A local Vernal paper published this article about Christensen's summer trip to Kenya:
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| Brayden loading finished desks to be transported to Dzivani, Kenya |
Vernal resident Sherrie Christenson inspired her son, Brayden, to help others after she first donated to the Utah-based humanitarian organization Koins for Kenya.
Sherrie donated money earned from her nonfiction book, “The Power of a Penny,” to Koins for Kenya, a foundation that has been helping rural Africans to overcome poverty through education projects since 2003.
Sherrie’s donation was handled by Brett Van Leeuwen, Koins for Kenya chairman, whose son had built school desks for the organization as an Eagle Scout project. Brayden thought it would be fun to go to Africa to help build school desks for the children, and chose to build desks for his Eagle Scout project as well.
The Christensons left for Kenya on July 22 and stayed for 15 days. “It was awesome,” Brayden said.
While in Kenya they stayed in the village of Mnyenzeni in the Kenya Community Center, a place where volunteers reside while working on projects. The first day the Christensens were in Mnyenzeni they were greeted by hundreds of smiling children that were happy to see them.
“We were overwhelmed by the student’s responses when we told them we were going to give each one a brand new pencil. Who knew a measly old pencil could bring such happiness?” Sherrie said.
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| Kids gather outside Windridge school, showing how desks are used |
There were five or six children squeezing together to sit at desks that were built to accommodate only three students. The children squeezed together so no one would have to sit on the dirt floors with chiggers and bot flies. Sherrie said the need for desks was obvious.
Building desks for the school was not an easy task. There were complications caused by lack of wood and screws. Finding wood was a problem because in Mnyenzeni there is not a local lumberyard, and the only way volunteers could get more was by buying a tree and then waiting for it to be chopped down, split and planed.
The volunteers had to travel to the village of Mombasa, 30 miles away, to buy more screws. But because of heavy rains, the roads were washed out and travel was slow.
When the volunteers reached Mombasa, the shops were closed, and the Christensens as well as other volunteers had to find other things to do while as they waited for shops to open later that afternoon.
After much effort, the desks were completed and ready to be delivered to the schools using a tractor and a trailer donated to Koins for Kenya. The majority of the desks Brayden worked on were taken to the new Austin Frampton School in Dzvani.
In fact, the Austin Frampton School was dedicated while the Christensens were in Dzvani by a KFK volunteer, Dallin Frampton. The school was dedicated in honor of Frampton’s 10-year-old brother, Austin, who has Down’s Syndrome.
Frampton built a mud hut in Dzvani and lived there for five months while he helped villagers build the school. “The villagers embraced Dallin and loved him,” Sherrie said.
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| Brayden sitting at finished desk with rose brand, to be used in Dzivani classroom |
Frampton raised all $10,000 to cover costs to build the two-room school by performing a concert in his hometown, Holladay, near Salt Lake City, in October. Roses were branded into the desks in honor of Frampton’s friend, Sophie Rose Barton, who helped raise money by singing at the concert. She died in June.
The Christensons were not only affected greatly by the dedication, but also by the entire experience. One night the Christensons were sitting with other volunteers when a young 12-year-old boy, Charo, died no more than 50 feet away from where the volunteers were sitting.
“Charo and his uncle were trying to get to the dispensary to get medical help. They had walked for several hours and had been turned away from two other villages because they didn’t have any medical personnel available,” Sherrie said. “They were from the village of Gona. Charo was still dressed in his school uniform.”
Charo had gone to school earlier in the day despite his headache because he didn’t want to miss out on the end of term testing. By the time Charo’s mother had gotten home, he was seriously ill. After being turned away from the second village, Charo’s family took what little money they had to hire a motorcycle to drive them to Dzvani, but it wasn’t fast enough.
“It was hard to go to his village the next day to hand out pencils at the school, it was hard to know that they were all experiencing the loss of their friend, but they were still so welcoming to us.” Sherrie said.
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| Gona schoolchildren welcome Koins visitors to their village school |
The volunteers were escorted to a small area where the students performed a program of tribal dancing and singing; local dignitaries came and talked about the importance of education.
At the performance, the chief of the area presented an envelope to a KFK board member that was filled with 10 percent of the money that’s needed to build a new school. Raising money was difficult for the people of Gona because most of them make less than $300 a year.
“On one of the last days we were in Kenya I had several students from the middle school come and help me make Christmas ornaments out of wire and beads so I can decorate a tree for the Vernal Trees for Charity event in November,” Sherrie said. “We are donating it in Charo’s name and hoping to raise money to put towards his classmates’ new school in Gona.”
Brayden said he is more grateful for the educational options in the U.S. now that he has helped a less-fortunate country with their schooling issues. Brayden said his goal now is to continue to help other countries.
By Liberty Montague, Vernal Express
