Dr. Charles Sempere Memorial Fund established at Immaculate Heart of Mary Hospital in rural Kenya

Dr. Charles Sempere, father of Gnu Foundation founder James Sempere, passed away in January, 2012.  Memorial gifts made to the Gnu Foundation in his honor have been placed in a new dedicated special fund to purchase medicines and benefit the work of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Hospital (IHM) in Kilimambogo, Kenya.

IHM, an small independent community hospital located in rural Kenya also runs and supports the Community of Hope — an on-site children’s home for young orphans impacted by AIDS.  The hospital was greatly affected by last year’s drought in Kenya and patients were coming and they could not raise hospital bills or cover the cost of required medicines. The financial stress to the hospital in providing free care was significant, and in the words of the hospital leadership “This new memorial fund will go a long way in bringing the hospital to its feet again”.

When Dr. Sempere, an obstetrician, finally retired after building a successful private practice while serving on the active staffs of two local hospitals in various positions including: Chief of Staff, Medical Director, and Chairman of the OB-GYN Department — he was beginning to deliver a third generation of babies.

If you would like to learn more about the dedicated work of the IHM hospital and the service they provide vulnerable children and a challenged rural community or wish to make a donation to the Dr. Charles Sempere memorial fund, please contact James Sempere directly @ jsempere@gnufoundation.org.

Gnu youth art events are inspirational and colorful

Working with groups of youths, artist Chloe Sempere inspired creative art projects throughout Kenya as part of her fellowship with the Gnu Foundation.  Art ‘events’ were held with children in the slums of Nairobi, secondary school children in the rural village of Kilimambogo  and with the orphan children at Kusitawi Village in central Kenya.

For many of the youth it was their first time expressing themselves in a free form artistic manner and was an inspiration to the local teachers as well. The youth, teachers and staff were all inspired and creative, with legacy art programs and school art ‘clubs’ now established to follow the one day events.

In the slums of Haruma (Nairobi), Gnu Foundation microloan partner Furaha Community Center invited their school children to participate in an ‘art event’.  Using brushes, pencils, sticks, hands, fingers, grasses and other creative tools the students painted a mural embracing their sense of community and family.

At Magogoni Secondary School over 50 students interested in art participated at the all day art program event — several large scale murals representing their vision of community  were created and a lively spontaneous art gallery ensued showcasing individual paintings made on newspaper ‘canvases’.

At Kusitawi Village – the home base for the Children of Strength orphanage program (http://www.kilimambogo.org) that supports over 450 children, of whom 75 live at the central village ‘campus’ in safe houses.  The art project ‘attached’ itself to the walls (and beyond) of the girls safe house with a passion. When Executive Director Elizabeth gitau saw the works for the first time she exclaimed “Imagine! Now it looks as if children live here – how beautiful!

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These art programs are another varied example of how the Gnu Foundation fills its core mission of “connecting people to resources” – in this case a recent art school graduate using her talents and connecting one-on-one and ‘hands on’ to inspire self expression and potential in youth a world away. The venues for the program were associated with local Kenya-based Gnu Foundation microloan program partners.

Donyo Integrated Youth Centre (DISC) – open house visit

During  a recent visit to the rural Kenyan village of Donyo Sabuk a Gnu Foundation team participated in an open house event with its newest partner Donyo Integrated Sports Centre (DISC).  This center was established to provide opportunities for local youth through sporting activities and career vocational training.  The program, originally centered around boxing and physical training programs for boys and young men, has been expanded to include remedial educational and micro-enterprise programs for both young men and women.

The DISC Ladies Alive program is a livelihood program born out of concern related to emerging teenage pregnancy and early ‘marriages’ that usually don’t work making the girls in Donyo both socially and economically vulnerable.  The program is intended to build on the existing micro-finance, and micro–agriculture that exist in this community – providing economic opportunities for the guardians of youth enrolled in the DISC programs and for the older youth themselves.  Gnu Foundation is very proud to support the full programs of DISC and the change they are making in their local community.

Camp Michigamme elementary campers raise funds for Gnu Foundation

Camp Michigamme — a Methodist Church camp in the upper peninsula of Michigan since 1922, has programs for all ages.

Each week the Camp selects an organization to raise money for — this years elementary school camp raised $140.00 in funds for the Gnu Foundation through their traditional “Me Too” collection.  While at camp, campers enjoy swimming, hiking, worship & fellowship, campfires and craft time, among other activities as well as reconnecting with old friends and meeting new friends.

THANK YOU CAMPERS !!!!!

www.campmichigamme.org

Gnu Microcredit Program initiated with Watoto Wenya Nguvu (Children of Strength)

Gnu Foundation and Watoto Wenya Nguvu (Children of Strength) signed  the Gnu Mircrocredit program agreement today.  The capital provided to WWN will support microloans to several borrowing groups, the first two which include a group of 5 sho sho’s (grandmothers) who care for a number of orphans.  They intend to expand their existing market-based businesses.  Additionally 5 innovative young orphans will begin their business careers using microloans to support a number of activities, including a cobbler business, hairdressing, welding, tailoring and carpentry.

Gnu Foundation attends Africa/Middle East Microcredit Summit

Three representatives of the Gnu Foundation traveled to join Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus and more than 2,000 delegates from over 40 countries at the Africa – Middle East Regional Microcredit Summit held April 7-10, 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya. The Summit, the largest and most groundbreaking regional summit program

ever, was co-organized by the Microcredit Summit Campaign (MCS) and the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Kenya (AMFI).  The 4 days of presentations and discussions enabled Gnu Foundation to connect with many local and regional microcredit organizations to further our work.

Gnu Foundation receives 501(c)(3) designation!

We are excited to finally receive our IRS 501 (c)(3) designation as a public charity. The designation is effective June, 2009, and all Gnu gifts and donations made subsequent to that date are eligible for a tax deduction.

Gnu’s Letters

The ability to succeed and thrive is innate to all. Often the only difference between success and not, is having the proper tool in hand — true in the workshop, in business or in relationships.  At Gnu we strive to connect people with the most effective “tools” needed to prosper.

To learn more about the Gnu Foundation and receive news on our events, trips and happenings, you can sign up for our Gnu’s Letter by dropping us a note at contact@gnufoundation.org and leaving your email address.

We look forward to hearing from you!