KITECHILD

Our 2013 Goals: Defining Kitechild and Yielding Outcomes

2012 was a year of firsts for Kitechild. We implemented our first successful project: a First Aid/CPR training for orphan caretakers in Kenya, we visited the African continent for the first time, we launched a newly re-designed website, launched our first official line of bracelets, and received our first recognitions from Great Non-profits and Guidestar. We have come a long way in terms of projects as well: we constructed three chicken coops in Kenya, a pig farm in Cameroon, and reduced the energy costs of a home in Mexico. Our projects have affected 500 orphan children, improving their access to nutrition and education for now and in the future.

So what is next? Research and field work in India in the spring, the strengthening of our relationships with on the ground partners in Africa and Latin America, and a concrete definition of our projected outcomes. After reading an article in the huffington post describing the trends in 2013 for non-profits, we strongly agreed with trend number 1, “More demands for outcomes”. Any NGO can have a mission, projects and programs, but what is the bottom line? For Kitechild, the bottom line is improving an orphan child’s living conditions via access to nutrition and education. We meet this bottom line by partnering with the orphanages they live in, creating projects that are either income generating or money saving in a way that generates more funding for food or to pay for school fees. So taking the ‘what’ (bottom line) and the ‘how’ (projects) we come to the outcome: more children enrolled in school, and these children doing better in school because they are being well fed and taken care of. In turn, they can grow up to be successful members of their own communities, and break the cycle of poverty, AIDS, and drug abuse that caused them to become orphans in the first place.

We will also re-enforce our role as a bottom-up organization, not the traditional top-down modes of charity. Our projects are rooted on the ground, working with each home’s local surroundings and what is best for them. Whether its a profitable pig market in Cameroon, or chicken farming in Kenya, we create productivity by making the initial investment to get a project going - and an orphanage on its way to becoming more self-sufficient. Plus, the children get to participate in the process and learn about animal husbandry and farming along the way - valuable skills in the regions where they reside.

More sustainable projects, more understanding of the problems faced by orphanages, and attaining our target outcomes are on the list for Kitechild this year. We hope you will join us as we dive into 2013 full of enthusiasm for our plans!

Making of Kitechild’s Awareness Video

A couple weeks prior to our official launch in 2010, the founders, staff, ambassadors and volunteers of Kitechild got together to make this short but to-the-point awareness video. This video was made possible thanks to the help of videographer Kyle Dykes and fashion photographer Giuliano Bekor for letting our team use Lightbox Studios as a secure shoot location 

All of our initial team members took part in making this, and we would like to share some behind the scenes photos for all of you out there on the web community to enjoy. Please check out the video and repost and share this important information about our world’s orphans. Awareness is only the first step in creating social change. Don’t forget to visit www.kitechild.org to get informed and involved!

“The Sky’s The Limit”

Kitechild Team in Video:

In order of appearance: jewelry designer and creative ambassador for Kitechild Francesca Ramirez, Director of Operations and Co-founder Jacqueline Herrera, Founder Pollyanna Salas, Consultant Galina Liss