10 Year Anniversary Trip!
Donation protected
Short Story: Amelia and Shana are returning to Kenya to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their first trip together. They are raising money to help cover travel expenses, gifts for the kids, and a large dinner for the orphanage. They are also encouraging former supporters of Jump for Joel and past trip members to send letters and photos they can pass along to the kids at Gathiga Children's Hope Home.
Note - Joel is now 16 and residing at a boarding school. Shana and Amelia haven't seen him in at least 5 years (!), and they are excited to travel to his boarding school to be reunited.
Long story:
It was 2008, and we were young, naive, and determined to change the world.
Now we're 10 years older, still young(ish), slightly less naive, and most importantly: we're immensely grateful to have been changed by the world and the friends we've met along the way.
When I (Shana) returned from my first trip to Kenya in 2007, I was markedly different. I told everyone I could about the beautiful children of Gathiga Children's Hope Home, an orphanage in desperate need of help. They needed an outhouse. Surely we could help with an outhouse. The teenage girls weren't attending high school because of fees. Surely we could help them. My friends and family graciously listened and responded to my tearful requests to help. We finished the outhouse. We got the girls back in school. And piece by piece, project by project, we helped the Hope Home get back on its feet.
This is the story of Jump for Joel, a remarkable project that grew into a non-profit organization. Jump for Joel ran from 2007-2012. We chose to close it down in 2012, knowing that Kenyan staff needed to call the shots, not Americans. We had given them the boost they needed, and in turn, they taught us about genuine faith and resilience.
Looking back on the story of Jump for Joel (J4J), I am most amazed by what happened the summer of 2008. Five of my college friends willingly went to Kenya with me, not knowing the extent of what I was getting them in to. To this day, I don't know how they convinced their parents to let them go. One of the friends on this trip was my best friend, Amelia. I'll let her tell you about it...
"After nearly a year of helping Shana “do something” to help the orphanage that she’d visited in Kenya, the opportunity came up for a few of us to go with her. And I thought, 'If I want to help these kids, I should go there and meet them myself instead of repeating Shana’s stories second hand.' I often tell people now, 10 years later, that I hope I’ve helped some of my beloved Kenyan friends, but they have changed my life forever! That 2008 trip was only two and a half weeks but it is a clear turning point in my life. I fell in love with the kids and so many amazing friends we met along the way, and the landscape, and the culture of hospitality and the food! And now the little kids I met on that 2008 trip are teenagers, and I want to go back and see them again. I want to continue thanking them for what they’ve taught me and give them a chance to teach me new lessons. I want to remind them that I love them and have not forgotten or given up on them! I see now that the trip in 2008 (and this trip too!) are a part of an ongoing story."
So why are we talking about this now?
I think some people thought when Jump for Joel ended, our relationships in Kenya ended as well. Not true! We keep up with our closest friends, and we get updates from Hope Home from time to time. Both Amelia and I have made return trips to Kenya over the years to keep those relationships going. Recently I hosted our dear friend, Grace, while she visited the United States. Our Kenyan friends are some of our favorite people on Earth, so of course we visit and keep up with them. They are family!
Typically we haven't fundraised for these post-J4J trips, and we pay for them out-of-pocket like any other personal travel.
But since this is the TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY (woot, woot) of Amelia and me traveling to Kenya together for the first time, we wanted to:
1) Return together - we haven't been in Kenya at the same time since J4J ended
2) Use the trip to bless our friends there
We are asking for help with airfare and in-country transportation (not all of it, but some - thank you, mileage points, for reducing the cost). Our tentative travel dates are July 16 - Aug 2nd.
We are asking for monetary donations we can pass along to the children and adults from Hope Home. Some of the kids have gone on to college and gotten married! We'd love to visit and encourage them and leave them with a gift.
As was our tradition during Jump for Joel, we'd like to host a large dinner for the Hope Home (with meat and all the trimmings!) one night of the trip. We used to do this when teams would visit, and we'd like to keep the tradition going.
We are asking for past trip members, sponsors, and friends to send letters and photos to any specific kids you may remember. We'd love to hand these out. We know from our time with J4J (and just from being human) how much it means to be remembered and thought about. "You remember my name?!"
Yes, Hope Home kids, we do!
As was the case during J4J, if YOU have wonderful ideas that we haven't considered, WE WELCOME THEM. :)
To close, I'll say this: The most beautiful part of Jump for Joel was how we all (friends, family, friends-of-friends, college buddies, classmates, churches, schools, random strangers on the internet) rallied together to make one tiny part of the world a little less burdened. In a day and age where it's easy to move on to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing, we're choosing to circle back, together, and bless the Hope Home again. We hope you'll join us.
-Shana and Amelia
Note - Joel is now 16 and residing at a boarding school. Shana and Amelia haven't seen him in at least 5 years (!), and they are excited to travel to his boarding school to be reunited.
Long story:
It was 2008, and we were young, naive, and determined to change the world.
Now we're 10 years older, still young(ish), slightly less naive, and most importantly: we're immensely grateful to have been changed by the world and the friends we've met along the way.
When I (Shana) returned from my first trip to Kenya in 2007, I was markedly different. I told everyone I could about the beautiful children of Gathiga Children's Hope Home, an orphanage in desperate need of help. They needed an outhouse. Surely we could help with an outhouse. The teenage girls weren't attending high school because of fees. Surely we could help them. My friends and family graciously listened and responded to my tearful requests to help. We finished the outhouse. We got the girls back in school. And piece by piece, project by project, we helped the Hope Home get back on its feet.
This is the story of Jump for Joel, a remarkable project that grew into a non-profit organization. Jump for Joel ran from 2007-2012. We chose to close it down in 2012, knowing that Kenyan staff needed to call the shots, not Americans. We had given them the boost they needed, and in turn, they taught us about genuine faith and resilience.
Looking back on the story of Jump for Joel (J4J), I am most amazed by what happened the summer of 2008. Five of my college friends willingly went to Kenya with me, not knowing the extent of what I was getting them in to. To this day, I don't know how they convinced their parents to let them go. One of the friends on this trip was my best friend, Amelia. I'll let her tell you about it...
"After nearly a year of helping Shana “do something” to help the orphanage that she’d visited in Kenya, the opportunity came up for a few of us to go with her. And I thought, 'If I want to help these kids, I should go there and meet them myself instead of repeating Shana’s stories second hand.' I often tell people now, 10 years later, that I hope I’ve helped some of my beloved Kenyan friends, but they have changed my life forever! That 2008 trip was only two and a half weeks but it is a clear turning point in my life. I fell in love with the kids and so many amazing friends we met along the way, and the landscape, and the culture of hospitality and the food! And now the little kids I met on that 2008 trip are teenagers, and I want to go back and see them again. I want to continue thanking them for what they’ve taught me and give them a chance to teach me new lessons. I want to remind them that I love them and have not forgotten or given up on them! I see now that the trip in 2008 (and this trip too!) are a part of an ongoing story."
So why are we talking about this now?
I think some people thought when Jump for Joel ended, our relationships in Kenya ended as well. Not true! We keep up with our closest friends, and we get updates from Hope Home from time to time. Both Amelia and I have made return trips to Kenya over the years to keep those relationships going. Recently I hosted our dear friend, Grace, while she visited the United States. Our Kenyan friends are some of our favorite people on Earth, so of course we visit and keep up with them. They are family!
Typically we haven't fundraised for these post-J4J trips, and we pay for them out-of-pocket like any other personal travel.
But since this is the TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY (woot, woot) of Amelia and me traveling to Kenya together for the first time, we wanted to:
1) Return together - we haven't been in Kenya at the same time since J4J ended
2) Use the trip to bless our friends there
We are asking for help with airfare and in-country transportation (not all of it, but some - thank you, mileage points, for reducing the cost). Our tentative travel dates are July 16 - Aug 2nd.
We are asking for monetary donations we can pass along to the children and adults from Hope Home. Some of the kids have gone on to college and gotten married! We'd love to visit and encourage them and leave them with a gift.
As was our tradition during Jump for Joel, we'd like to host a large dinner for the Hope Home (with meat and all the trimmings!) one night of the trip. We used to do this when teams would visit, and we'd like to keep the tradition going.
We are asking for past trip members, sponsors, and friends to send letters and photos to any specific kids you may remember. We'd love to hand these out. We know from our time with J4J (and just from being human) how much it means to be remembered and thought about. "You remember my name?!"
Yes, Hope Home kids, we do!
As was the case during J4J, if YOU have wonderful ideas that we haven't considered, WE WELCOME THEM. :)
To close, I'll say this: The most beautiful part of Jump for Joel was how we all (friends, family, friends-of-friends, college buddies, classmates, churches, schools, random strangers on the internet) rallied together to make one tiny part of the world a little less burdened. In a day and age where it's easy to move on to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing, we're choosing to circle back, together, and bless the Hope Home again. We hope you'll join us.
-Shana and Amelia
Co-organizers (2)
Shana Waldinger
Organizer
Springfield, IL
Amelia Cheshire
Co-organizer