Twerwaneho

Hello everyone!

So let me tell you about what I will be doing...(sorry, it might be a
long and possibly boring email)

W O R K

Twerwaneho is an community initiative/sort of orphanage that helps not
only orphans but also HIV/AIDS affected children, children with
disabilities and children who are the main providers for their
households. For all children, TOCI aims to teach them the skills to
sustain themselves through income generating activities and technical
training. There is also a focus on bridging the gap between parents
and disabled children and they have been quite successful in this
area. Before TOCI started, disabled children were often abused,
isolated and feared. After working with parents, the children became
more accepted and part of the family. They were being fed regularly
and included in family activities. These children are also taught
skills to help them become successful in life.

TOCI, as the organization is called, is currently supports the
children through donations of school supplies and basic needs,
implementing a (seemingly) sustainable animal rearing project, medical
supplies and treatments, and actually the list can get quite long.

The organization is currently funded by donations. A few generous
individuals were generous enough to help donate a little over $100 a
month for the next year. This happens to cover their administrative
costs (barely). The rest of the money comes from the community and the
volunteers who founded the organization (my supervisor and
counterpart). Work done by the organization is based primarily on the
volunteered time of its members. --if anyone wants to donate, and
every little bit helps! let me know.

From my first week here, the following became apparent to me:

1. TOCI is spending much more money than they are brining in. One of
the first tasks we will need to do is to determine a possible source
of income. At this time, we are examining multiple leads in income
generating activities.

2. The paperwork, although there, is unorganized. Once the paperwork
is reorganized, we will be able to determine budgets for the upcoming
year, figure out their assets and liabilities, etc.

3. The organization is spread way too thin. They are trying to do many
more projects and assistance than they are currently capable of. TOCI
will need to prioritize and determine where to use their resources.
This may mean cutting back on existing projects and a temporary halt
on any new projects.

4. There is a need to determine and create a clear outline of the
organization's vision and mission. As they have grown over the past
year or two, they have expanded and have gotten sidetracked from their
path.

-So basically, we're doing to be focused first on getting up
organization self-sustaining before continuing its outreach assistance
programs.

Beyond the above listed, some other things that the organization needs
is a motocycle (~$500) for transportation and outreach, and a
computer. If anyone has a used laptop they are planning to get rid of,
please consider donating it to us! If not, a cheap netbook is about
$260. Donations are welcome! As soon as I can, I hope to list some
crafts that are made by the children and villages here that may
interest you guys. They'll make great gifts! *wink*

The website for the organization (and still a work in progress) is
www.twerwaneho.wordpress.com.

There's actually quite a lot to do at this organization and I'm very
happy to be here. I do feel like I can actually contribute =).
However, I will admit, it will be necessary for me to establish
boundaries with my counterpart and supervisor lest I burn out because
they are so eager to do so much so soon.

H O U S E

My house is a single room with a bathroom (shower and porcelain toilet
that doesn't work unless I manually flush cause there's no running
water inside) and a small hallway where I have my cooking set up. I
live adjacent to another family (my landlady). There's a nice driveway
from the main road to the house. Very pretty, makes me feel like I'm
living on a farm. The family also raises cows here. There's still work
to be done on my place (closets, mosquito screens, etc.) but it's not
bad. I've installed some stuff already and I do have electricity.
Hooray!

E T C

Also, sorry for the lack of information. The area I'm in (called
Karago) has absolutely TERRIBLE phone and internet reception. As town
is not that far away, I will try to get into town once a week to use
the internet. But town is wallet killer so we'll see...