Support Graceful Aging in Kenya

Dear Donors and Friends, 

Where has the time gone? The last few months were a blur with activity as life continues to return to a normal pace. Earlier this year, local COVID-19 restrictions were lifted allowing families, friends, and our local communities to enjoy the simple pleasures of gatherings and celebrations.

One of our first major celebrations was in recognition of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. On June 15 in partnership with several local organizations, we participated in a community health fair and celebration. Our team of local nurses and nurses aides conducted health checks, monitored blood pressures and oxygen levels, and performed routine wellness checks for our elderly community. Volunteers and community leaders gathered to acknowledge the heavy toll that abuse and violence against the elderly takes on our global community. 

Then in July we celebrated World Population Day. Observed every year on July 11, World Population is an annual event raising awareness around world population issues. This year, our team was invited by the National Council for Population and Development to provide remarks to the local community. Our speech highlighted three central points:

• Around the world, our population is changing and by 2050, those aged 60 and older will make up almost 22% o the global population
• The elderly are often victims of violence and abuse leading to long-term mental and emotional consequences for them and their families. 
• As the world becomes older and our population continues to grow, many elders will be called on to care for younger generations. Locally, HIV has left many children parentless, so aging relatives and grandparents are providing care for our children. 

Aside from planning our community initiatives and partaking in local outreach, progress is being made on our residential nursing center. Volunteers and staff made progress on the ongoing renovations for our full-time nursing center in Kisumu. We are looking forward to welcoming our first fulltime residents by the end of the year. Over the summer months, we also welcomed a new expert social media volunteer, who helped us revise our social media strategy. Take a look at our new recent social media posts on Facebook and Instagram! We are so thankful for his help and support. 

So many exciting things are happening in the next few weeks! We are busy planning our next community outreach event aligning with the International Day of the Older Person! Be sure to follow us on social media (Facebook and Instagram) to watch our progress with our upcoming outreach events.

On behalf of all of us at AgeWatch Africa – our incredible volunteers, Board of Directors, Advisory Board, and the elderly clients that we are humbled to serve -- thank you for your generous donations and your incredible support.

With much gratitude,
Richard Waindi
Founder & CEO

Dear Donors and Friends,

It’s amazing to think that we are two months into the new year. The year is already off to a busy start, but thanks to your generosity and continued support, I can only imagine where this year will take us. Every year, your kindness never ceases to surprise me and because of your continued financial support, we have some very exciting news.

Late last year, we completed five clinics in Kisumu where we vaccinated older adults against COVID-19 – the oldest being 96 years old! We are currently working to schedule additional vaccine clinics in cooperation with our local government agencies.

Earlier this month, we completed renovations on our Kisumu residential care center and we are excited to start welcoming residents! The center will provide 24/7 nursing care to older adults that cannot care for themselves or who were recently discharged from the hospital and need a little extra care before they can go home.

We are also very happy to announce that we started offering home care services again! The pandemic postponed many of our services, but we are now visiting homebound elders throughout the region. We have several new home care clients and are excited to add more seniors to our community. Our nurses and aides have been very busy with our new clients visiting each client several times a week to provide medical care.  

In the next few months, we are excited to relaunch our group, daycare programs. Like our homecare programs, our daycare programs were suspended because of COVID-19. But, now with many of the restrictions easing throughout the area, we are excited to start planning our first daycare session in more than a year. Be sure to check back for pictures as soon as our daycare sessions resume!

So many exciting things are happening in the next few weeks! Yet, without you none of this would be possible. On behalf of all of us at AgeWatch Africa – our incredible volunteers, Board of Directors, Advisory Board, and the elderly clients that we are humbled to serve -- thank you for your generous donations and your incredible support.

With much gratitude,

Richard Waindi

Founder & CEO