AYUDH has stepped onto African soil! During his visit to the Republic of Kenya from February 5th to 13th, Br. Shubamrita, launched AYUDH Kenya.
“On Saturdays we are bored. Just going out, coming home late and then wasting away our time in front of the TV did somehow not feel fulfilling anymore,” says Pareet, 22, from Nairobi. So he decided to call his friends over for a meeting, to sit down and talk about some things they can do to help others.

It is not difficult in Kenya to find needy people and deserving causes. With a youth unemployment rate of 75 % in Africa as a whole, crime and drug abuse are steadily increasing. Nearly 1.5 million orphans are struggling to survive day by day. Pollution goes uncontrolled and there have been times when AIDS was killing more than 700 people a day in Kenya alone.

The first project of AYUDH Kenya is a big shot: In a joint venture with two other youth organizations a clean-up day is being arranged in a slum of Nairobi on March 28th 2009.

Presently, piles of trash are piling up like mountains in some areas of the city. If the drainage gets blocked, the dirt-water becomes an ideal breeding-nest for Malaria-infected mosquitoes. Huge truckloads of trash will have to be removed and recycled.

The project is very promising – not just because it unburdens the environment and improves the living conditions of thousands, but because it involves youth from different sectors of society. The AYUDH members, who are predominantly of the Indian-Kenyan, Hindu community are going to work together with the African-Kenyan, Christian community as well as international volunteers from Europe and the USA. The two partner NGOs of the project are:

• World Sports Ministries, an international NGO that organizes sports events for underprivileged children, clean up days and self-esteem programs for impoverished youth
• the Albino Foundation, a Kenia-based NGO that is dedicated to strengthen the rights of and raise awareness about persons with Albinism

Local schools will be invited to participate. Regional companies are sponsoring gloves, masks and drinking water.

After the clean-up a soccer match will be organized, with mixed teams of all the communities involved.

Everyone involved is very excited about this unusual collaboration. Kenyans say they have never heard of such a joint venture that crosses cultural and religious borders. As Kenya awaits the visit of Amma, her children are already uniting in the spirit of love and service, setting an example to society.