In the meantime, I thought I would post a few pictures of the Kamau's that Chris and I took just before we left our training site in January:
The first picture is Chris with the entire Kamau Family just outside their house. Joyce is on the far left, followed by Mama, Baba, and Chris, and James and John are both kneeling attempting to get two of the family's newborn puppies to stay still for the photo - didn't quite work out, but it was a solid effort nonetheless.
In this next picture, I am chillin' on the couch with the Kamau's. As you can probably tell from the smiles in the picture, we *always* had a good when we were over there. Definitely a home away from home.
In the picture to the right, I have convinced Chris that he should give Joyce a set of bunny ears - hence the devious look on Chris' face. Sorry, buddy, I had to post this one! Unfortunately, John snapped the picture a split second early or we would have added our distinctly American touch to this photo.
Ok, enough goofing around for now, here is our letter:
Dear Family and Friends,
We are pleased and excited to inform everyone that we are now going to officially establish a fund in the name of the Kamau family children. As most of you know, this family has taken a special place in our hearts. They welcomed us into their home and treated us like their sons and their brothers. Their help in our transition to Kenya can never be repaid, but this is one way for us to show our gratitude. The opportunity for a College or University education will provide the Kamau children a chance at a better life and a chance to escape poverty. This is a chance that they deserve.
Our goal for the Kamau family is to raise enough money to cover tuition, books, and accommodations for each John, James, and Joyce. Although no final decisions have been made with regards to who will attend which schools, acceptance letters from schools are being sent out or have already been sent out. As the siblings begin to make final decision about enrollment, some of the funding must have already been collected and then used during the enrollment process. At the advice of the Kenya Education Fund, we are looking to begin this process immediately. As you may have seen in a previous email, two acceptance letters have already been received from Interglobal College. The cost breakdown for attending this institution would be as follows:
Tuition, library and Admission Fees: Ksh 57,000
2 years accommodation: Ksh 120,000
Books and other materials: Ksh ????
Total: in neighborhood of Ksh 185,000 (depending on books)
At an average exchange rate of ksh 75 to the $, we're looking at each student's education costing a total of $2,467 over two years.
Using this cost breakdown as a rough guideline, we are looking at a total fundraising goal of around $7,500 (assuming all three attended a similar institution). This is a large sum of money, but a total that we believe is attainable. This money does not have to be raised at one time, but we just want to get the process started.
As has been mentioned, we have partnered with the Kenya Education Fund (KEF) to achieve this goal. The KEF was founded by a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer named Brad Broder. We had the pleasure of meeting Brad on one of his frequent return trips to Kenya. The KEF normally funds the education of high school students, but are making a special exception to help us out. We have attached a PDF file containing the KEF brochure for more information about the organization. As Brad has become a friend of ours, we would greatly appreciate you passing along that PDF to anyone whom you believe may be interested in the KEF cause. You can also visit their website at www.kenyaeducationfund.org or email them at info.kenyaeducationfund.org.
The donation process is very simple, but there are a few details that you need to be aware of. The donations can be made in one of two ways. Option one involves simply sending a check to:
Kenya Education Fund, Ltd.
360 East 72nd Street, Suite 3405
New York, NY 10021
Option two is to simply visit the KEF website and donate online. For either option, please note the following:
"For Tax deduction purposes: If you are writing a check you must write "referred by PCV Chris McKeown or Gavin Hoch" on the check. If you donate online you can indicate this in the designation portion. You must NOT write the name of a particular student on your check or in the designation section. If you decide to choose which student you want, you forego your tax deduction as per IRS guidelines (it is like not being able to claim a tax deduction on paying your own child's university tuition in the US. Universities are nonprofits, but parents can't claim a deduction because they are "choosing" the child they are paying for)."
We cannot express in words how grateful we are for your donations. Based on all of the enthusiasm we have received over the last two months, our fundraising goal seems well within reach. In such difficult economic times, we have been floored by all of your continued questioning and inquiries into the donation process. It has been very encouraging. Finally, we want this to be a very personal process for everyone involved. Aside from the email updates, we are planning on using Gavin’s blog to post pictures and updates about John, James, and Joyce. Some of these updates will be from us, but we are also going to post updates given directly from the siblings themselves. Gavin’s blog can be accessed at www.gavinhoch.blogspot.com.
Once more, thank you. We miss you all, love you all, and know that you are changing the lives of three very deserving individuals.
Sincerely,
Chris and Gavin
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