May 2010
The Watoto Kwanza Project continues to grow in leaps in bounds into 2010. Three weeks ago The Sports Injury Clinic raised $1,200 by running a Garage sale. This Friday the 15th of May, they are running a Trivia night at the Frankston Yacht Club. If interested please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
A huge step for WKP was the recent distribution of the container. The staff of World Jet Travel have worked tirelessly to get this container off the docks and distributed. Each registered child is receiving a mosquito net, shoes, clothing and basic necessities. There is 30 sewing machines which are going to establishing a training centre for standard seven primary school girls. Most of whom will not go on to secondary school but will go on to find work. 50 children's wheel chairs are being distributed amongst the disabled community.
March 2010
Last month Teagan Glenane ('The Age' Photographer) travelled with Gwen Harrop and young Issa on his return trip to his home in Kawe. Issa, having been in Australia for 9-months for surgery on his club foot, has now settled back into his African life. Thanks to a generous sponsor, Issa is attending Liberman Primary School. The Watoto Kwanza Tanzania team have been extremely generous in ensuring Issa's needs are met. Teagan not only photographed Issa's journey home, but also has some incredible pictures depicting the spirit of the people of Kawe. Her photographs will be exhibited alongside paintings done by the Watoto Kwanza children, in our big fundraiser later this year. Stay tuned!
January 2010! HAPPY NEW YEAR
Thank you to all those who supported us in 2009, an exciting year that saw the Watoto Kwanza Project develop in leaps and bounds.
January 2010
Issa (right) is traveling home having completed all his medical care here in Australia. Thanks to the wonderful Children First Foundation www.childrenfirstfoundation.com, Issa was able to travel here to have his club-foot operated on. He goes back home with two normal feet! As Issa was plucked from severe poverty, he will commence studies in a local boarding school on return home. We thank the many generous people and groups who have offered to sponsor Issa's schooling. The Watoto Kwanza Projects, Gwen, will accompany Issa home. Making the trip times in well with meeting, unloading and distributing the container that was shipped to Dar es Salaam in December.
December 2009
Saturday December the 12th was a big day with Australian based WKP team. Our 20ft container was finally packed! After 18-months of collecting library books, wheel chairs, school supplies, clothes, medical supplies, sewing machines (job creation for single mothers), sporting equipment, shoes and nursery school furnishings, finally the container was ready to go.
The Watoto Kwanza Project want to thank Rotaries Donations in Kind: Andrew Walsh for his time, patience and hours of effort into making this plan a reality. Without Anderson's Removal's Steve Cernotta we could not have collected and stored all the items bound for Kawe. Then there is Judy Rebecca and her Rotarians of Frankston-Long Island that sacrificed their Saturday morning to help us load the container (pictured below). Many hands made light work and 3-hours, a fork lift and sausage and beer at the end, was all it took. Thanks also go to Gwen's brother Tom (pictured below) and WKP's Louise. For more pictures, see under 'Gallery'.
November 2009 Up-date; First steps in disabilities support project, container about to go and Issa walking post-surgery.
This past month has been monumental for the Tanzanian Watoto Kwanza team. Janet reports 'tears of happiness' seeing Gerry become the first recipient of a hand pedaled tricycle. This tricycle gives Gerry, unable to walk, the independence he needs. This was the first of hopefully many tricycles in a win-win job creation scheme for disabled members of the community. Each trike is funded though a sponsorship and allocated and donated to a disabled child. They cost $400 AUD each, from this amount the disabled workers are paid a proper wage for their time and the tricycle parts paid for. Please contact Fiona at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are interested in sponsoring a tricycle.
Gerry on a test drive. Gerry with workers in the workshop.
Also making Watoto Kwanza news this month is Issa (see children's stories), has taken his first steps on his new foot. He is now approaching 8-weeks post surgery. Next week his plaster will be removed and he will receive orthotics. This means he will be able to wear normal shoes! Issa is due home to Kawe in February 2010. Great work Issa!
Superman - c/o Teagan Glenane Issa - c/o Gwen.
The container bound for Kawe is 12-days off departure. On December the 4th a working bee will take place packing the 20ft container; 50-wheelchairs, 20-sewing machines, 200-mosquito nets, library books, clothes, medical supplies, sporting supplies and furnishings for the Watoto Kwanza Centre are all aboard. This is closure on a years worth of collecting. Any last minute donations of supplies are needed by Friday the 4th of December at the absolute latest.
October Up-date; The Watoto Kwanza Centre in the Kawe slums is fast approaching a reality.
We are just a few weeks off sending our container to Kawe. This contains books (5,000+), shelves, tables, chairs, rugs etc for our Watoto Kwanza Library as well as kinder equipment for our Watoto Kwanza Nursery school. For our registered children (orphans and disadvantaged children living in Kawe slums who were enrolled into school this year thanks to last years fundraising pursuit to secure uniforms, stationery and enrollment fees), we have a pair of brand new school shoes each and plenty of clothes.
Thanks to Mitre-10 Frankston the container is carrying 200 mosquito nets. Each registered Watoto Kwanza child will recieve a mosquito net. By distributing the mosquito nets, we are saving more than 200-lives by preventing the number one killer in the slums; malaria. As the families all sleep under the same net, potentially over a thousand lives are protected!
We also have 50-children's wheelchairs packed and ready to go - thanks to Wheel Chairs For Kids (Western Australia). A wheel chair is a gift of independence and mobility. This will enable 50-children to leave the confines of their home to attend school and interact with their environment. Most disabled children rely on their mothers to carry them to school, an impossible burden once primary school aged.
An Evening by the Bay, August 8th 2009: The Annual Fundraiser
A HUGE thank-you to all our supporters for a wonderful 'Evening on the Bay'! We managed to raise our $10,000 goal! So we are now able to ship our container to Kawe, this contains 50-slum designed childrens wheel-chairs, 5,000 library books, educational equipment and clothes and necessities for the registered children! We also have enough raised to cover the first year of running the Watoto Kwanza Education Centre! It is amazing what a difference $10,000 can make to their lives. Thanks again.
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June 2009: NEWS
Welcome aboard to Louise Smith. Louise of Melbourne, Australia, volunteered in Kawe in 2006. She taught local 4 and 5 year olds in a nursery school. This nursery school has since closed due to lack of funding. Louise is trained in event and account management and is a welcome addition to the Watoto Kwanza team.
May 2009: NEWS
The Tanzania trip was a blinding success. Gwen met the Registered Watoto Kwanza Project Kids. The majority are Standard One (Grade 1-2 equivalent in Australia). Each child participated in the Arts Workshop. Paints were donated by Derivan paints. Their Artwork will be on display at the upcmoing fundraiser;
Gwen sucessfully escourted Issa and Asha (for further details read under 'childrens stories') to Australia. Taking two children out of extreme poverty and transitioning them into Melbourne is a huge undertaking. It involves days of care and medicating prior to departure, loads of paperwork, bonding time with the children, meetings with parents, interpretors, clothing purchases, loads of medical appointments and hours of handover preparation. Both kids are now settled into life with Moira Kelly's Children First Foundation and will be undergoing life changing surgery shortly. Stay tuned.
On the trip, Gwen met with the Headmistress of Kawe A Primary school who conveyed her sincere gratitude to all those who have assisted in getting the 100 disadvantaged children enrolled and ready for school.
April 2009: NEWS
Gwen departed on the 28th for Tanzania with 90kg of Aid for the registered kids! Many thanks to Julie Timewell and her team at Tight Knit World for their huge assistance with preparing the necessities packs in time for Gwen journey to Tanzania!
Thanks to Ingrid Bayliss for her donation.
Feburary 2009: NEWS
100 Children registered under the WATOTO KWANZA Project have just been issued with their uniforms, stationery and are enrolled to commence schooling this term. We will be posting some photos of the children very shortly. Stay tuned.
THANKS to all the taylors in Kawe who came together to create the 200 uniforms (2 per child)!
THANK-YOU FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAVE DONATED RECENTLY!
Particular thanks to the following....
David & Jean Jones, Maureen & Peter French & Robert Wilson for their recent substantial donations towards the educational welfare of the Children of Kawe.
David Mc Lachlan - Derivan paints. A big thank-you for the donated paints. We will be running an Arts workshop using this paint in May with the registered Watoto-Kwanza kids. Stay tuned to our 'up-coming events' link for information on our big fundraiser for the year. This Art work will be displayed in a gallery format and auctioned off to further fundraise for the childrens on-going educational needs.
Georgia Timewell for raising nearly $900 to go towards necessities packs and school enrollment fees for the Watoto Kwanza kids.
Julie Timewell for her on-going efforts into the Necessities Packs project. Julie and her team made up over 100 pencil cases for the registered children. These were posted and arrived in time for the children to start school.
Andersons Removals for storing our donated books and equipment until our crate is ready.
Joy Coleman and her team at Probus knitted 20 fantastic colourful light-weight sleeping blankets.
Padua Rosebud, Paterson Lakes Primary School, Aspendale Gardens Primary School, Maquarie schools (Dubbo) and Tintern Schools (Ringwood) for donations of library books. We have well over 1000 books to go towards setting up a library of both referrence resources and novels (English) to encourage both English and general knowledge. The establishment of the library within the community is a 2010 goal. We are still collecting books, the crate isn't leaving Melbourne until May at the earliest. Please contact Gwen on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you would like to further donate.
Louise from Rotary Seaford-Carrum Downs for donating a computer.
