This newsletter is exciting fortwo reasons. Firstly, Hope andKindness is ten years old thisyear so this newsletter is ourtenth anniversary edition.Secondly, most of this editionhas been written by our SeniorManagement Team (SMT) inKenya. Ten years on, our dreamof Hope and Kindness being runby and for Kenyan people is atlast being realised.In the nine months since our lastnewsletter, a lot has happenedin our personal lives and in thework of Hope and Kindness.Followers of my blog will knowthat my wife Judi was diagnosedwith breast cancer in March thisyear and is currently two thirdsof the way through treatment.Clearly this changed the originalplan for me to spend most of thisyear in Kenya but it did not stopus from achieving our most important goals. Makingtwo separate trips I was still able to spend almost fivemonths out in Kosele. My time there was then focusedon establishing our new SMT - making sure that wehad the right person, with the right skills, heart andpassion for each respective role and then, equallyimportantly, training them in the management andleadership skills they will need to develop to cover thediverse but connected areas of the work of Hope andKindness. Right now, I have every confidence in theirheart and passion for our work and in their ability totake the work of Hope and Kindness forwards in thenext ten years. Each team member’s contribution tothe newsletter speaks volumes about their love of Godand their dedication to the children and communitythat we serve.Terry

FARM MANAGER- DancunI am Dancun Omondi Oruko aged 24. I'm indeed veryhappy to be the Farm Manager of Hope and Kindness.Farming is a quite challenging duty here in Kenya, Idon't know of other countries but I want to believe thatit is the same everywhere. So, where is the problemwith farming? Why is it quite so challenging? In Kenya,many people have believed that farming is only for the

unlearned, that the learned people should find theirclass 'white collar jobs'. When I was a pupil, myparents used to tell me that my son, you need to workhard in class for you to get a better job, not that afterschool you come back here to start farming with us.Just from that minor case of my parents, you can spotwhere the challenge emanates from! Well I justcompleted my high school studies two years ago andI've chosen to be a farmer and I think this couldchange the peoples' attitude towards farming.We are using a new method of farming ‘Farming God'sWay’ whereby we don't need bulls or big machineslike tractors to plough the land. In fact, there is noploughing of land, we just clear the land, carefullymeasure the spacing and depth before we dig theholes and plant our seeds followed by mulching asrequired by this new method. We tried it for the firsttime last year and it has been really working out forus. At first, many of my colleagues said that we wouldfail. They said things like ‘couch grass cannot becleared by mulching alone- it must be dug out properlyfrom the land that is to be farmed, that sweet potato,which is a very common crop in this region, can't beplanted in furrows as per the FGW and expect a goodyield unless the soil is heaped around each and everyplant. You see, we had to expect such kind of

Newsletter October 2012UK Registered Charity No. 1108996

Ten years of

and

Isaiah Mary Nyangwe (Mercy) Dancun

challenges being it was a new system to be put inplace. We had to remain focused and go as per ourplans and all in all you know what? Our last harvestwas quite amazing, it really sent a message to theentire community that surely it is not only the highlandsof Kenya that can produce a bumper harvest. As aresult, most of the people around this community arerequesting to be trained on this new method.

Just to brief you on our crops, we grow maize,sorghum (millet), green grams (mung beans) , sweetpotatoes, tomatoes in a 24m by 8m greenhouse,peppers, sukuma wiki (kale), bananas, mangoes,onions, butternut squash, coriander, and carrots. I cansay that each and every crop brings its own challenge.So far we've been having challenges with maize i.e.stalk borers and striga weeds but currently we'reemploying the PUSH-PULL system of controlling themwhere, we've planted napier grass and desmodiumplants. We've also been having a challenge withtomatoes i.e. tomatoes being infected by bacterial wiltbut we've now put correct measures in place wherebywe're going to heat the soil to kill these bacteria beingthat they are both soil and water borne disease.

We are also rearing local she goats but planning tohave a pedigree he goat to cross-breed them with.Currently we are small scale farmers but the followingare our future plans:To be self-sustainable.To be commercial farmers.To switch from inorganic to organic fertilizer.To produce all-round young people in the society.

One of the biggest challenges that I have experiencedin the short time that I've been a full-time farmer is theimportance of time management. Checking thecondition of the plants in the greenhouse could takehalf a day before I would even begin to check on allthe other plots of maize, kale, onions etc. I have hadto learn how to plan and manage my own time well,then also engage the college students and schoolpupils to work with me.

The following are some of the tips for the kind ofsuccess that we have begun to realise:Time management: One should manage his/her timevery well for any success to be realised.Proper planning: We have to plan for each and everyactivity that we do and then give them their order ofpriority.Say 'WE' not 'I': We need to involve others in ouractivities for people have different gifts and strengths.Set a goal: We need to set our goals each and everyseason. Let us try to achieve what we've neverachieved in the past.Faithfulness: We should always be faithful and lovewhatever we do. This will give us a lot of confidencein our field of work.At times we might fail in our duties but then we shouldnot look down upon our failures, we should accept theoutcome and learn from it, then do better next time.We still remain with many other challenges ahead.To fulfil our ambitions towards eventual self-sustainability we need more capital to invest in thepurchase of more land and other equipment that wouldallow us to diversify and produce other products forthe market … e.g ‘plumpy’ peanut butter … I would bevery interested to know your thoughts and ideas aboutany of these and welcome you to come and ‘taste andsee’ for yourself in Kosele.

Yours sincerely,Dancun Omondi Oruko.

Hope and Kindness Newsletter October 2012 Page 2 Page 2

“Prize winning” sweet potatoes !

Green gram harvest

HEAD TEACHER - Madam NyangweMy name is Millicent Nyangwe from Siaya county. Iam a widowed mother of four children namely Linda,Sally, Austin and Pretty. I lost my husband five yearsago during the Kenya 2007/2008 post electionskirmishes. I first worked as an untrained teacher atan Academy in Nairobi before joining college. Thoughthe pay was not that much, I managed to save upsome of it for my upkeep in college. I graduated witha diploma in Early Childhood Education in 2006. Afterthe death of my husband I returned to Kosele andworked for one year in a government school beforejoining Agape Academy where I worked for anotherthree years as a deputy headteacher, head ofdisciplinary committee and guidance and counselling.During this time I specialized mainly in the lowerclasses and also handled upper classes in Kiswahilisubject. In 2010 I joined Hope and Kindness as anECD teacher, before being promoted to the new rankof a full head teacher of the school in 2012. It has notbeen an easy road, with lots of ups and downs, but Iam grateful to God for placing me where I am today.

As the Head Teacher of the Primary School, there areseveral challenges that I come across in my line ofduty. As a charitable institution that meets the needsof almost 200 of the poorest and most disadvantagedchildren in our area, I know that many of the pupils donot receive the support from home to help thembelieve that they can achieve and be successful intheir education. As a Christian it is my duty toencourage and motivate them both mentally andspiritually. We begin each day with prayers and a Biblereading and we try to carry that encouragementthroughout the day. As Head Teacher I am strict onteachers who are not time conscious because timereally means a lot in a person’s life. By being goodtime managers the pupils get enough time with their

teachers hence strengthening the teacher-pupilrelationship and this gives hope of attaining goodgrades come the final exams.

My vision and mission is to see the school grow intoa centre of academic excellence with the childrenbecoming good role models in the future who knowGod and love their neighbours. This can only beachieved by instilling high levels of discipline throughgood teaching and good role models and I am workingwith our teachers to ensure that this is effected andperfected. Showing love to the pupils and serving theschool is my greatest happiness. I will ensure that Itake care to up my strengths and improve on my ownweaknesses.

Hope and kindness has been a source of employmentfor so many people in the community me included.Through it I have been able to pay High School feesfor my two daughters one in her fourth year and theother in her third. I will forever be grateful to God forbringing such a wonderful project into our midst.Long live Hope and Kindness. God bless.Madam Millicent Nyangwe

HEAD of AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE: IsaiahI am Isaiah Okeyo, aged 36 years. I am married withtwo children, Raphael aged 9 and Rein aged 6. I wasborn of a peasant farmer in Rachuonyo South districtof Homa Bay County. With diligence and dedication Ipursued my education and graduated with a B.Sc.Course in Zoology and Biochemistry from KenyattaUniversity in the year 2002. At this point in time, I takethis opportunity to pay my gratitude to God, thetrustees of Hope and Kindness Trust Kenya and thevision bearer for having had the insight to begin andfacilitate the funding of the Agricultural College andsecuring for me this employment opportunity.

Hope and Kindness Newsletter October 2012 Page 3

Our first ‘School Choir’ patiently waiting for a bus - almost 3 hours late - that finally took them to compete at Provinciallevel in Kisumu where they came 12th out of 75 entries following their success in our local regional competition.

The above college was initiated at the beginning ofthe year and has registered the students who havebeen undergoing training. This has been an eyeopener to the orphans who might otherwise havedropped out of school. Training takes into account theteaching of the I.G.C.S.E curriculum and vocationaltraining in farming, carpentry and tailoring. It is quiteencouraging that although we have just begun wehave moved a reasonable notch higher. We havealready been able to establish an operational collegefarm with a very large green house and a goatbreeding unit. The farm has begun to supply us withfood to feed the institution and we have been able tosell the surplus vegetables that we now have.Our vision, where we have laid the road map, is toproduce almost all that we grow in excess, such thatwe sell the surplus and use the proceeds in the dayto day running of the institution and ensure that wehave a sustainable level of operation in every aspect.We are working with a lot of diligence and enthusiasmto expand the institution beyond where it is so thatthose students who have the academic prowess willbe able to pursue their education even further. Weplan to steer our institution to a higher institution oflearning and research that is capable of disseminatingits research findings to the rest of the community andprovide high quality education integrated with relevantskills to the Kenyan economy and beyond. In the nextstep, we intend to erect our science laboratory and aworkshop to make our learning real and practical.Hand in hand with what we have, we also envisageestablishing a more specialised craft trainingdepartment. This will boost the entrepreneurial baseand skills.

Currently our financial ability to do all of the above isvery limited. However, we are optimistic that thecombination of your esteemed support and our

passionate effort and input will be a springboard inrolling out our new development programmes for thisgreat institution. We believe in the strength of numbersand together we will succeed to be at the helm ofacademia and overcome the present challenges. God's blessings .Thanks.Isaiah Okeyo

CARE & HOME MANAGER - MaryThe family and Management of Hope and Kindnesswish to convey their love and greetings to you all.My name is Mary Akinyi Adouda and I have been partof the management team of Hope and Kindness since2008. I am a widow left with three sons, Stephen whois in his third year of university, Nathaniel who is in hislast year at High School, Adonijah who has joined theAgricultural College, a daughter of my own, Everlinewho is in STD 4 and Caroline the four year olddaughter of my late sister.When Judi and Terry first came to Kosele, they sawthat there were many children orphaned by HIV Aids.This is partly because of the traditions of our Luocommunity which forces widows to be inherited. Thewidows are not allowed to choose a man free fromHIV or to use safe measures. Other reasons for thehigh death rate from poverty are the lack of chancesfor employment, the difficulty in farming the land anda lack of affordable health care.I came to work with Terry and Judi when they firstcame to Kenya in August 2002. To begin with I workedtwo days a week to help Judi with washing the clothes.Since that time I worked as a classroom assistant, asmanager of the stores, as a carer in the Home, andas head of security. I am currently responsible forkeeping the accounts and overseeing the teams thatproduce the meals, provide the day and night timesecurity (a legal requirement in a Children’s Home)and care for the children who live in the Home.Apart from the work in the Home, the School and nowthe Agricultural College, Hope and Kindness hasalways done what it can to help widows in thecommunity, providing them with emergencyassistance for basic needs like food, money for urgentmedical care, clothing and shelter -building themhouses using funds from well wishers in the UK. Oneof the biggest challenges I have in my work (apart fromthe number of teenagers we now have in the Home)is stretching the resources that we have to meet ourmonthly commitments and also be as fair as possibleto our neediest neighbours. Our prayer is that theproject expands and will one day be self-sustainablethus helping change the history and the tradition ofthe community.We would really like to invite you to visit and you cansee for yourself how you have helped Hope andKindness to make this a better place for so many.Love from Mary

Hope and Kindness Newsletter October 2012 Page 4

Our students enjoying their very first hands on experiencewith real science equipment - purchased from generousfunds donated by students at Alcester Grammar School

Warks, on their non- uniform day in July.

CHURCHOver the last ten years the church has been throughits share of ups ands downs. We’ve experienced apastor being driven out of the area because of thepost-election violence in 2007. We have been widelyridiculed in the community because of ourPentecostalism and we have seen church numbersgo up and down depending on the number of Mzungu,(European), visitors to the church. Like any church wehave been let down by conflict between individualmembers of the church and conflict between theleaders of the church. At times, the church family isreally not very different from our own families.However, like a good family we have held togetherthrough the ups and downs, celebrating together,grieving together and giving together.Now, thanks to a huge and heartfelt commitment byIan and Hilda McMillan (from Elim Paisley) who havespent 12 of the last 18 months out in Kosele – and arestill there now - the church is also stronger than everbefore and a source of real encouragement. Both Ianand Hilda (intentionally resisting the role of leadershipfor themselves) truly abound in all the fruit of the Spirit-love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, andfaithfulness - and they have really strengthened,encouraged and equipped the Kenyan leadership whoare in turn disciplining church members. Together theyare learning to love God and one another more andtransforming the lives of individuals and their families.In August we had a very special service as the churchbecame officially affiliated to the Elim Gospel ChurchKenya. Members of the Kenyan national leadership,Pastor Reuben and Pastor Paul (the pastor who hadto leave Kosele in 2007 because he came from thewrong tribe) travelled from Nairobi to spend four dayswith the church. Despite only being the pastor for ashort time Paul was loved by the church members andthey were very pleased to see him back for this visit.Becoming part of this movement links our church to anumber of others in different parts of the country andto a wider global family of Elim churches with aheadquarters in the UK. In a very moving service Pauland Reuben anointed our new Pastor Kennedy and

co-pastor Dorine, and theirleadership team, all by the popularacclaim of the church members.Reuben preached the sermon inthe service and coined acompletely beautiful phrase. Hewas extolling the virtues of lovingone another through showingeach other kindness and creatinghope in brothers and sisters lives.He said that as a result of this “thefriendship becomes fatter”. It’s alovely image and a wonderfullyAfrican sentiment. -Terry

The following update from Kennedy and Dorine isequally encouraging:In the past two years, we have really seen the handof the Lord on our church here in Kosele. The churchhas grown numerically and spiritually and we haveseen many signs of progress.At the beginning of August we had visitors from thenational leadership of Elim Gospel Church Kenya.Their visit marked the occasion of our church in Koseleofficially becoming part of the denomination. On theSunday morning they anointed Kennedy as our Pastorand Dorine as Associate Pastor. They also prayed forthe other church leaders, Mary, Rose and MamaPhoebe and our youth and Sunday School teachers.Their visit was a big encouragement for our churchmembers.Recently we have been introduced to “Encounter”seminars, adapted from material developed inScotland. These seminars include teaching ondiscipleship, and prayer ministry, and we have nowtrained 25 church members. Many people havetestified how the Encounter has helped them deal withissues in their lives and to grow spiritually. We havebeen doing Farming God’s Way on our farms and wehave been training other church members and peoplein the community about Farming God’s Way. Webelieve this approach to farming will make a realdifference to the problem of food insecurity in thiscommunity. We have formed a Young Mothers’ Groupon Thursday mornings where we are training themhow to make baskets and mats and we have afellowship group for men on Saturday afternoonswhere they can talk freely. Our Sunday School hasgrown to an average of 70 children attending eachweek so we are appointing more teachers and splittingthe Sunday School into 3 classes based on thechildren’s ages. We are also appointing 2 more ladies,Vinnie and Alice, to help with pastoral care.So, we are very thankful to God for all that he has donerecently and for helping us with all these newinitiatives. Please join with us in prayer that we will seeour church continue to grow spiritually and that Godwill use it to bring His love and blessing to ourcommunity. “Nyasye Ogwedu” Kennedy and Dorine

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Ian Pastor Kennedy Pastor Dorine Hilda

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In July we had visits from three sets of young peoplewho chose to sacrifice personal finances and dedicatetheir time, gifts and talents to the children and youngpeople in our school and college. Cousins from ourchurch in Redditch, Jessica and Daniel, proved to bea great ‘double act.’ Dan (currently studying maths atOxford) spent hours every day tutoring small groupsof students keen to improve their performance in thisalmost universally, most frequently feared subject,whilst Jess (now studying Speech Therapy) thenfacilitated hours of creativity and relaxation withpainting and arts and crafts. Both have said how muchthey would like to return and Jess is already lookingfor a new part time job to help her raise the funds fora return trip!

Two young men, Alex, who we had not seen for almostten years, along with his friend Peter (both Year 12students from Ivybridge Community College Devon)volunteered themselves for two weeks of ‘anythingthat needs doing.’ Having purchased some ‘tag rugby’equipment from some of the funds raised at theirschool it was agreed that the introduction andcoaching of ‘tag rugby’ would be a good place to start.However, the recent building of new classrooms andthe reclamation of a children’s play area frompreviously farmed land meant that first they had tocreate a pitch! Alex and Peter excelled and inspiredeverybody as they worked under hot and sunny skiesnot just clearing the ground but carrying andpositioning hundreds of large white stones to plot outa football/rugby pitch, and netball and volley ball courtsincluding a path to help direct the children to theirclasses. Their hard work was greatly appreciated byall of us but the photos above and the quote from Alexthat follows illustrate again the most important gift ofall – the proof of friendship. "Pete and I found the

whole experience humbling and completely inspiring.We've made friends with so many people, kids andadults, in Kosele and cannot wait to get back thereagain very shortly. It was an adventure physically andmentally that we will never forget….and will gladly goback anytime we get the chance.”

As Alex and Peter departed our own daughter Elliearrived together with her friend Andy. Having justcompleted their A levels they too were keen to comealongside our older children, to tutor them in thesubjects which were their own strengths …. scienceand more maths! Also, being keen to help us in ourgoal of improving the life chances of the young womenin Kosele, Ellie took the opportunity to lead some basicjujitsu self-defence sessions which did indeed provevery popular with the girls.

Love Looks Like Something ……………..“LOVE LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING!” is a quote from a very challenging and inspiring international missionarycalled Heidi Baker and “ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS” is a well preached message from ourown, much loved, UK pastor and trustee - Robin Baker (not related). Both perfectly describe the experiencethat is enjoyed by our Kosele family every time we receive new visitors to Hope and Kindness….. each visitorquickly becoming a new friend.

Collins (far left) who we started sponsoring in 2000 andtherefore our first friend in Kenya.

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It is always good to maintain and grow friendships andin February we had two more teams of visitors fromCisco. We are, as ever, extremely grateful to ourfriends from Cisco for their continuing commitment toH&K. The funds they raised this year helped to makeit possible for us to buy a large greenhouse andconstruct a goat enclosure. Everybody at H&K wasvery impressed with the Cisco teams’ hard work inbuilding these during their visits. Both of these projectsare very important for the future development of ourfarm and college.

Our friends from Cisco were also the first visitors tostay in our new visitors’ centre, (which they alsohelped to fund last year). Every Cisco team we haveworked with has shown a tremendous 110% workethic in every aspect of the work they do in Kosele –from the first day to the last. The children and staff arealways pleased to rekindle friendships with all ourreturn visitors. We look forward to further visits in thecoming year and thank all Cisco team members forhaving a real heart for the children and for theircommitment to helping them have a better future.

However, the highlight for Ellie, apart from the fun offinally being able to introduce Andy to her Koselesisters and friends, had to be the arrival of Annabeland Oink, our first goats. (Pictured below with Ellie).

Ten years ago, when we first travelled out to Kosele,one of the carrots we used to encourage Ellie to thinka year in Africa was a ‘good idea’ was the promise ofa pet goat. Unfortunately, a very hand to mouthexistence, a lack of appropriate space and a millionand one other priorities meant we, her parents, brokethat promise (and she has never allowed us to forgetit!) Thanks to the fund raising efforts and hard work ofvisitors from Cisco earlier in the year we finally had apurpose built goats breeding pen, two goats and avery happy and forgiving daughter !

Thanks again to all our friends from Cisco in the two February 2012 teamsCamilla, Tony, Julie, Emma, Dave, Chris, Sally and Mike

Our completed Visitors’ centre - with paint and varnish stilldrying just 24 hours before the arrival of our visitors

Mary and Duncan can’t believe that the greenhouse has thecapacity for 500 tomato plants!

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We remain extremely grateful to all those people whohave worked hard and given so generously to ensurethat Hope and Kindness continues to grow and is ablemeet the changing needs of the children and youngpeople we care for. We are thankful and relieved thatin spite of the current economic stresses and strains,most of our sponsors have managed to maintain theircommitment to their monthly donations. However, thetotal sum from sponsorship still falls short of risingcosts and the investment needed for capital projects.Without our additional fund raisers we would neverhave made it this far and would certainly not be ableto secure the long term future and sustainability of theSchool and College.Every year we are encouraged and inspired by thewillingness of old friends and new to give up their timeand to step out of their own personal ‘comfort zones’to do what they can to support the work of Hope andKindness. This year, on April 17th, a sponsor, friendof H&K (and Ellie’s psychology teacher) Kim Carr, ranher first half marathon in the most atrocious weatherconditions – very wet, very windy and very cold- it wasso bad that they cancelled the full marathon that wassupposed to be running at the same time. In spite ofbeing, in her words, the most unnatural runner Kimcompleted her run in a very respectable 2 hours and20 minutes! Then in June, two of our male visitors,Dan and Alex, also chose to expose themselves tothe challenge of passing through their own personalpain thresholds by raising sponsorship through havingtheir legs waxed! As someone who doesn’t do ‘pain’(at least voluntarily) I am personally humbled by bothKim and the boys …

Sacrificial andcreative is anotherway to describe thedifferent ways inwhich people havesupported H&K.In the past we havereceived moneyfrom people whohave chosen to usetheir celebrationsfor special birthdaysand big weddinganniversaries toreceive donations

for H&K in place of personal gifts. This year a verylovely couple from our church, Tim and Karen, askedpeople to donate money towards H&K in place ofwedding presents. This resulted in a £1,000 gift toH&K to be used for the purchase of a real treat for thechildren, their first proper playground equipment ..andthe sun really did shine on Sept 8th their special day!Last month, a young lady called Beth, from Bidford onAvon, bravely raised money through sponsorship fora “Mohican’ hair cut. She raised a significant amountof money but has chosen not to share a photo of her‘new look.’The words faithful and dedicated also apply to thefriends who, year in year out, have remainedcommitted to ongoing fund raising efforts. We aregrateful to friends in Bewdley who continue to supportour amazing friend, Annie. In spite of being close tocelebrating her 70th birthday Annie makes and thensells hanging baskets, walks round car boot sales tocollect donations, will walk the streets to promote theTable Top sales held at her church for H&K, and hasraised over a thousand pounds again this year.Similarly our big hearted friends Tony and Jean Pratthave continued to raise crucial funds for our Highschool students through the extremely hard work ofrunning a charity shop and market stalls. This yearthey commissioned the children at Batchley First

School to helpthem promotethe shopt h r o u g hdesigning ahuge posterdisplayed inour RedditchS h o p p i n gC e n t r e .Thanks for thismust also go toTony’s friendsat IES Bristol,for so kindlyprinting thesefor us free ofcost!

Hair Raising and Hair Removing Fund Raising!

In June we were also delighted to welcome Ian and Hilda’s first visitors from Paisley,theirson David and his wife Yvonne. Like his parents four years earlier, making their first evertrip to Africa, they came to see first hand what had led mum and dad to make such ajourney and such a huge commitment to the people of Kosele. As well as meeting Dan,the child they sponsor, David invested hours of energy into some much appreciatedfootball coaching with all the boys. Unfortunately they had to start their return journeyhome before seeing the fruit of his labour in the next matches played against two otherlocal schools- played two won two! (Both on penalties. It was just like Euro 2012). To fullyappreciate this great achievement see ‘full story’ in Terry’s blog Sat 30th June on the H&K website !