South of Nairobi, Kenya

Voyage to the Heart of Africa

September 14, 2004

Dear Friend & Subscriber,

A cool rain is falling in the hills south of Nairobi today. In the air, the scent of lush vegetation, red soil and distant smoke that is uniquely African. The sounds of vendors selling, roosters crowing, tribal music and Alicia Keyes (!) blend together here in the village market of Kukoyu. There is an enchantment here that is found nowhere else.

Many ‘touristy’ things are available to the visitor in Kenya – game preserves, safaris, restaurants featuring exotic game – but that’s not why I’m here today.

I’m here to see what an obscure former schoolteacher named George Karanga is doing to help orphans.

George is an ordinary African guy who is doing something about the HIV crisis that is ravaging Africa. A long dark shadow of AIDS is cast over the entire continent. It is a savage and remorseless angel of death. Every day in Africa, six thousand people die of AIDS. Six thousand.

Imagine not two but four world trade center towers going down not once, but every single day. And not in a blaze of media glory, but in silence.

Life on planet earth is not all carmel lattes and frequent flier bonus points.

No continent has been the recipient of more generosity, or more thievery, than Africa. And one thing becomes very clear when you spend some time here: Dropping food out of airplanes and sending billions of dollars of foreign aid is never going to solve the problem.

When you drop food out of airplanes, thugs with machine guns surround the food and use it to achieve their political ends.

When you send aid to African governments, the money ends up in Swiss bank accounts. It may preserve stability, but it doesn’t end up helping the people who need it most.

Help must come from the grass roots. Communities must be built from the ground up. George Karanga and his wife Jane are two people who are doing just that.

George was teaching school 300 miles from here when tribal warfare broke out. Marauders were burning villages, and he received word that a bounty was on his own head, for allegedly conspiring against the government. He fled with 15 children, only four of which were his own. The others were orphans of the war. They had only the clothes on their backs when they arrived in Nairobi in a borrowed car in 1997.

Since then George had managed to support himself through farming and some rental property he obtained.

The AIDS epidemic has left millions of children without parents, and it is these children that George is concerned with. The worst part of the problem is that AIDS victims and their children often become outcasts in the communities where they lived, rejected by friends and relatives because of fear.

George began a sort of ‘virtual orphanage’ for AIDS orphans, out of his own pocket. Friends and relatives are often willing to take in these orphans, but the financial burden can be too much for people who often make only $100 per month. So George provides food, clothing and medical care.

Clinics are available here that provide anti-viral drugs free of charge to small children, but what is often lacking is the $1.00 bus fare to go to the clinic.

George bridges this gap. It’s really a foster program of sorts. My wife’s brother Alan, who manages Children’s Relief International, learned about George and began to find sponsors for George’s children. Now 38 kids are being sponsored and I met quite a few of them here. I also met many kids who need sponsors but do not yet have sponsors.

George took me to see a girl named Lucy Njoki and her mother. Lucy’s father died of AIDS and the other family members threw them out. For a period of time they were actually living in a rock quarry. Lucy is 9 years old and is HIV positive, but with George’s help she is receiving medication and is quite healthy. (I’d send you a picture of me and George and Lucy, but unfortunately I can’t upload any photos from here.)

I met another boy named Peter Githiri, 7 years old, who is also HIV positive. Peter is not doing so well. A sponsor has not been found for him yet, and lacking medical attention, he is obviously very sick.

George has a list of 511 AIDS orphans in his area, and more than 450 still need sponsorships. In a minute I’ll let you know how you can help out, but before I do that I want to tell you about a very cool thing that George is doing.

A few steps from George’s office is a cobbler shop run by a guy named Paul Mungai. Paul started his cobbler shop with $50 of ‘Micro Enterprise’ seed money from George.

The shop is now thriving and is providing food and education for Paul’s kids. Paul is a successful entrepreneur – if not by American standards, at least by African standards. Paul has a knowing gleam in his eye and a winsome smile, and as I talked to him it was obvious that we both know: Charity is helpful and indeed necessary, but in the long run, entrepreneurship is the only way out of poverty.

I get jazzed about micro enterprises, which are often started with grants or loans of only $50, $100 or $150 – pocket change for an American but the lifeblood of a startup in Kenya. I met another woman just a few minutes ago who is selling fruits, vegetables and eggs in the market here. Her business was funded with Micro Enterprise Seed Money. Her kids are clothed, well fed and going to school because of her efforts.

I love entrepreneurs. I love entrepreneurship. And I love kids – knowing that had fate dealt a slightly different hand, my own kids might be orphans in a 3rd world country instead of the USA. How would I want someone to treat them if they were here with no parents? Then that is how I should treat the children here.

Needless to say, I’m sponsoring some kids. And putting some money in a Micro Enterprise fund so that more people like Paul can grow and succeed.

I’d like to leave you with a thought.

Two weeks ago I was speaking at the X10 Seminar in Queensland Australia, hosted by Simon Chen and his capable staff at one of the country’s premier resorts. Outside my window was a PGA golf course. We had a delightful English breakfast every morning. The lap of luxury, as they say.

Yesterday I dined in the home of George and Jane Karanga, two ordinary Kenyans who believe the best way to serve God is to serve children in poverty, to lift them up and give them an opportunity for a better future, to escape the ravenous claw of AIDS.

George doesn’t live in a resort, he lives in a concrete hut. George’s restroom is a hole in the ground. A cow went walking by outside the door as we talked. It wasn’t English breakfast, it was Sweet Potatoes and Yams with tea and milk.

And you know what? The Sweet potatoes and Yams were wonderful. Because when there is love in your house, every meal is a feast.

Simon Chen and his friends at the X10 seminar were gracious enough to contribute over $3000 to George’s project. Three grand goes a long, long way in Africa. And I would like YOU to participate, too, even if it’s only in a small way. I would like you to sponsor a child.

It costs $1 per day to sponsor an AIDS orphan. For that they get plenty of food to eat, clothes to wear to school, and medical care. It makes a HUGE difference.

What do you get? You get letters written to you by the children you sponsor twice a year, you get a photo of the child you sponsor, and updates from time to time. You get the satisfaction of knowing that far away on a dark continent, light is shining, and it is because of you. Just $30 per month. In the US that will buy you a Caramel latte or two every week, but in Africa it saves a life.

Or, if you prefer, you can become a sponsor of George’s Micro Enterprise fund.

In either case you also get something from me. If you sponsor one of George’s AIDS orphans, I’ll give you your choice of my downloadable coures – the Definitive Guide to Google AdWords, the Ultra Advanced AdWords Course with Don Crowther, or the Definitive Guide to Writing and Promoting White Papers, or the Video Guide to AdWords. Take your pick. It’s the least I can do to say thanks for making a difference.

So here’s what I want you to do: To sponsor an AIDS orphan, go to http://sponsor.cadenzane.com
or to fund Micro-Enterprises in Kenya, go to http://enterprise.cadenzane.com. Alan and his small staff at Children’s Relief International will get back to you with details on the what is happening in Kenya. I’ll be sure and send you your choice of the four different courses. Please be patient as If you have any questions, let us know, and be assured we’ll tie up any loose ends.

Thanks for making a difference. I think you’ll find, as I have, that when you give, the person with the biggest smile on their face is you.

Sincerely,

Perry Marshall

PS – forward this email to a friend. Thanks.

Go on to the final installment: “There’s no place like home”