Jonathan Heit wrote -

Hey folks!

I need your support today! 

I have joined forces with my aunt's organization, NextAid, to help raise funds for the Kawangware Vision Centre (KVC) in Nairobi, Kenya

This awesome project is located in the Kawangware slum. KVC is made up kids that used to live on the streets. They started a business making custom-made silkscreened gift bags out of recycled paper, which they sell to all kinds of companies in Kenya. They have been doing this for years, and the money they make helps take care of their families and little kids, some who are orphans, and it also provides employment for many of the youths in the community. The bags are really nice!.  (see some pics here.)

Right now, they are building a new facility on their own piece of land, on the outskirts of the slum. The youths are being trained in ecological construction and are building the workshop and community center themselves. With these skills in eco-construction, they are starting a new business of making and selling earth bricks and roof tiles. The builders include young mothers too, which I think is really awesome. Because in places like these, young women often have to do unsafe things to get money to feed their kids. That's not ok.

So here's the thing. They need another $35,000 to finish the construction phase of the project and move onto the business development phase.  This should be done in a heartbeat. I know the economy is tough here in the US right now and there is a lot of need, but its all relative, right? We have so much more than they do. Here are some urgent reasons why projects like this are so important:

• 9 million youth in Kenya are unemployed.
• 41% of Kenya’s population lives in cities. Many children are sent to urban centers to find work to support families in rural areas. Here they are vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and life on the streets.
• One in two Kenyans lives below the poverty line.
• Only 24% of Kenyan children attend secondary school. School fees and costs are usually the primary barrier to sending a child to further education.
• There are an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 children living and working on the streets in Kenya.

Now join me and make a donation today! Raising $11,000 in honor of my 11th birthday is my wish and is just a start to what I would like to accomplish. I am going to Nairobi on July 4th to meet these folks myself and see the project...and it would be a dream come true if I could tell them I have raised a big chunk of the money they need to finish.

Thanks people!

Peace out!

Jonathan Morgan Heit

PS - don't forget to follow me on twitter @jjheit and @nextaid

More info about NextAid the project is here: http://www.nextaid.org