Story of the Week: The Kiini Sustainable Initiative
The Banquala brought with it many ideas – one being to feature a different organization each week – or what we like to call a “Story of the Week” on our blog. This is our first – The Kiini Sustainable Initiative; check back each Monday for more stories and how you can get involved in telling them!
Their Mission:
To work aggressively towards the elimination of gender violence, poverty eradication and address HIV/AIDS matters by reaching the underprivileged and the marginalized with a range of financial services to enable them to realize their full potential.
Their Work:
KISI has over the years initiated five key programs including Micro-Credit – empowering the youth and women, eradicating poverty, improving quality of life, and integrating them into the mainstream of the economy, Agri-Business – allowing the communities to shift from subsistence farming to actually being able to generate income from their crops, Gender Equality and Empowerment – educating against gender violence by discussing the causes and consequences of the violence and how to eradicate it, HIV/AIDS Education – advocating for prevention, counseling services, care and support of the infected / affected (including support for those orphaned by the disease) and Poverty Alleviation through all of the above.
The Bedouins Connection:
We will be flying to Kenya to work with KISI this October and we are so excited to be able to share their story with you. Stephen first met Philip (with KISI) in January when he was in Kenya with Integrity Worldwide. As you can see in their mission, KISI is doing amazing work with the marginalized communities in Kenya, but they are having some trouble gaining support due to their lack of communication tools. Hence, Bedouins will be going down there to take photos and capture video footage of their work. When we get back we will put together a multimedia piece and a more descriptive and personal website. We hope to be able to help them gain support for the incredible things they are doing.
How you can help:
Help us cover the costs of airfare, gear, immunizations, food and visas (approximate cost – $4,200) by donating to Bedouins International through our website or by sending a check to 1710 2nd Ave N #501 Birmingham, AL 35203. All donations are tax-deducible and every penny goes toward telling a story. We will also be selling our first book Refocusing the Heart of Media: Chapter 1 to raise more money for this project. The book is a compilation of all the stories we’ve been able to tell over the last 2 years, and includes ~160 pages of photos and information about the organizations. If you buy a book you’ll be helping us tell more stories. ***The first order is going trough Monday, so you have to order this week to get one before Christmas!*** Order online through our website, or by sending a check to the address above. Books are $75.
Thanks for reading about KISI and what we hope to do. Check back next week for another story!
August 19th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
[...] than re-post an already written blog, go HERE to read about [...]
August 19th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
[...] than re-post an already written blog, go HERE to read about [...]
September 16th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
[...] we were brainstorming ideas to raise the last of the funds needed for KISI, my new friend Leah had a most excellent idea – a book [...]
October 1st, 2009 at 3:34 pm
[...] than re-post an already written blog, go HERE to read about [...]
October 15th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
[...] some news. As you know, we have been planning a wonderful adventure to Nyeri, Kenya to work with The Kiini Sustainable Initiative (KISI). Stephen met Philip during his trip to Kenya in January, and knew right away that his story was one [...]
October 26th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
[...] pictures for some wonderful, beautiful people and getting the chance to meet up with Philip from KISI for a preliminary visit before we go do our project with him next [...]