Background
In September 2000, 189 world leaders came together to adopt the United Nations Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership. This partnership set out a series of time-bound targets, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The eight MDGs, which range from eradicating extreme poverty, combating HIV/Aids and malaria, to achieving universal primary education, form a blueprint for the international community. The deadline for achieving these goals is 2015, just five years from now. To ensure that world leaders live up to their 2000 promises, the Millennium Campaign was created. Since 2007, the Art of Living and the UN Millennium Campaign have partnered in the Stand Up Take Action movement, aiming to push governments to make progress toward the MDGs.
Within the past three years, ever-increasing numbers of people have taken a stand together. In 2009, a world-record breaking 173 million people Stood Up around the world. In Lamu, the Art of Living organized more than 8,000 people to Stand Up. Here, the concept of MDGs and their implementation simply do not feature in the minds of people who struggle to eat and feed their children on a daily basis. For us in Lamu, as for most people, especially in the developing world, the issues are inextricably intertwined: Because of poverty, education is sacrificed; because of a lack of education, the environment is sacrificed; and because of the state of the environment, both poverty and unsatisfactory education are exacerbated.
Our Story In Lamu:
Inspired by the Art of Living, we decided to carry the campaign to Lamu. Lamu, an island off the coast of Kenya, is a world-heritage site and host to the ancient Swahili culture. In 2007, Art of Living organized a human chain for the Stand Up Take Action Campaign. In 2008 we organized the planting of trees, invited all the schools to take part in a poetry competition, writing poems about the three MDGs that are our focus. In 2009 we sailed with our sail, now covered by more than 3,000 handprints from our children, as a petition for universal primary education.
We found children committed to working towards a brighter future, for themselves and for their families.
Now it is time to speed things up. We put our hands up to show that, while we wait for governments to take action, we also take matters into our own hands. We are expanding our goals to include benefiting children all over Kenya. We hope to instill the same benefits to children through stabilizing and understanding stress and offering healthy environmental changes to bring about happy living and learning conditions.
We reach up and reach out. We are waiting for your own outstretched hand to join with ours:
Hands Up for Kids.
Who are we
Monika Fauth, a Dutch woman who came to Lamu 14 years ago and married a Swahili man, read more on Banana House. Besides being a very successful businesswoman Monika is also both a yoga teacher and Art of Living teacher. As part of her activities with Art of Living, Monika began the Stand Up Take Action Campaign in Lamu in 2007, was the National Coordinator for Art of Living Kenya in Mission Green Earth in 2008 and in 2009 organised the Speed Up campaign. This latest campaign became the starting point for the Hands Up for Kids project.
Tineke Ebben is a Art of Living teacher from The Netherlands since 2002. She came in September 2010 to Nairobi where she worked for two months in Childrens Garden Home, a home for orphanes, as a volunteer. The results from her input and experiences from both the children as the organisation where overwhelming. Tineke joined the Hands Up for Kids as to expand the program to more childrens homes and schools in Kenya. IAHV Netherlands,
Alvin Yong inspirator of Colors of Life. A very inspirational, active and creative man from Singapore who dedicated 2011 to do Seva together with his wife Jin and daughter Robyn. They spend 6 months in India where they worked in various projects like Tribal Schools and they volunteered 3 months in Kenya at Childrens Garden Home before coming to Lamu to join Hands Up for Kids. ColorsOflife
Our Partners
Art of Living/IAHV
Our main inspiration comes from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living and International Association for Human Values . Art of Living and IAHV, are both international humanitarian and educational non-governmental organizations committed to promote resurgence of human values in all aspects of life across the globe offering programmes in more than 144 countries around the world. The Association partners with governments, educational institutions, other NGOs, corporations, businesses and individuals, to develop and promote programs of personal development to encourage the practice of human values in everyday life. IAHV along with its sister organization, Art of Living Foundation, has one of the largest volunteer based networks in the world. It has reached over 20 million people in over 150 countries from all walks of life with a wide range of social, economic, cultural and educational activities. The organization works in special consultative status with the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations, participating in a variety of committees and activities, related to health and conflict resolution. IAHV is known for its low overheads and strong organizational capacity. This is possible because of our large inspired volunteer base.
Children GardenHome
Children’s Garden Home & School is a children’s home for abused, mistreated, exploited, exposed to child labour, abandoned children and orphans. The home offers a home for more then 200 children and also provides free school for children of the slums, which makes a reach out of more then 350 children. www.childrensgarden.or.ke
LaLuna
The owner of “ Kinderdagpaleis La Luna”, Michelle Schulp, participated in the Art of Living course in Lamu, and got inspired to help Hands Up for Kids with children from The Netherlands. La Luna, a Dutch children daycare made a fantastic Hip Hop for Kids CD with all kids and staff of which the sales supports Hands Up for Kids, Laluna .
Act2Aid
Act2Aid is a small but enthusiastic student group, from The European School in Bergen, The Netherlands. They are dedicated to raising money for charity under supervision of one of their teachers Mr. F. Lewy.
