Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice 202 Harvard SE Albuquerque, NM 87106 505-268-9557   Updated: 1 January 2010 Newsletter January 2010
January 2010 Newsletter Contents The Wambusa School Project Membership Application	The Wambusa School Project Dear Peace & Justice friends, My name is McOwiti Thomas and I was briefly introduced to you last February as the patron of the ACP&J's fiscally sponsored Kenya Project (the Wambusa School Project )--see Special Events Calendar for March 2009 (http://abqpeaceandjustice.org/calSE2009C.html). I also gave a brief presentation about the project to a few folks about that same time. The Wambusa Project is continuing, albeit very slowly, and still welcomes your support. There is another project that I'd like to bring to your attention. During my last trip to Kenya in October 2008, I had the opportunity to visit with a very dynamic former teacher called Grace Omingo, who runs a learning center in the Kayole slums of Nairobi called the Vessel of Hope Centre (the official/legal name uses the British/Kenyan spelling of center). The center supports 150-200 children ranging in age from three to16 years, including orphans, abandoned or homeless street children, and children rescued from various forms of violence and abuse. Grace is herself a widow and has been doing this thankless task voluntarily for over a decade, relying solely on small financial and in-kind gifts from kind donors locally and, every once in a while, abroad. However, the donations have almost dried up due to economic hardships occasioned by events beyond the center's control, including the violence that followed Kenya's last elections, drought and famine that have ravaged the country for over a year, and the global economic recession. The center is in urgent need of help; it is barely able to stay open and Grace has asked me to seek help on its behalf.
I am therefore appealing to the kindness and generosity of all people to help see the center through these hard times. Any and all donations are welcome. You can make tax-deductible contributions through the Peace and Justice Center's Kenya Educational Project (making sure to specify whether the donation is meant for the Wambusa School or the Vessel of Hope Centre). McOwiti Thomas tmcowiti@lternet.edu Please send calendar items, comments, and questions concerning this Web document to Web@abqPeaceAndJustice.org .