Karibu Kenya (Welcome to Kenya)

After 30 hours of travel we finally arrived in Kenya on Sunday, completely delirious, but none the less excited to be here. I was thrilled to meet our East Africa Director, Pastor Fred Afwai, and his wife Alice at the airport. After a good night's sleep, we were ready to go. One of my favorite things to do is simply stare out the window. I have always been fascinated by different cultures and far-off places where I am completely out of my element. Nairobi is a total assault on the senses. You can see people everywhere-scurrying to work, selling any item you can imagine, hauling water, charcoal, or live chickens. Hearing honking horns or blaring music from matatus (taxi buses) plowing through the center of town. Smelling exhaust and smoke from cooking fires. Feeling fear from Pastor Fred hauling full speed through crowded intersections and barely dodging pedestrians.

Our first stop was Kayole Community School. The director, Bernard, is an extremely amicable and extremely tall individual. They have 328 children up to grade 8 and feed 233 of the neediest children everyday. Food prices have skyrocketed so high that it costs $120 every week to feed them, an astronomical amount in a country where the per capita year annual income is $1000. His other major area of concern is paying teachers. They can't retain good teachers because they can't pay them regularly. He estimates it would take a salary of about $110/month to keep a quality educator. On a rarely good month, he can pay $70 to his best teachers. Most months, it is only what is available, even if it is $20 or less.

Next it was on to Sandota. We were immediately greeted by songs of welcome from the children. We are absolutely thrilled that some very kind people have donated money for Sandota to buy their own land. Currently they are renting the school they are using and the landlord has been breathing down the director, Carolyn's, neck to keep up with the ever-increasing rent. This generous donation for Sandota to build their own school has been an absolute blessing because without it, the 200 children of Sandota may have no other opportunity for education.

Finally, we met with Pastor Boniface and the children from Maximum Impact. Earlier this summer, some excited AYA volunteers came together and decided they wanted to have 5K run to raise money to build a school. After talking about different options, they decided Maximum Impact would be the best recipient. They are a good performing school, serving orphans and impoverished children, and already own their own plot where we can construct the school. One of the best reasons for constructing their own school besides safety from possible eviction, is the money that can be saved from not having to pay rent. Maximum Impact has to pay almost $500/month in rent. They have some students that can pay school fees and make money from a community computer and copier project funded by AYA, but most months it is a serious struggle to come up with the rent. Without having to pay rent, they can pay their teachers regularly, improve the feeding program, and buy scholastic materials.