Komarocks Community Developmet Network

The Assistant Chief Mr. Dave Omedo was at hand to address the participants who turned up for the Massive Clean up in Komarocks organized by KCDN on 6th Feb 2010.

24^th May 2010

Dear Friends and People of Goodwill,

We have been engaged in some social transformation that is home grown and people driven at Komarocks Community Development Network for the last 2 years where support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children has taken centre stage in a pro-active way.
It has been a great challenge for us but we have been determined to help make a difference by being part of the solution, and not part of the group that will always criticize and complain.

At KCDN, we focus on 3 core functions;

• KCDN Child Support Initiative; where we mobilize Friends and people of goodwill to help us give educational support to orphans and vulnerable children in our programme. In 2008, we supported 250 such children in a function that was presided over by the Director of Education in the Ministry of Education. Last year, we did support 1950 through various interventions from several Friends of KCDN as well as corporate that came on board to make provisions of some of the basic items these children need.
• KCDN Peace Building Initiative; where we mobilize these children and their parents/guardians and the community to come together to advance the need for Peace, National Healing and Reconciliation. Currently we are taking the PEV Photos across the country but the main event is an annual celebration of Peace that we host on the 2nd Saturday of June every year. We will host this on 12th June 2010 in Komarock.
• KCDN Environment Management; where we mobilize the children, their parents/guardians and the community in environmental conservation efforts.

We have been posting all our events at our blogspot and we are inviting all persons and institutions of goodwill to kindly visit with us; http://kcdnkomarockswatch.blogspot.com
The good that we have been doing to these children cannot be gainsaid. They have benefitted from the largesse of the Friends of KCDN where we have made available educational materials such as books, stationery, uniforms and PE Kits. We have also made provisions for food stuffs when the times were so had for Kenya.

In our continued support to these children, we face numerous challenges. And amongst all the challenges that we face, financial challenges is the most pronounced. As we engage in our activities, we must pay for our office rent, an area that has been so challenging to an extent that our landlord had to move in and impound our office equipments. We need to create partnerships with Friends who can come on board and help us sort out the office issue once and for all. Office space is pushing us so badly and it is our earnest desire to work with a Friend who can help us address this issue.

Secondly, we have been working with university students who join us during their vacations. As much as they are volunteers, we must be in a position to take care of their very basic needs such as transport and office maintenance. Without the needed financial support for our programmes, maintaining such dedicated staff becomes real difficult. And we would like to invite dedicated Friends who can help finance our day to day office maintenance. This will enable us pay our telephone bills, electricity bills, transport for our staff, office stationery, internet connections and even make some tea for staff in the office.

Thirdly, in the course of our duties, communication is of real importance. The successes that we have had so far are purely based on our prowess at communications. We would like to do a lot more if we could be well empowered so as to reach far and wide. This is one area where we could do with support from Friends who can handily come on board.
Having enlisted all these, and because we cannot list all that enables a successful outfit, it is our firm conviction that to elicit support from Friends and People of Goodwill, we must start by being in the field and do the actual work, despite all the limitations. Then, a Friend or a Person of Goodwill will come across and see the bit that you are doing and marvel at how much you are achieving with so little.

It is with this in mind that we make this appeal to all friends and people of Goodwill to join us make a difference to the lives of these children.

I believe that we can build a working partnership on these areas as I leave you with this short poem;

I will wake up every morning and go to my garden.
I will clear the bush in readiness of the planting season.
I will plant in time for the rains.
I will weed my crops and God willing, some will bear fruits and some will not.
Some seedlings will fall on hard rock and will be eaten by the birds,
Some will fall on thorns and will dry up.
But some will fall on moist land and will bear fruit.
Anybody who wants to help me better join me in my farm.

Odhiambo T Oketch,
CEO KCDN Nairobi,
PO Box 47890-00100,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Tel; 0724 365 557, 0735 529 126
Email; komarockswatch@yahoo.com
Blog; http://kcdnkomarockswatch.blogspot.com
Group Mail; friendsofkcdn@yahoogroups.com