HealthEd Connect

The Africa Collaboration is dedicated to assisting African citizens rise above less than favorable circumstances and find a way to provide for themselves and their families. We do this by placing our focus on the education of children in poor areas. We believe that if even one of those children rise above poverty, we will be successful. Of course, we would prefer our educational endeavors to reach and impact a far greater number of citizens, and our projects are designed to accommodate an ever-expanding group.

ACT’s main focus is currently to promote the sale of jewelry created by women in Kibera, Kenya at either various stores or a chain of stores here in America. We have partnered with an organization called CSG to help aid us in our efforts.

What is CSG?

CSG (Community Support Group) was established in 2001 with the aims of improving the lives of youth in Kibera. The organization does not rely on outside funds, but uses money from grants and donations to support its created programs.

Why Kibera?

The Kibera Slums are located 3 miles from the city of Nairobi and house 1/4 of Nairobi’s area population. Kibera itself is only roughly 1.2 square miles, yet an estimated one million people call it home. Housing typically consists of a 10 ft x 10 ft shack that shelters a family of five. Income is scarce, and many of the men travel to Nairobi to work as casual laborers. The women oftentimes work at home, supporting their families.

How Does CSG help?

Although Kibera is Kenya’s poorest residential area, inhabitants partnered with CSG find ways to connect to both local and global communities and develop a better quality of life. One of the programs established by CSG, called the SEED (Students for Education, Empowerment, and Development) Junior Academy, is a school that raises scholarship money to support youth education and community growth. Many children do not have the opportunity to attend school due to financial restraints, but the mothers of students have begun to create jewelry to generate income. Unfortunately, local marketplaces do not offer much profit for the women, but by selling the jewelry in America, there is a noticeable, supportive income.

We plan on expanding our jewelry project and turning it into a uniform product line, as well as looking at permanent distributors.

Other ideas include:

- Educational videos that teach business ethics as well as filling basic educational needs.

- Sending student teachers to educate young women, so that they can become elementary teachers. We could combine this project with the educational video project. 2009 Members:

Danica McLain -- Rachael Zimmerman -- Daniel Vogelsang -- Irene Villafranca