TICAH@20 Special Feature: Today is Giving Tuesday! 

✨ Join Us for 20 Days of Impact on Giving Tuesday ✨

Happening today, Giving Tuesday is a movement of people trying to channel their holiday spirit into doing good and supporting impactful causes.  

Our campaign “20 Days of Giving” centers the power of a collective movement to raise funds for children affected by HIV. Between 28 November to 17 December 2003, we aim to raise 20,000 USD to reach 800 children affected by HIV in Kenya through our SHINE program. The program equips children living with or affected by HIV with life skills, practical coping strategies and psychosocial support. It is based on our learnings from our 20 years of HIV programming and community engagement. 

How You Can Join:   

• Move with Us: Dedicate 20 minutes to movement on Giving Tuesday. 
• Spread the Word: Share "I’m moving for TICAH@20" and invite 5 friends to join you. 
• Donate & Multiply: Encourage friends to contribute $5 each. 

Join us today and donate here:

Seeds of Care: Uniting for Healing at Edom Springs Education Centre

At Edom Springs Education Centre, a student diagnosed with asthma discovered a ray of hope through the healing properties of onions, known by our communities as a herbal remedy for asthma. Inspired by compassion, his classmates united to plant onions, showcasing their care and solidarity for their friend. Their heartfelt sentiment, "tunataka kumsaidia ndio asiende, tunampenda" (we want to help him, so he doesn't leave, we love him), not only demonstrated the potency of herbal wisdom but also the students' resolute effort to alleviate their friend's suffering using natural remedies. This touching gesture symbolized collective action and unity towards a shared objective. At TICAH, this gesture resonates deeply with our community-based programs that empower individuals with herbal knowledge, fostering solidarity and collective action for holistic wellness. 

IKC: Empowering Communities to Combat SGBV in Bungoma

TICAH and local communities across Tongaren, Sirisia, Webuye West, and Kimilili are standing together to combat Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in Bungoma. 

Our latest blog post delves into the week-long dialogue that unfolded, addressing the troubling prevalence of SGBV within our county. Discover how these candid conversations unearthed deep-rooted causes and laid the foundation for community-driven solutions. 

From financial disparities and misconceptions around circumcision rites, our blog uncovers the crucial insights shared during these discussions. It showcases the commitment of leaders and residents alike in redefining cultural norms and fostering safer spaces for all.

OBOC: How TICAH Navigates Campus Realities: A Freshman's Guide to Life's Challenges 

Entering college from high school is like stepping into a whole new world. You know, the kind you've been waiting for, but it turns out to be a mix of surprises and challenges that you didn't quite expect. Suddenly, there's this newfound freedom that's both exhilarating and daunting.  

For many young people, this shift is a big deal. They dream of college life, picturing it as a non-stop party and a chance to explore everything they couldn't before. But there's a twist. With that freedom comes a responsibility they might not have anticipated – a responsibility that could sway their personal and academic paths. 

That's where TICAH comes in. We have created safe havens in universities, where open conversations happen, especially for freshmen. During these talks, we have covered important stuff. Drawing from our own experiences, much like supportive big sisters, we've gathered insights from our university days and the wisdom we have gained over time. We offer invaluable tips for navigating campus life and guiding newcomers through the challenges and opportunities that await.

You know, the real deal about HIV/STIs, how to make smart decisions, what makes a relationship healthy or not, even those tricky cross-generational relationships, and the whole deal about unintended pregnancies. It's like a crash course in life's complexities right when you enter this new chapter. 

Art with Heart: Placemaking Week

We celebrated Placemaking Week with like-minded partners working on sustainable and equitable urban living.  Placemaking Week is part of Urban October, an international event where everyone is interested in sustainable city living, revolutionising the use and experience of public and urban spaces.  

While we mark Placemaking Week by bringing in amazing Kenyan artists to the Nairobi downtown area to create large-scale murals and optical illusions, we work on activating dormant and underused public spaces all year round with art, dance and especially our Nairobi Drum Circle. All this work contributed to public green spaces, with renewed interest and use by the public, with investment into cleaning and sanitation from the city government.  Art matters when it comes to what we can do for our environments and our public spaces. We have proven to the Nairobi County Government and conservation how they can integrate art and culture into their work.  

This year’s Placemaking Week started with ten Kenyan artists working on a valuable and beautiful mural map of the downtown area of Nairobi and huge sidewalk murals around Hilton Park. As always happens with our artist community, more artists and friends show up.  This year, more than fifty additional artists and partners attended the site to support the efforts, jump into the work, or see the murals. 

We are happy the government also showed up, covering the dangerous manholes and working on the site's drainage.  The Nairobi governor also came by and was impressed by the work and how different the space felt with the murals, which were intentionally and thoughtfully planned. We were walking around the site with the lead artist of the week, the trees above and said our goal was to bring out the nature of this unique space, something that most people passing by do not see and take for granted.  “We are going to help make this place more palatable to the soul,” he said, looking at the bare concrete sidewalks below.