Dec 4, 2011

Great day start in the morning


Dear friend!! Once upon a time I thought the world is not fair and there is nothing to offer to others and I found my life useless and meaningless, but for sure I was wrong and so far from my goal, life could be much better for everybody if we only understand the purpose of life.
Volunteering is the key goal in understanding our mission in life if I didn’t take time to volunteer myself and learn from other people challenges, even today I could have been in darkness thinking world is not fair.
From that day up to today I keep my focus and I have met so much good people in the world who are working day and night to improve life of others human being and from the 60 to 80% of these people none of them knew from the first time what life has for them and if by volunteering was an eye and mind opener to their life time dream, giving you an opportunity to understand yourself from other knowing meaning the purpose of life.
Youth Volunteer for Change (YVC) it come as dream to empower Youth and from the start nobody knew if really we can be able one day to be working together with other big organization in world and Kenya sharing the great moment and encouraging other people in our society mainly young people to give their time morally in volunteering and understanding they meaning in life!
Working with Youth Volunteer for Change has given me more and more experience and opened more opportunity to meet with great people from different parts of the world, apart from that it has given me an opportunity to share with many volunteers my experience and give them support as while as different community in Kenya.
In the year 2012 our aim as Youth Volunteer for Change and our community partners is to educate more and recruit more volunteers in sharing with needy society among our goal in empowering youth, children women and community in large.
And for this to happen we can’t do it alone and that why we say ‘’Together we make change’’ we are inviting partners, volunteers and our friends to join us in recruiting more volunteers and helping us get organization or other people who support and can be there in education/training and making our social event reality.
Change start from you and me in our little things we do to others help us today and tomorrow we shall have better peaceful and full of passionate people who care and be there for each other!
Benjamin


Nov 29, 2011

If given an opportunity what could you do!


my dream center for information exchange center!

It is true ladies out there ("The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think’’) am not sure if this work out to everybody but it is not me who said so but I disagree with whoever thought of this! If it work’s it just for while but we need much more wise women than beautiful and am sure whoever said in the most successful men there is always a women behind!!
If only wishes were horses!  I could turn my world upside down dig and reveals all the best secret knowledge to my make my world and those around me better, once in my life I was nothing I did know anything at all, my thought was like a little child because I was and I grow with that for a long time until I become an adult. And now today I know what I want in my world which is much better than what I knew when I was a child.
Do you even realize every day everybody is working up and down to get enough information which can empower him/her on the daily life desire to success? This part of my story for those who do not know me, I was born just like any other kids in normal Kenyan village where kids grow up and struggle everyday for their life and so on… I did not have that good opportunity as some of us here who are lucky to have both parent working and supporting them in education or giving them what they want when they want it, but I never feel bad because of that it was great experience which give me even today courage to keep on and on because if I do not get it today I believe tomorrow is another day.
But for little time I shared my time with my both parent even if I was little kid I can tell and I can feel that love and support and that my other side of story which I would like to share with you today! In life nobody suggest where you want to born or what kind of life you want to live after your birth, it something only God or those who believe in Nature can explain! And it matters a lot where and how your life start from childhood to adult.
The key goal to every human is information and as all we know information is knowledge and the information is the medicine of our heart and it fertilize to our wisdom. Do you know  about maybe 80% of person’s not one was or born illiteracy we are almost all born with our five or six sense of human which we are guided by our parent and our teachers and our friends and then the world to use them and achieve our goal in life.
My mission in this world is one and day and night I dream I work I search for more and try to bring it to reality, in our life as human as gone from simple imagination to great imagination where in the world things have changed so much and become more easy and fast for some people but still we have a lot of others in darkness. Information as the key to success there are thousands and thousands of our brothers and sister who cannot access it, one of my friends she told me education does not end and teaching is not done only in class but it can be done everywhere and it true, today I am learning things which I never expected from you my friends and am sure am the lucky one to have this opportunity which enables me to access to this knowledge information.
My key question was if you have an opportunity what can you do? For the past years I have been working and working day and night try bringing youth together to share information organizing programs which can help them get exposure to that key to success, ‘information’ it my dream and my desire one day I will create one of the greatest platform where youth can meet educate each other by sharing experience information which can empower each other to overcome life challenges, understanding, peace love building and conflict free world where everybody feel respected and supported by each other, where human being have common understanding in life we are all equal and no one alone is mountain of him/her self.
That my mission one and my other mission which is my future and my present desire is to have a center for helping the children and not only the children but everybody who believe in sharing and interacting and creative ideas to support those in need, the center today as I write this is my greatest achievement of little progress, today  life is difficult and I can’t do a lot in developing this center but believe me or not I have nothing and am not thinking of going for the loan because I can’t get one. but am sure it will be complete soon and when it complete it will be a center of greatest history of knowledge experience and information sharing plus childhood molding encouraging and teaching only for the best to wake up the six sense and make them for better use.
Maybe when you are reading this you are wondering what Ben up to? Nothing at all other than you I need your attention as you have seen and understand my greatest desire is to share information and learn and become the role model as best as I can. All this I can’t do it alone, I need you, I need you in board not outside but also it depend with you as you wish to help me share and fulfill my mission or stay a side a look keeping your distance.
I need information and I need your support I need professional who can help me to fulfill my desire and my goal in life, I said before and I will say it again no one is mountain of him/her self we all need each other to survive and this the only way we can be able to help each other today’s is me tomorrow it maybe you or your friend and the world can’t be at peace or harmony if we can’t be able to work together to reduce the gap between who can and who can’t! Join me and others to preach peace, by showing little love in sharing our knowledge experience and information which can change or move a beggar from street to the markets place.
I Am not the right or am not your mind, I make mistake and am not perfect but am just trying to do what I believe in and think is good for the human kind. (How happy a man is, is not how much he has but how little he needs)
I need more improvement here www.yvcafrica.us  or www.theroadtowardshope.blogspot.com/
Thanks, always till the end!!!
Uncle Ben

Oct 29, 2011

Join me and others molding the future of our children!


What can you offer and greatest Christmas gift to our children?
Many people in world believe Christmas it time to celebrate with their family and others believe it time to go crazy drink and eat, what you didn’t have for long time!
What do we need? Of course all children need the basics we all need...a place we can live in dignity, education life skills training, work...ectera...Yet more than this, particular children/youth that are demonstrating an interest in becoming the future leaders of their communities and/or countries...they need people that can help them realize their own inherent, "building capacity" that they are naturally born with.. They don't need people that assume that their capacity is "low emergent or must be "built.
Each one of us has our own talents and skills regardless of our socioeconomic background or the "special population/at-risk" group we may have been stereotyped and categorized into. As part of humanity we have something powerful to offer to the world and to contribute to its development. We just need opportunities that help us to discover what those talents are...

Young leaders need people that believe in them, don't think they know everything, have the courage to take a chance on helping them make their dreams happen, are ready to listen and strong enough to stick around when the going gets tough. For a professional this means learning to be patient, humble, and preferring to be "directed and/or "lead". Not an easy task but it can have amazing and oftentimes transformative results.
One day as I was thinking and looking my life back I did know what I can do to bring change in our society but as proverb says Hucheka kovu asiye kuwa na jeraha as it in English (He laughs at scar who has received no wound) I decided as far am a live I will do my best to help those I can and looking for December holidays as biggest holiday we have in Kenya and from my experience I decided in every year I will try to do something for the children educating them of their future career and making sure they enjoy they Christmas like anybody else.
Volunteering is matter of everybody responsibility we all have special talent and gift which we can use to help those in need this year I was planning to hold two event in Kibera (soccer tournament) and Embu (Hope Children and empowerment center) to have one in one discussion with children while celebrating Christmas together but due to the challenges I have seen in front maybe am going to have only one event at Hope Children center and it my request and my hope I will be able to share with the children my career experience and Christmas together!
Sharing and giving hope to those need it in our society is the greatest Christmas gift we can have, love is matter of showing those need you care and been simple and been there for somebody else does not change who you are and what you believe in! The future of our nation depend with us today whatever we do the greatest wish is to we can give back to our God and the nature for proving us with greatest environment with peace, health wisdom and life is by sharing our love and been compassionate to others.
As I said on the start the words are not enough we need more action we need people who can stand up and be counted in helping our young/youth people in growing up in more than just a world of humanity but the world full of hope and love….
Share with me your thought ideas and we shall make that change we believe in!



Oct 26, 2011

True believer never leaves they course!


Whatever tragic loss occurs you either resist or you yield, some people become bitter or deeply resentful, and others become compassionate, wise and loving, yielding means inner acceptance of what is! You are open to life!!
War is a mind-set and all action that comes out of such a mind-set will either strengthen the enemy the perceived evil or if the war is won will create a new enemy a new evil equal to and often worse than the one that was defeated!
Life is full of miserly! But of course different people fulfill different function in this world, It cannot be otherwise, as far as intellectual or physical abilities are concerned –knowledge, skills, talents, and energy levels –human beings differ widely, what really matters is not what function you fulfill in this world but whether you identify with your function to such an extent that it take you over and become a role that you play!!!
Life is messy friends am happy today I have an opportunity to say this with you, have you learnt to be there for others even if they do not care! I have been touched in my life to help the needy and work on myself as much as I can to help those I can but the biggest worries is there is something which I can’t do alone I need people to work with me who can reach where I can’t not.
This year I come up with little solution to try doing things in a simple way which I can handle and manage by myself and get help from little people who still stand with me strong and different community groups in Kenya
Life of my own!! Many people would wonder why do I need to talk of all this in my blog just to say as I said somewhere up there I love sharing my experience and my life and even if there is more people with much challenge than me I still believe there those have not got such kind of life am going though and it good for them to understand how lucky they are in life to have life which moves smoothly not so much challenges...




Oct 14, 2011

Starting of YVC and my Work in Kibera!

Everyday I saw children in streets snatching people’s purses and all that I wished to do something which I could help to recruit more youths out there and learn like I did and develop something for themselves rather than wait for the government to come help them or well wishers (donors).

First I tried to help children in Kibera and I knew the only way to make change is to start training these kids when they are young. By the end of 2006 I had a group of about 30 youth and 25 young kids’ soccer team aged between 5-15 years.

The school I used to volunteer in Kibera
At that moment we wanted to form a grassroots organization which works around Kibera for Kibera children and youth, we helped children by organizing soccer competitions with the aim of bringing them together for a common goal, such as: soccer and education, awareness of drugs abuse, HIV/AIDS and other harmful information or things affecting them in they daily life.


Women group in Kibera slum
In 2007 our friends from other parts of Kenya heard of our work in Kibera and also wanted us to get them involved. From my former organization I had knew so many people from different parts of country and all over the world.
After consultation with members and friends, we decided to extend our services to other parts of the country, and by doing this we had to register our group from CBO to NGO so as to be able to start an exchange program, both nationally and internationally. This is how Youth Volunteer for Change (YVC) was born out of the CBO youth work for change.
Formation of youth volunteer for change YVC was not so easy just like most of the youth we started with could not even manage to donate anything even if I told them to pay registration fee some could not be able to raise little shillings of Kshs of 200 which first we asked to enable us be able to do paper work and other requirement.
Anyway sometime if you really mean of doing something and you really want to you have to work up and down and do anything for it!
For sure we have come from far and still our journey is long to go on I have written hundreds of note books in my house in the field of every little information I need and see hear and understand, from 2007 I met this lady from France and as friend we talked a lot and took her to Kibera where I used to volunteer in school and women group and we become friends, from there we used to communicate a lot every week  by the phone send messages she sometime feel so bad of how Kenyan beg from her or her family or project coordinator did not understand her and so on, but as Kenyan who understand our culture I used to cool her down direct her how to respond to such challenges and move on.
By the end of 2007 we had in Kenya tribal clashes many people lost their life, properties, loved one and opportunity in they working place. I can’t say I was lucky one and also I lost a lot of trust with many who used to be my friends and close work mate. There was a need to help run up and down see how I can help few people I  knew mostly in Kibera where I used to work I went there and everything was dark and scarily the fear of death enmity and been not in the right place.
Anyway at the some time I had this friend from USA she was staying with me at the time in my small house and everywhere every one feared death or been burnt down or beaten or something can happen at anytime we couldn’t sleep well at night fearing somebody can take advantage break our house at the time, after few days things started getting worse every day and I had to organize to take my friend to Westland where life was at list better and save but before the day she got too sick and because of fear and separation of all this challenges we had no money left and to take her to hospital became very difficult no matatu or bus to travel with, but  at God grace we got one when we were almost fed up with waiting which was charging maybe three time more than a normal price which we had no option than to take it and take my friend to hospital.
With the help of friends who were in Westland at the moment we managed to get taxi after she was tested in one of the main big hospital in Nairobi which took her now to Westland where she could stay for while to see what happen, but after getting there they government insisted that all the foreigners must go back to they countries or other countries in Africa until the conflict in Kenya settle down.
After that anyway I managed to help few other foreigners the volunteers who were in Nairobi at time one was in the worse place Kibera and after they were all save I started thinking of my friends and the Kibera mama and children, by the time everything was getting back to normal but there were thousands of internally dispraised people all over the country. That the time as I was in steps of forming organization we talked with friends to friends to see how we can also get involved in helping the needy who needed food clothes and other things.
We organized national and international fundraising from friends who knew us and we managed to get a lot of clothes food and other basic human requirement which was donated to women group in Kibera,
In life you can learn a lot of things and see a lot as well over come so much challenges people are born different every day and we all have different way of doing things but it difficult to understand people and be at list 80% good to everybody.
To tell the truth I got a lot of trust from my friends after all this struggle and I managed to get a lot of support in forming YVC and helping the needy but as I wished so much and I wanted so much to form organization which can empower us and have freedom to work whenever I want under the management of people who I really trust, knew and understand for while it was my biggest dream. 
look out for search of of the truth what man can do................. next