Our Work

The organization continues to provide educational, food, healthcare, shelter, material,

and socio-economic support to orphans, widows, and elderly people in the underserved

communities in Kenya.

In developing countries like Kenya, clean-piped water is not available in rural

communities where the majority of the people live. The situation has resulted in people

consuming unhygienic water from ponds and other water sources. Because of the

situation, the organization promotes roof water catchment. The organization helps the

people with the cost of buying and installation of water tanks.

The organization supports orphans to go to school. This was due to the fact that

education in Kenya was never free until early 2007 when the government partially

introduced free primary and secondary education. As much as there is partial free

primary and secondary education, there is still a huge portion of educational costs that

orphans and/or poor widows cannot meet. Educational costs include tuition fees,

uniforms, books, and building maintenance fees. At the moment:

• The organization is helping to pay fees for 50 orphans in primary and secondary schools in Kenya. Unfortunately, due to lack of funds, many orphan children are left out from much needed educational support.
• The organization, in collaboration with community-based organizations, operates a school for orphans in the Kanyambune community in the Nyanza province of Kenya. The school, however, is inadequate in terms of equipment, library, and buildings.

Tender Hearts Foundation through collaborations with health professionals in Kenya

conducts seminars/workshops that benefits underserved communities. In such

communities, HIV/AIDS is prevalent. Our program aims to produce community health

workers (CHW’s) to provide home-based care to HIV positive people. Because there is

acute shortage of hospitals or healthcare centers in Kenya, CHW’s play an important

role in HIV/AIDS management. Our health program currently focuses on:

• Training the CHWs, which will yield in:
  • Increased understanding and management of prescription on antiretroviral (ARV’s) and TB drugs to people who are HIV positive.
  • Increased number of people able to take care of themselves under Home Based Care (HBC) support.
  • Increased number of children accessing life long treatment through ARV drugs.
  • Increased number of registered clients who benefit from group therapy.
  • Reduced stigma and discrimination of HIV/AIDS positive people.
  • Reduced cross infection between family caregivers and clients.
  • Increased access to Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) services.
• In an effort to extending healthcare services closer to the rural population, the organization in collaboration with local community organizations, has proposed a community hospital and nursing school in the Kanyambune community in the Nyanza province of Kenya. For this program, the organization has purchased 4.5 acres of land and conducted a fundraiser in Kenya on August 2009 where $2,000 was collected. One Director, Festus Gumbo, traveled to Kenya to attend the fundraising drive. This worthy project is yet to be realized as adequate funds are still lacking. Architectural drawings for the project are in place.

The activity entails initiation of community projects/programs whose objective is to spur

creation of small jobs and/or activities that engage the people in gainful business. These

small jobs and/or activities are a means to reduce the rampant poverty levels plaguing

the region. Small business activities that have yielded good results are:

• Poultry keeping, where orphans are engaged in doing work to earn financial income. Poor widows have also benefited from this activity.
• Tailoring is a small business venture that widows have undertaken. The organization has advanced loans, which is refunded with a minimal interest, to poor widows.
• Agriculture is another activity the organization has supported the poor people in order to become food sufficient. The organization gives agricultural loans which are paid back with minimal interest.

The program provides small loans to emerging entrepreneurs to start or expand

businesses. Tender Hearts Foundation has recognized the benefits of providing capital

to people struggling to work their way out of poverty. Along with providing more

flexible loan products, business, and personal development training, the organization

offers savings and insurance to help clients effectively navigate the daily hardships they

face. Without these services, clients are continually at risk of slipping back into poverty

because of unforeseen circumstances.

The organization extends loans with a priority to serve the particular needs of women

since a staggering 70 percent of all those living in extreme poverty in Nyanza are

women. Women are often excluded from education, the workplace, owning property

and equal participation in politics. They produce one half of the food, but own just one

percent of its farmland. While the Tender Hearts Foundation gladly extends loans to

men, the organization believes the greatest opportunity to confronting extreme poverty

come from micro-finance programs that target women entrepreneurs. When women

improve their circumstances, they also improve the lives of their children. By investing in

nutrition and education, women help to create a better future for their children and

their communities.

Only one-third of the developing world population has access to some kind of bank

account. The lack of access is particularly severe in sub-Saharan Africa where the World

Bank estimates micro-finance is reaching only a small percentage of the economically

active population. In sub-Saharan Africa's poorest countries, less than 10 percent of the

population has an account with a bank or financial institution. In response, Tender

Hearts is committed to provide training, savings and insurance products tailored to the

specific needs of poor women. Maintaining micro-finance programs/activities can help

create a world in which the poor have fair access to economic opportunities and the

hope to move beyond poverty.

• Community Center for Career & Socio-Economic Advising
  • The organization envisions establishing a Community Center for Career and Socio-Economic Advising. The effort at its core is aimed at uplifting underserved communities in Kenya and United States. The center will run cost-free advising and to offer minimal economic support with the view to promoting college education to people of color, seminars on good healthful living, micro-finance, food sufficiency, exposure to computer knowledge, back-to-school programs for single moms, health seminars to expand awareness and knowledge on HIV/AIDS prevention and management, diabetes, women cancer, malaria, and other communicable diseases.
• Community Hospital & Nursing School
  • There is a few healthcare facilities in rural communities in Kenya. The government’s effort to build hospitals and/or health centers is still far from meeting population demands. For instance, for some rural communities, the nearest healthcare facility could be 200 miles away. Good hospitals and health centers are often situated in major cities and towns to the disadvantage of the rural population. The situation has rendered the majority of the populous rural communities without adequate healthcare facilities. The situation therefore means that people suffering from HIV/AIDS and other diseases must travel long distances to seek medical attention. The transportation cost to seek medical attention is also a huge problem because the majority of the population is stricken by poverty. Tender Hearts Foundation has recognized the need to construct a medical facility to alleviate the suffering of the people by providing healthcare services in the rural community. In this pursuit, Tender Hearts Foundation seeks support of donors to build the Ranen Hospital and Nursing School in the Kanyambune community in the Nyanza province of Kenya. The facility will serve as a HIV/AIDS teaching and management center. It will also be essential to training nursing professionals, whose numbers are very low in the region. Tender Hearts Foundation has already purchased a 4.5 acre plot earmarked for the project. Upon completion, the facility will benefit a population of 2 million people in the Nyanza rural community of Kenya. The architectural drawings are in place. The project is estimated to cost ksh. 67, 290, 424, which translates to $841,130.30. The community conducts quarterly fundraising campaigns towards achieving this goal.