Hi Supporter,
The beautiful African philosophy of Ubuntu, such a core part of So They Can, relies on the essential human ingredient of connection. Accordingly, during these challenging times we thought it would be nice if I kept you connected to the children and their communities you support in Africa through a brief weekly update. Please do let Clelia (clelia@sotheycan.org) know if you would rather not receive these messages.
It is a surreal world we are currently living in. I was talking with my sons Tai and Roko, discussing how we are living in the middle of history and how we all wish we knew what they would be telling their children about the realities of this time and what our reflections and lessons learnt would be.

However, I do know that we are resilient. So They Can’s core values are collaboration, courage, commitment and connectedness. We are leaning on all of these right now by having the courage to not make any decisions out of fear, by being resilient and talking with our partners, including you, to support each other through this difficult time. All while remaining ferociously determined to deliver on our promises to our children and communities in Africa and you our supporters.

To this end we have expanded our development work to include emergency relief and a focus on educating our communities on ways to minimise their exposure to COVID-19, conscious that containment is paramount. Practically this includes increased hygiene and sanitation education and delivery of buckets and soap to facilitate hand washing, all so vital given the close living proximity of our children and hand to mouth economics of their families.

As a result of COVID-19 hitting Kenya, all schools are closed. The Kenyan and Tanzanian governments are currently talking of 4 weeks off, 3 of which were timetabled as school holidays. Churches however are still staying open in Tanzania which will make containment more difficult. Accordingly, we are working hard to work with our communities to mitigate spread should schools return soon.

On a positive note, our amazing staff in Kenya, Tanzania, Australia and NZ are all set up to work from home – Zoom is absolutely our new best friend – and to date everyone is healthy and safe.

Thank you for being such an integral part of our So They Can family, knowing you are out there means a great deal.

If you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to contact me, cassandra@sotheycan.org

Love Cass