Our January NPO: FLYING KITES GLOBAL

Happy New Year, Dear Readers!

While we love all the organizations we work with,  we spotlight a different one on www.nonprofitshoppingmall.com   each month in the hopes that you, our readers, may learn more about them and may be inspired to download their EZ Shopper APP to shop+give and help them.

Our January Spotlight is on Flying Kites Global, a young and very dynamic organization working in Kenya. Kenya has over 2 million orphaned children, 60 000 of them homeless on the streets. Their situation is as dire as that of youth in many other countries of the world and their needs can be perceived to be overwhelming.

Copyright: Alexander Nesbitt/Flying Kites

Leila de Bruyne, Co-Founder, Executive Director and Director of Marketing for Flying Kites first came to Kenya as a tourist and she was absolutely shocked by the poverty in this country. Upon her return to the United States, she decided to return to Africa to help, first as a volunteer and a few years later by co-founding Flying Kites Global with college roommate Justine Axelsson and friend Toby Storie-Pugh in 2006. Their mission: changing the lives of children in Kenya one child at a time. 
We selected Flying Kites because the organization offers a new approach that truly promises a better future for them. 
While many organizations work in Africa most of the work aims at the children's survival. The immediate needs for clean water, a shelter and food have to be met to give the children a chance.
Flying Kites goes several steps further. In their own words:

Flying Kites has developed an innovative model to address the needs of orphaned children around the world. Our strategy demands that the basic requirements – access to clean water, fresh air, and ample space – are met before the more complex issues can be addressed. We adopt a holistic approach to residential care and focus our efforts on providing children with the best possible services in a unique environment. The individual elements of our three-part model allow us to have a larger impact within the communities we engage and combat poverty in a variety of ways.

What does this actually mean? Flying Kites provides exemplary care in their home to a number of extremely disadvantaged children. But many of them have the possibility of living with family members who need the organization's assistance to help them raise these children. Flying Kites also sponsors an annual conference to encourage collaboration among all the NPOs presently working in Kenya so they can become more effective and coordinated in their efforts.
In short, Flying Kites works to not just help these children survive but to help them live successful independent lives by providing health care and a good education, the essential stepping stones out of poverty and into a better future.

You can help by getting the EZ Shopper APP!
Thank you for reading and being a Shop-Anthropist!