Giving Back
We appreciate the power of the community that allows the Lamu Yoga Festival to thrive — it would not be a successful project otherwise. We strive to do our part, and we ask you, our participants, to help. Please check out our four supported local initiatives, pick one (or more!), and help us Give Back by either donating directly to the organization or when you fill out your registration form.
Asante sana! Thank you!
Safari Doctors
Safari Doctors improves access to healthcare for remote and marginalized communities in Lamu County. Every month, the dedicated team sets sail under a full moon on a dhow boat loaded with medicines. They travel to isolated villages, setting up mobile clinics and offering health services to communities who struggle to access them. This year, the team has reached over 4,200 patients across 17 villages! Children are being kept up to date with their vaccinations and skin conditions and communicable diseases have significantly dropped. To support the wellbeing of the wider Lamu community, drop by their offices at Shela Sea Suq or visit: www.safaridoctors.org to find out how you can #JoinTheJourney and make a difference.
Anidan
Anidan is a non-governmental development organisation founded by Rafael Selas Colorado to care for the needs of young children in Kenya. On the island of Lamu, off the northern coast, he has a Shelter where he houses over 140 children but feeds, dresses, cares for and educates around 250.
Since March 2008, in collaboration with the Pablo Horstmann Foundation, he runs a pediatric hospital which sees more than 17,000 patients a year in the hospital premises and thousands more in extended sanitary campaigns.
After a decade, our main efforts are devoted to helping the most vulnerable, the children. Being an indigent child, abandoned or orphan, being exposed to mistreatment or any illnesses impossible to be cured in their own environment, is enough reason for being taken in by Anidan. The most threatened come directly to our dormitories.
Most of the funding for the organization comes from Anidan Spain and its partner organizations: Pablo Horstmann Foundation and Anidan Italy.
We aim to ensure education, from kindergarten through secondary, college and superior studies.
Anidan also has a microcredit project for women that has empowered poor and destitute women to support themselves and their children.
Bright Girls Secondary School
Bright Girls Secondary School was established in Shela in 2010, with funds provided by the government, the community and other donors.
The high poverty index in the region often leads students to drop out due to lack of fees, and girls face additional challenges to staying in school, like early marriage.
In 2010 there were only eight students; by 2013, 135 girls sat for the national examinations. There are currently over 150 students that number is expected to rise with growing demand. Most of these girls come from poverty, often a distance from where the school is.
Banana House and Wellness Center & Hands Up for Kids have provided the girls with sanitary pads and yoga lessons, helping them stay healthy and focused on their studies.
To help, please bring sanitary pads to donate at the bazaar during the festival, or choose to add 500 KSH to your invoice for Bright Girls Secondary School during registration.
Lamu Community Yoga
We believe yoga should be accessible to everyone, so we are proud to support free community yoga classes. Africa Yoga Project teacher Paska Atim John teaches yoga to local adults and children in Lamu Town and Shela.
To help sustain the effort, we are using 250 KSH from each ticket toward supporting the teacher. With your help, we hope to fund the initiative for a full year.
To support, you can choose to donate 500 KHS (less than the price of one yoga class in Nairobi) on your registration form.
Lamu Yoga Festival partners
