Misfit entrepreneur and all round awesome lady Kate Toon, has dug deep for Rafiki Mwema. In a sizeable donation Kate generously gifted $5,000 which has helped us carry out essential maintenance and put the finishing touches on our Jasiri Rafiki School – the space is now decorated with a series of amazing murals to uplift and bring joy to our children every day.
We constantly seek to grow and improve Doyle Farm and the lives of our children in Kenya. To do this we are solely reliant on the generosity of our supporters. Money that is raised through fundraisers, ongoing sponsorships and one-off donations. Every cent is gratefully received and is literally life changing.
We are often overwhelmed by the generosity of our supporters, most recently that of Kate Toon. Her donation of $5,000 has helped us to carry out maintenance on Jasiri Rafiki School such as fixing doors, windows and plumbing. It has also allowed us bring to life a project we’ve been planning for awhile – to paint murals for the children on the walls of Jasiri Rafiki School.
The importance of murals
Decorating the space with positive messaging and imagery provides us with the opportunity to create a welcoming, uplifting learning environment. The process of designing and creating the wall art has also allowed the Rafiki Mwema team and children to join forces, as they collaborated and connected with the murals as they were painted, creating a sense of shared ownership.
As you can see, we’re all pretty happy with the final result!
Meet our donor, Kate Toon
Kate Toon is an award-winning misfit entrepreneur who works with small businesses and big brands to transform their online presence: through powerful SEO, captivating content and all the right digital marketing moves. She runs a series of online copywriting and SEO courses and her generosity with knowledge also extends to a generosity towards the charitable sector.
Here she shares with us her motivation for donating:
“I’ve always felt it’s important to give back. I donate a % of profits from my business each year to Soi Dog Foundation and make regular Loans to Kiva. I also offer free spots on my SEO course, my Copywriting membership and my Digital Marketing membership each year.”
“But this year I felt I wanted to do something more substantial. I’ve had a great year, despite Covid. My business has moved to the point where I’m not frantic about every penny.”
“I’ve been following Rafiki Mwena for several years, and was just so hit by the horror of what the kids had been through. And wanted to help. I started by donating a $1 from each of my books. Then gave a big chunk (my biggest donation ever).”
“Why did I donate…? To help, to make a difference, because I’m in a fortunate position where I can, to feel less guilty about my success, to feel good. It’s an odd combination of serving and self-serving. Lots of navel gazing in this question.”
“I’m so grateful to be a part of something so significant, and so glad that my donation when into something substantial.”
What is Jasiri Rafiki School
Jasiri Rafiki School is a safe school for our girls. Some of the girls come to us for weeks or months, others come for years. All of them come because of the horror of sexual abuse. Because we care for our children as they go through the court process, many of them are not able to go out to attend school during this scary time. Sometimes this process can last years.
Their lives are always in danger if they leave the safety of our farm. If the family of the perpetrator knew where their accuser (our girls) was, there is a very good chance they could be murdered, as their evidence will put these evil men away for life.
So, up until now, they taught in the house they live in. During the day we push back the bunk beds and we pull out chairs and tables. It’s a little bit squashed. It’s a little bit disorganised. But our girls are learning as best they can.
Now with the completion of Jasiri Rafiki School we have purpose-built classrooms with desks and chairs and blackboards and spaces to do indoor lessons and a playground for outdoor play. We have also been able to include a special needs classroom, a sensory/play therapy room AND a teacher’s room with storage. Seven rooms in total!
We thank Kate Toon for her support and helping us to build on the school. If you’re feeling as inspired as we are by what we can achieve together, visit us HERE to donate.
