OUR LATEST NEWS
As we are a very new charity our news does not go back far but I'm sure you will agree we have been up to a lot latley. Soon we will also be adding an event section to this page. Please check back regularly to find out what we have been up to and more importantly what you can do to help...
Kucha Kool
Mama B's latest venture, piloted in Nairobi and now hitting the streets in Kisumu. Kucha is the Swahili word for fingernail and so ... Cool Nails. We are working with commercial sex workers who want to get off the street and out of the bars. Utilising skills they already have ... like nail care ... Mama B sets each girl up with a kit comprising a dozen nail varnishes, a French Manicure Kit, buffers, orange sticks, emery boards, cuticle gel, varnish remover and hand cream and enough money to cover her first week's travel. The girls then take their kit out and around the markets, shops and bars offering impromptu manicures at your place of work. Our pilot business made our Kucha Kool Girl an average of 1500 ksh each day - three times what she made as a sex worker. And the cost of these new lives for our girls ? Around £12.00.
We are finally legal !
After a long ... long ... long wait, Mama Biashara has finally got full Charitable Status. We are a registered charity, SC042262. This means ... well, a load of stuff. We are now eligible for Gift Aid - meaning that for every £1 donated, we get an extra 25p. Which means we can do 25% more work, help 25% more people, start 25% more businesses.
I suppose now would be the time to introduce our Board of Trustees ... pix will come later
Geoff Copstick is my brother, a bit of a financial whizz, but more importantly a great bloke. He is currently building his own house in New Zealand, complete with solar power. He is also a farmer and has all manner of practical skills that will be of help to the work in Kenya.
Zeta Thomelin is CEO of Children With AIDS Charity and a fairly extraordinary human being. She is also VERY good at all the formal, legal stuff that will keep Mama B in line with the rules and regs, is a formidable fundraiser and has better connections than high speed broadband. We are lucky to have her
Simon Walker is a former TV Producer of note, turned luxury landlord. Simon and his wife run Your Nice Apartment - acompany offering just what they say they do, in Nice and, soon, in London too. Simon spent some time in Kenya with MAma B in January this year - pix will soon be available here on the site and can be seen now by logging onto www.yourniceapartment.com
Bev James is former Services manager with CWAC and is currently spreading the Mama B word in Birmingham.
So now it is onwards and upwards. To say nothing of outwards.
Check out our new projects on the Projects pages - and keep checking ! There will be no stopping us now.
Gallagher Securities
A knight in shining, electrified armour!
As they are wont to say, there is good news and there is bad news on the DECIEP front.
As you know, Felista Kibe has been feeding and caring for orphans and abandoned and vulnerable children in the slums of Nairobi for more than 10 years.
For the past 3, CWAC (Children With AIDS Charity) has been sending a monthly contribution to her work to cover food and rent. In August that contribution was halved.
And now – at one month’s notice, the contribution has been stopped altogether.
This, as you can imagine, is a crushing blow to Felista and the children.
As of this month, DECIEP, and the 60 children, have been thrown out of the property they were occupying.
However, at just the right time, Gallagher Securities, a company based in New Zealand, but operating across the globe, has come in to help.
Gallagher Securities not only make and sell, but invented electric fencing.
They are generally acknowledged to be the best in the world at it.
In helping the children of DECIEP at this time they have shown that they really do know the importance of ‘security’.
Gallagher have helped in three ways: they have generously donated almost £3000 which was used in the building of a new home for the children. The sixty happy, relieved young orphans moved in last week.
Gallagher have not only made the building of the home possible, but are also doing what they do best of all – making it secure!
They have offered to supply and install a state of the art fencing system around the home, keeping the children safe.
As well as this, part of Gallagher’s funding was used to purchase and refurbish a pick up truck. This has been used to the full during the construction, and now that the home is built, will be used to transport and sell cabbages wholesale, helping to meet the future running costs of the home.
This is a wonderful thing to have done for these children, just because Gallagher wanted to help.
They have succeeded in making these children truly secure and Mama Biashara thanks them.
So… if you are feeling insecure… www.gallagher.com
Gallagher Securities saves DECIEP !!
As they are wont to say, there is good news and there is bad noews on the DECIEP front. As you know, Felista Kibe has been feeding and caring for orphans and abandoned and vulnerable children in the slums of Nairobi for more than 10 years. For the past 3, CWAC (Children With AIDS Charity) has been sending a monthly contribution to her work to cover food and rent. In August that contribution was halved.
And now – at one month’s notice, the contribution has been stopped altogether. This, as you can imagine, is a crushing blow to Felista and the children. However, at just the right time, Gallagher Securities, a company based in New Zealand, but operating across the globe, has come in with funding to buy, refurbish and equip a pick up truck for DECIEP. This will be used to sell water and, if Felista’s calculations are right, could make DECIEP almost entirely self sufficient ONCE they are out of their rental property and housed on the new land the project has bought on an interest free loan. Gallagher’s incredible generosity will allow for the truck to start work immediately. An unimaginable benefit to DECIEP.
Now what we need is £6000 to build a temporary home for the children on the new land before they are evicted from the rental property. Gallagher’s help will extend to the purchase of all the timbers needed for the construction. What we need is the rest. Could you help ? Would you help ?
If you wish to donate please contact copstick@mamabiashara.com
