Testimonials




Joanne Lalonde-Hayes of MoreTimeMoms


Joanne's Trip to KenyaJoanne has been lucky enough to visit the children in Kisumu twice now. The first time was with Julie and this is when she fell in love with the children and with Kenya.

When Joanne returned to Kenya this past fall, she brought her daughter, sister and niece. On this trip not only did she check in on the children but she visited Asembo Bay in rural Kenya to scout out the venue for the new computer centre for the widows and orphans.


"My visit to St-Claire's Orphanage last week was one of the best times of my life. While I came away with most of the feelings you would imagine from an experience like this, oddly, mostly I left very very happy. Does it seem strange to leave a place of such poverty, a place without water for the most part, feeling happy? Perhaps, but I was just so pleased to see how much better the children are doing. They are receiving their medication, eating well and those who are of age are going to school!!! While there is so much more to do, I am inspired and fueled by [everyone's] efforts.

I will admit there was one point in my journey where I wondered whether this work would have any impact at all. Later in the day while I was watching one particularly bright and kind child, Vivian, at play I realized that although I cannot change Kenya, she and her brothers and sisters may be able to one day. And so yes, it is only a little that we do, but we bring hope and a chance. Hope to these children that one day they can be what they want to be and a chance to build a good life.

Thank you to Stephen Kadera for everything, just absolutely everything. I could not have asked for a better guide or friend. Thank you to Andrew Mbala, for being a wonderful companion and a compassionate doctor to the children. Mostly thank you to Julie for being the most fabulous person you are."


To anyone who might read this note looking to participate or make a donation, please do. Many of us want to help, but don't know how or are unsure that money sent will reach the people we are trying to help. Please know that 100% of all money donated to the Tumaini Children's Project goes directly to the feeding, housing and educating of the orphans in Kenya and that if you get a chance to visit here, you must.


Tom Delve and Katie Collins, TCP volunteers Summer 2009


Working with TCP was an amazing and life changing experience for us. We helped research a computer project in beautiful Asembo Bay , Kenya , that will hopefully be implemented this summer.

The community in Asembo Bay welcomed us with open arms the moment we arrived. The women we worked with are the most inspiring, resilient, strong, generous, fun-loving people we have ever met. Working in Asembo bay with TCP was not only the highlight of our journey through Africa , but was the most rewarding experience we have ever had. This community desires a computer centre to educate and empower their youth and orphans. There is no doubt in our mind that this computer centre will be prosperous for years to come.

It is not a stretch to say that we have made lifelong friendships in this small rural part of Kenya . If you are so lucky to have the opportunity to travel to Kenya , meet these wonderful people and work with TCP, you will surely not be disappointed, and will definitely be changed forever. We can't wait to come back!


Jason Harley, TCP volunteer, Asembo Bay Computer Center, Summer 2009


When I was initially considering volunteering with Tumaini, I was looking for an experience that I was unlikely to find anywhere else. Having now participated in the initial phase of the Computer Centre project (July 2009), I am certain that I found it. The Computer Centre project presented me with the opportunity to volunteer with an organization with realistic, and grounded goals and intentions, and secondly to put my professional skills to work for a cause outside of the corporate world.

My time in Asembo Bay was filled with the right mix of challenges, friendships, learning, and laughter. I was able to experience culture from within it, challenged to view the world from a different perspective, and reminded that tools that we take for granted can still spark wonder, amazement and create new realities."


Khaleelah McKnight, TCP volunteer, Asembo Bay Computer Centre, Summer 2009


A lot of people in North America reference Hilary Clinton as being the source of the quote "It takes a village to raise a child". In actuality it is an ancient proverb from the Yoruba/Igbo region of Africa. It's something that rings true and was a pleasure for me to see and experience during my time as a volunteer in Kisumu, Kenya while working on a project supported by TCP. For six weeks we were extended the warmest hospitality and given the privilege of working with a group of dynamic, intelligent, driven women who are the heartbeat of their community. All of their efforts centre around raising children who will be well prepared to become the village that will raise the next generation of children. These women don't necessarily all have everything they need or want from day to day, but they still keep their focus on the children. And the children are lovely. I have never been so impressed by children at any point in my life (and I'm a teacher, I've been around a lot of young people). The sense of community, responsibility, respect, hospitality and generosity exhibited by children as young as 4 is wonderfully heartwarming and speaks volumes about the potential for these children if they are given the opportunities they deserve. This is an opportunity for them and an opportunity for any volunteer with TCP to witness the wonder that is the practice of a traditional African philosophy about children and community.

What really attracted me to the TCP project is that unlike a lot of other volunteer/aid organizations, they don't try to remove children from their communities/countries in order to give them what they believe is a 'better life'. Instead, TCP supports the local efforts of grandmothers and other family/community members to raise, feed and educate orphaned children in their community/land of birth. In doing so, TCP, in my opinion, recognizes and respects the value of the traditional African family and demonstrates an understanding of the basic human right of self-determination.

This volunteer trip gave me a home and a community in Kenya and the motivation to support more grassroots organizations like TCP. My only regret is that I won't return again this year.


Blaire Grant, TCP volunteer, Asembo Bay Computer Centre, Summer 2009


To say that my time spent in Asembo Bay this summer was just another experience to be had is such a huge understatement; it truly was the most rewarding "safari" I've ever been on. The only thing I can really do to shed light on my experience is to share some of the highlights of the project (the computer resource centre) which myself and the fellow volunteers helped to implement.

When we arrived at the beginning of July, we were welcomed with open arms, huge smiles and plenty of customary handshakes. There was a grand opening at the centre the day after we arrived and the air was filled with enthusiasm, anticipation and laughter as the community members and children danced and celebrated. After being made to feel right at home instantly within the small community, we got right to work alongside the eager and excited women of the Asembo Bay Women and Development Group. We organized and set up the computers, lead basic computer skill lessons for the women, helped the women draft a daily administrative 'to-do' list and covered some essential managerial and entrepreneurial tasks. The centre functions as an income generating project to support the orphans in the village living with AIDS as well as AIDS widows within the area. The older orphans will eventually be learning business management skills so that they may one day run the centre effectively. The women were so incredible to work with and they absorbed every piece of information and advice that we had to offer. I am beyond confident that the women will do an excellent job of maintaining and operating the computer centre successfully. The notion of empowerment through education was especially encouraged during our time spent there. I believe that the centre will be a constructive and flourishing benefit to the community of Asembo Bay. As much as I believed I was there to teach them, I know, undoubtedly that I am the one who walked away from this incredible experience having gained such valuable life lessons.

I will never forget the people, especially the inspirational women in Asembo Bay to whom I am forever grateful. I strongly encourage everyone to experience the wonders of this community as my words cannot possibly do it justice.

I hope to be going back soon to visit as I did forget a huge piece of my heart!

Thanks again for the opportunity TCP,

Blaire


Stacey Comber, TCP volunteer, Asembo Bay Computer Centre, Summer 2009


My name is Stacey Comber and I was one of the four volunteers that went to Asembo Bay, Kenya and participated in the primary stages of the e-learning community centre that was founded by Tumaini Children's Project. I left Canada as a fresh graduate and was desperate to participate in something that was significant. I realized that spent most of my life in school and that I was blessed with a good family and raised in a country that allowed me the freedom and the support to obtain my honors degree in Mass Communication. I realized that I knew little about the realities of life; I never experienced struggle, survival, poverty, illness, or death. These are some of the constant realities of life that the people of Africa deal with during their youth and throughout their life.

We flew from Montreal on July 7th and reached Kisumu on the 9th. We drove from Kisumu to Asembo Bay; transitioning from city to rural village. We stayed with Bertha who is a member of the Asembo Bay Women and Development Group and her son Kerri. Bertha is one of the salts of the earth who is benevolent as she is loving. We came from different countries, different languages, different lives, and different cultures but from the moment we met there was nothing different among us. She took us into her home and into her family. She became are African Mother and we were her Canadian children. Her son became our little brother; who always woke us up in the morning singing "Good Morning! Good Morning! Teacher! Teacher" and who always shared his chapatti and tea with us. I have never felt more welcomed into a community, not even in my home in Canada. On our 5 minute walk from Berthas house to the centre we were always greeted with 1000 handshakes, 1000 blessings and prayers, and 1000 hugs from children. Asembo Bay was a beautiful village where the heat from the African sun was stalled by the cool breeze from the Victoria River. The sun rises at 6am and sets at 6:30 pm and the night is so thick with darkness. We would sit at night by lamp light as Bertha cooks ugali and fish on the burning coal stove and listen to her speak Lou to her son. To get home to Bertha's we would walk through a corn field that held naked stalks due to the three year drought that has crippled the village of full harvest.

Our daily work routine started at 8 am with Kerri's wakeup call and breakfast. I fell in love with Kenyan tea. We headed to the computer center around 9 am where the volunteers would get together and create the day's lesson plan. The women from the Asembo Bay Women and Development Group would come in throughout the day and we would teach them computer skills and knowledge. We would teach them the basics of operation of a computer, programming, typing skills, internet browsing, and discussed business ideas for the centre to be run as a source of sustainable income. The day we arrived in Asembo Bay it was the centre's grand opening. We targeted are lessons for the month to the real teachers, the Asembo Bay Women and Development Group, because once we left they were the ones in charge of running the centre and passing on their computer knowledge to the rest of the community. These women are the true heroes of our world. Many of the women took time from means of work and income to learn these computer skills we were teaching. Many of these women had a lot of children at home; the majority of their children were orphans that they personally took into their homes. These women are dedicated to supporting their community and the shocking high amount of orphans in their village.

I loved my experience in Africa because it gave me a new perspective on life. There were many positive experiences that I have mentioned above however; there were difficult experiences that I faced that have benefited me overall as a person. In Kisumu I saw the leftover damage from the post-election violence. The slums are majorly populated by children many of who are holding water bottles filled with glue or shoe polish that they sniff to get high. The street children who run up to you once you get off the Mitatu are usually as young as 7 or 8 and are grabbing their stomachs and making food motions. Driving through the streets you see the urban decay, the poverty, the hardships that wares down on the people and the city. These are some of the difficult things that I personally saw that were difficult to digest. However; these are the difficult experiences that have fueled my passion for social change. I came back to Canada with fresh eyes; you hear about Africa but seeing Africa first-hand has been life changing.

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