Initiatives


Reach Out to Humanity (ROTH) is a registered infrastructure building charity, committed to helping people realize and retain their rights to proper health care, clean water, education, nutrition and shelter. For the most part, that for us means building the spaces and structures communities need to continue and enhance the work of their own leaders, organizers and change-makers; a nursery, a maternal health ward, a bore hole, a girls’ school. We want to give a home to sustainable, community-owned development.  To explore some of our past projects please check out the following links:

  • Women in Crisis Centre - Kibera, Kenya 2011
  • MWEDO Girls Secondary School  - Tanzania 2010-2012
  • Hijos de Manana Day Care Center - Peru 2008
  • Maternity Ward and HIV/AIDS Counseling - Kenya 2007
  • ROTH Scholars - Kenya & Tanzania
  • Other Initiatives
    The Women in Crisis Centre construction is finally complete! The building will officially be handed over to the Vision Sisters by the end of January and an official opening to the public will follow once management structures and programs have been put into place.
     
    By Talitha Calder
     
    On my final day in Kenya, the various staff members and volunteers from the Piave Health Centre, the Umoja Support Group, the Society for Women and AIDS in Kenya, and the Dispensary Committee encircled me in a tearful final good-bye hug at the end of what had been an indescribable journey volunteering with ROTH in Kenya. Since arriving back home in Canada, I have been surrounded by my friends and family sharing pictures, stories, laughter, and tears. However, what has been most difficult about my return to Canada has been trying to put the story of my past three months spent in Kenya into words.  
     

    Thanks to the generous contribution of sanofi-aventis and ROTH donors, the construction of the lab will mean greater access to essential health services for the entire community of Piave. Once completed, the site will allow onsite testing for HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, and other national priority diseases. This means the Piave Dispensary, Maternity Ward and HIV/AIDS Counselling Centre will be able to operate more efficiently and reduce the number of referrals it currently makes to other health centres. A special thanks also goes to Sam Wright, who has been working tirelessly all summer to make sure the lab is completed on time and within budget.  He has done amazing work and we are most grateful for all of his efforts! To read about Sam's experience please see his blog.     

     
    On April 14th, 2011, members of the Kibera community gathered to celebrate the ground breaking of the site of the future Women in Crisis Centre and Sanitation Block.  The event was honoured by the presence of the Dispensary Officer of Kibera, as well as the Local Area Chief. The event was also attended by employees of Maji na Ufanisi (our implementation partner), members of the Vision Sisters Working Sisters, 6 Canadian interns, and members of the public. 
     
    Two of our volunteers are currently in Piave, Kenya. Sam Wright manages the Piave Laboratory construction and Talitha Calder trains caregivers for Piave orphaned and vulnerable children. Both tell their stories through their blog...
     

    StudentsAfter over a year of planning, stacks of revised architecture plans (thanks Dermot!), more than 40 volunteers from 6 different countries moving over 4000 blocks, mixing in countless bags of cement, and rolling hundreds of litres of paint - we finally get to meet the young ladies of the MWEDO Girls Secondary School. As of the 4th of February, over 65 78 promising young ladies have been registered to receive their secondary education complete with full room and board.

     
    Women in Kibera suffer under the brutal hand of poverty, domestic violence, rape, HIV/AIDS, unwanted and teenage pregnancies. It is for this reason that some of the women of Kibera came together to form the Vision Sisters Working Sisters (VSWS). Their aim is to provide women in Kibera with access to crisis counseling, skill enhancement training and refuge. The VSWS have been working to establish this project since 2006 and they are now ready to begin construction to bring their centre to fruition.
     

    The Hijos de Luya Centre, built by ROTH In 2008, successfully continues to accommodate the children of the Luya slum. With most of the children under the age of 3, the centre offers a basic education, potable water, two healthy meals a day as well as essential health care services.  The centre also acts as a safe place for parents to bring their children during the day while they go into the city for work.