Help build a school for rescued children in Kenya

Hey there!

My name is Monique but everyone just calls me Mon and today I want to share with you a story.

See, I believe stories are what bridge connections with people and that’s exactly how this project came about.

It’s about how a stranger met another stranger, a story was shared and hope was born.

I got the opportunity to head over to Kenya in August last year and after a series of events occurred, I found myself in a small village called Loita Hills, located near the Maasai Mara and it was here that I would meet a woman that would change everything.

So let me introduce to you Hellen Nkuraiya. She’s a woman you’ve probably never heard of but she’s a woman who is paving the way for freedom, hope, and opportunity for young girls in Kenya. Hellen is the founder of the Enkiteng Lepa (Purple Cow) School, The Tepesua Nursery School as well as a widowed village and an eco-camp located in Loita Hills also near the Nursery School.

Today, the small Tepesua community, formed of an eco-camp and a widow’s village that sells beaded jewelry to visitors, funds the Enkiteng Lepa (Purple Cow) school for 200 at-risk young girls. They are given board, education, and ultimately, options. And if that wasn’t enough, she started a movement she calls ‘Don’t Exchange Girls For Cows, Give Them Education’.

This is a woman with a dream whose main motivation is to inspire change, not just within a community but an entire country. Her movement aims to shift the culture's perception of women and children to see them as equals. And despite the challenges she comes up against in a male-dominated culture, her mission gets louder and stronger as each passing day goes by.

Giving girls an education—instead of being sold as a bride for three cows—is what motivated Hellen, herself a child bride, to start a school in Kenya’s Maasai community—even amidst public and family disapproval. Hellen's mission however is not only to rescue the young girls within her community but also the young boys. Because she believes change starts with education and this is why she founded the Tepesua Nursery School. At present, the school has 60 students, both boys, and girls aged anywhere between 3-8, and is at capacity with the four classrooms she currently has.

When I asked Hellen what her dream was it was for her culture and education to live side by side. And one way she could make that happen is to complete her Tepesua Nursery School, by adding an additional four classrooms to equal a total of eight so each year level had its one classroom and teacher.

Which brings us to here and now and why I'm setting the challenge of raising $30k in 30 days. I made a promise to Hellen that I would do everything in my power to help her dream come true. And it's not just her dream that will come true because by building a fully furnished classroom as part of the four she needs to complete the Tepesua Nursery School, it will begin to change generational lineages of kids who otherwise wouldn't have an opportunity to get an education or at the very least have options in life.

If you're in a position where you can donate, no matter how big or small it might be, then just know that it all adds up and goes a long way. And this campaign is going to prove that. There's always a way to help so if you can't give right now, that's totally fine - sharing this link with a friend goes a long way too!

THE JOURNEY OF YOUR DONATION - Staying updated.

I'm very passionate about story telling and building community, which is why transparency is something I take to heart. Particularly when it comes to knowing and understanding where your money is actually going and what it's being put towards to. I don't just want to raise these funds and then that be the end of the story, I want to take you along the ride and show you what you have helped create becuase it's going to be special.

This is why once you have made your donation, should you wish to stay connected and updated with the progress of everything over the next year, this is how we're going to stay connected:

1. Please email me with your name, email address, and a note that says you are a donor who would like to be updated with the project.

2. You will be added to a mailing list as one form of communication.

3. You'll have the option to also be added to the Telegram Group Chat. This is where I can keep you updated on the progress of where everything is at in real-time. The Telegram Group will only include the community of donors and my little team on the ground in Kenya, who along with myself will keep you updated with everything that is happening so you can see the direct impact your donation has made in the Tepesua community.

If you want to just stay in the loop in general you can be added to the mailing list: sign up here

As I said, community is important and I want to show how one small community can directly impact another small community on the other side of the world without ever having met. Kindness is a currency and this project will prove that after all, a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet.

And so from the bottom of my heart, I just want to say thank you for getting to the end of this and for being part of the story. We're going to do really great things together in 2023, I can feel it!