Dr. Paul Johnston is a Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is also developer of the "super cookie." In this talk he explains how the forces of agriculture and nutrition can come together in the form of a "school garden" to provide better nourishment for young people in Kenya.
On April 5, he gave this talk in Park City, Utah that was part of a conference convening in Berlin, Germany by the Gates Foundation on world health and hunger. His talk was made available by streaming to Berlin. The talk dealt with his international nutrition class' interaction with the children in Kenya serviced by Koins and SRA.
This is a great summary of the nutritional difficulties faced by the children of our service area of Kenya. Dr. Johnston has visited Mnyenzeni, and established a relationship between his Nutrition classes at BYU and the young students in Kenya, analyzed their diets, and helped establish nutritional needs and the efforts of a school garden in Gona to better meet these needs. It is a great example of how his expertise, the input of his students, the experience of Self Reliant Agriculture (SRA) and the facilitating of Koins has worked together to successfully improve the diets of this test group of students. With the expansion of the rotational farm project through the cooperative efforts of SRA and Koins, we hope the future of the children of the Mnyenzeni area will be a brighter and healthier.
Many thanks to Dr. Johnston and the SRA for their willingness to work with Koins.
Asante Sana!
IVL
Showing posts with label Gona. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gona. Show all posts
Monday, April 16, 2012
Monday, November 14, 2011
Run For Your Life
A blog entry by Karen Timothy, a participant in the July 2011 Koins Expedition.
The phrase “Run For Your Life” took on a whole new meaning this past July as we held the Koins second annual Half Marathon; this time from Myenzeni to Gona. As Monica Woodland was pondering what to do for her project in Kenya, she heard about last year’s race and knew without a doubt that this was what she wanted to put her energies into…and what a lot of energy that was.
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| American and Kenyan women ready to start their race |
The race is quickly becoming the opening ceremony for the dedication of a new school. Last year about 100 Kenyan men showed up for the race but the only women to participate were a few girls from the expedition. The race went from the KCC (Koins Community Center) to the new school and not all starters finished the race. Speculation has it that when it became apparent to the slower runners that they were not going to be able win the $100 prize money, many of them lost interest and dropped out.
Monica had a different vision for the race this year. Knowing that Kenyan women are not treated with the same deference American women are, she wanted to provide an incentive for women to enter the race and be able to win some money of their own. Word soon spread around the village that there would be cash prizes for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners for both men and women and we American women were quite excited about the idea of a Kenyan woman being treated equal to the men. The night before the race, Monica and I sat at one of the school lunch tables that were our only furniture in the KCC, playing out scenarios of how much money to award and when to award it. As we were tossing around our ideas, Bret (Koins founder, Baba [father] Bret to the Africans and bigger-than-life-shaved-headed-America) joined us and threw a wrench into our brainstorming. He was quite firm in his feelings that the women should not receive as much prize money as the men. Monica and I both felt the hackles on our necks raise a little at this. He explained that they would not expect it and that their husbands would just take it anyway –“ it’s just the African way.” He also said it wouldn’t be wise to award the women’s prize money along with the men’s at the Gona school celebration. “But,” he said in parting, “it’s your race.”
After Bret left, Monica and I talked a little more. She got opinions from a few of the other women in the group and finally made a decision. We proceeded with our girl-power pride intact to prepare the awards, placing the money into envelopes.
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| Monica on the road from Mnyenzeni to Gona |
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| Water stop on race route |
The next morning, Tara and I were stationed at the second water stop with an African college student named Charles. We were dropped off on a dirt road with our water and cups and went about setting up our things on a school desk that had been placed there for our use. Immediately a group of children started waving and shouting their now familiar greeting, “Jambo,” drawing closer each moment as their curiosity piqued. Shortly, three teens on a motorcycle drove up and demanded water in what to Tara and I, were rather challenging, if not angry, voices. Charles barked back at them to leave…the water was for runners that would soon race by here. Without further argument they sped off and Tara and I were grateful that someone had the sense to see that we were accompanied by an African. No sooner had we settled back down when out of nowhere we were confronted by two tall, thin African men with huge dangling earlobes, dressed in the red robes of the Maasai tribe. They carried their trademark walking sticks and barked out an order to Tara…”Sista, give me drink!” When she gave them one of her “I don’t even see you standing there you scary stranger” looks, they shouted their demand again….”Sista, give me water!” There was no way she was going to engage with these men so Charles stepped in and told them they could have water but to take the cups themselves. They did so, then threw their cups on the ground (another Kenyan behavior we Americans just can't understand) and left as quietly as they had come.
-(The Maasai tribe is a group of nomads that live out their lives wandering the land with their cattle herds, often not coming near villages for a month or more at a time. They are “Googleable” for those interested in learning more about them.)
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| KweKwe in the lead |
Again we were grateful for Charles’ presence but soon forgot about our thirsty visitors as we saw in the distance what appeared to be an African woman running towards us with a big white number pinned to her chest. (The fact that she was running should have been all the clue we needed to identify her as a one of the contestants. We never once saw a woman hurrying there. They always just trudged along with their babies on their backs and their loads on their heads.) Sure enough, in another minute a beautiful, tall African woman came flying by us in her flowing chiffon dress and bare feet, refusing the proffered water. Tara and I jumped up and down and cheered like fools. Not far behind, a second woman was tearing up the dirt path. She, too, was barefooted and only paused long enough for a quick drink before making the turn. The only other women that passed our station were those from our expedition. They did not qualify for prize money so they were in no hurry! We later learned that only 2 women and about 31 African men had entered the race this time. Again, we wondered if the fact that so few could win anything prevented more from entering. It was suggested that next year they offer some sort of prize like a t-shirt or water bottle for all those who finish the race. It’s my guess that this would generate far greater interest and motivation.
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| Race winners honored at Gona celebration |
Later that day, at the celebration of the Tingey School of Gona, all of the marathon winners were introduced and the men were given their prize money in front of a duly impressed crowd. There was just a brief mention that the women had already received a prize earlier in the day. I think there were more than a few Americans who were disappointed that they hadn’t let the people know that the women had also received their prize money. However, this is not our culture and change is a slow, tedious process. It was a frank reminder that we cannot just go over there and change their world in a day – nor should we. They are a beautiful people with a long history and while we ache for them to have the comforts and advantages we do, there are many obstacles to overcome and change will take time. The fact that Koins now has the first female university student from the village studying in Nairobi is huge. Hopefully more progress is on the way but to have used this marathon to take a hard stand about the need for Kenyan women to be treated like American women would have proved disastrous. Thank you Baba Bret.
The whole thing was quite a learning experience for us all. The fact that this Kenyan mother, Kwe Kwe, could earn money by simply running 13 miles proves that sometimes you really can “run for your life.” She will likely buy food, maybe clothing for her children but whatever she does, she now has an American sister she will never forget. Monica, who always looks like she just stepped out of a fashion magazine, chose to spend the following night with Kwe Kwe at her home, learning what it feels like to sleep in a mud hut with no water to drink and no hand blowers in the restrooms. She came home humbled and teary-eyed and it was clear to us that Monica will never be the same. The second-place winner, also named Kwe Kwe, undoubtedly marveled at her good fortune at the hands of an unknown American woman who wanted to make a difference. It was an honor to witness this bit of compassion and sisterly love. Well done, Monica.
Karen Timothy
_____________________________
I had the opportunity to ride backwards on a motorbike driven by Bret, to film and photograph the race from that perspective. It was a bit of a challenge, but a fun way to see the faces and effort being put forth by the runners. It was also a kick to see the faces of the villagers as they watched me from my awkward vantage point, wondering what the crazy white woman was doing.
I saw the women at the beginning of the race, the Kenyan women with their shy, quiet approach to the starting point (running is simply not something that Kenyan women do publicly). I saw the determination in KweKwe's pace, she wanted to be the first over the finish line. She kept looking over her shoulder to ensure she was in first place.
I saw the dusty and bleeding feet of the two KweKwe's as they finished the race, having run barefoot the entire way.
I saw the faces of the KweKwe's as they were given their prize money in a quiet, post race gathering. The incredulity of the prize they were receiving was obvious. It was almost as if they expected it to be taken back from them. They both quickly tucked the money into their clothing.
Karen Timothy
_____________________________
I had the opportunity to ride backwards on a motorbike driven by Bret, to film and photograph the race from that perspective. It was a bit of a challenge, but a fun way to see the faces and effort being put forth by the runners. It was also a kick to see the faces of the villagers as they watched me from my awkward vantage point, wondering what the crazy white woman was doing.
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| The KweKwe's before the race started |
I saw the women at the beginning of the race, the Kenyan women with their shy, quiet approach to the starting point (running is simply not something that Kenyan women do publicly). I saw the determination in KweKwe's pace, she wanted to be the first over the finish line. She kept looking over her shoulder to ensure she was in first place.
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| KweKwe #1 crossing the finish line |
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| Monica and the KweKwe's post race feet |
I saw the dusty and bleeding feet of the two KweKwe's as they finished the race, having run barefoot the entire way.
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| Monica proudly poses with the two female race winners |
I saw the faces of the KweKwe's as they were given their prize money in a quiet, post race gathering. The incredulity of the prize they were receiving was obvious. It was almost as if they expected it to be taken back from them. They both quickly tucked the money into their clothing.
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| KweKwe #2 with her prize money |
Several of us gathered around the Kenyan women after the race, and asked them about their lives. KweKwe #1 was a 30 year old widow with 6 children. We all knew the impact the prize money would have on her family. KweKwe #2 had 4 children, and again, the impact of the prize money would be immense.
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| Happy racers |
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| Monica congratulating the women at the Gona celebration |
Sunday evening, KweKwe #1 walked to the KCC to visit with Monica. She brought a gift and wanted to personally thank Monica. Bret and Monica spent some time with her, and the end result was that Monica packed up a bag and headed off to KweKwe's home to spend the night with her family.
I was speechless. In all the years of Koins working in Kenya, I had never seen a woman spend the night in a villager's home. It is a common practice for the expeditioners to shadow a village woman during the day, and experience the day to day work of a Kenyan woman. However, spending the night in a mud hut is a totally different story.
We all worried about Monica and how her village experience was going. The next day we arrived at KweKwe's village area promptly at the designated time, expecting Monica to be there waiting for us. She arrived about 30 minutes later, regretful that she would not see KweKwe's children arrive home from school that afternoon. She had great stories to share of her experience, and fond memories that she will reflect on her entire life.
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| Monica receiving adulation of fellow expeditioners upon her return to the KCC |
Monica left Kenya with a new sister of her heart. I left with a renewed desire to help the women of Kenya, who live such difficult, hardworking lives.
Asante, Monica, for your example.
IVL
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Goin' to Gona
A post by Karen Timothy.
And now for the real purpose of this amazing trip to Africa….we were going to Gona, a small Kenyan village, whose history had left little marks on the hearts of those who were there the year before.
Gona was a typical African village with typical African people and typical African children that sang typical African songs. The summer of 2010, however, set their school apart from the typical African school….Koins for Kenya had built them a lovely pit latrine!!! There was a big celebration planned and much ado was to be made over the whole thing.
You can read about the 2010 Gona activities here.
Just a day or two before the celebration, one young Gona school boy wasn’t feeling so good. It was time for his exams, however, so rather than miss school, he suffered through his tests and the rigors of getting to and from school with little to eat and reeling with sickness. That evening when it became apparent that the boy needed some serious medical attention, his uncle walked him to the nearest dispensary but found no help there. They quickly decided to try to reach the Mnyenzeni dispensary but it was getting dark and the boy had little strength left. Night had fallen by the time they reached Mnyenzeni and the Koins expeditioners were sitting outside, sharing what they called “Peaches and Pits,” – stories of the good and bad things that had happened that day. They noticed a disturbance under a nearby tree and someone went over to check it out. There under a big tree, not 50 yards from the dispensary, the young boy died, having suffered a painful death from malaria.
Even if this sweet boy had made it to the dispensary in time, there would have been nothing they could have done for him. As I’ve mentioned before, while the government does have medication that will cure malaria, they will not give it unless the patient has had a blood test confirming the disease. The Myenzeni dispensary had no way of performing that test because they didn’t have a microscope. You can imagine how sobering that night was for all who had witnessed such a tragedy. In typical African fashion, the women who had gathered around the young boy began to make a loud, trilling sound that filled the black night, indicating that someone had just died. It was that sound that informed the boy’s mother that he had passed away. She could not travel as quickly as the others and had not arrived with them to see him take his last breath under the tree.
There was some question about whether or not to go ahead with the Gona celebration with this sadness hanging over everyone but the preparations had been made and it was decided to proceed. During that celebration, Koins was given an envelope containing 10% of the cost of a new school building. While they had several buildings on their makeshift campus, they needed more room and were asking for help with a new 3-room building. Sitting there in the heat, choking on the soda pop and cookies that must have cost the villagers a fortune to provide, Sue knew that she was the one who was supposed to build the new school in Gona. She says she groaned inside but if she did, it was just the groan of someone good getting up out of a comfortable seat to do something hard and wonderful.
Upon their return home, Sue began a year long journey of raising the money to build the classroom in Gona and Cindy went back to school with a determination that not one more child would die of malaria on her watch. Sue and Curt enlisted the help of friends, family, neighbors and boy scouts and raised not only enough money to build the school but also desks, water cisterns and a latrine…with money left over to put towards another school or project of their choosing. Cindy welcomed a new classroom of students at Windridge elementary with her infectious enthusiasm and spurred them on to raise $1,500 to buy a microscope for the Mnyenzeni dispensary. That was the microscope that arrived earlier this year which, in the first week, saved 6 lives by identifying malaria in 6 out of 8 blood samples.
By the time we arrived in the village this summer, the Gona school was almost ready. The celebration was about 5 days away and it just needed to be cleaned and painted. My ears pricked up! I quickly confirmed what I had already suspected…. painting an African school does not resemble the faux painting I do at home. The primer seemed to be sheet rock dust mixed with water and the brushes we painted with were nothing short of hilarious! Some had such long heavy bristles that it was like painting with a wig on a stick. Other had been chopped off so many times that the ½” bristles barely stuck out of the handle. Worse…once we got that awful primer on, the school folks stood back and proudly said, “There!!” Whoa! You could rub that stuff off with your shirtsleeve but that was all they were putting on the inside walls. Fortunately, they have this style going where everything is 2-toned so we were able to paint “below chair rail” – minus the chair rail – a bright blue, which greatly improved the overall look. Then we went outside to paint more blue and noticed that the white primer had been smeared over some of the brick. We were told that the bricks would get a coat of white paint the next day and the alarms in my head started going off. Sure enough, we got all the blue painted with the edges nicely cut in and – to make a long story short – the next day 50 kids and parents with buckets of how-the-heck-they-got-it-I’ll-never-know white OIL paint finished painting the school, obscuring the fact that there had ever been blue paint anywhere near the building! I can only imagine the whole scene. These people are used to painting with the watered down primer and somehow they had gotten their hands on oil paint. They were told it would come off with water but it won’t. I don’t want to see their school uniforms. I can’t imagine their little hands, and legs, and feet! They had flung it high and low so even their heads must have been covered! Curt and Mike about died when they saw it. After a bit of stomping and fuming and a couple of diet cokes, they resolved to go back the next day before the celebration and repaint the whole thing. They did. It was beautiful. Life goes on.
I was happy to be in the van with Sue on the drive to the celebration because she had not yet seen what the rest of us had. The road to Gona had been renamed, “Curt Tingey Drive.” I knew she’d die and wanted to see the look on her face. She was a good sport about it though and was just glad they hadn’t named it “Mama Gona Drive” like Curt wanted!
At the celebration Curt and Sue were given Duruma names and wrapped in beautiful kanga cloths as they were adopted into the Duruma tribe. Next it was Bret and Ingrid’s turn, then Mike and Cindy’s. They then asked Tara to stand and they gave her a Duruma name – Raziki. That meant “Gift from God.” They told the rest that they’d get back to us with our names and by the end of the ceremony we had all been given a Duruma names and kanga cloth and were properly adopted by our new family.
Next came the dancers and the presentation of the Koins sponsored college students, and the headmaster of Bofu school with his 10% for next year…and the little girl who gave a poem about AIDS and how it is a killer. Sobering. About 10% of the population has HIV/AIDS, and other African countries have a much higher percentage.
It was quite a celebration all in all. We had many adventures getting ready for it – 3 in particular we won’t soon forget.
1. Purity is a young woman who is being sponsored through Koins to attend the university in Nairobi. Since her sponsor, Kim, was with us, Bret flew Purity in to meet her and attend the Gona celebration. We weren’t really surprised that she had never been on an airplane before and it had obviously made her quite nervous. We were surprised, however, that she had never been to Gona before. Purity was raised in the village of Mnyenzeni where family still lives. Mnyenzeni is the village where Koins has built its “headquarters”, kitchen and shop. It was from Mnyenzeni to Gona that the half marathon had been run. Do the math….Gona is only a half marathon away from Mnyenzeni and yet this girl had never been that far from home! There’s even a short cut if you’re not driving but for some reason – lack of curiosity, lack of need, lack of energy…whatever – this was the first time Purity had been the 13 miles away from home to the village of Gona.
2. There is a strange phenomenon there. You can be watching a woman take a pan off the fire using her kanga as a hot pad, thinking you’re in the stone age, and her cell phone will ring! Tons of people have cell phones and it’s quite the status symbol. All of the Kenyans on the Koins staff live by their phones and Eliud had his in his pocket while we were painting the Gona school. Well, nature called but forgot to leave a message that he ought to take the phone out of his pocket before he entered the latrine. Sure enough, his phone went down the latrine and he was beside himself!! He was frantically dashing about, looking for something to retrieve it with. REALLY? Would you believe he finally got a teacher to reach down and haul it up?? Surprise….it didn’t work! After all that, they had to get him a new phone. That really stinks!
3. The most tender moment was the day a tiny little woman showed up to see Cindy. There is another phenomenon there. If you need something to happen you just say it out loud and it happens. Well, Cindy had said out loud that she wanted to meet the mother of the little boy who had died under the tree the summer before. Sure enough, the woman showed up at the school the day we were painting and Cindy got a chance to visit with her. She was able to tell this lovely, weathered, miniature of a woman that she was so sorry her son had died and that she had thought about her all year long. She told her of the children in her school class in America who brought their money and went without parties (she would have no idea what a party was) so that they could buy a microscope to put in the dispensary her son had tried to reach. She told her that even though he could not be saved, because of him, others would live. It was a sacred time and one I’ll never forget. You could see the relief on Cindy’s face that she had finally come full circle with this mother and her story, and that she had finally been able to let her know that her suffering DID matter and that her son’s death was not taken in stride. At the end of their visit, Cindy gave the woman a basket filled with food and other things she might need. It was large and heavy and the woman was so grateful. Not knowing how far the woman was from home, some of us started looking around for a van to drive her but before we even had a chance to try, she had hoisted the heavy load up onto her head and turned towards home. She was a vision of strength in so many ways.
____________________________________________
The story of Gona is a true Koins for Kenya success story. Tragedy was witnessed, an opportunity was seized, determination and effort were put forth, and great rewards were experienced by all, both those who gave and those who received. Not only were the Tingey's able to fund the classrooms at Gona, but they raised enough money to build latrines and a new cistern, desks and teacher tables.
Koins now has the challenge to fund a similar project for the community of Bofu, who have raised their 10% and given that contribution to Koins. We hope to have a similar celebration at Bofu during the summer of 2012.
If you are interested in contributing to Koins projects, you can be assured that 100% of your donation goes directly to the projects in Kenya. You can make a one time or monthly contribution safely and simply here.
Asante sana,
IVL
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| Sue and Curt in front of the Gona classroom they funded |
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| Gona Classroom |
And now for the real purpose of this amazing trip to Africa….we were going to Gona, a small Kenyan village, whose history had left little marks on the hearts of those who were there the year before.
Gona was a typical African village with typical African people and typical African children that sang typical African songs. The summer of 2010, however, set their school apart from the typical African school….Koins for Kenya had built them a lovely pit latrine!!! There was a big celebration planned and much ado was to be made over the whole thing.
You can read about the 2010 Gona activities here.
Just a day or two before the celebration, one young Gona school boy wasn’t feeling so good. It was time for his exams, however, so rather than miss school, he suffered through his tests and the rigors of getting to and from school with little to eat and reeling with sickness. That evening when it became apparent that the boy needed some serious medical attention, his uncle walked him to the nearest dispensary but found no help there. They quickly decided to try to reach the Mnyenzeni dispensary but it was getting dark and the boy had little strength left. Night had fallen by the time they reached Mnyenzeni and the Koins expeditioners were sitting outside, sharing what they called “Peaches and Pits,” – stories of the good and bad things that had happened that day. They noticed a disturbance under a nearby tree and someone went over to check it out. There under a big tree, not 50 yards from the dispensary, the young boy died, having suffered a painful death from malaria.
Even if this sweet boy had made it to the dispensary in time, there would have been nothing they could have done for him. As I’ve mentioned before, while the government does have medication that will cure malaria, they will not give it unless the patient has had a blood test confirming the disease. The Myenzeni dispensary had no way of performing that test because they didn’t have a microscope. You can imagine how sobering that night was for all who had witnessed such a tragedy. In typical African fashion, the women who had gathered around the young boy began to make a loud, trilling sound that filled the black night, indicating that someone had just died. It was that sound that informed the boy’s mother that he had passed away. She could not travel as quickly as the others and had not arrived with them to see him take his last breath under the tree.
There was some question about whether or not to go ahead with the Gona celebration with this sadness hanging over everyone but the preparations had been made and it was decided to proceed. During that celebration, Koins was given an envelope containing 10% of the cost of a new school building. While they had several buildings on their makeshift campus, they needed more room and were asking for help with a new 3-room building. Sitting there in the heat, choking on the soda pop and cookies that must have cost the villagers a fortune to provide, Sue knew that she was the one who was supposed to build the new school in Gona. She says she groaned inside but if she did, it was just the groan of someone good getting up out of a comfortable seat to do something hard and wonderful.
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| Microscope funded by Cindy's class being used at Mnyenzeni dispensary |
Upon their return home, Sue began a year long journey of raising the money to build the classroom in Gona and Cindy went back to school with a determination that not one more child would die of malaria on her watch. Sue and Curt enlisted the help of friends, family, neighbors and boy scouts and raised not only enough money to build the school but also desks, water cisterns and a latrine…with money left over to put towards another school or project of their choosing. Cindy welcomed a new classroom of students at Windridge elementary with her infectious enthusiasm and spurred them on to raise $1,500 to buy a microscope for the Mnyenzeni dispensary. That was the microscope that arrived earlier this year which, in the first week, saved 6 lives by identifying malaria in 6 out of 8 blood samples.
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| New Gona latrines under construction |
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| Curt painting inside the Gona classroom |
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| Karen painting in the Gona classroom |
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| Variety of paintbrushes used to whitewash Gona school |
By the time we arrived in the village this summer, the Gona school was almost ready. The celebration was about 5 days away and it just needed to be cleaned and painted. My ears pricked up! I quickly confirmed what I had already suspected…. painting an African school does not resemble the faux painting I do at home. The primer seemed to be sheet rock dust mixed with water and the brushes we painted with were nothing short of hilarious! Some had such long heavy bristles that it was like painting with a wig on a stick. Other had been chopped off so many times that the ½” bristles barely stuck out of the handle. Worse…once we got that awful primer on, the school folks stood back and proudly said, “There!!” Whoa! You could rub that stuff off with your shirtsleeve but that was all they were putting on the inside walls. Fortunately, they have this style going where everything is 2-toned so we were able to paint “below chair rail” – minus the chair rail – a bright blue, which greatly improved the overall look. Then we went outside to paint more blue and noticed that the white primer had been smeared over some of the brick. We were told that the bricks would get a coat of white paint the next day and the alarms in my head started going off. Sure enough, we got all the blue painted with the edges nicely cut in and – to make a long story short – the next day 50 kids and parents with buckets of how-the-heck-they-got-it-I’ll-never-know white OIL paint finished painting the school, obscuring the fact that there had ever been blue paint anywhere near the building! I can only imagine the whole scene. These people are used to painting with the watered down primer and somehow they had gotten their hands on oil paint. They were told it would come off with water but it won’t. I don’t want to see their school uniforms. I can’t imagine their little hands, and legs, and feet! They had flung it high and low so even their heads must have been covered! Curt and Mike about died when they saw it. After a bit of stomping and fuming and a couple of diet cokes, they resolved to go back the next day before the celebration and repaint the whole thing. They did. It was beautiful. Life goes on.
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| Mural and cistern and the Gona classroom |
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| Sign from main road leading to Gona school |
I was happy to be in the van with Sue on the drive to the celebration because she had not yet seen what the rest of us had. The road to Gona had been renamed, “Curt Tingey Drive.” I knew she’d die and wanted to see the look on her face. She was a good sport about it though and was just glad they hadn’t named it “Mama Gona Drive” like Curt wanted!
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| Curt and Sue being honored at opening celebration of Gona |
At the celebration Curt and Sue were given Duruma names and wrapped in beautiful kanga cloths as they were adopted into the Duruma tribe. Next it was Bret and Ingrid’s turn, then Mike and Cindy’s. They then asked Tara to stand and they gave her a Duruma name – Raziki. That meant “Gift from God.” They told the rest that they’d get back to us with our names and by the end of the ceremony we had all been given a Duruma names and kanga cloth and were properly adopted by our new family.
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| The entire group received new kangas and Duruma names |
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| Dancers at the Gona celebration |
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| Some of the Koins sponsored university students are honored at the Gona celebration |
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| Bret receives 10% funding from Bofu, the next school to be built by Koins |
Next came the dancers and the presentation of the Koins sponsored college students, and the headmaster of Bofu school with his 10% for next year…and the little girl who gave a poem about AIDS and how it is a killer. Sobering. About 10% of the population has HIV/AIDS, and other African countries have a much higher percentage.
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| Kenyan girl recites a poem about AIDS |
It was quite a celebration all in all. We had many adventures getting ready for it – 3 in particular we won’t soon forget.
 |
| Purity with her sponsor Kim, and Abel, Kim's nephew |
1. Purity is a young woman who is being sponsored through Koins to attend the university in Nairobi. Since her sponsor, Kim, was with us, Bret flew Purity in to meet her and attend the Gona celebration. We weren’t really surprised that she had never been on an airplane before and it had obviously made her quite nervous. We were surprised, however, that she had never been to Gona before. Purity was raised in the village of Mnyenzeni where family still lives. Mnyenzeni is the village where Koins has built its “headquarters”, kitchen and shop. It was from Mnyenzeni to Gona that the half marathon had been run. Do the math….Gona is only a half marathon away from Mnyenzeni and yet this girl had never been that far from home! There’s even a short cut if you’re not driving but for some reason – lack of curiosity, lack of need, lack of energy…whatever – this was the first time Purity had been the 13 miles away from home to the village of Gona.
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| Car batteries are used to charge cell phones when no electricity is available |
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| Cell phone charging is a Koins microbusiness |
2. There is a strange phenomenon there. You can be watching a woman take a pan off the fire using her kanga as a hot pad, thinking you’re in the stone age, and her cell phone will ring! Tons of people have cell phones and it’s quite the status symbol. All of the Kenyans on the Koins staff live by their phones and Eliud had his in his pocket while we were painting the Gona school. Well, nature called but forgot to leave a message that he ought to take the phone out of his pocket before he entered the latrine. Sure enough, his phone went down the latrine and he was beside himself!! He was frantically dashing about, looking for something to retrieve it with. REALLY? Would you believe he finally got a teacher to reach down and haul it up?? Surprise….it didn’t work! After all that, they had to get him a new phone. That really stinks!
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3. The most tender moment was the day a tiny little woman showed up to see Cindy. There is another phenomenon there. If you need something to happen you just say it out loud and it happens. Well, Cindy had said out loud that she wanted to meet the mother of the little boy who had died under the tree the summer before. Sure enough, the woman showed up at the school the day we were painting and Cindy got a chance to visit with her. She was able to tell this lovely, weathered, miniature of a woman that she was so sorry her son had died and that she had thought about her all year long. She told her of the children in her school class in America who brought their money and went without parties (she would have no idea what a party was) so that they could buy a microscope to put in the dispensary her son had tried to reach. She told her that even though he could not be saved, because of him, others would live. It was a sacred time and one I’ll never forget. You could see the relief on Cindy’s face that she had finally come full circle with this mother and her story, and that she had finally been able to let her know that her suffering DID matter and that her son’s death was not taken in stride. At the end of their visit, Cindy gave the woman a basket filled with food and other things she might need. It was large and heavy and the woman was so grateful. Not knowing how far the woman was from home, some of us started looking around for a van to drive her but before we even had a chance to try, she had hoisted the heavy load up onto her head and turned towards home. She was a vision of strength in so many ways.
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| The Koins group in new desks in the new Gona classroom |
The story of Gona is a true Koins for Kenya success story. Tragedy was witnessed, an opportunity was seized, determination and effort were put forth, and great rewards were experienced by all, both those who gave and those who received. Not only were the Tingey's able to fund the classrooms at Gona, but they raised enough money to build latrines and a new cistern, desks and teacher tables.
Koins now has the challenge to fund a similar project for the community of Bofu, who have raised their 10% and given that contribution to Koins. We hope to have a similar celebration at Bofu during the summer of 2012.
If you are interested in contributing to Koins projects, you can be assured that 100% of your donation goes directly to the projects in Kenya. You can make a one time or monthly contribution safely and simply here.
Asante sana,
IVL
Saturday, September 25, 2010
News article about Brayden Christensen's Eagle project
A local Vernal paper published this article about Christensen's summer trip to 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.
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.
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.
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
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| Brayden loading finished desks to be transported to Dzivani, 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.
 |
| Kids gather outside Windridge school, showing how desks are used |
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.
 |
| Brayden sitting at finished desk with rose brand, to be used in Dzivani classroom |
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.
 |
| Gona schoolchildren welcome Koins visitors to their village school |
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
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