A Note From Our Founder:
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To All Dance with Mweyne Donors & Supporters:
I am writing to all of you, a community of people that I cherish so deeply, to tell you about some important changes we’ll be making at The Dance With Mywene Foundation. This year has brought with it many challenges--for me, for our community, and for people all around the world. We’ve had to learn, grow, adapt and adjust. During this time, I have been reflecting on DWM’s origins, current mission, and plans for the future. |
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I started this organization in 2018 during a time in my life when I felt something was missing and was able to find a sense of meaning and inspiration on a volunteer trip to Kenya. Serving the kids and caretakers at Ongata Rongai Special Home changed my life, and I returned home knowing I had to begin using my voice and my privilege to empower this Kenyan community of people I had come to know and care so deeply for. I also returned home with a desire to open the door for others to volunteer, to give back, and to find that same sense of meaning and inspiration I discovered during my time in Kenya. Thus, The Dance with Mweyne Foundation was born.
My intention and mission with this organization has always been to serve the kids living in the centers and support their caregivers by getting to know the communities, and work towards finding solutions to better support their many needs. Our foundation has made so many positive changes for the kids and caregivers, including providing necessary supplies for daily care and for school, and funding specialized services such as occupational therapy, and more.
My intention and mission with this organization has always been to serve the kids living in the centers and support their caregivers by getting to know the communities, and work towards finding solutions to better support their many needs. Our foundation has made so many positive changes for the kids and caregivers, including providing necessary supplies for daily care and for school, and funding specialized services such as occupational therapy, and more.
The recent closure of Rongai Home has prompted our team to press pause, gather more information, and re-evaluate our methods of support for the kids and caretakers in Kenya. From this process, we have identified two main issues in the way that DWM functions:
- -We are supporting institutionalized care settings for children.
- -We are sending short term volunteers into the homes where the children live.
Institutionalized Care:
We have learned that the institutionalized care of children, in settings such as orphanages or live-in care centers, puts a child at a much greater risk for neglect and abuse. In fact, some evidence suggests violence against children is six times more likely to occur in orphanage-type settings as compared to family settings. We want to be clear that while we have not witnessed nor presumed there has been any form of neglect or abuse taking place in the homes we have supported, we are now identifying such living situations as high risk. We are educating ourselves on decades of research that has proven that institutionalized care settings have an adverse impact on the cognitive, intellectual, and social development of children. As you know, the precious children that DWM supports have physical and/or mental disabilities, which means they require more individualized assessments and care to achieve developmental goals, and this is nearly impossible
to achieve in group care settings.
You may be surprised to know that when Ongata Rongai closed, we discovered that 90% of the children had families to go back to, but the families did not have the resources to properly care for the children-- meaning, most of the children we support are not really orphans. This was a surprise for us as well. According to Lumos (2014), this percentage is actually spot on with the statistics of children in orphanages worldwide. Lumos reports that up to 90% of children in institutions worldwide have at least one living parent, and most children who have lost a parent are able to live with the surviving parent, primary family members (such as older siblings), or extended family (such as grandparents), which is commonly referred to as “kinship care”. This is all the more reason for our organization to shift away from institutionalized care.
A Shift in Our Mission:
In light of this information, we have to revise our methods--we now know we can do better, and we are committed to making the necessary changes. We want to ensure that DWM’s resources are being used in a responsible way that will promote the safety, development, and overall health of the children. The first foundational change we are making is to no longer support the institutionalized care of the children. We will instead use our resources to identify appropriate home care settings for the children, and support the families in these home settings with the funds they need to provide safe and holistic care for the children. This may look like equipping families with financial support necessary for:
However, we are still in the development phase of this action and will update our supporters on precisely how their donations will be used for the care of the children.
We have previously been supporting Kasarani’s Total Rehab Centre with on-site physical and occupational therapists and an additional caregiver. Although the centre has been run by one of the biggest hearts in Kenya, Teresia, our new direction has led us to no longer being able to support the centre directly. We are currently in conversation with Teresia and are hoping to incorporate her in our new method of care.
In light of this information, we have to revise our methods--we now know we can do better, and we are committed to making the necessary changes. We want to ensure that DWM’s resources are being used in a responsible way that will promote the safety, development, and overall health of the children. The first foundational change we are making is to no longer support the institutionalized care of the children. We will instead use our resources to identify appropriate home care settings for the children, and support the families in these home settings with the funds they need to provide safe and holistic care for the children. This may look like equipping families with financial support necessary for:
- -Medical supplies
- -School tuition
- -School supplies
- -Medicine
- -Doctor’s visits
- -PT/OT sessions
- -Transportation fare to get to and from these places;
However, we are still in the development phase of this action and will update our supporters on precisely how their donations will be used for the care of the children.
We have previously been supporting Kasarani’s Total Rehab Centre with on-site physical and occupational therapists and an additional caregiver. Although the centre has been run by one of the biggest hearts in Kenya, Teresia, our new direction has led us to no longer being able to support the centre directly. We are currently in conversation with Teresia and are hoping to incorporate her in our new method of care.
New Process for Impact:
We will identify families to care for each one of the children. We are thrilled to announce that DWM will be hiring James Omambia, a local Kenyan with a Degree in Social Work & Community Development, as our first full time employee. James is a trusted friend and professional that we’ve already partnered with for various projects over the last few years, and has inspired us with his passion and commitment to the development and sustainability of his local communities. James will make daily trips into the community to identify and vet local families, schools, and healthcare professionals, and coordinate the necessary care for each child. He will also be making regular visits to the home care settings to evaluate progress and identify new or different needs, and be able to provide us the information we need to update our supporters on the well being and development of the children.
James Omambia
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Volunteering:
When previously bringing volunteers to Kenya, we implemented a screening process to assess the volunteer’s intentions and experiences and to ensure they were well matched with our organization’s objectives. We specifically only brought people who exhibited a willingness to immerse themselves in the everyday lives of the children and caregivers for a minimum of two weeks, and build relationships with members of the community to better understand their needs, first hand. While sending short term volunteers into the homes can create a sense of connectedness, meaning, and inspiration, we are learning that these experiences also have the potential to cause harm.
Research on short- term volunteering abroad shows that these experiences can lead to the exploitation of children, disruption of local laborers, and an exacerbation of attachment and abandonment issues for children in orphanages. Although we are so grateful for the warm welcome we have received and the meaningful relationships we have developed throughout our time in Kenya, we have decided to no longer enable overseas short term volunteer trips, and will instead focus on creating local volunteer opportunities to raise awareness and give support to children with disabilities. We still encourage all of our supporters to someday travel to Kenya, as your tourism is a wonderful way to stimulate their economy, soak up the beauty and uniqueness of Kenyan culture first hand, and learn more about the communities that DWM directly supports. We look forward to hearing about your personal travels to Kenya, and also to meeting up with you locally for volunteer experiences that keep us involved in and committed to empowering children with disabilities.
When previously bringing volunteers to Kenya, we implemented a screening process to assess the volunteer’s intentions and experiences and to ensure they were well matched with our organization’s objectives. We specifically only brought people who exhibited a willingness to immerse themselves in the everyday lives of the children and caregivers for a minimum of two weeks, and build relationships with members of the community to better understand their needs, first hand. While sending short term volunteers into the homes can create a sense of connectedness, meaning, and inspiration, we are learning that these experiences also have the potential to cause harm.
Research on short- term volunteering abroad shows that these experiences can lead to the exploitation of children, disruption of local laborers, and an exacerbation of attachment and abandonment issues for children in orphanages. Although we are so grateful for the warm welcome we have received and the meaningful relationships we have developed throughout our time in Kenya, we have decided to no longer enable overseas short term volunteer trips, and will instead focus on creating local volunteer opportunities to raise awareness and give support to children with disabilities. We still encourage all of our supporters to someday travel to Kenya, as your tourism is a wonderful way to stimulate their economy, soak up the beauty and uniqueness of Kenyan culture first hand, and learn more about the communities that DWM directly supports. We look forward to hearing about your personal travels to Kenya, and also to meeting up with you locally for volunteer experiences that keep us involved in and committed to empowering children with disabilities.
This may feel like a lot of information and change, but as the founder of this organization, I feel strongly that it is my responsibility to be transparent with you and thus include all of the DWM supporters in the sharing of this imperative information. I also want to personally invite you to journey with us through this exciting and necessary transformation. We need you now more than ever!
Words alone cannot express my deep gratitude for the support you’ve all given to DWM thus far, and I look forward to positively impacting our world alongside each one of you as we move into the future together.
With gratitude always,
Words alone cannot express my deep gratitude for the support you’ve all given to DWM thus far, and I look forward to positively impacting our world alongside each one of you as we move into the future together.
With gratitude always,
Dance with Mweyne Foundation Founder
