Kenyans in Boston to Hold Crucial Community Meeting Today
Staff, Ajabu Africa News, Posted November 20, 2010
Donor fatigue for frequent burial fund raisings and a great desire by many in the Kenyan community in Boston to see a united front that can take steps to find a common solution to the problem has led to a crucial meeting this coming Saturday by concerned community leaders to brainstorm.
The open invitation meeting will take place at the Cummings Park Center conference hall in Woburn Mass located at 800 West Cummings Park, Suite 4750, Woburn, MA starting at 1pm- 5pm.
The meeting that has been sponsored by Ajabu Africa News will seek to give Kenyans in Boston an idea of several proposals that are being considered by several quarters as a solution to the draining burial fund raisings as well as moving the community forward as a united front rather than as divided segments.
We have not increased in this area so much and we have children who are looking up to us to be good examples at solving problems”, said Harrison Maina of Ajabu Africa news.
Since the year 2006, when Ajabu Africa was launched and started tracking the number of known deaths of Kenyans in New England, it has been established beyond any shadow of doubt that we loose an average of 10 Kenyans a year due to various causes. Increased incidents of Kenyans passing away from diseases while not insured has led to increased fund raisings.
“ We have raised a cumulative of over about $500,000 in a period of 2.5 years since the late 2008 to date to ship 15 Kenyans home or bury them in America”, said Maina.
This is an average of 33,000 per death.
However, most funeral homes we use when people die charge an average of 8,000 to transport a body back to Kenya, so Kenyans are clearly loosing a lot of money that could be used for other important things like setting up a pool for scholarships or charity work or helping the living who are suffering through sickness.
Having being involved in the awareness of the issue for a long time, Ajabu Africa felt that it would be fair to give those people in the community who think they may have viable solutions a chance to deliberate on the available plans so that measures can start being taken. Among the plans proposed as a potential solution is one fronted by the Kenya pastors Fellowship (KPF) in conjunction with a barely operational Kenya Welfare Association that was itself created by the Kenya pastor’s fellowship?
The plan by the Kenya pastors fellowship calls for all Kenyans in New England to purchase a group insurance plan where adults in a family will be required to pay at least $45 .
According to information from the KPF, the plan, that will be administered as a group of bundled services for the Association of American Employers.
Karaya said that the insurance company will not ask many question in administering the plan, but details will be given later.
However, many people in the community surveyed said a plan that has the potential to finally unite the badly divided Kenyas in Boston would be welcome. One such plan is one that has been started by other immigrant communities in America, one of which was recently put in force by the Ugandan community in Boston. Reports also indicate that Kenyans in Missouri has a similar plan. In the plan, adult Kenyans in Boston would be required to come together and organize a large non church based organization that can have wide ranging managing committee with representation from all 32 available churches, non profit organizations, business groups, and investment clubs, prayer groups etc.
The committee would then register a formal welfare organization for Kenyans in the area that will then undertake to register members with a registration fee of $10 per adult. Working from the premise that we loose 10 Kenyans a year, that should be costing us at most $100,000 a year in burial fees, and then it would require a minimum of 1,000 Kenyans to join such an organization, with an annual collection of $120,000 to finally wife off the burial fund raising problem off the table.
This would take away the huge burden of fund raisings from our churches and give our pastors space to concentrate of serving the spiritual needs of the community”, said Maina, who has been at the forefront of covering news of deaths in the community.
It would also keep the money within the Kenyan Community and when prayers are done seriously, premature deaths will decrease, leaving the cash available for good programs like scholarship programs. With an estimated population of between 15,000 to 2000 Kenyans in Massachusetts, then it is very possible to get the 1000 minimum numbers to register.
However, this would have to be done outside of the church setting because it is an open secret that our churches are too divided and some people would not feel free to join such an organization if it is done under the church umbrella.
“I think we as Kenyans have failed to convert the Harambee spirit into something good here in America”, said Dr. Nelson from New Hampshire who said he planned to attend the meeting.
It’s good that Kenyan come together as Kenyans outside of church and listen to these deliberations”, said Ben Mbugua, one of the pioneer Kenyans to immigrate to the Boston area.Many churches have been requested to send representatives to the meeting with the thinking that if we Kenyans in this area in this day an age don’t do it, then who will?
Venue: 800 West Cummings park, Suite 4750, Woburn, MA 01801
Time: 1-5pm. Get Directions
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