Volunteer in Kenya

Dear Friends,

As some of you may know, I am so excited to be participating in a volunteer vacation in July. During this trip, I will be working with Maasai school children who live on a reservation in Southern Kenya through the Maywood (NJ) Rotary Kenya Project.

This part of the world is much poorer than the one we live in. People there live without consistent access to clean water, in a climate prone to droughts and with limited to no medical care. All too often, children in Kenya die of preventable illnesses related to dehydration and malnutrition.

The school I am volunteering with has one big problem that I hope to help fix. At Nkenijii Primary School a significant number of students’ parents send them to school just because it is a way to ensure that their children have one meal a day, if there is no food at home. Although the school does have some donated food, there is no sheltered kitchen for them to cook for students each day. The school presently has an open campsite fire and two large cooking bowls. If it rains, there is no lunch that day. If the unprotected food eaten by animals, there is no lunch that day.

Here’s the chance for you to help if you’re so inclined.

For ten years, the Maywood Rotary Kenya Project has donated funds to support the school and its students. To date, they have built one school from scratch including eleven classrooms and running fresh water pipes to the school. They have also provided badly needed medical supplies, a fully stocked library, faculty housing, and girls’ and boys dorms that enable students to avoid walking up to 8 miles to school each way daily.

Our goal is to raise funds to build a simple kitchen with a roof and secure storage for donated food. My individual goal is to raise $2,000. If you choose to make a donation, please know that the amount less a small GoFundMe fee is fully tax deductible.