On June 9th I visited with David Whiteside’s grade 5 students at Whitehorse Elementary School.  Students have had 4 bakes sales over the last year and all the money has been donated towards a feeding program at a Primary School in Kakamega that I am organizing.  So many Kenyan students spend the whole day at school and are trying to learn on an empty stomach.   

My friend Grace is the headmistress at Maraba School and together we plan to set up a feeding program in November this year.  Last year when I was in Kenya the teachers were on strike and I was unable to set anything up.  But all the money that was raised will be used this year and will provide food for so  many young students over the year I am in Kenya.  I want to thank David for his continued support and the enthusiasm of all the students; thanks Natalie, Lauren, Graydon, Logan, Harrison, Caleb, Matthew, Aimee, Abby, Mackenzie, Jessica, Paige, Felicia, Hannah, Lyndsey, Whitney, Hope, Madisen, Simon and Alix. 

This money could not have come at a better time.  Yesterday the headlines in the paper in Kenya read; KENYA: ”Now the drought comes almost every year”LAIKIPIA-ISIOLO , 10 June 2009 (IRIN) - LAIKIPIA-ISIOLO - Millions of Kenyans are facing hunger due to a prolonged drought and successive failed rains. In the northern region, pastoralists’ livelihoods are especially threatened not just by drought and high food prices but also by deadly inter-communal conflict, livestock diseases and a lack of basic services.

I am now a board member of an organization called KEEF - Kenya Education Endowment Fund.  This organization is based in Canada and gives scholarships to young boys to continue into secondary school.  I joined the board after persuasion from the other members who are all long time Kenya volunteers with various organizations here in Kakamega.  I was able to get a couple of donations from friends to give 2 scholarships to deserving students.  The organization only takes boys because there is currently 3 other organizations here that give scholarships to girls and boys are also in the same situation of not having school fees. 

We only had a few scholarships, but we had over 300 boys show an interest.  We selected only 50 to interview.  I started off early in the morning trying to organize all the kids coming for the interview.  They arrived on mass with parents, guardians and teachers in tow.  Sitting down with these young boys that range in age from 12 to 17 is quite a challenge.  Getting them to speak up and answer questions is extremely hard but slowly I get the information out of them that I need to complete the interview. 

One boy comes in and sits down.  He is wearing a torn sweater and black boots with fur that are held together with tape.  He sits down and tells me he doesn’t need a scholarship as he has one, but he needs the money to shop and get to the school he has been called to.  Harrison Nyongosa is an amazing young boy and instantly I know this is one young man that needs help.  He is now 13 years old.  He wrote his Kenya Primary School Exams in 2006 and scored 413 marks out of 500.  He was called to Starhe Boys School. A prestigious school in Nairobi.  He had a fully paid scholarship but needed to pay for his trip to Nairobi and an additional fee of 5000 Kenya shillings for uniform and other items.  He did not have the money so could not go.  He was then called to Kakamega high school and could not afford the fees so he went to a local school near his home where school fees were less.  So he started form 1 in 2007 and went through term 1 and term 2 with straight A’s.  He then started term 3 and was chased from school because his family could not pay the school fees.  So in 2008 he had no money and could not continue in secondary school so he returned to primary school and redid standard 8 and scored 433 marks out of 500.  One of the highest in western province.  Again he was called to Starhe boy’s school and could not pay the shopping and transport fees. 

So he came to the interviews with his father to ask if we could help him.  It was a very easy choice for me to make as I saw how smart this boy was and how determined he was to get to school.  His father had tears in his eyes when I asked him why he could not find the money.  He said he had tried everyone and no one would help.  So I did not hesitate and told him I would pay those costs.  He came back to see me the following Tuesday and I took him shopping and got his bus ticket and sent them on their way to Nairobi.  I will go visit the home on Monday before I leave Kenya.  This young man has a future now, and it will be exciting to see how well he does.  I can’t wait until September when I see how well he did.