A Really Important Project - Please Help If You Can!

One of my biggest weaknesses is that I'm extremely hesitant to ask for help. I like to think that I can handle any situation that I'm confronted with. But during my last several years at my former place of employment and my first couple months in Peace Corps, I've grown up a little and am not quite as shy about asking for help or support when I need it. This is one of those times when I really need help. And I'm not asking just on my behalf, but also on behalf of my good friend Chris (a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer), and an awesome Kenyan family (the Kamau family) that Chris and I befriended during our training in the town of Loitokitok. I'll explain a little more below, but the short version is that Chris and I are in the process of starting an education fund to help send three of our close Kenyan friends (John, Joyce, and James Kamau) to university here in Kenya. They are extremely bright and have high aspirations, but without more education, their futures are very uncertain (at best) and honestly, they are likely to be caught in the poverty cycle that traps so many young adults here.

As most of you know, I've been in Kenya for over three months now, and it has been a wild ride. The first seven weeks I spent training (ie, learning Kiswahili, about the Kenyan culture, how to assimilate into a community, and how small business works in Kenya) in a small town just over the border from Mt. Kilimanjaro. During those seven weeks, each of us trainees lived with a Kenyan host family, kinda like a foreign exchange student program. The families were responsible for feeding us, sheltering us, and helping us to gain our footing in a very new and different place. But what I wasn't really expecting is the way they took us in as part of their families. Even now that I've been away for a month, they still call regularly to check up on me and make sure everything is ok. Most Kenyan families do not enjoy the same comforts we take for granted (e.g., electricity, running water, flush toilets, a shower) and most have a very hard time making ends meet, but they always insist on sharing what they have and they are the most welcoming people I've ever met.

During our training in Loitokitok, I became really close friends with all of my fellow volunteers, but especially a guy named Chris McKeown, who also happens to be from Pennsylvania. I can't say enough great things about Chris as a person and as a friend. I spent a lot of time at Chris' house studying Kiswahili and just hanging out, and I got to know his host family as well as I knew my own. Chris' has two Kenyan brothers, John and James, and a sister, Joyce, that lived with him at home, as well as his Kenyan mama (mother) and baba (father). It was pretty much a celebration every time a visitor arrived, and I loved hanging out with all of them. As Chris and I got to know his host family better, they opened up to us and shared with us just how difficult life is for them (and most families here in Kenya). Just before we left for Nairobi for the volunteer swearing-in ceremony a month ago, Chris' family told him how much of a struggle it is for them to make ends meet and he learned that there is no way they will be able to send John, Joyce, and James to university. All three have graduated from secondary school (i.e., high school) and are very bright, hard-working, and have aspirations for higher education and professional jobs, but they do not have the means to save for university tuition and fees. John is currently operating a taxi service using his motorcycle to try to help support the family. Joyce spends her entire day, from 5:30 am to 9:30 pm, taking care of all of the household duties including, cooking meals, cleaning the house and dishes, washing clothes, and taking care of the goats and chickens, so she has no time or means available to save money. James also does whatever work he can find in the neighborhood to help support the family. Without a university education, it will be almost impossible for them to break out of their current routines and find professional jobs that will allow them to support themselves and their future families.

Chris and I talked a lot about this, and we decided that we weren't just going to sit around when there was something we could do to help them out. So we began making arrangements to begin a fund with our own money to help send John, Joyce, and James to university in Kenya. As luck would have it, a former Peace Corps volunteer that served in the same town we were training in (Loitokitok) came to talk to all of us one afternoon during our training. His name is Bradley Broder, and he was so deeply affected by his time in Kenya that he started his own non-profit organization called the Kenya Education Fund (KEF) - http://www.kenyaeducationfund.org - in 2005 after his Peace Corps service to help pay secondary school fees to enable bright Kenyan students from disadvantaged families to continue their secondary education. Bradley is one of those guys you meet who is completely genuine, easy to talk to, and bends over backwards to help you out. Although the primary mission of Bradley's non-profit organization is to help pay fees for secondary school (i.e., high school) students in Kenya, Bradley was more than happy to allow us to use his organization to set up a fund to securely and efficiently raise and distribute money to allow John, Joyce, and James to attend university. Another benefit of using the KEF is that it is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, meaning that all donations are tax-deductible. The other really cool thing about it that the dollar-to-shilling exchange rate is very favorable now, so raising enough money is something that is truly attainable.

As it stands right now, we are in the process of finalizing arrangements for the establishment of the university fund for John, James, and Joyce through Bradley's non-profit organization, the KEF. Chris has already contacted his family & friends, and I'm just starting to do that on my end. If you would be interested in donating to this project or helping us to raise money to enable John, Joyce, and James to attend university, please drop me and Chris a line (gavhoch@gmail.com and chris.mckeown28@gmail.com) and Chris and I will send additional details once we've finalized the arrangements with Bradley's non-profit organization. We are hoping that everyone involved in this project will get to know the Kamau children (John, Joyce, and James) as well as Chris and I do and see for yourselves what we see in them.

Chris and I are extremely excited that the project will officially get off the ground in the very near future and we are determined and committed to making this project a reality. Of course, we would be very grateful for any support you (or anyone you know!) may be able to provide to make this happen and help John, Joyce, and James attend university here in Kenya. If you have any questions, or want to know more about this project, feel free to drop me a line anytime. Thanks.