Mr. Humphreys R. Were, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Co-founder, represented the UZIMA Foundation Board of Trustees, while Mrs. Malesi E.K. Kinaro, Executive Director UZIMA Foundation, represented the UZIMA Foundation staff.

Professor Brian Greenwood, Manson Professor of Clinical Tropical Medicine at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine was awarded the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize for Research at the same ceremony.

This is our public statement to add to what we have already told you in word and dance that we truly rejoice with you. We at UZIMA Foundation thank God Almighty for what He has done for you. We know how hard you have worked to improve the health of the people Kenya and Africa and we congratulate you and rejoice as beneficiaries.

For us in UZIMA Foundation, you have birthed UZIMA Foundation from the beginning and we in UZIMA Foundation have benefited immensely from your brilliant mind and compassionate heart as you have nurtured UZIMA Foundation to grow. We are aware that this has also been sacrificial from you, from the Chairman of the UZIMA Foundation Board, your husband Humphreys R. Were, and indeed your family as you have all tirelessly given support to UZIMA Foundation. We feel that we fully share in this award in the work we have done to promote provision of space for the input of our youth in improving the quality of their lives and that of their communities that life may be lived with hope.

May the Lord God multiply what comes from the award a million times and also multiply the benefits that come from it. May the youths of Africa and the world who are so close to your heart be inspired by the model of committed service you set before us all.

During the Kenyan crisis, UZIMA Foundation has been working in the Rift Valley province, which was the epic centre of the post election violence, in Western and Nyanza provinces as well as in the heart of Nairobi. Please click here to read a summary of the initial report.

Specific news updates will resume during March 2008.

Age: 28
Group: Ushirika Youth Group – Nyanza
Date joined UZIMA: 1998

Activities:
Cultural festivals
Community work
Help orphans
Cabbages for sale
Reproductive health
Chicken for sale
Disseminated UZIMA
Formed new groups

Age: 26
UZIMA Group: Kibera UZIMA youth group
Date Joined: 2000

Activities: Alternative to Violence Programme training, Peer educations training, business training, Committee member youth convention, drama, football, peer education outreaches, represented UZIMA in meetings, worked on the UZIMA peace initiative after the post election violence

Age:25
UZIMA Group: Riruta/Satellite - Nairobi
Date joined UZIMA: 2000

Activities with UZIMA

Business loan to launch his graphic design business
Alternative to Violence Programme Training
Business Tool-Kit Training
Reproductive Health
Annual convention
Peer Educator to primary and high school children on HIV/AIDS and drug abuse

During the Kenyan crisis, UZIMA Foundation has been working in the Rift Valley province, which was the epic centre of the post election violence, in Western and Nyanza provinces as well as in the heart of Nairobi. Please click here to read a summary of the initial report.

Field office specific updates will resume next month.

During the Kenyan crisis, UZIMA Foundation has been working in the Rift Valley province, which was the epic centre of the post election violence, in Western and Nyanza provinces as well as in the heart of Nairobi. Please click here to read a summary of the initial report.

Field office specific updates will resume next month.

During the Kenyan crisis, UZIMA Foundation has been working in the Rift Valley province, which was the epic centre of the post election violence, in Western and Nyanza provinces as well as in the heart of Nairobi. Please click here to read a summary of the initial report.

Field office updates will resume next month.

UZIMA Foundation is playing an active role in the efforts to restore peace in Kenyan communities. UZIMA Foundation is uniquely placed for this work for a variety of reasons.

1, UZIMA Foundation is a youth based youth-serving organisation focusing on youth empowerment that stimulates young men and women to define, plan for and act to experience improved quality life for themselves and their communities. As most of the violence is being perpetrated by young men, albeit on the instructions of older men, UZIMA youth can relate directly to the concerns and attitudes of those perpetrating the violence and thus can help identify approaches which have a higher chance of succeeding.

2. UZIMA Foundation, in its more than 10 years of existence, has always highlighted the importance of having positive relationships between UZIMA youth and their families and communities. UZIMA Foundation has always worked with the youth in their communities. This means that UZIMA Foundation is deeply embedded in many of the communities which have been affected by the violence. Rather than having to start form scratch to build up effective relationships through which to work, UZIMA is already in a position of trust in many of the affected communities because of the work it has been carrying out for over 10 years.

3. UZIMA Foundation has been running a very successful Alternative to Violence Programme (AVP) for the last 8 years. UZIMA Foundation members have travelled as far as Rwanda and the Middle East to assist in peace efforts in communities rocked with violence. This training and international exposure means that UZIMA Foundation as an organisation has the skills, expertise and experience to carry out effective peace and reconciliation work in communities shaken by violence.

4. UZIMA Foundation, as a national home grown Kenyan foundation active in many parts of the country and with a leadership drawn from all over Kenya, understands the concerns, fears and angers of local communities while retaining a national “big picture” outlook on the crisis.

During the Kenyan crisis, UZIMA Foundation has been working in the Rift Valley province, which was the epic centre of the post election violence, in Western and Nyanza provinces as well as in the heart of Nairobi. Please click here to read a summary of the initial report.