Fall 2011

Volume 9

www.easysite.com/

theronniefund

thors and about all Africa.

The land has been cleared,

water pipes have being laid,

some lumber has been pur-

chased and a road is soon

to be built providing much

needed employment and

income to youth groups in

the community. We have

built a proto-type of the

eco banda which garnered

much acceptance by the

village elders for its modern

adaptation of a traditional

design. Western Carolina

University students who

were the first to stay in the

banda were impressed. This

is an ambitious project

which we will fundraise for

and build over the next

several years.

Lukundo, Kaza Moyo and

Mabonyo Youth groups tell

us, “We are grateful to

Ronnie for showing us the

way and we believe the

eco leadership centre will

give us a better platform

to learn about more is-

sues.”

Learning and Leadership

A Leadership Centre and Eco Lodge

“A leader has the vision

and conviction that a

dream can be achieved.

He inspires the power

and energy to get it

done.”

This quote by fashion de-

signer Ralph Lauren seems

like it was written for

Ronnie. Ronnie had a dream

for a Leadership Centre, a

facility for the sharing of

knowledge by all. He shared

his dream with others and it

is becoming positive action.

We shared Ronnie’s dream

and in April we personally

purchased a piece of land

adjacent to land Ronnie had

received as an inheritance

and with 6 acres the dream

was underway. The Leader-

ship Centre will house a

Resource Library, African

Heritage Library, class-

rooms, cultural centre/shop

and computer centre. A

demonstration farm will

showcase agricultural tech-

niques and appropriate

technologies (fish farm/duck

house, goat house, chicken

coops). Our Eco Lodge will

provide accommodations

for visiting students in tradi-

tional African-style bandas.

The whole complex will be

eco-friendly with buildings

featuring water harvesting,

solar lighting and made

from local natural building

materials. The buildings are

being designed by Prof.

Thomas Chapman of the

University of Johannesburg,

South Africa. A supplier of

Internet for African corpo-

rations has pledged to sup-

ply the centre with Internet

access.

The centre will provide all

ages with educational

courses and training work-

shops for locals, Kenyans

and international visitors.

Our aim is to celebrate the

beauty of African heritage

and culture. We will be

recapturing some African

traditions in music, dance

and crafts that have been

lost through the genera-

tions. We will also have an

African Heritage Library

with books by African au-

If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it.”

Margaret Fuller

Inside this issue:

Youth Groups Mobilize 2

Microfinance Confer-

ence provides insights

2

Ministry of Health Stud-

ies Village Eating Habits

2

Ronnie Graduates with

a BA in Rural Sociology

3

A Tribute to Wangari

Maathai

3

Organization Update 4

The Ronnie Fund Working for Quality Village Life

in Kenya

Our proto-type Eco banda

will provide accommodation

in a traditional style home

The cleared land awaits construction of our new Lead-

ership Centre and Eco Lodge

The Ronnie Fund hosts Conference

to Mobilize Youth Groups

Microfinance Workshop Provides Insights

future low wage employ-

ment, unemployment , pov-

erty, drugs and crime. They

now have a better under-

standing that with some

leadership and lessons they

can change their own lives.

The youth groups say, “We

had very good workshops

with Ronnie and tomor-

row we are having huge

demonstration against

one corrupt contractor

making the road .Ronnie

has really educated the

community on its rights.”

On July 22 & 23, 2011

The National Youth

Sector Alliance

(NYSA) in partnership

with The Ronnie Fund

conducted the Taita

Taveta County Youth

Empowerment Forum

in Wongonyi Village.

This gathering of 200

youth from all over

Taita Taveta was held to

educate and mobilize the

youth to new action.

Considered the most prom-

ising leader in Taita County,

Ronnie started by enlighten-

ing the youths of the initia-

tives of The Ronnie Fund

which can be replicated

across the county to em-

power other youths.

Ronnie stated the effects of

rural urban migration and

explained how it was con-

tributing to poverty, not

only in the villages due to

loss of labour but also in

urban areas where youth

are unable to get jobs they

envision. Rural youth are

particularly disadvantaged

because of inadequate edu-

cation & skills and face a

vert a series of savings

into large lump sums.

The biggest challenge I

reckon is having some-

where safe and simple to

save as money manage-

ment is a big problem

with most villagers even

with the village bank .It

was very eye opening and

truly one can never learn

enough.”

At the beginning of Octo-

ber Ronnie attended a Mi-

crofinance Conference in

Arusha, Tanzania. The sum-

mit focused more on en-

couraging savings as op-

posed to lending and it was

hard to agree that poor

people can save and want

to save. Ronnie said, “I en-

joyed Stuart Rutherford’s

presentation it made me

reflect about Wongonyi

when he said with irregu-

lar and unpredictable

incomes, poor need sav-

ing devices that help

them manage money on a

daily basis. My challenge

now is to help them iden-

tify these saving de-

vices .To me these would

be mechanisms which

would allow them to con-

Ministry of Health Studies Village Eating Habits

interested in sending a team

to the village to assist in the

local hospital. This spring

Ronnie was diagnosed with

diabetes and he feels that

many of the villagers may

also be suffering from dia-

betes and related health

conditions brought on by

lack of knowledge about

healthy eating practices.

In September Ronnie

hosted a group of 11 Kenya

Ministry of Health workers

who visited the village to

study the correlation be-

tween the villagers eating

habits and illnesses. This is

certainly a much needed

study as the local district

hospital (basically a health

clinic rather than a hospital)

is located one hour’s walk

from Wongonyi village. The

results of this study will

help us once the Leadership

Centre is established in our

courses on Health and Nu-

trition. We are also looking

forward to a potential part-

nership with the University

of Western Carolina’s

School of Nursing who are

Page 2 The Ronnie Fund

“I hear people say: “Oh, if

I were only rich, I would

do great things to help

people.” But we can be

rich in love and generos-

ity. Moreover, if we give

with care, if we find out

the exact wants of those

who need our help most,

we are giving our own

loving interest and con-

cern, which is worth more

than all the money in the

world.”

Albert Schweitzer

Mandazi, a Kenyan doughnut

fries in boiling oil over a wood

fire.

Youth at work in their

banana seedling nursery.

Congratulations Ronnie—A Job Well Done

Wangari Maathai Remembered

After 4 1/2 years of study

and hard work Ronnie has

finally graduated from the

University of Nairobi with a

BA in Rural Sociology. This

has not been an easy jour-

ney as Ronnie fit his studies

in between managing all our

projects and programs for

The Ronnie Fund in Won-

gonyi Village as well as help-

ing to manage his and

Serah’s homestay business

in Nairobi and working with

the various international

groups and NGOs visiting

the village and assisting Nai-

robi projects in Kibera and

Mathare slums. Ronnie has

just begun his Master’s Pro-

gram.

We are so proud of Ronnie

and his achievements as he

shares his knowledge with

everyone he meets and all

the groups he is working

with rurally and in Nairobi.

Lukundo. Kaza Moyo and

Mabonyo youth groups had

this to report about Ronnie,

“Today we celebrate

Ronnie being honored by

the larger Taita council

of elders for his out-

standing contribution to

society. He will now be

sitting in the council that

decides national matters

that touch on Taita

county . This is a huge

honor and we are

proud ... We are very

blessed to have Bwana

Ronnie. Some of us at-

tended a workshop in

Nairobi. We were sur-

prised to know Ronnie

was a global leader. He

has initiated so many pro-

jects all over the country,

some being copied in

Juba, Uganda and Tanza-

in. “In the course of

history, there comes a

time when humanity is

called to shift to a new

level of conscious-

ness,” Wangari said, “to

reach a higher moral

ground. A time when

we have to shed our

fear and give hope to

each other. That time

is now.”

October 14th the day

of Wangari’s memorial

service, trees were

planted in Wongonyi

Village in her honour.

May her memory live on

in the planting of trees,

symbols of hope for the

future.

On September 22, Kenya

lost one of its brightest

lights, environmental activi-

tist and Nobel Peace Prize

winner Wangari Maathai.

Wangari is best known for

starting the Green Belt

Movement in 1977, a tree

planting program to provide

income and empower Ken-

yan women to a better life.

Ronnie remembers

Wangari, “Its still sad

to think Wangari is

gone.

Her illness (ovarian

cancer) was a guarded

secret. I still remember

her voice on the phone

so clearly since she

could not meet me,

telling me to continue

with the good works. I

remember her saying

African women need

to know it’s okay to be

the way they are—to

see the way they’re a

strength and to be lib-

erated from fear and

silence, a thing that

we have always told

the Sere Girls Club. In

her honour I will mobi-

lize the primary and

the secondary school

to ensure each kid and

teachers plant trees.”

Wangari did not lead an

easy life but she stood

up for what she believed

“This is the true

joy in life, being

used for a purpose

recognized by

yourself as a

mighty one.”

George Bernard

Shaw

www.easysite.com/theronniefund Page 3

Dr. Wangari Maathai, a role

model for all African women.

nia, that is a great

achievement. Some peo-

ple we interacted with

told us how they have

benefited from knowing

Ronnie just by hanging

around him . We visited

the youth centre in Kib-

era who told us had it not

been for Ronnie they

would not have the state

of the art computers they

just got. Its also amazing

how humble Ronnie is, he

does not do things for

show off we think he has

done a lot of things that

remain his secrets.”

Prof. Nyaga Mwaniki, West-

ern Carolina University said

this, “As a fellow Kenyan,

you and Sarah gave me

hope and joy to see two

young people use their tal-

ents to improve the lives of

the others rather than just

filling their bellies.

All that you have done

and are doing, through

your organization, so that

others can have hope and

good life is nothing short

of self sacrifice . For all

that you have my ultimate

respect and unwavering

support. ”

Well done Ronnie!!!!!

“Many persons have

a wrong idea of

what constitutes

true happiness. It is

not attained through

self-gratification but

through fidelity to a

worthy purpose.”

Helen Keller

Organization Update

As you know we have been

trying for two years to link

with another association to

provide The Ronnie Fund

with tax receipts but we

have not been successful. In

light of our efforts we have

decided NOT to seek

status as a registered char-

ity. Registration means that

you create a business and

especially with a not-for-

profit business goes admin-

istrative expenses like in-

corporation, Directors li-

ability insurance and train-

ing. Time to manage this

business takes one away

from the purpose of the

charity which is to imple-

ment change and improve-

ment in peoples lives.

What this means is that we

are unable to offer tax

receipts for your gifts.

However it also means that

100% of your donation

goes directly to our pro-

jects in Kenya. If getting a

tax receipt is important to

you, please check with your

financial advisor for not all of

your donation is eligible for a

tax receipt, so perhaps you

would consider giving the

portion that is not eligible for

tax receipt.

For us getting the funds and

resources into the hands of

those who need it is most

important, we would rather

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

We are a humanitarian organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of Kenyan people. Our mission is to assist our Kenyan friend (and son) Ronnie Mdawida achieve his dream of em-powering the people of his village of Wongonyi and the country of Kenya to a better quality of life than the disadvantaged life they are now part of.

OUR MANDATE

Our mandate is to alleviate poverty, improve the standard of living and strengthen the social fabric by empowering Kenyans through:

Helping women and people decrease hunger and eliminate global poverty

Empowering citizens through education and economic opportunity

Combating the spread of HIV/Aids and other preventable diseases like TB, malaria through proper water and sanitation techniques

Cultivating compassion and intelligence

Encouraging confidence and skilful means

get fewer or smaller dona-

tions than to have to fund-

raise first to cover neces-

sary administrative costs.

Our family, Ronnie and his

family and the people of

Wongonyi Village truly ap-

preciate your continuing

support of The Ronnie

Fund. Over the years we

have been able to provide

tools, resources and train-

ing that has improved the

quality of life for folks

young and old. Words can-

not express our thanks and

gratitude to each and every

one of you who have

helped us on this journey.

Wongonyi villagers wish

they could thank you in

person too and tell you

what a wonderful gift you

have given them.

Kathy and Peter Wood

86 Quebec Street

Bracebridge, Ontario

P1L 2A4

Phone: (705) 645-8393

e-mail: theronniefund@sympatico.ca

www.easysite.com/theronniefund

Working for Quality Village Life

in Kenya

We’re on the Web

at

www.easysite.com/

theronniefund

The Ronnie Fund

Donations can be made by cheque to

Kathy and Peter Wood/The Ronnie

Fund. NO tax receipts can be issued.

This Newsletter personally funded by Kathy &

Peter Wood.

Check out our blog:

www.KENCAN Connection.blogspot.com

Connecting Canadians Working in Kenya

David, one of our Education

Scholarship recipients.