BENEFITS OF BEING A MEMBER OF KCO

Being a member of KCO provides opportunities to:

• Network with other Kenyan professionals, business people and academia in Ontario and other parts of North America.


• Market one’s expertise, services and products to fellow Kenyans and the rest of Canada


• Participate in meetings, seminars, workshops, conferences, conventions and other forms of public forums that create awareness and information on investment and development opportunities in Kenya


• Be fully informed of relevant developments and events in Kenya such as information on elections, passports, visa requirements, et cetera


• Attend organised social gatherings and meet other Kenyans and friends

Get involved, Participate, Contribute. Join our great community by becoming a member of KCO and its committees. Register

OUR ACHIEVEMENTS

It is incumbent upon the Board to implement programs and services and prioritize them according to the wishes of its members. Members of the Board have participated in Province wide workshop and represented the community in meetings organized by various governments and groups. In many cases, KCO has worked in very time constrained and tough situations to assist fellow Kenyans in need. 

KCO has facilitated the immediate settling down of new arrivals through helping them get temporary accommodation with our members or near our members. But even more important, KCO always puts in touch new arrivals with members of their community from back home, religious or prayer groups, etc and essentially guides them to make the transition into Ontario so much easier.
 
KCO has followed up events in Kenya and continues to make a phenomenal contribution through its members. Following the drought in 2005, KCO worked in collaboration with the Canadian Red Cross to raise funds for relief efforts. Following the post-election disturbances, KCO again partnered with the Canadian Red Cross to raise funds for rehabilitation of IDPs.

KCO has been accepted and recognized by many parties in Ontario as the organization to go to with regard to issues about Kenyans in Ontario, in Canada, and Kenya in general. Many times the Kenyan High Commission (KHC) in Ottawa has worked in partnership with KCO by calling upon the organization to act as its liaison with Kenyans in Ontario. To individual members of KCO, it means that KCO can intercede quickly and efficiently on matters referenced to the KHC.
 
KCO has fully supported the Women's Forum of KCO in setting up the Scholarship Fund due to be operational from this year. For an individual member who has made Ontario his/her home, this is an opportunity to encourage the younger generation to stay in school and benefit from community support.
 
In accord with promoting the rich Kenyan cultural heritage, KCO organizes many social functions where members have the opportunity to meet and interact with other Kenyans and learn the Canadian perspective of life from a fellow countryman. This has had enormous benefits. Some have obtained a better mortgage through interactions in our functions, obtained referees for new higher positions at work, received advice and support, formed new friendships in this new country, etc.
 
KCO continues to provide letters of recommendation, confirmation, etc, for our members in dealing various official arms of government (Municipal, Provincial and Federal) on their individual issues.
 
Following the election results in Kenya in December 2007 many Kenyans in Ontario were inundated with calls to appear before the media and explain what was happening in the country. Many who gave interviews were initially disappointed by the results. After consultations, KCO released a media advisory for Kenyans appearing before the media on how to prepare and act during media interviews.

[Link to Media Advisory]

KCO held many only social networking events and organized seminars on Personal Investments, Investing for education and Domestic Violence. Following appeals by the community the Board struck an ad hoc community based committee to suggest the way forward for KCO on handling issues related to domestic violence.

KCO has also participated in supporting Kenyan Government's investment programs.

Over the past several years, the general Kenyan community in Ontario has been faced with situations in which an individual of Kenyan origin resident in the province has died while living in the Province or has lost an immediate family member here in the province, or in Kenya.  In some cases a Kenyan has died while living alone in Ontario and without any immediate family member available to make decisions regarding their funeral or other affairs.

Often in these cases, the community through KCO has been forced by their sense of cultural imperative for action or by the material limitation of the affected or the deceased to step in to raise funds for the retrieval of the remains from the mortuary and their return to the family back to Kenya or the burial of the deceased here in Canada.
 
In addition to raising money to pay for the expenses involved in providing proper final rites and in particular the repatriation of remains to the family back home, in several instances the community has rallied together under KCO to take the responsibility of raising money to settle outstanding hospital bills, pay for funeral home expenses and/or acquire air fares to Kenya for the deceased’s relatives and other bereaved parties.
 
KCO has recognised that when a death occurs in the community it causes a heavy financial strain to the bereaved and the community in general. The task of raising funds from KCO members and friends and organising prayers and consolations at the homes of the bereaved has been very challenging and is unsustainable.