Bring Hope For Leukaemia in Africa
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KEVIN KARARWA LEUKAEMIA TRUST (KKLT) is a non-profit organisation currently registered in the UK and Kenya Charity No.1175159.
Bringing Education, Support and Hope for Leukaemia sufferers and their families in the UK and Africa.
Our aim is #50k+ donors of balck and ethnic mintority donors on the UK register and to start an East African Registry, where none currently exists.
Our journey started after the death of Kevin Kararwa, a remarkable and charismatic 24 yr old young man, who died of Leukaemia after failing to obtain a bone marrow donor.
Family connections are the likeliest match for stem cell transplants, if a patient does not have a sibling, doctors search for a donor within the same ethnic group because there is a higher compatibility for certain genes called Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) markers.
Kevin Underwent a 50% match transplant donation from his younger brother; sadly this did not work. During this difficult time, Kevin, his family and friends learned that there is a dire shortage of bone marrow donors from the ethnic minorities and indeed from the black community. It was even more devastating to find out that in the whole of Africa, only South Africa have a recognised Bone Marrow Register.
Kevin wishes before he died was no one - young or old - should go through a similar ordeal and so, to carry out his wishes, the KKL Trust was formed.
Our goal/vision is to establish a National Bone Marrow Register (NBMR) in Kenya.
The greatest challenge in getting started is finding the funds to buy the necessary machines, computers and software. The steep logistical and financial hurdles involved in establishing a NBMR is a huge and a complex endeavour that requires extensive resources. But we sincerely believe that where there is a will, there is a way and a journey of 1000 miles starts with one step.
That is why we are asking you to support us in making our first bold step towards this life-changing goal.
Our first step requires us to establish a call/collection centre, with two trained nurses and the necessary equipment.
We are also collaborating with other stem cell registries in the United Kingdom, Caribbean, and several African countries – including Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa – to address the scarcity of black donors on stem cell registries throughout the world.
The Stem Cell Registry Alliance (SCRA) was created to reduce the start-up costs for registries in these countries. By pooling resources amongst themselves, member registries will be able to start recruiting donors immediately, without the costs of setting up a stand-alone operation.
Our other mission is to get 50k people from our community (here in the U.K.) to register as potential stem cell donors, blood donors and organ donors by 2020.
We humbly and kindly request your support towards this noble cause. We believe Africa, with its huge population, is ready and able to have a registry/ries consisting of hundreds of thousands if not millions of potential donors of African Heritage and subsequently get represented in the World Bone Marrow Registries.
“If we could avoid a family going through what we went through, by saving a life, then I will know Kevin did not suffer and die in vain”. Veronica Kararwa – Kevin’s Mother.
Thank you!!!!
Bringing Education, Support and Hope for Leukaemia sufferers and their families in the UK and Africa.
Our aim is #50k+ donors of balck and ethnic mintority donors on the UK register and to start an East African Registry, where none currently exists.
Our journey started after the death of Kevin Kararwa, a remarkable and charismatic 24 yr old young man, who died of Leukaemia after failing to obtain a bone marrow donor.
Family connections are the likeliest match for stem cell transplants, if a patient does not have a sibling, doctors search for a donor within the same ethnic group because there is a higher compatibility for certain genes called Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) markers.
Kevin Underwent a 50% match transplant donation from his younger brother; sadly this did not work. During this difficult time, Kevin, his family and friends learned that there is a dire shortage of bone marrow donors from the ethnic minorities and indeed from the black community. It was even more devastating to find out that in the whole of Africa, only South Africa have a recognised Bone Marrow Register.
Kevin wishes before he died was no one - young or old - should go through a similar ordeal and so, to carry out his wishes, the KKL Trust was formed.
Our goal/vision is to establish a National Bone Marrow Register (NBMR) in Kenya.
The greatest challenge in getting started is finding the funds to buy the necessary machines, computers and software. The steep logistical and financial hurdles involved in establishing a NBMR is a huge and a complex endeavour that requires extensive resources. But we sincerely believe that where there is a will, there is a way and a journey of 1000 miles starts with one step.
That is why we are asking you to support us in making our first bold step towards this life-changing goal.
Our first step requires us to establish a call/collection centre, with two trained nurses and the necessary equipment.
We are also collaborating with other stem cell registries in the United Kingdom, Caribbean, and several African countries – including Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa – to address the scarcity of black donors on stem cell registries throughout the world.
The Stem Cell Registry Alliance (SCRA) was created to reduce the start-up costs for registries in these countries. By pooling resources amongst themselves, member registries will be able to start recruiting donors immediately, without the costs of setting up a stand-alone operation.
Our other mission is to get 50k people from our community (here in the U.K.) to register as potential stem cell donors, blood donors and organ donors by 2020.
We humbly and kindly request your support towards this noble cause. We believe Africa, with its huge population, is ready and able to have a registry/ries consisting of hundreds of thousands if not millions of potential donors of African Heritage and subsequently get represented in the World Bone Marrow Registries.
“If we could avoid a family going through what we went through, by saving a life, then I will know Kevin did not suffer and die in vain”. Veronica Kararwa – Kevin’s Mother.
Thank you!!!!
Organizer
Ian Kenya
Organizer
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