VOICELESS CHILDREN... UPDATES

Special Events in Kenya!!

2008-11-24T07:10:00.000-08:00

We are gathering in Kenya for three VERY special events!

On December 1st (World AIDS Day), the US Embassy will be hosting a special screening of "A Grandmother's Tribe" in Nairobi. We are thrilled to be bringing the film home to Africa and once again reuniting friends and colleagues from Voiceless Children and Borderless Productions.

Then, on December 3rd, there will be an outdoor screening of the film in Kibera which will honour grandmother families living in difficult urban conditions in sub-Saharan Africa.

And then finally, on December 5th, the film will journey to the western rural village of Funyula, Kenya for a first-ever film screening in the community.

We will be filming the events and interviewing many of the people who are featured in the film to check in with their life stories since the original filming in December, 2006.

We hope that internet connections will let us share photos of our journey "home to Africa"!

Inspiring Young People...

2008-10-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

(REPORT from Susie Banfield, Voiceless Children US)

The presentation of "A Grandmother's Tribe" to a local Idaho youth group (Grades 9 to 12), on Sunday, October 5th, was an inspiration to both myself and the eager young viewers. As I sat among the group after the film's screening, I learned that our younger generation is not out of touch with the world, but are caring and concerned about our shared future. When asked about how the film affected them, here are some of the comments received.

The film was about respect for the older generation and respect for each other. It made me think about how I respect my elders.

It showed me what great love they have for family and each other.

It made me think about myself and where I'm headed in life. It is so much easier for me to make those decisions than those who have less.

We are lucky here in this country... that we have so many advantages, even if our families are not wealthy.

I learned that we should appreciate the fact that we can go to the store and buy a chicken... and not have to share it with eight people.

It makes me thankful that I can take a shower every day and that I don't have to walk so far just to water for drinking and washing.

It made me want to go to Kenya and help those less fortunate.

I believe that the meaning that young viewers experienced is valuable to them and that reaching across the world to share this human insight is powerful. As we move forward in screening "A Grandmother's Tribe", we will continue our tireless efforts to raise the funding necessary to ensure a hopeful future for these amazing elder women and the grandchildren in their care.

Please contact us directly if you would like to arrange a a special screening of this film!!

In the US... susieatvoiceless@aol.com

"A Grandmother's Tribe" Screening -- Long Beach, Washington

2008-06-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

A special screening of "A Grandmother's Tribe", to benefit Voiceless Children, will be held in Long Beach, Washington on June 19th.

DETAILS...

Thursday, June 19th at 8:30pm
Neptune Theater, 809 Ocean Beach Boulevard
Long Beach WA 98631
360-642-8888 (theater #)

Admission by donation.

For directions to the theater, link here.

For background on the film, click here.

"Living in the Bucket"... WINNER!!

2008-06-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 1st, 2008... The youth-produced, seven-minute documentary, "Living in the Bucket", was named 2008 Winner of the Shortie Awards, Teacher Category!!

The young Kibera residents, who filmed and edited the film, range in age from 9 to 19 years.

Congratulations!! We're so proud of your spirit to make a difference in the world!!

Short Documentary Award Finalist!!

2008-05-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

Voiceless Children has just learned that its youth film project, "Living in the Bucket", has been selected as a finalist in the 7th Annual Shortie Awards in Washington, DC!!

Congratulations, Felix Masi and the Voiceless Children film team (ages 9-19)!!!

Comment from FELIX MASI...

I must say it is always a great honor for to be able to nurture and share ideas with young people from under privileged society. This award comes at a time when Africa and the media is struggling to tell it’s own story from the experience of loss and challenges as well as resilience and hope.
“Living in the Bucket” Is a film I believe will trigger a response and demonstrate the efforts of Kibera youth in their quest to clean their environment.
The world over now faces the reality of climate change. The solution, I believe, begins with ourimmediate environment... our neighborhoods.
I want to thank Listen Up! Learning Matters Inc. (Austin), Voiceless Children Kibera youth filmmakers, my family, the Voiceless Children "family" and Borderless Productions for bringing us to this nomination.

Messages of Peace... in Kibera

2008-03-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

Even in the ruins of Kibera slum, there are messages that the human heart has not given up!

Artists, Masai Mbili and Solo 7, have taken on a new mission.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. We'll let their work do the talking!!

(Acknowledgements that all photographs shown on this blog have been taken by Felix Masi, Founder of Voiceless Children.)

More Photos... Emergency Relief to Village

2008-02-29T07:39:00.001-08:00

Supplies Delivered to Western Kenyan Village

2008-02-28T23:42:00.000-08:00

We now have photos of the recent delivery to the village in the western region of Kenya. Due to roadblocks and dramatic price inflation, basic supplies were in desperately low supply. The delivery of supplies, financed by the Voiceless Children Emergency Fund, was received with great enthusiasm. It included supplies of flour, sugar, cooking oil and soap.

We would like to send our special thanks to Felix Masi who has arranged all of the deliveries, to Nairobi slums and the western village, near the Ugandan border. He has taken great personal risk to transport goods, including travel through high-alert areas.

In this post, we share photos from the largest emergency delivery to date.

We anticipate that even with the agreement of February 28th, it will take several months to bring stability and ensure that goods and services are restored to normal.

Thank you for your continued support. We will continue with our Emergency Fund initiative for the next few months, along with news and updates on this site.

Meet Two Amazing People...

2008-02-07T20:08:00.000-08:00

We've been talking about "Voiceless Children", the African-based not-for-profit, but who are they?

The organization was created in 2005 by Felix Masi, of Nairobi, and Susie Banfield, of Sun Valley, Idaho. One can only say that "destiny" brought these two together.

Felix is a grandmother-raised orphan who brings a great awareness and sensitivity to the plight of women who are widowed or abandoned to raise children on their own. Now in his mid-thirties, Felix has a family of his own. As a photojournalist, he has been able to take care of his family and devote huge amounts of time to caring for "grandmother families" in the slums of Nairobi and in the western provinces where his grandmother originally lived.

All the photos on this blog are recent pictures taken by Felix.

One of his many accomplishments, Felix was selected for a visiting Fulbright scholarship. He was the only photojournalist and Kenyan in a group of sixteen. During his month-long sojourn in Washington, DC, he met another "son of Kenya"... Senator Barack Obama.

Felix Bio

And then there's Susie. Once you've met Susie, you can understand how these two dynamos managed to find each other from worlds apart. Susie had just finished a project on the Johnston Atoll in an extremely remote part of the Pacific when she first arrived in Africa in 2001. Third trip lucky... in 2005, Felix and Susie met. The seeds of Voiceless Children came to fruition and the rest is history and a lot of hard work.

Susie Bio

In December 2006, another major intersection with destiny occurred. Qiujing Wong and Dean Easterbrook were researching their documentary, "A Grandmother's Tribe" and needed to find a point person in Kenya to arrange for logistics and to have on-the-ground savvy to make the right connections. That's right, Felix!

And so, Felix and Susie were brought into the fold of "A Grandmother's Tribe" and we, into their world.

"A Grandmother's Tribe" website

We are honoured and privileged to be helping them through this very difficult time in Kenya's history.

We thank you for being part of our "global family" and appreciate your contributions!

Deliveries to Kibera...

2008-02-04T02:22:00.000-08:00

Photos have arrived and we are pleased to share with you this weekend's delivery of emergency supplies to Kibera.

Felix (pictured in the long sleeve red shirt), Founder of Voiceless Children, was able to deliver some much-needed positive good wishes and supplies to grandmother families living in Kibera. His delivery bundle included flour, sugar, rice, bar soap and cooking fat.

He is pleased to report that all recipients were very grateful for the supplies!

For those of you who are not familiar with Kibera, it is one of several "slum" neighbourhoods in Kenya's capital of Nairobi. Kibera is the second largest slum in the world with nearly one million residents. It is the location of the urban grandmother family profiled in the documentary, "A Grandmother's Tribe".

Kibera, the size of a major city... with no public sanitation... has been dramatically impacted by post-election and ethnic violence. Women and children often suffer in silence during these times.

But today, you made a difference!! There are people in Kibera who know they weren't forgotten!

Thank you again, to all those who have contributed to the Voiceless Children Emergency Fund!

SPECIAL NOTE...

We have received a cheque for $1,000 US from the Elk Grove Rotary (US). That brings our official GRAND TOTAL to $2,520... 50% of our original target!!!

Tip of the Iceberg

2008-01-27T15:40:00.001-08:00

News from Kenya, both from our contacts on the ground and media reports, indicates that violence and attacks persist in the cities and Western region of the country. New outbreaks have been appearing now in the Central region as well.

Felix Masi, our contact in Kenya, provided this eyewitness account of his work in Korogocho slum, Nairobi...

"I am back from the slums visiting our friends and small shopping for their upkeep. Women are living in great fear for rape and attack, I hope peace prevails soon.

I visited one of our clients, a social worker Florence, who is caring for a victim of rape by young men three days ago. She was robbed off her belongings, her husband fled when they threatened to kill him, and the family is living apart with their children under care of her sister.

I am keeping fingers crossed and keeping the faith for a new Kenya."

It is often the vulnerable that suffer most during these times of conflict and anger. Rahab Ngugi, Manager of Patient Services, Nairobi Women's Hospital echoes Felix when she is interviewed in this BBC Report (Click on title to link directly to the BBC Report) ...

Women and children: Target of Abuse

We are committed to continuing our efforts to provide funds for food and emergency items to the innocent and the vulnerable during this unsettled time in Kenya. We thank those of you who have responded this week with donations of nearly $1,000! Please know that it is being put to immediate use. Knowing that others care to help also helps lift the spirit of care providers like Felix who have witnessed very difficult human conditions in these past four weeks.

Please feel free to share this blog with friends and colleagues.

A little bit from a lot of people will make a world of difference!

Unrest Continues in Kenya

2008-01-23T11:19:00.000-08:00

These two articles, which appear on Newsvine and the Globe and Mail, describe the current climate in Kenya.

1. While the presence of former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, is considered a positive step, violent demonstrations continue in the capital city of Nairobi. (Click on titles to link directly to articles)
Protesters Burn Government Buildings (Newsvine)
2. The impact of the unrest and challenges to daily living are most directly felt by women and children.
Impact on Women and Children (Globe and Mail)
We can only hope that there will be some progress this week in bringing the two political sides together and beginning a dialogue of reconciliation.

What can you do to help? PASS THE WORD along that we are making things happen to support Grandmother Families through this difficult time.

Thank you for taking time to read our blog and updates.

Two Degrees of Separation...

2008-01-21T17:09:00.000-08:00

The catalyst for creating this Emergency Fund was the feedback that came, almost immediately from Kenya when the political unrest broke out. Life basics such as cooking fuel had doubled in price. A liter of parrafin, which is used for cooking and as a lightsource, was now $2 a canister. That may seem inexpensive by Western standards, but for grandmother families, it was a huge set back. The average daily wage is $1.

For those of you who aren't familiar with "grandmother families", they are a very special segment of sub-Saharan African life. The AIDS pandemic has taken a huge toll on the "parent generation" of this part of the world. In the wake of losing their own children to the disease, grandmothers have stepped up to raise extended families of "grandchildren". Many are caring for upwards of 10 children. Public school is free, but high school requires tuition. Now in their elder years, they are faced with feeding, housing and educating the future generation. And they are nobly committed to educating their grandchildren!

Organizations like the Stephen Lewis Foundation, have recognized the amazing resource of these women and have created on-the-ground support for them. Voiceless Children, a Kenyan-based organization which was founded by a grandmother-raised orphan, Felix Masi, is also part of the solution. In a "normal year", Voiceless Children tends to grandmother families in the slums of Nairobi and villages of Western Kenya. Helping with food & supplies, housing, school fees and small business start-ups, it has become a thriving example of providing a solution from within Africa.

The recent violence that erupted from disputed election results, has created even greater obstacles for those who were devoted to building community solutions. Women and children are bearing the brunt of the violence and harsh living conditions.

In this case, rather than being on the sidelines to a global story, we have reliable contacts on the ground in Kenya who can help ease the burden of these grandmother families. Voiceless Children is a registered charity in the US and currently being processed as an NGO (non-government organization) in Kenya.

I can assure you that word of "strangers from far away" sending donations to help ease their suffering will lighten the hearts of these amazing elder women and their children. We will keep you posted on the progress of the fund (the Chipin box will show a running tally) and hopefully, a few photos of the supplies being delivered.

The new year has arrived with much unrest in the world. Knowing that you are only two degrees of separation from a solution will hopefully lift your heart in the spirit of helping.

One global family, One loving heart...

Launching Voiceless Children Emergency Fund

2008-01-20T19:15:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Voiceless Children Emergency Fund. This initiative has been created to support grandmother families in Kenya (specifically Nairobi and Western Kenya).

We received news yesterday (January 18th, 2008) from Felix Masi, founder of the Kenyan-based organization, Voiceless Children. Here is an excerpt of that message...

"... it's not business as usual in Kenya. I have witnessed over six killings using live bullets by Kenyan police today in Kibera, including a ten-year old girl at her house. I am thinking of how to get Silas, alongside other families, into the rescue camp. I hope they are fine where they are. We lost communication since yesterday."

These are people we've come to know through the filming and production of the documentary, "A Grandmother's Tribe" and it is unimaginable that these elder women, having survived the loss of their own children to HIV/AIDS & caring now for their grandchildren... are now struggling for the life basics of food, cooking fuel and basic medical supplies.

We hope you will join us in helping these amazing women and the children in their care.

To DONATE (through PayPal secure sites), you can either use the "Chipin" box on the top right of this page or link to... www.voicelesschildren.org/donation.html

Thank you for your generous support and caring...