The lunch program on December 21st was one of our own members, Grace Kuto. Grace is the Co-founder and President of Harambee Center, a non-profit organization she started 16 years ago, which is based in Portland. Grace was joined by her daughter, Latomia, who sang an African song to start off the program. (Latomia just moved to Portland from Chicago, and is currently employed by Providence Health Care. She has lived in five different continents and speaks four languages, and has a beautiful singing voice).
Grace shared some of her own story. She was born and raised in Kenya, and is the youngest of 12 siblings. Her mother died when she was 9 years old, so she said her brothers basically raised her. She and her husband Paul both came to the United States more than 38 years ago, and attended PSU. Grace has been an employee at OSHU for 27 years. She loves to cook, to teach, and to coordinate cross-cultural exchanges trips to Kenya. She and Paul have two daughters, both of whom were born very prematurely, and almost died. Grace feels that through her work with the Harambee Center, she is connecting with her mother, and helping young girls and women in her homeland have a better life and expanded opportunities.
In her presentation, Grace reminded members and guests that Africa is not a country, and is huge. She showed a map of Kenya, which identified where her home city of Chwele is located. Grace explained that in Chwele, the needs are great and the resources are scarce. She said 70% of the people in Chwele live in poverty. Disease, hunger, and lack of medical services are big problems in Kenya and many other countries in Africa. Grace stated that, in Africa, a child under 5 years old dies every 45 seconds from malaria, a deadly – but preventable – disease. Simply using bed nets could prevent many of those deaths. She also said that 80% of the diseases in Africa are related to unclean water, a problem that is solvable with simple water purification systems. She said pregnancy is the leading cause of death for women in Africa, and malnutrition is widespread among children.
Grace co-founded this organization to address some of these problems. She explained that “Harambee” means “Let’s Pull Together” in Swahili. The organization connects the people and cultures of the Pacific Northwest with the people and cultures in Africa, primarily in the countries of Kenya and Uganda. The Foundation tries to raise awareness through speaking, writing, music, cultural and educational exchanges, community partnerships and transformative projects. The organization’s website states “We believe that intercultural awareness, education and exchange are essential to building genuine understanding, respect and enduring relationships anywhere in the world.” The Center has provided scholarships, libraries, dormitories, science labs, community/health centers, micro-loans, computer literacy programs, and much more.
A current goal is to buy an ambulance that can also serve as a mobile clinic, which would serve a population of about 60,000 people in and around Chwele. She is trying to raise $50,000 for this vehicle, which will provide 24/7 emergency response. If you would like to donate to this worthwhile program, you can do it through the Rotary Club of Tigard Foundation.
President Cheron Calder presented Grace with the title of a book that will be placed in the Tigard library to commemorate her presentation. The book title is “Garden of the Lost and Abandoned” by Jessica Yu. It is the story of a “hard-nosed” and “warm-hearted” woman, helping children living on the streets of Uganda’s capital city of Kampala, and their shared experiences.