Beyond the Western Gate

CES works in the area surrounding Kakamega, Kenya. From the west while travelling from Kisumu and up the Nandi escarpment, one passes the lone sentry, a huge piece of rock called the "Weeping Stone of Maragoli". This is the gateway to Kakamega. Beyond the Western Gate lies a land of magic, a place where CES Canada has found its home.

Poverty, Enemy of the People is written by a young student at Namundera SS. Here he gets mad at "poverty" and challenges it to "leave me alone". In a few days (01/14) I will meet Truphosa Omukangu as well as many of the 300 OK2 (Orphan Kids of Kakamega) supported by CES Canada. Follow "Beyond the Western Gate" blog and see for yourself why these kids are so resilient.  See why the Orphan Kids of Kakamega are the real heroes in the fight against HIV/Aids.  Believe with us that education can indeed change the world!

Michael Frederiksen

Poverty, Enemy of the People

Poverty, who are you?

Where do you come from?

If you want a cow, come own it

And leave me alone.

Once you entered there was no food

Shelter ran away, education withered

If you want my tatters come take them

And leave me alone.

Where you pass there is stealing

Where you perch you cause laughter

Where you stay, you sire street children

If you want my shoes come take them

And leave me alone.

I will shake you shamelessly

Through the CES organization

CES, light my way

Give me power and strength

To end poverty, enemy of the people

Buried in an endless, bottomless pit.

Truphosa A. Omukangu, Form 2 Namundera SS

Truphosa Omukangu was a winner in the CES 2012 poetry/essay writing contest

New Hope for Musaga

Musaga...remote rural area surrounded by maize held captive

Red dirt roads edged by walls of dung weathered by the sun

Musaga SS...seven years now students see another perspective

Always believed in a roof over their heads and a chair to sit on 

Musaga SS students...new hope finds a way to endure

Until such time as the bricks and mortar arrive

Musaga SS ... July 2013 the timing right for the cure

Much more than a roof, a hundred students come alive

Dedicated to the village of Musaga in Western Kenya who after six years of waiting for a promise made in 2006, have finally realized their dream of a school with seven classrooms. Built by friends of CES Canada (Thunder Bay Chapter), Musaga SS is a legacy in honour of Deanna O'Neill whose dream to help alleviate poverty in Kenya is now reality.