Event Recap:: Operation 25 2008

Saturday 27, September will go down as one great and eventful day in the StAY Alive calendar. The biggest fundraising activity for it anti-drugs program, Operation 25 was taking place.

What made it different this time was the fact that in its fourth edition , it doubled up as a get-together for the wider St Andrews Community. What that meant was that the turn out was big with over 100 walkers participating in the walk proper, meaning larger logistics but also more excitement!

Well before 7:00AM StAY Alivers had already started trickling in and setting the place. The first walkers started signing in at 7 and with the huge turnout this went on for a while. Some minutes to 8 was warm up time. Aerobics (complete with an instructor) went on and the atmosphere got electric. A few opening remarks later including summaries of the do's and don'ts the Pastor blessed the walkers and flagged off the eager participants at 8:30.

The young, the old; the not so young and not so old; bikers, walkers, runners; crawlers and all were at their best.

Three and a half hours later the first walkers were back and they trickled back til the last group at 2:10PM.

A sumptous lunch was served and blessings said. StAY Alive remid behind to clean up.

In all, the statistics were amazing... 300 cards issued, over 150 fully paid up and as we published amounts collected had hit 196,000!! And counting. We beleive by the time the curtains come down on Operation 25, our 210,000 target will have been hit.

Great day, well spent. And all agreed, we shall be back in 12months!!

Savor the pics, more on FaceBook.







The Top Walker For The Second Year Running... Keep at it Geoff!!

Zimmerman Estate Residents Facing Eviction (Business Daily, Sep 23, 2008)

Thousands of tenants in the lower middle class estate of Zimmerman in Nairobi are staring at imminent relocation after the National Environment Management Authority issued stop orders to landlords over improper waste disposal.

The orders were issued after an inspection tour revealed the serious extent to which environmental degradation had taken place in the estate along Thika Road. Read More...

Operation 25 Is Here With Us

What seemed to be ages away a while back is here. Operation 25 takes place this Saturday and all systems are getting together well. As promised we write to update you on the latest and also to issue you with the days itinerary.

1) Registered Walkers: We had targeted to register at least 210 walkers. To date we have issued 280 registration cards. As at Sunday 21st Sept out of these 280, 106 were fully paid up for the walk. A further 30 had made partial payments while the rest totalling 144 were yet to make any settlements. From the target we had hoped to raise 210,000/-. So far we have managed to collect 138,580/-. We hope and trust that those with balances will settle and a good percentage of the card holders will remit as well. We shall keep updating you as we move along.

2) Itinerary for the day: As was announced we commence signing in procedure at 7:00AM for a 7:45AM flag-off. It is important to be early to allow some few logistics to take place and start off early before it gets too hot.

3) The Route: The 25KM route will start at the Church proceeding towards Githurai 44, Kamiti, Kamiti Corner, Kirigiti, KIST, Ridgeways, Windsor, St Joseph Arimathea, USIU, Mirema and back to the Church.

4) What to carry: Kindly dress appropriately with special attention to the footwear. You need not carry any water since we have been proudly supplied with bottled water by one of the walkers. We shall also be distributing sweets and glucose at designated points. Further, lunch will be served to all participants at the end of the walk.

5) Safety Issues: We have a few first aid volunteers. However, for your own safety we urge you to keep to the right side of the road, off the main road and on the pathways. For all bikers, kindly adhere to traffic rules. Several chase cars will be doing the rounds and will be available to assist at any time.

6) Things to lookout for: The oldest walker who is also the top male walker Mzee Wachira a.k.a ‘mbio mbio’. Also be on the lookout for the reigning All Africa Games Walk Gold Medalist Grace Wanjiru, keep up with these two if you can!!

In summary, kindly remember that this doubles up as a Get – Together Fellowship and we are encouraged to engage with one another as much as possible. We encourage you to know someone new!! Further, remember that the proceeds of this walk go towards StAY Alive’s KATAA Initiative. Your continued support of the campaign against drugs is very much appreciated.

Lets Walk The Talk

Operation 25:: 2008 Edition

StAY Alive’s mission cannot be attained without reaching out to the young people around them.

Many social ills continue to affect the country’s young people and the group agree that they need to be an instrument of change to society. StAY Alive has identified the areas which our young are being affected most and have taken up the challenge to change this by impacting on the society around them and have zeroed in on what has affected them the most; sexual immorality and the related HIV/AIDS pandemic and drug abuse.

StAY Alive runs several programs including:
1. StAY Alive PEVU – A mentorship program
2. P2H (Penzi Halisi Husubiri) Program – A true love waits program (Sexual purity).
3. K-A-T-A-A Initiative - Anti Drugs and Substance Abuse program. K-A-T-A-A is an acronym for Keepin’ Away Threatening Abuse & Addiction.

StAY Alive's anti-drugs campaign climaxes each year in December with a day long-roadshow in and around Zimmerman Est. This years event will be the 7th with great achievements having been met.

As part of our commitment to raise funds each year we walk 25kms in an event dubbed Operation 25. This years budget for the KATAA Roadshow stands at 300,000/- and therefore we hope, with your support, to fund at least 50% of it through funds raised in the walk. The walk is slated for September 27, 2008.

We invite you to give your pledge by reply email (stayalive@myrealbox.com) and a date when we can arrange to collect the same. Further if your organisation would be willing to offer support to this program please advise and I will pass info to the group to make an approach.

Event Recap:: Youth Week 2008 and the Down Beracah Concert

One of the most anticipated periods in the StAY Alive calendar did come and true to tradition did not disappoint at all. Well, when one hears tradition it often springs up a thought of rigidity but to StAY Alive the tradition is that once a certain level has been achieved that’s the new benchmark and next is moving to the next. And that’s what happened in August during the Youth Week!

The youth week commenced with a lovely discussion on ‘Making Career Choices’ where members present shared their thoughts on matters career with the Patron Pappa assisting in the moderating and a riveting personal story on multiple career changes by Joanne Mwangi.

Tuesday and Thursday were prayer days where membership shared on what prayer means to them. The Mid-Week Service was well attended and with Helen leading and Dennis sharing the word from book of Philemon. To cap the weekday activities the different working teams; Eagles, Yakobo and G.O. each participated in different Home Fellowships.

Saturday was the Handy Youth Day. Cleaning was done in all ‘forgotten’ places including the latrine walls and there was a good shine! Other members participated in preparation of the food to be consumed on Sunday and yet others worked on setting up the Church in readiness for the Youth Sunday. It being a Saturday, its worth noting that participation in the Handy Youth Day was disappointingly low with members either not showing up or turning up very late. Indeed during the morning session StATIC outnumbered and outworked StAY Alive! However matters picked up later but still there is A LOT of room for improvement. The same syndrome was also noted on Sunday where some members seemed overworked while others really needed to be pushed hard!!

Let not the above seem to dampen the spirit of the week… many achievements were made, all targets met and the benchmarks raised. Beautiful services marked Sunday, great work at the Youth Desk saw collections for the Operation 25 increase, sumptuous lunch was served, sleeves rolled to lay out the Beracah Concert.

The sound was on point, the décor came alive and the lighting was cheeky and delightful. Though kicking off 40 minutes later than scheduled, a warm praise and worship session by StAY Alive and the Praise Team set the stage for a delightful afternoon. The days curtain raisers easily took up the surprise package of the day. StATIC gave a great account of their well choreographed dance moves with a nice mix starting with the serenading ElShaddai, the shadyish Ngoro Yakwa, the crunked up Throw Your Hands Up, ragga laced ‘Jamming’ and finally the ever hot Fundi Wa Mbao. It was going to be a hot party!

Other performers included solo singers Jijo, Njets, and Sanka; dance troops YRC, XBiz and EDGE; singing groups KTatu among others. The MC’s and DJ did a good job of covering the gaps between the many performers as all were being warmed up to set the stage for the days Show Stoppers. In between there was time for some chiding and encouraging from the youthful Vicar known for the day as Passi J.

Finally StAY Alive took the stage to present one single for their upcoming recording laying the ground for the show stoppers Linda Orocha, Kamau Karongo and Mbuvi. And they did not disappoint. From Linda’s warm Siwezi Bila Wewe to the soulful ballad Tuma Mvua; Karongo’s teasing No Jesus No Life to a surprise unaccompanied Mungu U Mwema to Mbuvi’s high energy Ukilya Moko, Kivevelo (where he roped in the days surpirise guest Kambua) and Nishike it was an event well worth its time living up to its name - it was one big valley of praise, BERACAH!

StAY Alive closed with a warm thanks giving session.

All said and done, the bar has been raised and its time to move to the next level. Other lessons learnt included the need for more small group fellowship (as evidenced by the weekday activities) and more preparation for the handy kind of work!!

See a few pics below. Click here to join our Facebook for more pics!