Happy Birthday, Mama Margaret!

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Mama Margaret turns 45 today. It's very rare to celebrate birthdays in Kenya, and Margaret has never had a birthday party in her life. Today there will be a little get-together to mark the occasion.

She is pictured to the right with Boaz before his surgery.

One of the Tenderfeet donors gave a present to Margaret in the form of funds to go to the dentist and get her bad cavity filled!

Here is a small timeline of Margaret's life, challenges, and accomplishments. Some of the dates are approximate, I will try to verify them and correct if necessary.

1964: Margaret is born in a small town in the Central Province
1982: graduates from High School and moves to Nairobi
1986: marries Daniel Nyabuto, first child Sandra is born
1980's: gets training in electrical repair and certification for paralegal and child advocacy
1989: moves to Kibera
1991: starts teaching at a school in Kibera
1990's: gets training and certification in teaching
2000: opens Tenderfeet in a church in Kibera
2005: main donor (brother in law) for school is killed in auto accident in November
2005: first visit from Lahash in December
2006: school kicked out by unscrupulous landlords twice (May and Dec)
2006: Shadrack starts attending Tenderfeet and shows serious brain problems
2007: school kicked out again in March, current Kibera facility is constructed from iron sheet and plywood in April
2007: Shadrack has brain surgery in March
2007: Margaret's father is killed by thugs in December
2007: national elections on December 27
2008: post-election riots begin in January, lasting weeks. Margaret life is threatened and relocates to Riruta, school almost burned down 3 times
2008: Boaz has eye surgery in December
2009: land for school is purchased in April
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Updates from Edwin

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Edwin has two great updates on the Lahash blog. The first is an update on Kibera and a wonderful visitor from Canada named Cheryl. Read it here.

The second update is about planting trees and shrubs on the new land, thanks to Cheryl. Please check it out here.

In other news, Wickliff will have the growth on his tongue surgically removed on Thursday. Please pray for his quick recovery.

Also, I usually ask for prayers for the Tenderfeet kids, but I would also ask for prayers for our sponsors and donors. Many of them have been contacting me lately with news of tough setbacks due to the economic downturn. Most are able to continue their sponsorship, but it is a real challenge for them.

Without our donors as a key part of the Tenderfeet team, there would be no Tenderfeet. Let's hope things turn around quickly for these kindhearted and generous angels of mercy. And of course, we are always in need of additional sponsors to keep the school going strong!

Creative Fundraising

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Craig Garratt is a great friend of Tenderfeet from Australia who is always looking for ways to help the school. He visited Tenderfeet back in October of last year and has been working hard to raise funds and awareness.

For instance, Craig's graphic design company Gumption features news and information about Tenderfeet on the website and in company emails. He also is working with a local High School in the area to educate young people about the struggles of children living in poverty.

But perhaps his most innovative idea to date is to use sand sculptures to help Tenderfeet. It turns out Craig and friends are terrific sand sculptors and at a recent event his team was paid to create one of their masterpieces. They decided to donate the proceeds to Tenderfeet as well as tell the story of Tenderfeet to folks who came by to enjoy the sculpture. Here is a page about their experience.


Craig shows that fundraising doesn't have to be a horrible experience, you can have fun and make a difference at the same time. Would you like to do a creative fundraiser? Please let me know by emailing me at dmitchell@lahash.net and I would be glad to provide ideas, photos, video or any other materials that might help.

Craig writes about the day:

"We built a Marsupial Lion – an animal that used to live around our way until about 15,000 years ago. We have built it pretty close to life size too! The ‘rules’ of the art form are that you can only use the sand where you are, and water at hand (ie the ocean or river front you are on).


The whole team at work got involved and another local graphic designer and good friend joined us. We had six people building and pounding the pile of sand, and Stuart, Warren and myself carved it. Kate ran around spraying it with water all day so it didn’t dry out as we carved and Ally, Stuarts wife, went into a wonderful spiel about Tenderfeet to anybody that stopped and had a look.

Her throat was dry at the end as at one point we had nearly 30 people crowded around watching. During the day hundreds saw it under construction. Kids especially loved it, and many got right into it, giving us some serious advice on how to do it properly so it wouldn’t collapse (there are many budding engineers under 10 around here!!). We started at 6 am and finished up around 1:30 pm – everyone had a blast doing it."

Wickliff Goes to the Doctor

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Wickliff Wesonga is a 12 year old orphan who attended Tenderfeet when he was younger. Mama Margaret was concerned about a strange growth on his tongue, which started small and kept getting bigger and bigger.

Using some special donations, he was first taken to Kenyatta National Hospital on March 11th. Children are usually taken to local clinics for most medical concerns, but in this case he was taken to the National Hospital because of the unusual problem.

Let me describe in a bit of detail how things went to give you some idea of the challenges of helping needy children with medical issues.

Once he checked in with the first doctor, the doctor told Margaret she would have to retrieve his complete medical records from the clinic he would normally attend. This was required because Wickliff is HIV positive and had Tuberculosis when he was younger. So a trip was made to the other clinic, the records were fetched, Wickliff was taken back to the hospital again (see photo). At that point, they decided to schedule a biopsy.

The biopsy took place last week and we should get the results next week. We are praying that it is something easily treatable.

Altogether, this will have taken at least four trips (with public transportation) to the doctor and one to the clinic, each with long waits involved, plus about $100 in funds. As you can see, it takes a lot of time, energy and resources to help orphans like Wickliff. Stay tuned for updates on the biopsy results.

I visited Wickliff and his home in January. Wickliff lives with an aunt who is taking care of a large extended family. The living conditions, especially when it rains, are horrible. Wickliff is a bright and responsible young man who needs help to make sure he gets nutritious food (important for children like Wickliff who are HIV positive), and improved bedding, clothes, and help with school fees. If you would like to sponsor Wickliff, please contact me at dmitchell@lahash.net

Below is a video of Wickliff (wearing a pink shirt) leading Mama Margaret to his home in Kibera. Notice Margaret bringing up the need that Wickliff has for a sponsor.



During our visit to Wickliff's home, the coach of the soccer club Wickliff belongs to came by with a soccer ball. The coach was telling me what a good player Wickliff is and wanted us to see how well Wickliff could handle the ball. I took a video clip of Wickliff juggling the ball.