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KCA Projects

1) Holiday Harambees: KCA has organized an annual holiday harambee each year since 2003. The harambees have benefitted children who are orphaned by HIV/AIDS, or are otherwise vulnerable due to poverty, hunger, lack of healthcare and/or education. The events take place in various parts of Kenya, where our members use funds collected to host parties, collect and distribute foodstuffs, and give small gifts to many children who might otherwise not have a holiday to remember.

2) Emergency Fund for Post-Election Recovery: KCA members in the Diaspora raised funds to send to our members in Kenya, and also for several other programs and organizations, including the Gender Violence Recovery Unit of the Nairobi Women's Hospital, the Kenya Red Cross, and the Diocese of Eldoret. Our members in Kenya have used the contributions to buy blankets and medicines for children, develop peace-related radio programming, do outreach to marginalized communities (such as those with disabilities), to restore livelihoods and rebuild lives.

3) Pharmacy in Kisumu: KCA members held a harambee to raise funds for the development of a self-sustaining pharmacy in Kisumu, Kenya. This project will help a member there to better meet the health needs of young people and adults served by his nonprofit. The pharmacy will also allow him to earn a small income, thus enabling him to provide for his family in addition to establishing a sustainable enterprise that will benefit the whole community.

4) STOP Campaign: The prevalence of sexual and other forms of violence against girls and women in Kenya has led to the creation of the STOP Campaign, whose primary mission is to create awareness and encourage activism for needed change. STOP began after a Kenya-based member reported that rape and other forms of violence towards girls and young women were reaching epidemic proportions in his district. The violence directed towards women during the post-election crisis has redoubled the determination of KCA members to stop these abuses, the better to ensure that girls and women in Kenya are empowered to reach their full potential.

5) Medical Camps: KCA members have raised funds to bring a mobile medical camp to the community of one member in Kenya, and the success of this endeavor has encouraged us to consider supporting this type of project in a more continuous and sustainable way. In many areas of rural Kenya, there are no health facilities, no medicines, and no doctors. Mobile medical camps give people in these communities the rare opportunity to see a nurse or doctor for a variety of health issues, and to obtain basic medicines for many ailments.

6) Other Humanitarian Projects: KCA members have raised funds for the educational needs of young people orphaned by HIV/AIDS, to help people who are deaf earn an income or better communicate with the hearing world, to buy foodstuffs and medicines, to build or repair homes. In some cases, KCA has helped its members. In other cases, members have asked for assistance to individuals and communities served by our members and their nonprofits. In all cases, our goal has been to be of service to Kenyans at home and in the Diaspora.

KCA is looking for ways in which we can better serve both our members and the people of Kenya. We are investigating how grants, partnerships, and other strategic approaches to our humanitarian work might bring the greatest good to the greatest number, with sustainability and self-help as important goals. Anyone interested in joining KCA in these endeavors is most welcome and encouraged to contact us!