James 1:27 Project Machakos

05/30/2024

The James Project - Machakos, Kenya - “Pure, undefiled religion before God the Father is this…” Widows. In the wake of the HIV-AIDS epidemic, civil unrest, poverty, and countless other challenges, this region of Kenya is home to thousands of widows many might consider a burden. But where oth....

05/29/2024

We have a new partner. AgGrandize Global is a non-profit organization that helps bring modern farming ideas and technology to the developing world. They have helped many farming communities all over the world. All of our families are subsistence farmers, and simple things like fertilizer and improved seed can make a big difference. Donations can now be made to the James Project through AgGrandize. Meshack and Elizabeth, local volunteers, advisors and board members remain with the project in Kenya. Don and Betsy Meeker are still mentors and supporters. Here is the link to check out AgGrandize and donate to the James Project.

The James Project - Machakos, Kenya - “Pure, undefiled religion before God the Father is this…” Widows. In the wake of the HIV-AIDS epidemic, civil unrest, poverty, and countless other challenges, this region of Kenya is home to thousands of widows many might consider a burden. But where oth....

11/29/2022

Please remember our widows and orphans.

11/29/2022

It’s giving Tuesday. Along with the usual support we provide of school fees and uniforms, medical care, counsel, and small business opportunities, we have had to provide staple foods as never before this year. This is because of grain shortages due to the war in the Ukraine as well as unreliable rains. We have been able to find and distribute nutritious staples by working with other charities in Kenya. Thank God for answered prayer! And thank you to our supporters!

If you want to help you can send a check or money order to:
Calvary Chapel Cool Waters
Attn: Kathi Ritter
2500 North Broadway Apt 2212
Edmond, OK 73034

05/25/2022

Don is back from his visit to the James community in Vyulya and Masii, Machakos Kenya.
The following families are recent additions to the James family.
Felistus is widowed and is struggling with HIV. She has 3 small children. When Don visited she was working at her small kiosk selling flour, tea, and other staples.
Besides paying school fees and helping with medical care the project has provided a water tank for her family. These tanks collect clean rain water and save the family laborious trips to the local well or river for water.

Harriet is a grandmother whose daughter was killed in a car wreck. She is raising her 4 grandchildren and was in real hardship when they were taken on by the project. When Don visited them at home they were hoeing their subsistence plot. Before we provided them a water tank they were hauling water 3 times a week from the river, using their sometimes uncooperative donkey.

01/17/2022

If you want to help you can send a check or money order to:
Calvary Chapel Cool Waters
Attn: Kathi Ritter
2500 North Broadway Apt 2212
Edmond, OK 73034

Write ‘James 1:27 Project’ in the note line.
Provide your address and we will mail you a tax receipt.

01/17/2022

I thank God i made it.....
These were the words of Mercy Mwikali when she emerged top of her class in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (a national examination sat at the end primary school).
Mercy was among the very first orphans enrolled to the James 1:27 project about 10 years ago. At the point of enrolment Mercy who stays with her grandmother was weak and sickly and had very little understanding of her surroundings. Mercy needed almost everything; she needed a house, access to good medical care, food, good education and access to clean drinking water.

With the help of you as a partner Mercy has been in school in school for the last 9 years with 100% retention, she has access to a safe house, clean drinking water, access to food and the love of every one of us.
Mercy’s self esteem and determination to do well in school has been evident as she was always the best girl in her class, her grandmother also confirmed that the girl is very obedient, hardworking and committed in church as well.
During the long break where schools closed due to the COVID 19 threat, Mercy spent most of her time to cover her course work. She says she denied herself a lot of things including free time with friends and this has paid off.
When we visited Mercy she was out watering her grandmother’s goats. She was excited and has since joined a good Secondary school in July 2021. Mercy hopes to be a teacher someday.
The first photo shows Mercy at her house when she was first enrolled in the James 1:27 project. The second is today. With the help of volunteers and other widows, the project built a new home for her and her hard working grandma.

01/15/2022

Established in 2011, The James 1:27 Project is focused on a community in the county of Machakos Kenya that includes the villages of Vyulya and Masii. The project supports about 50 children at any one time who have been orphaned mainly by the ravages of HIV, and their caregivers, who are usually widowed family members. Children receive ongoing school expenses, food and agricultural support, job training and business opportunities for them and their caregivers. The project is overseen by a local couple with extensive training and experience in social work. Community volunteers play a very important in monitoring the children. We are a Christian organization and always try to share the love of God and His word.
If you want to help, you can send a check or money order to:
Calvary Chapel Cool Waters
Attn: Kathi Ritter
2500 North Broadway Apt. 2212
Edmond, OK 73034
Make out check to Calvary Chapel Cool Waters. Write James 1:27 in note line.

01/15/2022

We have not posted on Facebook for a while. Please take a moment to read the latest annual report to catch up on our busy and very challenging year.

ANNUAL REPORT for 2021
When Covid 19 Came Knocking

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
Since the first case of COVID was detected in Kenya in the year 2020, alot has changed. Our African culture is characterised by handshakes, hugs as a way of acknowledging greetings, extended relationships, the communal way of doing things where everyone is part of every celebrations marked. This has since changed shaking the very core of existence of family relationships. For a second time the places of worship have had to be closed as a result of the second wave of the COVID 19 pandemic.

With the COVID 19 pandemic and change in the way we do things and interact we were very concerned as the 3rd wave of infection brought COVID 19 infection closer home. The quarter was characterised by fear of the unknown, concern as we lost people close to us (Family, friends, neighbours, leaders among others). In view of this we set out to achieve the following objectives;
Ensure all orphans resume school after a 9 months break
Psychosocial support for both orphans/ widows and volunteers
In depth needs assessment of households to determine the extent to which each orphan/widow has been affected by COVID and the required intervention

WHAT WE ACHIEVED;
REPORT OF ACTIVITIES
RESUMPTION AND RETENTION OF ORPHANS IN SCHOOL
Being orphaned and vulnerable plays a role in whether children go to school as orphans may lose access to education as a result of poverty, need for domestic labour, need to generate additional family income, stigma, parents illness of death.
As a result of the impact of COVID 19, there has been low school retention rate occasioned by mainly poverty, lack of food, negative peer influence among others.
Thus we took it upon ourselves to ensure that all children in the project resume and are retained in school by undertaking the following;
Follow up through home visits and school visits to access the situation
Provide support with school fees for those in secondary, university and vocational training institutions
In specific cases we provided 100% to ensure the older orphans access middle level colleges (like the case of Anthony who is an orphan and a household head)
Provided school uniforms and shoes for all the orphans in the project.
By the end of the year none of the orphans had dropped out of school and performance of the orphans was impressive.
As far as National Examinations were concerned we had the following;
3 orphans sitting their Kenya Ceritificate of Primary Education this included; Mercy Mwikali, Maureen Wambui and Vincent. All the orphans did well and we look forward to supporting them through Secondary.
4 orphans sat for their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education this included; Alex Mwendwa, Ndunge Kivuva, Faith Ngonyo and Mbatha. All of them did well and 2 of the girls achieved minimum university entry requirement and have since joined public universities.

During the year we visited with Shadrack as well who was on internship at a local supermarket store in Machakos. He is now back to school and hopes to complete university this December. (He has now graduated!) To a big extent he has been a strong influence to the other orphans. Since he joined university, last year we had a girl joining university to study bachelor of Commerce, this year we have two more orphans joining university.
Your support as a partner has gone a long way in changing the lives of children who would otherwise not have been able to access education.

PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT FOR ORPHANS/WIDOWS AND VOLUNTEERS
Physical distancing, closure of school and churches and loss of loved ones, loss of family incomes during the COVID 19 period have far reaching effects on the psychological health and well being of children. the secondary outcomes which include anxiety, depression, family conflicts, negative academic impact, improper nutrition among others.
As a result of financial pressure and negative peer influence most of the orphans were at risk of s*xual abuse.
For us to provide support to the orphans during this period we visited the children in their homes and has sessions with them to discuss their fears, challenges and successes during the COVID 19 period.
From the discussions we noted that most children were uncertain about the future, financial pressure in some instances resulted in family conflicts, they were worried about some of their peers who had gotten into drugs. They were also concerned about the rise of child abuse incidences like child labour and s*xual violence.
We discussed solution for each family and each volunteer was tasked to follow up the children on a bi weekly basis. We debriefed with the volunteers on the need to assist the children access the local administration for legal support where necessary.
We also provided age appropriate information on matters of health, hygiene and protection to ensure that the orphans were more equipped and empowered to counter the challenges they faced without feeling disadvantaged because of their parental status.

FOOD BASKETS AND NUTRITIONAL SUPPORT
A failed rain season (Oct 2020 – Feb 2021) meant that most families didn’t have enough food to provide for their families. This was also compounded by very high inflation rates in the country which means the prices of food stuff has gone up for most common household commodities like cooking oil, flour, sugar. Most families are spending double the budget of what they used to spend on food before COVID.
With this in mind, with your support we provided the widows and orphan household with seeds which didn’t do well.
In the current season the rains were very low at the beginning and erratic at the beginning of this season which means that until the next harvest most orphans have barely any food to keep them going.
With your support partners we have been able to provide food baskets (Flour, maize, cooking oil and beans) to keep selected and most affected families going. This has gone a long way in ensuring that we sustain orphans in schools which meant that their academic performance has gone up significantly, the risk of child labour has reduced and also chances of abuse.
There has been a growing trend among younger widows where most of them have been forced to engage in extra marital s*x in exchange for money to buy food and basic commodities for their children. This has a ripple effect of the morals of the orphans they are bringing up.
To curb this we have created a channel of communication that facilitates the widows to reach out to the volunteers who in turn communicates with Meshack/Elizabeth to ensure that food baskets are delivered within 24 hours at most.

SUPPORTING OUR VOLUNTEERS
During the COVID 19 pandemic it was evident that even the volunteers we work with as James 1:27 projects were equally affected by the COVID 19.
A case in point was where one of our very able volunteers and her husband contracted COVID. From her experience it was very difficult for her and her family as both of them had to be isolated at home and on medication for over a month. The worst bit was the stigma faced from the community and the fact that to date people still treat them as people carrying the virus.
It was equally difficult for us (Meshach/Elizabeth) when we visited them after recovery and had to wear our masks all through the conversations. During our visits we realized that even our volunteers needed a hand in these difficult situations.
In as much as our volunteers were they people that the widows and orphans fall back to, they are people with needs and sometimes they also need our support.
We designed a food basket package for them and hope to visit each of them individually and assure them that we care. We hope to improve this component in future by visiting together, have fellowship and come up with a way of supporting them psychosocially.

HOUSEHOLD ECONOMIC SUPPORT

During the year we able to help some of the guardians start income generation projects. This support included small capital for business start up as well as seeds.
The month of November saw an onset of long rains. Coming from a dry season and with the economic challenges the seeds went a long way in helping all our households plant maize and beans. This will go a long was in enhancing food security in the coming days. We are looking forward to a good harvest.

We also supported one of our guardians who is HIV positive start a small business that is going a long way in sustaining her household. This was a measure towards sustainability as opposed to providing food for her family throughout the month.
They have since been able to meet basic needs for the time being although the caregiver is still requiring support as she is currently bed ridden.

CONCLUSION;
With COVID 19 in the picture, the project has continued to face challenges that were not initially considered in the scope of work and intervention. This included and is not limited to;
A sharp increase in the number of guardians in need on medical attention and especially those with underlying conditions like HIV, diabetes and high blood pressure.
An increase in the number of households requiring food support.
A number of caregivers were also rendered jobless and or have lost sources of income. This is due to the need to stay home and minimize interactions due to covid.
The caregivers are in most cases not being able to provide supplementary support to the children in the project as we meet the major costs. Thus we have been forced to scale up support even to 100%. For instance while we pay fees for the orphans at the university, we are also providing support towards food and accommodation on a monthly basis which has increased the cost significantly.
However even with these challenges with the support of our partners we have innovatively been able to tackle these issues.
We have also been encouraging our elderly caregivers as well as guardians with underlying conditions to stay home while we step up support where necessary.
During the year we scaled up support in many areas including education, food support and health support to include guardians on a case by case basis.

We with the thank you partners for the support through this difficult times. God has been so faithful our children have continued to do well in schools and maintained high levels of discipline.

12/01/2020

It’s Giving Tuesday. If you are looking for a charity where your donation will make a real impact, please consider the James 1:27 Project in Machakos, Kenya. 100% if your donation goes to Kenya to help our group of orphans and widows. At any one time, there are about 50 orphans and their caregivers enrolled in the James project. Your contribution will help keep them in school, pay medical expenses, staples when needed, and farming support. Currently we have an urgent need for a new engine for the project vehicle.
If you want to help, please send a check to:
Calvary Chapel Cool Waters
2609 NW 161st
Edmond, OK 73013
Write ‘James 1:27’ in the note line.

10/24/2020

JOY IN TRIALS...

Positive stories during the COVID 19 pandemic

1. My only prayer
When David was born, his grandmother was full of joy and praise to God for the gift of a baby boy. David’s grandmother did everything possible to ensure his mother recovered well and the child was well breastfed.

However, as time passed by David’s mother fell ill and her health deteriorated by the day. Before it was too long things were getting out of hand and the child was not getting enough to breastfeed and the grandmother stepped in to ensure that the child got supplemental feeding.

As fate would have it, David’s mother passed on and this was a big blow to his grandmother. In her old age and ill health she saw no possibility of seeing this child grow. Her days were full of fear of death and the possibility of leaving her grandchild under the care of people who would not be concerned about the welfare of this child.

However, after recovering from grief and loss which took several months, her faith in God was rekindled. With this she made a prayer

“God I just want you to keep me alive until this child is able to talk and be wise enough to know how to ask for at least a glass of water”.

With tears rolling down her cheeks, Maritina says:

“I thank God because He answered my prayer”.

Today David is all grown up and is 12 years of age. The grandmother after joining James 1:27 project was able to learn small business skills and during this COVID 19 period she was able to start a small business at Masii market. During our visit last month Maritina was not worried about COVID 19 and her higher risk to infection. She was well aware of the need to wear her mask always as well as wash her hands with soap and water regularly.

She is optimistic that her grandson will go through school and become an important person in society.