainable income stream.

16

stainable income generating projects. Our aim is that with a little help, they will es, and in the process stimulate the local economy, where currently, people can

Fishponds

We have dug two fishponds which are stocked with Tilapia fingerlings which we feed until the fish are big enough to harvest and eat.

Our harvest this year was not as good as it could have been but lessons have been learned for next year. Fish provide a useful source of protein and the surplus sold at market command a good price. We have now partnered with a successful organisation in fish production to make sure that we maximise our returns.

hich are run by our staff, ho volunteer to cultivate vestock. By growing an provide nearly all e need for feeding our

17

Tractor, trailer & plough hire

We have a small tractor and trailer which we use to plough the Nasio farms and to transport goods. It is also useful for collecting water from the river in the dry season when the boreholes are dry. We hire out the tractor and driver to local small farms which helps cover the cost of fuel and maintenance.

Baskets & bags

These hand-made good guardians, and are main

Tree planting

We now have a programme for planting trees on all the guardians’ smallholdings and on any land that is under used. We plant bananas, mango, moringa, avocado as well as local hardwood trees. The fruit supplements the farms and surpluses are sold at market. The wood from the trees is used for house building so we always make sure that when a new house is constructed we plant more trees for the future.

Baskets & bags

These hand-made good guardians, and are main

18

Beekeeping

We have around 40 hives producing honey of very high quality. This not only provides an income stream but also is good for the local environment.

ds are crafted by our nly exported to the UK.

Nasio cafĂŠ & shop

Available to the community, users of the medical centre and for visitors to purchase gifts this resource provides employment for guardians and an opportunity for personal development for some of the Nasio children when they leave school.

ds are crafted by our nly exported to the UK.

19

Sponsorship We work to gain sponsorship for children in the care of our Day Care centres. Our sponsors give a monthly gift which is combined with other donations and used to fund our work at the Early Childhood Development Centres. These centres provide for the basic needs of food, medical care and education.

In 2016, 58 new children became sponsored through the Nasio Trust.

Thank you to all our sponsors that joined us in our celebrations at the May Ball and the Friendship Lunch. Both events were hugely successful, as was our Christmas Appeals which provided 325 families with a meal for Christmas.

We are also delighted to announce that two of our sponsored students Caleb Akoro and Rajab Kweyu did extremely well in their final exams and will be starting college. Rajab has been offered a place at medical school; he has come a long way since his father died and he became one of the first 15 children to be supported by The Nasio Trust at Noah’s Ark Day Care Centre.

Sue & Richard Booys Bursary scheme

We are pleased to be able to offer the most able students, boys and girls, wishing to study engineering a grant for their costs of training. The scheme covers the costs of one student each year for the length of their course.

20

21

Abdul’s story Abdul lives with his father and stepmother; sadly his mother passed away when he was only nine days old.

His father supports the family through casual jobs in the local town, such as transporting people’s luggage on a cart. However, he suffers from very poor health, and this sometimes results in irregular work, making it very difficult for him to sufficiently provide for his five children.

Abdul began attending Noah’s Ark day care centre on January 16th, 2014 at the age of 4. When he was first admitted, a health assessment identified that Abdul

22

was suffering from very bad nutrition and was severely infected by worms.

Additionally, he was not fluent in speech and was very withdrawn.

After two years of being with us, Abdul has flourished. He has reached middle class, becoming an average academic performer and an active member of his class, fluently interacting with his teachers and classmates. The Nasio Trust has also been supporting Abdul’s father, assisting him with finding regular work as well as medical and psychosocial support.

Vincent’s story Vincent Odongo was born on 29 January, 2006. Due to a very difficult childhood, Vincent could not speak Kiswahili, English or interact with anybody except his mother, who is partially deaf.

Vincent’s father passed away when he was only two years old. Due to his mother’s physical challenges, Vincent and his mother were disowned and chased away from the family home by his father’s family. They then went to live with his maternal grandmother who is an amputee due to long-term

diabetes. Although Vincent’s mother suffers from poor health, she is the breadwinner through irregular casual jobs.

Vincent joined the Noah’s Ark day care centre when he was 9. Now thanks to extra attention in class, Vincent can fluently speak Kiswahili and is beginning to become fluent in English, in addition to being able to read and write. The Nasio Trust support Vincent, his mother and grandmother with food and psychosocial support, and Vincent and his family now live happily and securely.

23

Saidi’s story Saidi Makokha is 8 years old. He comes from a very poor family, and his parents unfortunately did not see the value in having an education.

As a result, Saidi did not have access to education at the required age. In early 2016, Saidi joined Noah’s Ark Day Care Centre after a member of our staff found him and his sister roaming the streets during school days. At the time, Saidi was malnourished and infected with jiggers in his fingers, feet and other parts of his body. He is now being well looked after by staff and the jiggers are healing.

24

With no hope of an education early on in life, Saidi now has a reason to smile. Through the support of The Nasio Trust, not only does Saidi interact with other children, but he also has access to education, a good feeding programme, clothing and medication.

Saidi is working extremely hard catch up with other children in his class. Since his enrollment his main focus has been his education. His ambition is to one day become a builder, so that he can construct houses for people who do not have one.

Japheth’s letter to Nancy Japheth Musindalo has been with the Nasio Trust for the past 15 years and is our first child to attend university.

Hi Madam, hope you are fine over there, am also doing well at university and really set for the second semester.

I take this opportunity to assure you that am aiming at doubling my efforts so as to come out with flying colors.

My main aim to write this letter is to pass my sincere gratitude to you for the support that you are giving onto me because am now seeing my life changing day by day due to the support of The Nasio Trust.

I wish you all the best in all your endeavours as I pray to God for long life. May the almighty God bless you and also reward you together with The Nasio Trust organisation.

25

Tabitha’s volunteering story All the Children are so beautiful and have smiles that can light up any room. Any time I begin to feel tired from the heat or a little frustrated with the naughty ones, they give me bashful smiles that make me forget about how naughty some of them they are.

These children are angels and I am so grateful to be a part of their lives for this period of time. This week some children had no sweaters and so we took them some lovely sweaters hand knit for them. The smiles on their faces is indescribable “tumeletewa sweater” - they have brought us sweaters, they chanted over and over in excitement as the teachers unsuccessfully tried to shush them.

Life in the Village area moves a lot slower than it does in the city and at first I had no idea what to do when I was done with the day’s work. The stillness and peace allows for reflection on life and moments where one can truly be grateful for all they have in comparison to what these people here do.

26

Make no mistake; these people here are some of the happiest people I have every met and I suppose this is so because they have found true joy and peace in things that money cannot buy. They have family, love and relationships that are strong and can withstand sleepless nights tossing and turning on reed mats because of hunger because of the love and Joy that holds them together.

27

Caleb & Rajab (1st intake) finish secondary schoo & begin volunteering

Medical Centre opens for business

28

Earthwise sanitary towels distributed to prevent educational disruption each month

Cafeteria & Shop open

67 All Nasio volunteers go supported to Kenya children declared no longer malnourished

h ol 23 Nasio Kilimanjaro climbers successfully reach the summit Over ÂŁ2,000 made selling Spirulina

2016

e c n a l G At A

29

Innovative pa Oxford University The Nasio Trust has recently begun to partner with the Careers Office at Oxford University, and through this partnership has begun hosting a series of groups of micro interns in the office.

These interns have created a series of reports targeting specific issues, and we have gone on to implement much of what they suggested.

For example, in the summer of 2016, we

30

had a group of interns’ research and write a report on Corporate Social Responsibility and new ways in which to engage corporations with the work the Nasio Trust conducts. In December of 2016, our most recent Oxford interns produced a report on expanding the charity’s presence on social media in order to increase awareness of our work and increase our number of volunteers and donors.

artnerships Green Power Former Oxford Times columnist Helen Peacocke has penned a fantastic book about how to cook with Spirulina and she is donating all the proceeds to The Nasio Trust.

As many of our supporters will know, our own Spirulina project is dedicated to producing this miracle algae to supplement the diets of the children we care for, and also to generate much needed income for the communities with which we work.

31

32

2017 and beyond A key part of the Nasio Trust strategy is sustainability, empowering communities to set up and run their own sustainable incomegenerating projects to break the cycle of poverty. That is why we have set a goal that by 2020 the communities of Mumias and Musanda (the two areas where the Nasio Trust has been established) will be mostly self-sufficient with minimal financial support from the UK. This is for two reasons – first so that their dependency on funds from the UK is reduced as they develop their own sustainable enterprises, and second so that we can go on to help other impoverished areas in western Kenya.

We are helping these communities to gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to become entrepreneurial – spotting opportunities for viable small businesses, preparing business plans and getting started.

In 2017 in particular, we are looking to: Engage more local secondary schools in volunteering opportunities Increase our number of child sponsors and those willing to support the needs of our secondary-school children Expand the scale of our spirulina production by building a second greenhouse Explore the potential for new income generating activities by teaching community members new vocational skills Launch a campaign to tackle the problem of jiggers Establish plans to build a new community centre Obtain funding for more jiko cookers which reduce the use of firewood and production of smoke

33

Thanks & acknowledgements We are incredibly thankful to all of our supporters for their ongoing dedication which allows us to continue our programs and create brighter futures for some of Kenya’s most vulnerable children, We are also grateful for our dedicated staff in Kenya who provide continual support and care to our children each day. We take the opportunity here to especially thank the following organisations for their continued generous support: Oxford Vitality, Oxford University, The Waterloo Foundation, Opendoorz, Kenya Red Cross, Doctors.net, Earthwise Girls, Expert Wealth Management, Thames Valley Police, Abingdon Town Council, Rocking Horse Nurseries, William Brake Charitable Trust, Action Coach, Cokethorpe School, VSO, Eleanor Rathbone Trust, St Mary’s Hospital Mumias, Gardpass Cyber Security, Souter Charitable Trust, Children’s Radio Foundation, Cranfield University, St James’s Place Foundation, Pennington Manches (LLP), Wallingford School, Garden Games, The Rooflight Company, Kennington Overseas Aid, Bellinger Garages, Lucy Properties, Jennings Business. www.thenasiotrust.org info@thenasiotrust.org +44 (0) 1235 856290 Hampden House, CHANGING LIVES

FOR GOOD

Monument Park, Chalgrove, Oxford, OX44 7RW

UK Reg Charity No. 1104542