December 2009 – Glad’s House Caddies commence training

After some basic classroom training with Bokey and the two caddy masters from Vipingo Ridge, our first 20 caddies have started their ‘on the ground’ training. The full training programme, run by the European Tour Caddies Association is currently being planned but we hope to have all 50 caddies fully trained before the end of the first quarter of 2010. The boys and girls are loving their new job – currently travelling to and fro every day is difficult, so we are looking for some local accommodation for the caddies when they are working. Returning to Magongo on their days off.

September 2009 – Glad’s House Woodworks opens for business

We now have five people working as carpenters. The quality of their work is excellent – they have made small tables and a bed for their ‘showroom’. (The area just outside our Glad’s House Cyber Café). The have already had a few orders, unfortunately including two coffins! Competition is fierce and we are currently looking at way of giving this Enterprise Scheme some additional competitive advantage.

September 2009 – Glad’s House Bicycles opens for business

Our first delivery of bikes kindly donated by the UK charity Re-Cycle (www.re-cycle.org) arrived safely in early September. We had purchased the 40-foot sea container to act as a secure store – the only thing was, it was too long. Bikes were hastily moved into St Clare’s (see photograph) whilst the ever-resourceful Kenyans cut 10 feet off the container and then sealed it up again. The end that was cut off now acts as shelter from sun and rain whilst working on bikes. We have already ordered a second shipment, as the business has been extremely good and we have already nearly sold all the stock. This enterprise scheme employs two fundi’s and an apprentice.

February 2008

Glad’s House has just opened a ‘Cyber Café’ in Magongo, Mombasa, another example of our “spend money that generates money” enterprise schemes.

Before Christmas we purchased 10 reconditioned computers from the charity ComputerAid (www.computeraid.org) and shipped them to Mombasa. Cathie Duncan a volunteer we know was working with our partner The Mombasa Olympia Youth Organisation (MOYO) and helped to convert one of the offices into Glad’s House Cyber Café. She raised funds for this by doing a sky dive (Well done Cathie). It is to be run as a commercial enterprise for the use of local people (at a subsidised rate). The ‘street children’, if they are members of MOYO, can use the centre for one hour per week free! We hope that this will broaden the children horizons and also to encourage them to improve their reading. As the cyber cafe is in the same building as St Clares school we hope the children attending will also use the centre.  All profit from this enterprise will go to MOYO to help fund all the sporting activities and support functions they organise.

Help?  This is a ‘longshot’ request – do you know anyone in Mombasa who might have a second-hand photocopier they might want to sell?

November 2007

Glad’s house has co-sponsored the purchase of MOYO’s first Matatu/Mini Bus.  (A Matatu is a mode of transport in Kenya that falls between private transport and conventional bus transport.  Matatus have fixed routes, but "unfixed" stops and time schedules.  They stop anywhere to pickup or drop passengers.  They operate from about 05.00 until around 21.00).  In partnership with David Smith of Kenyashelp plus donations from Lise from Oslo Norway and Ita and Teresa from Waterford, Ireland - this is our first ‘commercial’ enterprise.  The bus is now generating funds which allows us to:

• Provide our Partner Fred ‘Bokey’ Achola with a weekly wage for managing the Matatu.  (It is only recently that we found out he has been living ‘hand-to-mouth’ since starting MOYO).
• Generated eight new jobs (4 drivers + 4 conductors).
• Provide more work for the local boys - maintenance and cleaning.
• Every Wednesday we are now able to fund ‘papasa’.  (In Swahili papasa means ‘hold gently’).  In the morning, we collect from the city, as many street children who want to come and play football for the day.  We bus them out to Mogongo, (MOYO’s base).  We remind them of the ‘acceptable and unacceptable behaviours’ and then they play football all day and so for the day they are allowed to be ‘children’ once more.  We supply as much clean drinking water as they can consume.  At the end of the day we take them to a local ‘kiosk’ (café) for dinner (probably their only proper meal of the week) and then bus them back to the city.  A tremendous time is had by all.
• Every third Sunday, the Matatu will be available for MOYO to use for whatever purpose is required – trips to the beach etc.

This is the first of many planned schemes where we “spend money that generates money.”

You may have read in the “News Section” we have purchased a number of ‘conference chairs’ to use with the boxing ring.  Our great supporter David Smith from KenyasHelp managed to purchase these at a highly discounted price.  With the money left over we were also able to purchase the first ever petrol lawn mower in Magongo.  This saves the young boys and girls the back breaking task of cutting grass with scythes in unbearable heat.  It also provides us with the opportunity of paying a couple of the local boys to mow the football and basketball courts – another example of “spend money that generates money.”