Email Update to Supporters

March 7, 2008

Dear Friends/Family/Supporters,

It has been a while since I’ve sent an update regarding my neighbors in Kenya. As you will recall, while I was in Kenya my neighbor’s mother suddenly died leaving behind four children with minimal provisions for support. Many of you responded to an email in 2002 and sponsored their education through high school.

Three of the four graduated from high school at the end of 2006 and received grades on their standardized exams to continue with their education. Without a college education, there is little opportunity for them to have a good quality of life and sustainable futures. I sent out another email last October assessing interest in supporting college educations and the response was overwhelmingly positive.

Here are the some meaningful events over the past few months:

-- I created a blog as a means to update you all more frequently. When I get emails from the kids, I will copy them to the blog. It isn’t quite as efficient as a website, but it is FREE. Please check it out at www.kenyahope.blogspot.com.

-- The kids started school in January and are doing very well. Kevin is attending The Hotel and Tourism Institute, an internationally recognized program. He is studying Culinary Arts. Eric is studying Mechanics at the Vocational Production Training Center. Traphis is studying Hospitality at Dima College. All colleges are in Nairobi and Eric, Kevin, and Traphis are living together in Nairobi. Sophia is a junior in high school, continuing her education at Musingu Boarding School in Western Kenya.

-- Here is a breakdown of expenses:
Kevin’s tuition over two years: $7,500
Eric’s tuition over three years: $2,000
Traphis’ tuition over two years: $2,500
Sophie’s remaining high school fees: $1,000
Cost of living for two years (Eric, Kevin, Traphis): $7,200

Amounts are approximate because exchange rates fluctuate.

Cost of living is $300 per month for the three in college in Nairobi and includes rent, food, transportation, and incidentals. Cost of living for Sophie is included in her tuition fees.

Total all these amounts and the cost is approximately $20,000 for three college degrees, the cost of living over two years, and the completion of high school for Sophie. It is a lot of shillingi, but money well spent for the futures of these bright and hopeful young adults.

-- Here is where we are to date on the funds:
Amount Pledged to date: $13,000
Amount received to date: $11,335
Amount left to receive/raise: $7,000

-- GOOD NEWS!
I have partnered up with The Orphan Support League, a non-profit that helps orphans in Kenya. The founder of OSL is a wonderful woman who has been raising funds – 100% of which goes directly to the work in Kenya. She has been receiving some media attention and that has increased awareness and fundraising. She is expanding her projects and is willing to help with the education fund. I’ll be sending an email out later this year about a program where she is willing to match the funds that I can raise from family and friends. In addition, contributions over $100 can now be made to the Orphan Support League, and she will send out a tax deduction letter for your records. The Orphan Support League and yours truly were recently featured on the local ABC news here. You can check that out at:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/focus_on_solutions&id=6003960l
Click on the second picture (the one with me and the kids) to start the video.

-- My friend Kathy threw an amazing dinner party/fundraiser in February and invited her friends and neighbors. We had a fabulous time and nearly $1,500 was raised in one evening. I wanted to mention this because I’m grateful to the Copeland’s and their heart to bring awareness to this cause amongst their circles of support. If you have friends or family interested in supporting the education and future’s of these kids, please feel free to pass the information along!

-- Eric, Kevin, and Traphis have all written thank you letters. They are posted on the blog. Check them out at www.kenyahope.blogspot.com. I’ve asked them to take pictures and send them to me, and I’ll post those when I get them in the next couple of months. I didn’t provide much direction, so it was fun to read the letter. Remember that English is their THIRD language so they are rough in spots.

-- If you have any questions, please feel free to ask away! Again, I’m just so grateful for all the support. Sometimes I get quite anxious about how this is all going to work out, but then I get responses from people that just blow me away. So thanks so much for the willingness to help. Not only in finances, but just in the interest of these lives that mean so much to me. I can’t overstate how much I love these four young adults and it means the world to me that they are having the opportunity to succeed. That couldn’t happen without your support, so thank you a million times over.

Love,

Diane

Beginnings

I still recall the day the hired vans drove me to my site in Western Kenya after three months of training. They dropped me off in the pouring rain, and basically said “see you in two years.” This marked the beginning of my Peace Corps experience.

At six months into my service I traveled the seven hours to Nairobi for a conference. When I came back there was a large mound of dirt on the neighbor’s compound. Under the dirt was the body of the kids’ mother. She had tragically died while I was away and she was now underground, twenty feet from their front door. She was the one that supported their education by brewing illicit alcohol – a mother does whatever she has to do for the wellbeing of her children. Once she died, the kids were sent home from school because they did not have the required fees. Education is not a right but a privilege in Kenya.

This was at the beginning of 2002 and I needed to do something. So I sent an email to my list of friends and family, asking if they would like to help send these kids to school. In one email, over $8,000 was raised. That was enough to send them to school for their entire high school years. With the remaining funds, textbooks were purchased for the school, and orphanage was assisted, and hospice care for those dying from AIDS was supported.

And this is the beginning of my story. The kids and I became extremely close over the next year and a half. They could not afford the paraffin for their own lamp, so they came over nightly and studied in my home. Sometimes I fed them dinner, sometimes we listed to music on my little CD player, sometimes we talked about our different cultures, and sometimes we sat in silence. In every way imaginable, they became my family.

I left Kenya in August 2003 and remained close with my neighbors. In December of 2006 three of them graduated from high school. I sent another email too see if people were interested in continuing to help in efforts to send the kids to college. Nearly $13,000 was pledged.

So now I am raising funds and trying to help with their continuing education so they can have a sustainable future. I love these kids like my own and I feel honored to be a part of their life. Through this blog and the sharing of their emails, I'm hoping that you all feel connected to them as well.

Diane