We've done it, but let's go the EXTRA MILE!!!!
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THANK YOU!!! We have officially PASSED our $1000 fundraising goal for Rukia's home in less than a week since press time!!! We have raised $1120 as of today and I am almost falling off of my chair! Even though you guys never let me down, the generosity of the Manitoulin (and friends) community still BLOWS ME AWAY!!!!
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Since we've had such a GREAT response, we've decided to keep donations open and make a new goal of $2000. There's a good reason for this. Not only will we complete the house and furnish it with comfy beds but we'll also be able to build them a proper toilet, a chicken house (kuku hut!!) complete with chickens, but ALSO, we'll be able to fill up their old house (soon to be their new kitchen) with all of the cooking supplies they need to carry on the way they deserve!!! There will even be enough left over to start a small business for Rukia plus pay for a short business training seminar and leave her and her family completely sustainable!!! This will be doing so, so much more than simply putting a roof over someone's head!!! Yes, we are going to give them some fish, but we are also going to teach them to fish at the same time!!!!
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We will be breaking the big news to Rukia tomorrow too!! Unfortunately I am in Nairobi so I'll miss her reaction but we have a wonderful Norwegian volunteer (Mona) right now who I'll ask to capture the big event on video plus document every step of the process with an abundancy of pictures!!!
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THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

$ 620 AND COUNTING!!!!
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I want to thank Jim Moody for replying to my email quickly and getting a story in the papers about Rukia and her family. Since the story, and as of today (April 15th) we have fundraised $620. I am almost in disbelief because the story can't have been in the paper for more than 2 days already! I'm always astonished and overwhelmed by the local support I get especially from Manitouliners. It's greatly appreciated and please keep following the story online with me. Once we complete the 'project' I will do a follow up article in the paper as well. So far so good!!!!!

FUNDRAISING HAS BEGUN!!!

I really don't know how Rukia's situation passed me by in 2007 but I have now been aware of it for a good year. There is always so much to do that I can't get it all done at once but I am taking this time today to let everyone know. I arrived at her house on the 25th of March with my assistant project director, Maurice. We didn't find Rukia there so we decided to come back the following day. Rukia's situation is not good. She is a single mother of 5 children as her husband passed away a few years ago. Rukia's oldest son has his own small hut next to hers but it is infested with bees, the straw roof is coming down, and he sleeps on a makeshift bed made from sticks he collected from around. The worst part is that this young man is 21 years old and even completed his secondary education. It saddens me to know that his mother struggled so much to educate him and still there was no opportunity available to him. His name is Yassin and his aspiration is to join the Kenyan army which my organization is planning to assist him in doing. What is worse than his situation is the fact that Rukia sleeps in a 9 foot diameter (at most) mud house with the other 4 children. Not to mention that the next born gave birth 4 months ago to a baby boy. So, the 5 of them and the cold, crying infant sleep on the cold ground every night as they don't even own a mattress or enough blankets and clothing to make them comfortable. Outside of this house is a bigger round hut which is supposed to be the kitchen. But literally between the first and second day I went there it had fallen over due to the heavy rains and its poor construction. Rukia could only shake her head in disbelief of her own bad luck. There is a 'toilet' behind the eldest sons house, if you can call it that. It is an unsafe hole in the ground with some rotting logs and no walls for privacy anywhere to be found. What amazes me and puts the desire to help this family in me most is how hardworking Rukia is. I know for sure that if she had the opportunity she would make something of herself. Even though her small 9 foot diameter round hut isn't much to speak of she has smoothed the mud walls to perfection so that they almost resemble cement. When you see houses looking like this anywhere in the rural area, you just know that whoever is living there cares about their lives and has potential. Normally you only see it done on bigger houses, the kinds with a lot of cows standing around them proving to you that the family is well off. Rukia's daughter Umi, the one with the 4 month old baby, is 19 or 20 years old and when I asked her what she wants to do with her life she said that she would be interested in doing a vocational training such as tailoring or beauty school. As odd as it seems there is a big demand even in the villages for having your hair braided by a professional! Even though her first passion was to study business, she only completed the 8th grade due to the families situation and wouldn't be able to complete it without re-joining secondary school with children half her age. I would really like to see a house built for this family. It would only cost about 1000 CAD to complete it including furnishing and that might even cover the cost of a toilet and repairing the sons house. If anyone is interested in assisting with this noble cause please do contact me as I am eager to get it started.
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Rukia's toilet riddled with disease due to the open air and rotten logs over a 20 foot hole which can be extremely dangerous.
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Above: Rukia's fallen kitchen.
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Above: Rukia standing beside her kitchen the day after it fell over because of heavy rains and poor construction.

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