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On the occasion of the second anniversary of Dr. Geoffrey Griffin's passing away (June 28th 2005), and what would have been his 74th birthday celebration (June 13th 2007) were he with us today, we are happy to announce the official launch of the Old Starehian Society, North American chapter (OSS-NA). We invite you to join us in contemplating the significance of his life's work and gift to all of us, and to draw inspiration from words that continue to carry as much meaning in our lives today as when we first heard them. The charge, delivered in that very distinguished deep baritone that was unique to boss, which I am sure echoes in your minds, reads as follows: "I charge you never to forget the great benefits you have
received in this place; and in time to come, according to your
means, to do all that you can to enable others to enjoy the same
advantage. And remember that you carry with you, wherever you
go, the good name of Starehe. May God Almighty bless you in
your ways, and keep you in the knowledge of His love, now and
forever." This launch is a significant milestone in the development of the old boy network in North America. We envision an organization that will not only enrich our personal and professional lives as it grows in strength, but one that will also facilitate our collective engagement in initiatives that build the Starehe brand and Starehe vision. To this end, we have secured registration in the state of Iowa as a 501©(3) non-profit organization, and we hope to use our tax advantaged status to enable old boys and friends of Starehe to maximize their financial contributions for the benefit and development of the Starehe Group of Schools.
Our mission statement:
"To capitalize on the power of our common experience at Starehe by
renewing links between alumni, igniting positive change and
contributing socially and financially to the advancement of the
Starehe Group of Schools and its present students. Natulenge Juu!"
We plan on being in close contact with OSS-Kenya and our immediate goals are in line with the OSS Strategic Plan 2007-10 – recently rolled out through www.starehe.net . Our first and most immediate tasks are: 1) to launch a membership drive and update our contact database of all ex-Starehians in North America - Please send an email to us at
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for any updates to your contact information and feel free to forward this email to any old boys in NA with whom you may be in contact with. 2) to launch a 2007 fund-raising drive to support at least 1 boy and 1 girl at Starhe Boys' and Girls' Centers (more if we raise enough money) - It costs 1,000 USD to sponsor a boy or girl at Starehe, and about 20,000 USD to fund an endowment that would cater for the education of a student in perpetuity. - Given that this is just the beginning of this effort, we thought it best to focus on raising enough money to sponsor at least 2 students. We intend to gradually build toward the goal of raising funds for the endowment, and have every confidence that together we will reach this goal soon. - In order to spur us toward contributing in a meaningful way in order to meet the stated goal, we have developed the following donation guidelines: Bronze Achievers – contributions between $50 – $249
Silver Achievers – contributions between $250 – $499
Gold Achievers – contributions of $500 and above No amount is too small, and no amount too big. What matters is that there is tremendous power in our collective action. So please do not feel restricted by these guidelines. In true Starehe fashion, lenga above Gold! We anticipate that we will conduct a yearly funds drive. This marks the fund-raising drive for 2007. To make YOUR CONTRIBUTION via credit card, please click on the following link www.oss-na.com or make out your checks to Old Starehian Society, North America (OSS-NA) and mail them c/o Melkizedeck Okudo, 355 S End Ave, Apt 30 E, New York, NY, 10280. We will issue you with receipts so that you can claim tax deductions on your contributions. For those of you who work for companies that have corporate matching programs, please remember to include OSS-NA under your company's corporate matching program. We have been in touch with Mr. Gikubu and the new director, Professor Mugambi, and they are both excited at the prospect of securing additional sponsorship for the students that currently do not have sponsors. As Mr. Gikubu happily commented when he heard the news of our plans, "for as long as there are old boys out there, Starehe will never die". Rest assured that your money will be put to immediate use. This year, all funds collected will go toward sponsoring a Starehe student for the 2008 academic year (50% to the boys' school and 50% to the girls' school). Aside from the nominal charges associated with processing payments through paypal and account maintenance/wiring fees at the bank, there will be no additional administrative charges associated with running this organization. In true Starehe spirit, we intend to sustain this effort on a purely volunteer basis. Starehe has 12,456 old boys who are playing an increasingly important part on the national and international stage (in business, the law, the civil service, politics, the media, academia/students/professors/teachers, manufacturing, technology and medicine) as well as contributing to the communities in which they grew up or are currently residing in (supporting siblings' education, providing material goods and services, etc). Some old boys are also sponsoring boys at the school and have established a fast growing Kenyan endowment fund. Ask yourself what you are doing for Starehe – the place where we first became men! We have also been recently in contact with Starehe UK, which is currently gearing up to launch a joint fund-raising campaign in 2008-09 for urgent capital funds for Starehe Boys' Centre and Starehe Girls' Centre as well as adding significantly to the existing endowment funds in the UK and Kenya. The fund-raising campaign is evidence of a shared future between Starehe and its friends in the UK. HRH The Princess Royal (Princess Anne) has supported Starehe for 30 years and has generously pledged her support to the campaign. As we here in North America begin our efforts of synergy, we will continue to remain in contact with Starehe UK and will support their efforts, for example by linking them to alumni and donors in the US. At the end of the day, we are all trying to keep the spirit of Starehe and its founders going in perpetuity. In regards to volunteering, the current officers that constitute the leadership council (LC) are all volunteers and no formal settings have been put in place for succession in leadership roles – this will be put in place as soon as we are well set-up and founded. We all view leadership as a form of service; if you have the time and are willing to serve please let us know – we need you! We need immediate support on a couple of items so feel free to contact us if you are either an expert or can lead us in the direction of one – preferably an alumni willing to volunteer their skills or services. The areas where we have specific needs include: website design, content development, lawyer(s) with NGO experience, listening in on our 30-minute weekly conference call (weekly for now, less frequent once things are up and running). You can keep track of our activities via the group hub at https://ossna.grouphub.com/login (login:oldboy passwd: gatkey) We are excited about the challenges and opportunities ahead. The most important thing was to get started and now that the wheels are rolling, we welcome your thoughts, input, resources and energy in giving direction to and building this initiative. Brothers, we wanted this email to capture the essence of our endeavor, which has been a long time coming – there has been enough talk, it's time to act. Please do contact the leadership council at
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. Looking forward to reuniting with you all. Regards, OSS-NA Leadership Council
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June 2007 |
