Kenya Aid update: Miss Australia crowning gala

The Miss Australia crowning gala dinner will be held next Wednesday with monies raised from the raffle and silent auction going directly to Kenya Aid.

If you'd like to have dinner with some a whole bunch of beautiful and talented young women, it's not too late to book a table for this fabulous event... and it's for a good cause!!

Go to www.missworldaustralia.com.au for more details and to book your tickets.

Kenya Aid update: SHARE is launched!

Check out the new SHARE program from Kenya Aid.

Keep your eyes peeled for updates; this should be an exciting new project, and yet another huge difference in the lives of girls living in rural areas!

Kenya fast facts: Jiggers

The first time I saw someone infected with jiggers I had no idea what I was looking at. Not being a doctor didn't help much, but my first incredibly uneducated guess was that the guy had elephantiasis - thick swelling of the legs, roughened feet, oh, and indigo blue skin (this was a somewhat baffling result of medication). Having travelled to Kenya as a teacher, I referred the guy to the clinic with money to pay for his treatment and hoped with all my might that they had something there to help him.

When I met the Kenya Aid team I soon learned the full story of jiggers and they're now part of one of my more gruesome nightmares. Gleefully Dr Ryan told me exactly what they were, and I'm going to spread the word in the hope that they can be added to our 'eradication' list to keep the mosquitoes company.

Jiggers, or sand fleas, make a home in your skin. The impregnated female jigger burrows under your finger or toe nails creating pus infected sores and feeds, laying her eggs before dying in your skin and creating further infection.


These little bugs are probably the nastiest things I've seen. The debilitating effects of a jigger attack is not only painful, but can also further the spread of HIV by the sharing of pins/needles to get the little buggers out. The only way to remove jiggers is to kill the flea and then dig it out and when this is done at home in unsterilised conditions, open wounds can lead to ulcers and infection such as gangrene that leaves the victim at great risk.

The Kenya Aid team sees many cases of jiggers each year, caused by lack of hygiene and lack of shoes to protect the patient against attack. Currently we are working on education to prevent attack, as well as treating cases as they occur. Click here to donate and help stop the jigger attack!

Kenya Aid update: Feminine hygiene

I've always wondered what the girls in Kenya did at 'that time of the month'. I that some sort of protection must be being used, but was horrified to learn earlier this week exactly what was going on.

There are a group of girls at the local secondary school who are struggling. There's no money for feminine hygiene products, and none available in the village anyway, so the girls find what spare material they can and use that so they can get through their day.

Now, the girls out there who are fans of the environmentally friendly option of cloth will argue that using cloth isn't a problem, and can in fact be more healthy and just as convenient as, say, tampons or disposable pads. But there were a few other compounding factors that made this little tale quite upsetting.

First off, the girls don't have ENOUGH cloth, so they share. When one finishes her period, the cloth is passed to another and so on, often without proper cleaning. This give all sorts of diseases great potential to spread, not to mention the logistics of sorting out who gets what cloth, when.

Secondly, there is the issue of storage and cleaning. Water is limited, especially at schools, so that rules out any washing that is required to effectively use cloth pads. Next there is the question of where these cloths can be washed and still allow teenage girls to be discrete about their sexual maturation. A number of relevant studies have showed that many girls in developing countries who are using cloth have a limited supply, and due to modesty constraints, may not allow their cloth to adequately dry in the sun - girls wearing damp cloths are not only uncomfortable, but also at a higher risk for fungal infections.

Lastly, women in western countries who have decided to stick with a cloth option have the luxury of having specifically designed leak free cloth pads available. Girls in developing countries do not, resulting in many a girl being absent from school for up to 9 days per month, or leaving school entirely once reaching sexual maturity. This is a disaster when it comes to achieving gender equality and Millennium goals related increases in global levels of education.

So, with the Kenya Aid boys all being fans of feminine equality and with the help of their token girl, we thought we'd start a new fundraising drive - helping women in Kenya with access to free and low cost feminine hygiene products, education seminars on what to use and how, plus a new project design that will include effective waste management and culturally sensitive options.

More information will be available soon, or if you would like to become involved, please feel free to contact Kenya Aid for more information.

Kenya Aid update: New volunteer program!

Good news from Kenya Aid headquarters - our volunteer program has now been finalised, and we will shortly make this program available for medical students and staff who are wanting to travel to Kenya for a volunteer term.

We're excited to finally be able to offer this experience, as well as facilitate an increase in the sharing of knowledge between countries. It's will be an exciting program for medical students and professionals alike to gain first hand experience in tropical medicine as well as working independently in a small rural clinic.

There will be more information available on the Kenya Aid website soon, or you can contact us for more information.

Kenya Aid update: Dr Bloch's birthday

A big thanks to Dr. Bloch and all those who attended his 50th birthday party this year, generously donating to Kenya Aid in lieu of birthday presents.

It was a wonderful night, and guests' generosity extended to provide some valuable feedback on both our website and our programs. We left the evening with new friends, valuable donations, and a whole host of suggestions and tips that will help Kenya Aid now and in the future.

We would like to wish Dr. Bloch and his partners at Holdsworth House all our very best and thank them again for their continued support in 2008.

Kenya news: digital villages

For anyone that's suffered through Kenya's slow internet, this should provide some relief!

"Kenya firm builds digital villages"

Kenya Aid update: Miss Australia crowning gala dinner

Well the rush is on to get sponsors for the Miss Australia crowning gala dinner, and we're all frantically making calls to any number of quality suppliers to ensure the event is a positive one for all involved.

So far, we've made little headway, though Mike has been sacrificing lunches at the office to make calls and we're harrassing anyone and everyone we know for contacts, leads or help.

If you know of a company that you think might like to be a sponsor for this very glamorous event, please let us know! Or, should you have any free time to call around please contact Mike for a list of suppliers contact details.

The event will be held April 9th at Star City casino. With over 500 guests attending it should be a great opportunity for all involved!

The minature earth project

One of my personal favourites :)

What would the world be like with only 100 people?

Kenya fast facts: HIV prevalence by ethnic group

While searching for some HIV statistics today, we were shocked to find some interesting results for the Luo tribe, the tribe that makes up most of the population we treat in Western Province.

HIV prevalence by ethnic group

25.8% of the Luo tribe are infected with HIV. Compared to under 10% of the rest of the population. To say we were astounded would be an understatement. It's these sorts of statistics that highlight yet again how important it is for health care in Western Kenya to be drastically improved and increased. It also makes the drive for our HIV program all the more important.

Just think - that's almost every third person in Western Kenya with HIV/AIDS. Imagine that next time you're on the train to work - every third person that gets on carries this debilitating disease. Every third person. Actually look around you and count them, look into their eyes... one, two, three, HIV. It's something that must be stopped.

Kenya Aid news: Miss Australia sponsors Kenya Aid

A big thanks to our goodwill ambassador, Caroline Pemberton, Miss Australia 2007, for organising this years Miss Australia event to sponsor Kenya Aid.

The event will be held April 9 and is open to the public.

More details to follow soon so watch this space!

Kenya Aid news: resources

We like to keep up to date here at Kenya Aid, with many of the board members dedicating much of their spare time to checking out various news and information resources online to ensure we're continuously aware of new issues in the developing world.

While the UN and WHO are obviously popular points of reference to the team, we thought we'd bring some other news resources to the attention of our members who might be interested in a little further reading.

For a brief look at news that's changing the world, or at least reflecting what's really going on, have a look at Common Dreams

With the aim to 'ignite change for good', 'Common Dreams - News and Views' provides breaking news for all those passionate about making changes for a better world. Though there's a slight American influence, there are some great in depth articles on the issues that concern the international development community.

Another new resources we found that might be of interest to any readers with a philanthropic bent is The Chronicle of Philanthropy, a newspaper dedicated to the not-for-profit world.

Happy reading!

Kenya news: an end to violence

Finally, there's an end to the election violence that has had Kenya in turmoil for the past 3 months.

With the help of Kofi Annan, Kibaki and Odinga have agreed to a draft act of power sharing that charges both to preside over the overhaul of the Kenyatta State, which President Kibaki was seen to be reproducing. Odinga hopes to dismantle the inequalities and concentration of power that he believed were oppressing large numbers of Kenyans.

Full report from the East African Standard