Help bring the family together for Babu

Dear Friends and Family,

Reneé Kokonya Sullivan (Bart Sullivan’s wife), lost her Dad last week. Cleophas Kokonya was a husband, father, community pillar, and senior official at the United Nations. Affectionately known by his grandkids as "Black Babu", his presence was commanding and his generosity exceptional. His life is an inspiring legacy of deep roots, abundant shade, flourishing branches, and nourishing fruits and nuts.

Renée was able to get back to Nairobi, Kenya in time to be with her father before cardiac complications proved too much and he passed from this world. One of the last things he asked was "Please unite the children and get the family together.”

Cleophas and Jane have six children: sons Eusebio and Felix in Nairobi, eldest daughter Lilian in the UK, and three daughters (Renée, Flavia, and Chloé) in Canada. Their seven grandchildren are spread across three countries, including six-month-old Jabali in Ottawa, Canada. It is also our greatest wish that all immediate family members can return home to honour their father and Babu (swahili for grandfather), celebrate his life, participate in Christian and traditional ceremonies in their ancestral compound, and be united at this time of grief and gratitude.

Travel costs in this circumstance are a particular challenge given the geographic dispersal, early-stage careers of many, and the suddenness of this event. We are reaching out to you - friends, family, and colleagues - with a specific request for contributions; assistance to help make it possible for Renee, Bart, and grandchildren Niah, Jahawi and Tulia (Ottawa), daughters Flavia, Chloé, and grandbaby Jabali (Ottawa), and daughter Lillian and grandson Munge (UK), to gather together in Nairobi and upcountry next week, in keeping with the longing Cleophas expressed.

Any financial donation you feel called to share will be applied directly to turning that hope into a reality next week.

Thank you for your love and care, both past and into the future. It is already an enormous gift in our lives.

The Sullivan - Kokonya family.